July 30, 2025 • 30 mins
How do you respond to a child or teenager who is complaining about something he doesn’t understand? You might try to explain, but he may not be ready for that. If he’s a teenager and is convinced he’s right, you’ll probably ask him some questions to show him he doesn’t know as much as he thinks he does. That’s what God did with Job. This final section to the greatest book ever written on the problem of evil ends with God responding to Job. God doesn’t give an explanation. He doesn’t tell Job he’ll learn better when he’s even older. He doesn’t tell him to read books on this profound issue of life. He points him to something he already had right before him: nature, the creation of God. This is the simple but overlooked key to this whole problem. Read these chapters closely and prayerfully and behold God’s creation around and above you with a different perspective and the problem of sin and suffering won’t seem so unbearable.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Hi, I’m Kerry Duke, host of My Godand My Neighbor podcast from Tennessee
Bible College, where we see the Bibleas not just another book, but the Book.
Join us in a study of the inspiredword to strengthen your faith and to
share what you've learned with others.
Job lost most of his wealth in one day.
His 10 children died that day.
(00:23):
Then a horrible skin disease covered hisbody with sore boils from head to toe.
His three friends told him that all thishappened because he was a sinful man.
They said God was punishinghim, but Job strongly disagreed.
And as they argued more, thedebate got more personal and
at times sarcastic and cruel.
(00:44):
We as readers like Job know that Jobwas not the bad person his friends
said that he was, but we know somethingJob didn't know about all this.
At least he didn't knowabout it in this book.
Satan had challenged God toput Job to the test to see
what kind of man he really was.
God accepted the challenge and heallowed Satan to torment job, but since
(01:08):
Job didn't know this, he assumed thatGod did all these bad things to him.
At first he took the loss ofhis possessions and even the
loss of his children well.
He didn't become angry at God.
He blessed Him.
But when this terrible diseasetortured him day after day, he became
angry—angry at the situation, angrywith his friends, and angry at God.
(01:34):
He kept crying out to God,but there was no answer.
He became so frustrated that he longedfor a meeting with God to defend himself.
He was sure that he was right, so surethat he thought even God was wrong.
He actually said that theLord was being cruel to him.
When Job and his three friends saidtheir peace and made their case and
(01:58):
finished a younger man named Elihu spoke.
He didn't agree witheither side in this debate.
He disagreed with the three friends ofJob because they accused Job, but they
didn't have any proof that he was thesinful man that they said that he was.
But Elihu was also upset withJob because he justified himself
(02:19):
instead of justifying God.
This young man warned Job.
He told him that he had gone too far.
He didn't agree with Job's threefriends that Job was suffering
because he was a sinner.
He did, however, say that Jobwas sinning because he suffered.
He said some things thathe shouldn't have said.
So Elihu told Job that he hadbetter remember who he's talking to.
(02:44):
He's talking to God.
He's talking about God.
He said you need to be careful Jobbecause God might just take your life in a
second for saying these things about Him.
Elihu said there may be anynumber of reasons why God
has allowed this to happen.
Maybe he did it to keep you from pride.
Maybe he lets a man come close todeath to teach him lessons that he
(03:06):
could have never learned otherwise.
But regardless of the reason orreasons for why this is happening,
God does not owe us an answer.
He doesn't owe you an answer Job.
He is God and he doesn't haveto explain himself to any of us.
And then all Elihu points tosomething that every person in this
debate mentioned, and that is thepower of God over His creation.
(03:29):
All of them admit that wecannot understand all of God's
ways and the universe that Hemade and that He maintains.
But Elihu appeals to nature not tospeak for God, but to say that we
don't need to be sure in our mindsabout why a man like Job is suffering.
Elihu said think about thewind and the rain and the ice.
(03:52):
He said God has different reasons,various uses, for these things.
He may use the wind and rain tocorrect people or to punish men.
He may use these things to show mercyto men, or he may use nature just
to benefit the earth that he made.
The bottom line is we don't know.
And if we don't even know his reasonsfor making these things happen in the
(04:16):
material world of nature, how can webe sure of his reasons for allowing
things in the moral order of right andwrong, of what is fair and not fair?
We are in no position to judge.
That's what Elihu is saying.
That's at least one of thepoints that he's making.
Now, this brings us to the answerof God in chapters 38 through 42.
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Now, God had not said anythingat all until this time.
He let them talk.
Now he puts them all to silence.
He puts them all to shame with theexception of Elihu, and he speaks
directly to Job in these chapters,not to his three friends, at least
at first, and not to Elihu at all.
He never addresses Elihu.
(05:01):
And the first question thathe asked Job put Job to shame.
It's in Job chapter 38, verse two.
The Bible says in verse one, “Then theLord answered Job out of the whirlwind
and said…” Now when the Bible saysthat the Lord answered him, it doesn't
say that he explained anything orthat he answered to the satisfaction
(05:23):
of Job, what Job was wondering about.
It simply means that he responded to Job.
And in verse two He says, “Who isthis that darkens counsel by words
without knowledge?” God is saying: who is this down there talking about (05:35):
undefined
things that he doesn't understand?
That happens every day all over the world.
People say things about God andGod's ways, and they don't even know
what they're talking about, and Godis talking about a good man here.
He's talking about Job, so we need toconfess that sometimes we speak and we
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don't know what we're talking about.
God is putting Job in his place.
He tells Job to get ready becausehe has some questions for Job.
Now, remember that Job said thathe wished he knew where God was all
this time because Job said well,I would tell God a thing or two.
I would know not only what Hesaid, but I would be able to
(06:20):
answer all His questions to me.
Anything that God wanted to throwat me, I'll be able to answer it.
That's what he said earlier in chapter 23.
He was so sure that he was right andthat God was wrong and unfair for
letting all this happen to him thathe's challenging God in chapter 23.
Now God is saying here's your chance, Job.
(06:41):
Get ready, Job.
