Who is this that darkens counsel
By words without knowledge? (Job 38:2).

Job tried to defend his integrity by challenging God's justice. In his distress he forgot who God was. As Paul would write thousands of years later,

But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use? (Romans 9:21-22).

Does't the Maker have the right to do whatever He wants with what He has made? It is a rhetorical question that exposes the folly of the one questioning God's actions. How could there be any injustice with God? When everything made serves the Maker, the only and ulimate justice is that the Maker is pleased with what He has made. When men speak of good and evil, these are categories that God has defined for men. He is not limited by these categories. He could create a whole new universe where our current understanding of morality is flipped, so that what we know to be evil is good and what we understand to be good is evil. The folly is in thinking that there is a morality that predates God, as if somehow even God was a product of some cosmic moral force that existed before Him.

God reveals to Job through a series of mindblowing questions that if Job had God's knowledge, then he could question God's wisdom. If Job had God's power, then he could question God's justice. But of course Job has neither of these things; therefore, he has no place to question God's wisdom or justice.

Friends, this morning, as other mornings, I woke with the distressing thought that there are so many things that seem outside of my understanding and ability. I felt helpless to change them for the good.

I could have wallowed in this quagmire of self-pity, but I was urged - by the Lord? - to read the Scriptures this morning. And what do I read? I read that God knows. God sees. God is in control. I am reminded of His sovereignty, and I am moved to rest in His providence and grace. So I encourage you to do the same. Rest in His providence and grace. Praise the Lord!

The ostriches’ wings flap joyously
With the pinion and plumage of love,
For she abandons her eggs to the earth
And warms them in the dust,
And she forgets that a foot may crush them,
Or that a wild beast may trample them.
She treats her young cruelly, as if they were not hers;
Though her labor be in vain, she is unconcerned;
Because God has made her forget wisdom,
And has not given her a share of understanding. (Job 39:13-17).

Here is described the unconcern ostriches have for their babies. They abandon their eggs on the ground for any person or beast to trample them. They labor to have them and are sincerely thrilled at their birth, but their lack of understanding puts their babies in immediate peril.

Now, while all this is an interesting bit of ornithology (i.e. the study of birds), what is more interesting is the reason for this unusual behavior:"Because God has made her forget wisdom, and has not given her a share of understanding" (Job 39:17).

So, then, God has created this unusual behavior in ostriches. He is responsible for it. And if He does this with ostriches, I wonder if he might also do this with respect to human beings. Some are born with good sense, others not so much. Some are given great strength, others remain weak. In other words, there is a measure of strength, understanding, and potential that comes from God and is added to each life. Now, perhaps beyond any animal, human beings have shown some of the greatest capacity for learning and advancement. Even so, I see our limitations everywhere. 

But as I look at this account of the ostrich, it keeps me from being frustrated with some people, when they appear slow to learn or to understand or they make the same simple and foolish mistakes over and over again. And I also realize that my betters likely think the same about me.

What is the conclusion of the matter? Let us, then, not be bitter because we are not smarter than we are, or stronger than we are, or more popular than we are. For we will not be finally judged on these grounds. Instead, let us discern our lot, what we've been given in this life, in terms of our gifts, talents and potential. And let us focus these on the singular goal of exalting God and Christ in our lives. It is on the basis of how we use what we've been given to glorify our God and Savior that we will ultimately be rewarded or judged.

But thanks be to God that our salvation alone stands on the unshakable ground of God's sovereign election through what Christ has accomplished for us rather than what we do ourselves.

Talk about a rebuke. God says to Job out of a whirlwind,

Who is this that questions my wisdom
    with such ignorant words? (Job 38:2)

Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?

Tell me, if you know so much... (Job 38:4)

Do you realize the extent of the earth?
    Tell me about it if you know! (Job 38:18).

But of course you know all this!
For you were born before it was all created,
    and you are so very experienced! (Job 38:21)

The challenge is direct and the sarcasm heavy. 

Job has lost sight of his place in the order of existence; therefore, God reminds him. But God does not remind him with assertions but simply a wave upon wave of questions, none of which Job can answer, even if he is able to fathom the meaning of the question. 

Even though Job was accurate in his assessment of God, his attitude was wrong. Job was bordering on pride and rebellion, which is what Elihu pointed out. It is likely that God intervened when He did as an act of grace, so that Job would not fall further into sin. 

Job was the best of his time, but even the best of all humanity will crack under the right circumstances. If you feel that you have been fairly "good" all your life, know that it is only by God's grace. If conditions were different, you might very well have been among the worst. See how Moses was beginning to crack in his later years. Remember how David cracked, committing both adultery and murder. Yet, these had God's ear and watchful care all through their lives. 

It is as both the Psalmist and Paul writes,

There is no one righteous, not even one;
    there is no one who understands;
    there is no one who seeks God.
All have turned away,
    they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
    not even one (Romans 3:10-12).

If we are to learn the lesson of Job, we must understand the truth of our position before God. Then, we would say, as Job, "I am unworthy" (Job 40:4). We would have the attitude of Job, who, after seeing the LORD, says, "I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:6).

But let us not confuse humility before God with "being nice to others." Some people think that because someone only says nice things about others, and never anything negative, they must really be humble. It is not true. Even if such people may seem "humble," their humility is man-centered rather than God-centered. What would we say of Buddhists that value the life of a roach as much as a human being? Are they humble? How about the Hindus, who revere cows? What about those that bow down to the sun, moon and the stars in worship. Are they humble simply because they bow their heads like a reed?

No, dear friends, this is not the kind of humility that God requires. Just as not all sincerity is true, not all humility is right. But godly humility is based on the truth of God's Word. According to this humility we obey God and rebuke one another. According to this humility we learn that our love for one another must be preceded by and energized by our first and all-consuming love for God. By this humility we, on the one hand, can slay an Amalekite child and, on the other hand, die for the sake of the Gospel. If we only knew some general, humanistic humility, then our actions would be contradictory, but there is no contradiction in a humility that is defined by one's submission to God. 

In Job 38 when God finally speaks, I was reminded of the Israelites that left Egypt for the Promised Land.  God's rhetorical questions to Job weren't in search of direct answers rather to show how much wasn't understood about God.  In turn this made me think of how dependent we are on God as were the Israelites.  For the Israelites keeping the Mosaic Law was impossible but again the purpose of the laws weren't to keep them as much as it was to contrast our dependence on God.  It's this perspective that both the exodus and Job's trials were to reveal.  Also in both instances I found myself analyzing the life of both the Israelites and Job and his friends.  First, it was a bit judgemental in thinking, "boy are they off base."  Then it turned to a self-realization in thinking, "boy am I just like them or what?!"  Humbling.

Not sure if there is any significance to this but a friend at work mentioned that although the events in the book of Job happened chronologically after Genesis & Exodus, it was the first book written - sometime between 2000-1800 B.C.  Genesis was written after 1450 B.C.  Does anyone have any insight into whether there's any significance of the book of Job being written first?

Yujin responds... Brother Matt, although there appears to be a lot of different views as to when Job was written, from pre-Genesis to just prior to the Exile, the view that places it in the time of the Patriarchs seems most persuasive to me. The significance of this would be that it is prior to the giving of the Mosaic Law, which is the first codified set of statutes and ordinances given in the Bible. What this suggests to me is that from the very beginning God desired mankind to understand His sovereignty, even that He is above the law, that while He gives laws for mankind so that they might live in a way that pleases Him, He Himself is not subject to these laws. As God would declare in Isaiah 55:8-9,

 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the LORD.

“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.