The LORD and Man's Power Job 40:6-42:17

The LORD and man's wisdom God has just shown that man lacks the wisdom and knowledge with which to evaluate the creation, much less the Creator and His actions  Job has admitted his mistake in speaking about things he cannot know about But God isn't finished with His rebuke...  Job 40:6-7 First round is finished, now prepare for the second round

Who has the right to judge? Job 40:8-14  Can man ever claim to judge better than God?  Then man needs to have power equal to or greater than God's power When God judges, He can make His judgment stick  He can also know who is proud or wicked Man would also be able to clothe himself in the glory and majesty equal to God  If man has that power and judgment, then he can save himself He has no need for a Savior God could not condemn one who is His equal or superior in power and judgment

Limits on man's power Job 40:15-24  Behemoth is an example of man's limited power What is behemoth  An herbivore with a huge tail, mighty muscles, and monstrous bones  Yet it does not cause fear in other animals  Can stand unmoved in a raging river (even one as big as the Jordan)

Limits on man's power Job 40:15-24  So what is a Behemoth? What is behemoth  Some have guessed a hippo, rhino or elephant, but the tail on none matches the description More likely a brontosaurus or similar dinosaur  Something man could not hunt (perhaps size made man's weapons unable to kill it) (v19) God, its Maker, could kill it, because of His greater power Man is obviously unequal to God's power

Limits on man's power Job 41:1-10  Leviathan is another example of man's limited power What is leviathan?  A water dwelling creature  Not possible to capture by hook, line, spear, or harpoon  Not peaceful, very aggressive (touching it would launch a memorable battle)

Limits on man's power Job 41:1-10  What is leviathan? Some propose a whale, but most not extremely aggressive and not many near the middle east (and harpoons have been used by some cultures to kill them) Others propose a crocodile (but spears and harpoons would kill one) Again, most likely some species now extinct, like the sarcosuchus (“flesh crocodile” or SuperCroc) whose skeletal remains found in African rivers  40+feet long, 15 tons  If man doesn't have the power to take on one of God's creations, he doesn't have the power of God

What next? The following description is even harder to understand than the preceding two  Here are some of the possibilities: A continued description of leviathan A collection of how man had variously described leviathan A new description of an unnamed beast A collection of decriptions of several different animals  In any of the descriptions the language is poetical  The point, no matter which understanding one has, is the same... Man has no power compared to God or God's creations Job 41:12-34

Job's answer Job 42:1-6  Admits God has the power and right to do whatever He chooses Necessarily includes the right to make Job suffer for any reason or no reason (at least as understood by man)  Admits he did not have the wisdom, knowledge or understanding with which to even discuss God's reasons with God for whatever He does  Acknowledges all he had done before was simply based on what others had told him Now he has heard from God, and finds God to be more awesome than he had imagined  Repents of his earlier statements and attitude with no reservation

Job's friends Job 42:7-9  God says the 3 friends had not spoken what was right So there are errors in each of their speeches  God says Job had spoken what was right But Job has just admitted he was wrong God is referring to Job's last statement (Job 42:1-6)  Job finally spoke the truth about God and repented of his earlier speeches God is telling the 3 friends that they too need to repent and need to ask Job's forgiveness as well (probably due to the things they had spoken against Job)  The 3 friends did as God commanded

The outcome Job 42:11-17  Job did forgive his friends  God restored what Job had lost (including his health) Not because God had to reward Job's righteousness  Job and friends all admit God could do as He chose So God chose to bless Job as His gracious act  All those who treated Job ill bring gifts to him Perhaps, like the friends, seeking his forgiveness  All continue to assume the adversity was brought by the Lord (He never told them otherwise) But they now realize they could not assume suffering was the result of sin

Conclusion Lessons from the book of Job  Suffering is not always a result of sin  Sin does not always result in earthly suffering  We are not told all the reasons for God's actions or commands, nor should we expect to receive explanations  When the righteous do suffer, they should bear it Hab 3:17-19 James 1:2-4 1 Pet 1:6-9, 2:20-25, 3:13-18, 4:1-2, 12-16