The King James Version says in verse threeof chapter 38, “Gird up your loins like
a man.” Now that's like saying today,“Roll up your sleeves and get ready to
work.” In Bible times, even men oftenwore a long loose one-piece outer garment.
It would get in the way if theyhad to work or climb or run.
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So they tied a piece of cloth or leatheraround their waist to pull it in.
We would call it a belt.
They called it a beltor a girdle or a sash.
Now, that's why the King James Versiontalks about girding up your loins.
That is your waist.
It means to get ready.
It's just an idiom.
It's a way of saying get ready, andGod is saying I'm going to ask you some
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questions and let's see if you can answerthem Job, since you think you know so
much that you're now criticizing Me.
The New King James Versionsays “prepare yourself like a
man,” as we would say, man up.
The first question God asked Job musthave hit Job right between the eyes.
God said to him in verse four, “Where wereyou when I laid the foundations of the
(07:51):
earth? Tell me if you have understanding.”God is saying: you think I'm unfair.
You say, I'm not managing thiscreation of Mine like I should.
If you're so wise, why don't you tellMe how I made all this out of nothing?
What did it look like to seeMe create the earth right away?
God is telling Job that he doesn'tknow what he's talking about.
(08:14):
If God had stopped right there inverse four with that one question,
the debate would've been overand Job would've changed his
point of view, at least somewhat.
But God is just getting started.
He says in verse five, “Who determinedits measurements? Surely you know.” Now
that is what we would call godly sarcasm.
(08:36):
God is chiding job.
This is like a parent talkingto a teenager who thinks that
he or she knows everything.
A few questions will showhow little he does know.
Notice verses five and six.
God is using the illustrationof building a house.
In Bible times, you had to stretch a line.
You had to mark the measurementsand then lay the foundation, the
(08:58):
most important part of which waswhat was called the cornerstone.
Now that is just a human way ofillustrating God's creation of the earth.
God is saying to Job (09:07):
Can you explain how and why I did all this?
By the way, science, even truescience, cannot answer this either.
Science you see depends on theobservation of physical things.
But before the creation of Genesis chapterone verse one, nothing physical existed,
(09:29):
then God created the heavens and the earthout of nothing [Hebrews 11 verse three].
Scientists today couldn't have done anybetter than Job did with these questions
that God is asking and God throws inanother part of his creation: The angels.
In verse seven the angelssaw God do all this.
(09:50):
They rejoiced, the Bible says inverses six and seven, “To what were its
foundations,” that is, “the foundationsof the earth fastened, or who laid its
cornerstone, when the morning stars sangtogether and all the sons of God shouted
for joy?” The angels saw God do all this.
(10:11):
They rejoiced, and since God istalking about the very beginning
of the creation, it appearsthat the angels already existed.
You might ask, what does that haveto do with Job's problem, though?
We'll talk about that morein just a few minutes.
The next thing that God ask is about thesea, the waters of the earth in general,
but especially the oceans and the seas.
(10:32):
The word seas here is a general word.
Notice verses eight through 11 of chapter38: “Or who shut in the sea with doors
when it burst forth and issued from thewomb, when I made the clouds its garment
and thick darkness its swaddling band,when I fixed my limit for it and set
bars and doors, when I said, this faryou may come but no farther, and here
(10:58):
your proud waves must stop.” The earthis 75% water according to estimates.
In this passage, God said that He setslimits to sea levels and shorelines.
He calls these limits bars and doors.
God keeps the waters from overflowing.
God says to the waveshere, “But no further.”
(11:21):
There are exceptions times when he allowsthem to rise and overflow, but there's
regularity and constancy to water levels.
We couldn't survive if it were otherwise.
you challenged me.
You criticized me.
You said you could answerany question I ask.
Go ahead, answer these questions.
(11:43):
Then God said, Job, explainthis thing that is called light.
Are you the one that made it?
Are you the one that sustains it?
When did you ever bringa morning to the earth?
God is saying I do all these things.
You certainly cannot, and yetyou're going to tell Me how I
should run this universe of mine?
(12:03):
Then in verses 16 through 18 God poundsJob with more penetrating questions.
Verse 16 is a fascinating verse.
He says, “Have you entered thesprings of the sea?” For thousands
of years man never saw these.
They were seen for the first time in 1974.
An unmanned submarine wentdeep to the bottom of the ocean
(12:26):
floor and photographed them.
They are springs or fountains onthe bottom of the ocean floor.
They emit extremely hot,highly mineralized water.
Scientists today callthem hydrothermal vents.
But the interesting thing isthat the book of Job was written
thousands of years before submarines.
(12:47):
How did the writer know aboutthese springs of the sea?
During the flood the Bible calls them the“fountains” of the great deep and says
“the fountains of the great deep werebroken up” [Genesis seven, verse 11].
There is only one way these Biblewriters could have known about them.
God told them.
They were inspired by the Holy Spirit.
(13:08):
But the point in this verse isthat Job had never been down there.
Then God asked Job about theplace of the dead in verse 17.
Now, remember, Job wanted to go there[to death] because he was in such pain.
And do you remember what Elihu told Job?
He said God sometimes brings aman to the very door of death for
(13:30):
reasons that only God understands.
But in this verse, God is asking Job more.
He's asking him if heactually has seen it.
Not that he simply feltthat he was near death.
God is saying the answer is no Job.
You've never looked into death.
You've never experienced it.
You've never seen what liesbeyond the doors of death.
(13:52):
You don't understand it.
Where did the idea of dying come from?
Do you know all of its purposes?
Do you know why I broughtit into existence and made
a world capable of dying?
Job doesn't really understandthat anymore than we do.
We only know what God tells us aboutand what we experience in life.
But the Bible goes on to say in verse18 that God asked Job if he knows the
(14:15):
measurement of the breadth of the earth.
Now, of course, Jobdidn't know that either.
Now today someone might say,“Well, you see there, we today
know how wide the earth is, sothis book doesn't prove anything.”
Then in response we would say thatnot everything God mentions in these
chapters is still beyond our knowledge,but it was beyond job's comprehension.
(14:39):
God could ask scientists today many otherquestions that would leave them just
as dumbfounded, but this book is notwritten primarily about these things.
That's what we have to rememberit is about a moral issue, not a
material or scientific question.
So God again challenges the manwho said that he could answer any
(14:59):
question God might throw at him.
God says tell me if you know all this.
Then God takes Job on a class trip in Hiscreation, and He asks him some profound
questions about the most simple everydayparts of nature that we oftentimes take
for granted in verses 19 through 21.
He talks about light and darkness.
(15:20):
He mentions the diffusingof light in verse 24.
God is not just asking Job togive a definition of light or
an explanation of how it works.
He's challenging Job to consider whyhe made all these things and how they
fit in with the rest of His creation,and more importantly, what are the
moral purposes that these things serve.
(15:42):
He talks about the treasures or thetreasury of the snow in verse 22.
Do you remember learning ingrade school about snowflakes?
Every one has a differentdesign, a beautiful pattern.
Then he talks about hail again.
God made all these things.
They are not accidents.
Why did God do all this?
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Why did He create a world withsuch variety and such diversity?
That is what Job cannoteven begin to answer.
But the questions keep coming inverses 25 through 30: the channel
for overflowing water, the path ofa thunderbolt in verses 26 and 27.
God causes it to rain inplaces where no one lives.
(16:26):
Why would he do that?
In verses 28 through 30, he talksabout the rain, the dew, the frost,
and the ice that is as hard as rock.
God could have made a world without someof these things or any of these things.
Why are they here Job?
And what about the constellationsof the stars above us?
That's what he talks aboutin verses 31 through 33.
(16:47):
He talks about Pleiades and Orion andMazzaroth and the Great Bear and so forth.
Job, can you hold themin their place like I do?
Do you know and do youunderstand all this?
And what about the clouds?
Who controls the rain?
That's what he talks aboutin verses 34 through 38.
So far, God has hit job with abarrage of questions about the
(17:11):
inanimate features of his creation.
Then beginning in chapter 38,verse 39, he turns to animals.
The first one is the lion.
In verses 39 through 40, the Bible saysthat God asked Job, “Can you hunt the prey
for the lion or satisfy the appetite ofyoung lions when they crouch in their dens
(17:33):
or lurk in their layers to lie in wait?”Why and how do they hunt as they do?
That's not an accident.
God causes them to hunt like they do.
God gave them their instinct.
Can you do that Job?
And then there's the raven in verse 41.
“Who provides food for the ravenwhen its young ones cry to God
(17:56):
and wander about for lack of food?
Who feeds the birds?
God does.
Then in chapter 39, God asked Job aboutother animals in verses one through 12.
He points to four examples (18:08):
the wild mountain goats, the deer,
wild donkeys, and wild oxen.
Now I remind you that God is speaking.
You may be tempted to thinkall of this is getting off the
subject, but God never does that.
If we think these chapters in any way missthe point, it is we who have missed it.
(18:29):
So what does God askJob about these animals?
He wants Job to explain the time oftheir birth in verses one through four.
He's not merely asking how many monthsthe mother carries them in her womb.
He is asking a deeper question (18:41):
why?
Why a certain number ofdays, no more and no less?
How does this happen andwhat are the reasons for it?
Then he asked about the wild donkeys.
This was an animal that wouldn't be tamed,so why did God make an animal like that?
That's what he talks aboutin verses five through eight.
“Who set the wild donkey free? Who loosedthe bonds of the onager whose home I
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have made in the wilderness?” So whatpurpose does an animal like this serve?
If man can't use him to work like otherdonkeys, then why did God put him here?
That's for Job to explain.
Then in verses nine through 12,he describes the “wild ox,” and
that's a better translation.
It's less confusing than the KingJames Version word “unicorn.” There are
(19:28):
different opinions about exactly whatthis animal is, but the point is clear.
God said with the hint of sarcasm (19:32):
are you going to trust him, that is, this
wild ox to plow and to pull for you?
No.
He's too wild.
He's strong, but he's useless for work.
So again, why would I makean animal like that Job?
Explain that.
Then in verses 13 through 18, He talksabout another one of his creatures.
(19:54):
This one has some strange features.
It is the ostrich in verses 13 through 18.
She doesn't take care ofand protect her offspring.
Other animals do.
Now, why is this one different?
The Bible says in verse 17about the ostrich “because God
deprived her of wisdom and didnot endow her with understanding.
(20:18):
When she lifts up herself on high, shescorns the horse and its riders.” The
Bible says in verse 16, “She treats heryoung harshly as though they are not
hers.” The ostrich doesn't have any sense.
Why?
Because God made her that way.
She doesn't have sense enoughto take care of her young.
(20:39):
She doesn't have enough senseto get out of a horse's way.
This creature is a mystery.
What purpose does thiscreature of God serve?
The ostrich seems to be out ofplace in God's animal kingdom,
but God made her like that.
Now, God is asking Job: why would I do that job? (20:54):
undefined
Answer that question.
And since He just mentioned the ostrichnot having enough sense to get out of
the horse's way, He uses the horse asthe next example in verses 19 through 25.
What a powerful,fearless, useful creature.
How is it that most animalswould be afraid of the noise
(21:15):
of war and battle, but not him?
The Bible says in verse 22, “He mocksat fear and is not frightened, nor
does he turn back from the sword.The quiver rattles against him, the
glittering spear and the javelin.”The Bible says in verse 25, “At the
blast of the trumpet, he says, aha.
He smells the battle from afar,the thunder of captains shouting.”
(21:37):
And yet, looking back at all thesecreatures that are mentioned in
chapter 39, they all have a place.
Each one serves a purpose,whether we understand that or not.
Every animal is unique by God's design.
The lion, the wild mountain goat, thedeer, the raven, the wild donkey, the
wild ox, the horse, and even the ostrich.
(21:58):
God made them all.
Then God talks about birds.
He asked Job about two majesticcreatures, and that is the hawk and
the eagle in verses 26 through 30.
In verse 26, God asked Job if a hawkflies by his, that is by Job's, wisdom.
Did your wisdom make him?
Did you figure out a way todesign a creature to make him fly?
(22:23):
It took men thousands ofyears to invent the plane.
Pilots have to be trained.
Engineers have devoted millions ofhours to design these aircraft, and
yet the eagle and the hawk fly almostwithout any effort, and they land
without crashing or even stumbling.
They do all this without man's help.
Do you understand this Job?
(22:44):
Can you fathom this?
God could have continued.
He could have asked Job about insects andfish and thousands of other creatures.
Any one of them was enough tobring Job down from his high horse.
God is not simply overwhelming Jobwith one example after another.
He is reminding Job that he asthe Creator not only created these
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things, but that He coordinates themperfectly to serve His purposes.
Those purposes are not just to put ona display of His power, although they
certainly do that [Romans one, verse 20].
God uses these things as a lesson in hisjustice as well as his wisdom and power.
Not only is the wisdom of God behindthis universe, something that is far,
(23:27):
far above man's intellect, but hismanagement of it is beyond reproach.
God supervises the worldexactly as He wills.
Just because man thinks He should dothese things differently means nothing.
And just because man doesn't understandwhy is no reason to criticize God.
That's what these chapters are about.
(23:48):
When Job heard all this, hewas ready for God to stop.
And that brings us to chapter 40.
In chapter 40, verse two, Godasked Job if he actually thought
that he could correct his Maker.
Verse two says, “Shall the onewho contends with the Almighty
correct him?” And Job said, okay.
If I didn't know what I wastalking about, I'll shut up.
(24:08):
He says in verse four, “Behold, I am vile.
What shall I answer you?
I lay my hand over my mouth.
Once I've spoken, but I will not proceed.
Yes, twice, but I willproceed no further.”
But God said I'm not through with you yet.
In verse seven, God said again,“Prepare yourself like a man. I will
question you and you shall answerme.” Verse eight is a key verse.
(24:30):
God said, “Would you indeed annul myjudgment? Would you condemn me that you
may be justified?” Now that's a key verse,and it would be good for you to mark it.
Job was a good man, and he was rightabout what he said about himself,
that he was not an evil man, but hewas wrong in what he said about God.
And God asked him in verse eight wouldyou condemn me that you may be justified?
(24:52):
That's what Job did, especially inchapter 30, verse 21, when he said
that God was being cruel to him.
Now, let's consider that lesson.
Well, it is a good thing to beupset when you've been wronged.
You have the right to defend yourselfagainst slander or abuse or mistreatment,
but it's easy to become so determinedto defend yourself that you draw a
(25:14):
line and put yourself on one sideand the whole world on the other.
You can even get angry with God,blame Him and pull away from your
Maker who gives you everything.
God says to Job in these verses (25:25):
If you can speak with authority like Me and
humble men like I do, let's see you do it.
Then I'll confess thatyou can save yourself.
That's verse 14.
Then in the last round ofquestioning, God tells Job to
consider two of his creatures.
This begins in chapter 40, verse 15,and goes through the end of chapter 41.
(25:47):
The first animal is the behemoth.
This is a huge strong land animal.
Notice verses 15, 16, 17, and 18.
The Lord says the behemoth is “thefirst of the ways of God” in verse 19.
Now, that doesn't mean thebehemoth was the first animal
that God created in Genesis one.
It means he is first in rank in powerand strength among land animals.
(26:10):
Notice how much he eatsin verses 20 and 23.
“Surely the mountains yield food forhim.” In verse 23: “Indeed, the river
may rage, yet he is not disturbed.
He is confident though the Jordanrushes into his mouth.” So what does
God say to Job about this behemoth?
you consider this majestic creature.
(26:32):
In verse 15, God said, “I made him alongwith you,” that is, as well as you.
Everything I make and do has a place.
It has a reason, Job.
He's saying to Job (26:41):
you are upset because one thing, one part of this vast
world, which happens to be you and yoursituation, is not going like you expect.
The Lord is telling Job and He's teachingus that God's creation, His world, is
much bigger than our own little world.
When that small world falls apart,we need to remember that there's
(27:02):
a much bigger world out there.
And yes, pondering the wonders of creationcan reset our self-centered thinking.
Then God talks about theleviathan in Chapter 41.
This was a sea creature noone could capture or tame.
He is fierce.
So what was this behemoth?
What was this Leviathan.
There are many opinions, but whenyou read the description of both
(27:25):
these creatures, it is hard to thinkof anything else besides dinosaurs.
But God is not giving a lessonin biology or history here.
And although it's interesting andsometimes helpful to spend time looking
at these things, if we spend too muchtime trying to identify the behemoth and
the leviathan, whether they're dinosaursor not, we're really missing the point.
(27:45):
God tells Job why he'sbringing up the leviathan.
It's verse 10.
Mark this verse.
God says, “No one is so fierce thathe would dare stir him,” that is,
the leviathan “up (27:57):
who then is able to stand against me.” What He's
saying in verse 10 is this (28:02):
Job, you wouldn't dare to challenge a leviathan.
So why would you challenge me?
You wouldn't dare to pick afight with this sea creature,
but you're going to debate withthe One who made the leviathan.
God is showing Job his ignorance,and that's what gets us in trouble.
We criticize things thatwe don't understand.
(28:22):
And Job could not even explain thingsthat he had seen his whole life.
And we're no different.
We're all like children.
We see a very tiny partof the whole picture.
And we even get mad when lifetakes away our world as we know it.
How little we see.
How little we know.
Sometimes we're angry at lifeand we'll do everything it
(28:42):
takes to prove ourselves right.
That's what Job did.
So what was God's answerto the problem of evil?
He didn't explain anything.
He didn't say “Job, I didn't dothose things to you. Satan did
them. He's to blame, not me.”
So what was God's answer?
Simply this (29:00):
Job, if you can't, if you don't understand the simple
things of My creation, then you arein no position to criticize how I
oversee what happens to human beings.
If you're no expert on my reasons fornature working like it does, then you're
no judge of what's fair or not fair.
So the next time you think lifeis not fair, go outside and
(29:23):
look around for a few minutes.
Stop and really consider God's creation.
Think about how powerfulGod is to make all this.
Consider how wise He is tomake birds fly and fish swim.
Ponder the sun, the moon, and the stars.
God made all this.
He maintains it.
Can a God like that be unfair?
No.
(29:43):
Does a God like that knowwhat you're going through?
Yes.
As surely as He knows when a sparrowfalls to the ground [Matthew 10:29].
So what are we to do?
Let the creation hold you steady asyou go through the storms of life.
God knows what He's doing.
He knows your situationand how it will turn out.
You don't.
That's where faith comes in.
(30:05):
This is not a leap in the dark.
It's trusting in Godthrough the darkest hours.
Thank you for listeningto My God and My Neighbor.
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(30:26):
in Cookeville, Tennessee offersundergraduate and graduate programs.
Study at your level.
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Hi, I’m Kerry Duke, host of My Godand My Neighbor podcast from Tennessee
Bible College, where we see the Bibleas not just another book, but the Book.
Join us in a study of the inspiredword to strengthen your faith and to
share what you've learned with others.
Job lost most of his wealth in one day.
His 10 children died that day.
(00:23):
Then a horrible skin disease covered hisbody with sore boils from head to toe.
His three friends told him that all thishappened because he was a sinful man.
They said God was punishinghim, but Job strongly disagreed.
And as they argued more, thedebate got more personal and
at times sarcastic and cruel.
(00:44):
We as readers like Job know that Jobwas not the bad person his friends
said that he was, but we know somethingJob didn't know about all this.
At least he didn't knowabout it in this book.
Satan had challenged God toput Job to the test to see
what kind of man he really was.
God accepted the challenge and heallowed Satan to torment job, but since
(01:08):
Job didn't know this, he assumed thatGod did all these bad things to him.
At first he took the loss ofhis possessions and even the
loss of his children well.
He didn't become angry at God.
He blessed Him.
But when this terrible diseasetortured him day after day, he became
angry—angry at the situation, angrywith his friends, and angry at God.
(01:34):
He kept crying out to God,but there was no answer.
He became so frustrated that he longedfor a meeting with God to defend himself.
He was sure that he was right, so surethat he thought even God was wrong.
He actually said that theLord was being cruel to him.
When Job and his three friends saidtheir peace and made their case and
(01:58):
finished a younger man named Elihu spoke.
He didn't agree witheither side in this debate.
He disagreed with the three friends ofJob because they accused Job, but they
didn't have any proof that he was thesinful man that they said that he was.
But Elihu was also upset withJob because he justified himself
(02:19):
instead of justifying God.
This young man warned Job.
He told him that he had gone too far.
He didn't agree with Job's threefriends that Job was suffering
because he was a sinner.
He did, however, say that Jobwas sinning because he suffered.
He said some things thathe shouldn't have said.
So Elihu told Job that he hadbetter remember who he's talking to.
(02:44):
He's talking to God.
He's talking about God.
He said you need to be careful Jobbecause God might just take your life in a
second for saying these things about Him.
Elihu said there may be anynumber of reasons why God
has allowed this to happen.
Maybe he did it to keep you from pride.
Maybe he lets a man come close todeath to teach him lessons that he
(03:06):
could have never learned otherwise.
But regardless of the reason orreasons for why this is happening,
God does not owe us an answer.
He doesn't owe you an answer Job.
He is God and he doesn't haveto explain himself to any of us.
And then all Elihu points tosomething that every person in this
debate mentioned, and that is thepower of God over His creation.
(03:29):
All of them admit that wecannot understand all of God's
ways and the universe that Hemade and that He maintains.
But Elihu appeals to nature not tospeak for God, but to say that we
don't need to be sure in our mindsabout why a man like Job is suffering.
Elihu said think about thewind and the rain and the ice.
(03:52):
He said God has different reasons,various uses, for these things.
He may use the wind and rain tocorrect people or to punish men.
He may use these things to show mercyto men, or he may use nature just
to benefit the earth that he made.
The bottom line is we don't know.
And if we don't even know his reasonsfor making these things happen in the
(04:16):
material world of nature, how can webe sure of his reasons for allowing
things in the moral order of right andwrong, of what is fair and not fair?
We are in no position to judge.
That's what Elihu is saying.
That's at least one of thepoints that he's making.
Now, this brings us to the answerof God in chapters 38 through 42.
(04:39):
Now, God had not said anythingat all until this time.
He let them talk.
Now he puts them all to silence.
He puts them all to shame with theexception of Elihu, and he speaks
directly to Job in these chapters,not to his three friends, at least
at first, and not to Elihu at all.
He never addresses Elihu.
(05:01):
And the first question thathe asked Job put Job to shame.
It's in Job chapter 38, verse two.
The Bible says in verse one, “Then theLord answered Job out of the whirlwind
and said…” Now when the Bible saysthat the Lord answered him, it doesn't
say that he explained anything orthat he answered to the satisfaction
(05:23):
of Job, what Job was wondering about.
It simply means that he responded to Job.
And in verse two He says, “Who isthis that darkens counsel by words
without knowledge?” God is saying: who is this down there talking about (05:35):
undefined
things that he doesn't understand?
That happens every day all over the world.
People say things about God andGod's ways, and they don't even know
what they're talking about, and Godis talking about a good man here.
He's talking about Job, so we need toconfess that sometimes we speak and we
(06:00):
don't know what we're talking about.
God is putting Job in his place.
He tells Job to get ready becausehe has some questions for Job.
Now, remember that Job said thathe wished he knew where God was all
this time because Job said well,I would tell God a thing or two.
I would know not only what Hesaid, but I would be able to
(06:20):
answer all His questions to me.
Anything that God wanted to throwat me, I'll be able to answer it.
That's what he said earlier in chapter 23.
He was so sure that he was right andthat God was wrong and unfair for
letting all this happen to him thathe's challenging God in chapter 23.
Now God is saying here's your chance, Job.
(06:41):
Get ready, Job.
The King James Version says in verse threeof chapter 38, “Gird up your loins like
a man.” Now that's like saying today,“Roll up your sleeves and get ready to
work.” In Bible times, even men oftenwore a long loose one-piece outer garment.
It would get in the way if theyhad to work or climb or run.
(07:04):
So they tied a piece of cloth or leatheraround their waist to pull it in.
We would call it a belt.
They called it a beltor a girdle or a sash.
Now, that's why the King James Versiontalks about girding up your loins.
That is your waist.
It means to get ready.
It's just an idiom.
It's a way of saying get ready, andGod is saying I'm going to ask you some
(07:27):
questions and let's see if you can answerthem Job, since you think you know so
much that you're now criticizing Me.
The New King James Versionsays “prepare yourself like a
man,” as we would say, man up.
The first question God asked Job musthave hit Job right between the eyes.
God said to him in verse four, “Where wereyou when I laid the foundations of the
(07:51):
earth? Tell me if you have understanding.”God is saying: you think I'm unfair.
You say, I'm not managing thiscreation of Mine like I should.
If you're so wise, why don't you tellMe how I made all this out of nothing?
What did it look like to seeMe create the earth right away?
God is telling Job that he doesn'tknow what he's talking about.
(08:14):
If God had stopped right there inverse four with that one question,
the debate would've been overand Job would've changed his
point of view, at least somewhat.
But God is just getting started.
He says in verse five, “Who determinedits measurements? Surely you know.” Now
that is what we would call godly sarcasm.
(08:36):
God is chiding job.
This is like a parent talkingto a teenager who thinks that
he or she knows everything.
A few questions will showhow little he does know.
Notice verses five and six.
God is using the illustrationof building a house.
In Bible times, you had to stretch a line.
You had to mark the measurementsand then lay the foundation, the
(08:58):
most important part of which waswhat was called the cornerstone.
Now that is just a human way ofillustrating God's creation of the earth.
God is saying to Job (09:07):
Can you explain how and why I did all this?
By the way, science, even truescience, cannot answer this either.
Science you see depends on theobservation of physical things.
But before the creation of Genesis chapterone verse one, nothing physical existed,
(09:29):
then God created the heavens and the earthout of nothing [Hebrews 11 verse three].
Scientists today couldn't have done anybetter than Job did with these questions
that God is asking and God throws inanother part of his creation: The angels.
In verse seven the angelssaw God do all this.
(09:50):
They rejoiced, the Bible says inverses six and seven, “To what were its
foundations,” that is, “the foundationsof the earth fastened, or who laid its
cornerstone, when the morning stars sangtogether and all the sons of God shouted
for joy?” The angels saw God do all this.
(10:11):
They rejoiced, and since God istalking about the very beginning
of the creation, it appearsthat the angels already existed.
You might ask, what does that haveto do with Job's problem, though?
We'll talk about that morein just a few minutes.
The next thing that God ask is about thesea, the waters of the earth in general,
but especially the oceans and the seas.
(10:32):
The word seas here is a general word.
Notice verses eight through 11 of chapter38: “Or who shut in the sea with doors
when it burst forth and issued from thewomb, when I made the clouds its garment
and thick darkness its swaddling band,when I fixed my limit for it and set
bars and doors, when I said, this faryou may come but no farther, and here
(10:58):
your proud waves must stop.” The earthis 75% water according to estimates.
In this passage, God said that He setslimits to sea levels and shorelines.
He calls these limits bars and doors.
God keeps the waters from overflowing.
God says to the waveshere, “But no further.”
(11:21):
There are exceptions times when he allowsthem to rise and overflow, but there's
regularity and constancy to water levels.
We couldn't survive if it were otherwise.
you challenged me.
You criticized me.
You said you could answerany question I ask.
Go ahead, answer these questions.
(11:43):
Then God said, Job, explainthis thing that is called light.
Are you the one that made it?
Are you the one that sustains it?
When did you ever bringa morning to the earth?
God is saying I do all these things.
You certainly cannot, and yetyou're going to tell Me how I
should run this universe of mine?
(12:03):
Then in verses 16 through 18 God poundsJob with more penetrating questions.
Verse 16 is a fascinating verse.
He says, “Have you entered thesprings of the sea?” For thousands
of years man never saw these.
They were seen for the first time in 1974.
An unmanned submarine wentdeep to the bottom of the ocean
(12:26):
floor and photographed them.
They are springs or fountains onthe bottom of the ocean floor.
They emit extremely hot,highly mineralized water.
Scientists today callthem hydrothermal vents.
But the interesting thing isthat the book of Job was written
thousands of years before submarines.
(12:47):
How did the writer know aboutthese springs of the sea?
During the flood the Bible calls them the“fountains” of the great deep and says
“the fountains of the great deep werebroken up” [Genesis seven, verse 11].
There is only one way these Biblewriters could have known about them.
God told them.
They were inspired by the Holy Spirit.
(13:08):
But the point in this verse isthat Job had never been down there.
Then God asked Job about theplace of the dead in verse 17.
Now, remember, Job wanted to go there[to death] because he was in such pain.
And do you remember what Elihu told Job?
He said God sometimes brings aman to the very door of death for
(13:30):
reasons that only God understands.
But in this verse, God is asking Job more.
He's asking him if heactually has seen it.
Not that he simply feltthat he was near death.
God is saying the answer is no Job.
You've never looked into death.
You've never experienced it.
You've never seen what liesbeyond the doors of death.
(13:52):
You don't understand it.
Where did the idea of dying come from?
Do you know all of its purposes?
Do you know why I broughtit into existence and made
a world capable of dying?
Job doesn't really understandthat anymore than we do.
We only know what God tells us aboutand what we experience in life.
But the Bible goes on to say in verse18 that God asked Job if he knows the
(14:15):
measurement of the breadth of the earth.
Now, of course, Jobdidn't know that either.
Now today someone might say,“Well, you see there, we today
know how wide the earth is, sothis book doesn't prove anything.”
Then in response we would say thatnot everything God mentions in these
chapters is still beyond our knowledge,but it was beyond job's comprehension.
(14:39):
God could ask scientists today many otherquestions that would leave them just
as dumbfounded, but this book is notwritten primarily about these things.
That's what we have to rememberit is about a moral issue, not a
material or scientific question.
So God again challenges the manwho said that he could answer any
(14:59):
question God might throw at him.
God says tell me if you know all this.
Then God takes Job on a class trip in Hiscreation, and He asks him some profound
questions about the most simple everydayparts of nature that we oftentimes take
for granted in verses 19 through 21.
He talks about light and darkness.
(15:20):
He mentions the diffusingof light in verse 24.
God is not just asking Job togive a definition of light or
an explanation of how it works.
He's challenging Job to consider whyhe made all these things and how they
fit in with the rest of His creation,and more importantly, what are the
moral purposes that these things serve.
(15:42):
He talks about the treasures or thetreasury of the snow in verse 22.
Do you remember learning ingrade school about snowflakes?
Every one has a differentdesign, a beautiful pattern.
Then he talks about hail again.
God made all these things.
They are not accidents.
Why did God do all this?
(16:04):
Why did He create a world withsuch variety and such diversity?
That is what Job cannoteven begin to answer.
But the questions keep coming inverses 25 through 30: the channel
for overflowing water, the path ofa thunderbolt in verses 26 and 27.
God causes it to rain inplaces where no one lives.
(16:26):
Why would he do that?
In verses 28 through 30, he talksabout the rain, the dew, the frost,
and the ice that is as hard as rock.
God could have made a world without someof these things or any of these things.
Why are they here Job?
And what about the constellationsof the stars above us?
That's what he talks aboutin verses 31 through 33.
(16:47):
He talks about Pleiades and Orion andMazzaroth and the Great Bear and so forth.
Job, can you hold themin their place like I do?
Do you know and do youunderstand all this?
And what about the clouds?
Who controls the rain?
That's what he talks aboutin verses 34 through 38.
So far, God has hit job with abarrage of questions about the
(17:11):
inanimate features of his creation.
Then beginning in chapter 38,verse 39, he turns to animals.
The first one is the lion.
In verses 39 through 40, the Bible saysthat God asked Job, “Can you hunt the prey
for the lion or satisfy the appetite ofyoung lions when they crouch in their dens
(17:33):
or lurk in their layers to lie in wait?”Why and how do they hunt as they do?
That's not an accident.
God causes them to hunt like they do.
God gave them their instinct.
Can you do that Job?
And then there's the raven in verse 41.
“Who provides food for the ravenwhen its young ones cry to God
(17:56):
and wander about for lack of food?
Who feeds the birds?
God does.
Then in chapter 39, God asked Job aboutother animals in verses one through 12.
He points to four examples (18:08):
the wild mountain goats, the deer,
wild donkeys, and wild oxen.
Now I remind you that God is speaking.
You may be tempted to thinkall of this is getting off the
subject, but God never does that.
If we think these chapters in any way missthe point, it is we who have missed it.
(18:29):
So what does God askJob about these animals?
He wants Job to explain the time oftheir birth in verses one through four.
He's not merely asking how many monthsthe mother carries them in her womb.
He is asking a deeper question (18:41):
why?
Why a certain number ofdays, no more and no less?
How does this happen andwhat are the reasons for it?
Then he asked about the wild donkeys.
This was an animal that wouldn't be tamed,so why did God make an animal like that?
That's what he talks aboutin verses five through eight.
“Who set the wild donkey free? Who loosedthe bonds of the onager whose home I
(19:07):
have made in the wilderness?” So whatpurpose does an animal like this serve?
If man can't use him to work like otherdonkeys, then why did God put him here?
That's for Job to explain.
Then in verses nine through 12,he describes the “wild ox,” and
that's a better translation.
It's less confusing than the KingJames Version word “unicorn.” There are
(19:28):
different opinions about exactly whatthis animal is, but the point is clear.
God said with the hint of sarcasm (19:32):
are you going to trust him, that is, this
wild ox to plow and to pull for you?
No.
He's too wild.
He's strong, but he's useless for work.
So again, why would I makean animal like that Job?
Explain that.
Then in verses 13 through 18, He talksabout another one of his creatures.
(19:54):
This one has some strange features.
It is the ostrich in verses 13 through 18.
She doesn't take care ofand protect her offspring.
Other animals do.
Now, why is this one different?
The Bible says in verse 17about the ostrich “because God
deprived her of wisdom and didnot endow her with understanding.
(20:18):
When she lifts up herself on high, shescorns the horse and its riders.” The
Bible says in verse 16, “She treats heryoung harshly as though they are not
hers.” The ostrich doesn't have any sense.
Why?
Because God made her that way.
She doesn't have sense enoughto take care of her young.
(20:39):
She doesn't have enough senseto get out of a horse's way.
This creature is a mystery.
What purpose does thiscreature of God serve?
The ostrich seems to be out ofplace in God's animal kingdom,
but God made her like that.
Now, God is asking Job: why would I do that job? (20:54):
undefined
Answer that question.
And since He just mentioned the ostrichnot having enough sense to get out of
the horse's way, He uses the horse asthe next example in verses 19 through 25.
What a powerful,fearless, useful creature.
How is it that most animalswould be afraid of the noise
(21:15):
of war and battle, but not him?
The Bible says in verse 22, “He mocksat fear and is not frightened, nor
does he turn back from the sword.The quiver rattles against him, the
glittering spear and the javelin.”The Bible says in verse 25, “At the
blast of the trumpet, he says, aha.
He smells the battle from afar,the thunder of captains shouting.”
(21:37):
And yet, looking back at all thesecreatures that are mentioned in
chapter 39, they all have a place.
Each one serves a purpose,whether we understand that or not.
Every animal is unique by God's design.
The lion, the wild mountain goat, thedeer, the raven, the wild donkey, the
wild ox, the horse, and even the ostrich.
(21:58):
God made them all.
Then God talks about birds.
He asked Job about two majesticcreatures, and that is the hawk and
the eagle in verses 26 through 30.
In verse 26, God asked Job if a hawkflies by his, that is by Job's, wisdom.
Did your wisdom make him?
Did you figure out a way todesign a creature to make him fly?
(22:23):
It took men thousands ofyears to invent the plane.
Pilots have to be trained.
Engineers have devoted millions ofhours to design these aircraft, and
yet the eagle and the hawk fly almostwithout any effort, and they land
without crashing or even stumbling.
They do all this without man's help.
Do you understand this Job?
(22:44):
Can you fathom this?
God could have continued.
He could have asked Job about insects andfish and thousands of other creatures.
Any one of them was enough tobring Job down from his high horse.
God is not simply overwhelming Jobwith one example after another.
He is reminding Job that he asthe Creator not only created these
(23:05):
things, but that He coordinates themperfectly to serve His purposes.
Those purposes are not just to put ona display of His power, although they
certainly do that [Romans one, verse 20].
God uses these things as a lesson in hisjustice as well as his wisdom and power.
Not only is the wisdom of God behindthis universe, something that is far,
(23:27):
far above man's intellect, but hismanagement of it is beyond reproach.
God supervises the worldexactly as He wills.
Just because man thinks He should dothese things differently means nothing.
And just because man doesn't understandwhy is no reason to criticize God.
That's what these chapters are about.
(23:48):
When Job heard all this, hewas ready for God to stop.
And that brings us to chapter 40.
In chapter 40, verse two, Godasked Job if he actually thought
that he could correct his Maker.
Verse two says, “Shall the onewho contends with the Almighty
correct him?” And Job said, okay.
If I didn't know what I wastalking about, I'll shut up.
(24:08):
He says in verse four, “Behold, I am vile.
What shall I answer you?
I lay my hand over my mouth.
Once I've spoken, but I will not proceed.
Yes, twice, but I willproceed no further.”
But God said I'm not through with you yet.
In verse seven, God said again,“Prepare yourself like a man. I will
question you and you shall answerme.” Verse eight is a key verse.
(24:30):
God said, “Would you indeed annul myjudgment? Would you condemn me that you
may be justified?” Now that's a key verse,and it would be good for you to mark it.
Job was a good man, and he was rightabout what he said about himself,
that he was not an evil man, but hewas wrong in what he said about God.
And God asked him in verse eight wouldyou condemn me that you may be justified?
(24:52):
That's what Job did, especially inchapter 30, verse 21, when he said
that God was being cruel to him.
Now, let's consider that lesson.
Well, it is a good thing to beupset when you've been wronged.
You have the right to defend yourselfagainst slander or abuse or mistreatment,
but it's easy to become so determinedto defend yourself that you draw a
(25:14):
line and put yourself on one sideand the whole world on the other.
You can even get angry with God,blame Him and pull away from your
Maker who gives you everything.
God says to Job in these verses (25:25):
If you can speak with authority like Me and
humble men like I do, let's see you do it.
Then I'll confess thatyou can save yourself.
That's verse 14.
Then in the last round ofquestioning, God tells Job to
consider two of his creatures.
This begins in chapter 40, verse 15,and goes through the end of chapter 41.
(25:47):
The first animal is the behemoth.
This is a huge strong land animal.
Notice verses 15, 16, 17, and 18.
The Lord says the behemoth is “thefirst of the ways of God” in verse 19.
Now, that doesn't mean thebehemoth was the first animal
that God created in Genesis one.
It means he is first in rank in powerand strength among land animals.
(26:10):
Notice how much he eatsin verses 20 and 23.
“Surely the mountains yield food forhim.” In verse 23: “Indeed, the river
may rage, yet he is not disturbed.
He is confident though the Jordanrushes into his mouth.” So what does
God say to Job about this behemoth?
you consider this majestic creature.
(26:32):
In verse 15, God said, “I made him alongwith you,” that is, as well as you.
Everything I make and do has a place.
It has a reason, Job.
He's saying to Job (26:41):
you are upset because one thing, one part of this vast
world, which happens to be you and yoursituation, is not going like you expect.
The Lord is telling Job and He's teachingus that God's creation, His world, is
much bigger than our own little world.
When that small world falls apart,we need to remember that there's
(27:02):
a much bigger world out there.
And yes, pondering the wonders of creationcan reset our self-centered thinking.
Then God talks about theleviathan in Chapter 41.
This was a sea creature noone could capture or tame.
He is fierce.
So what was this behemoth?
What was this Leviathan.
There are many opinions, but whenyou read the description of both
(27:25):
these creatures, it is hard to thinkof anything else besides dinosaurs.
But God is not giving a lessonin biology or history here.
And although it's interesting andsometimes helpful to spend time looking
at these things, if we spend too muchtime trying to identify the behemoth and
the leviathan, whether they're dinosaursor not, we're really missing the point.
(27:45):
God tells Job why he'sbringing up the leviathan.
It's verse 10.
Mark this verse.
God says, “No one is so fierce thathe would dare stir him,” that is,
the leviathan “up (27:57):
who then is able to stand against me.” What He's
saying in verse 10 is this (28:02):
Job, you wouldn't dare to challenge a leviathan.
So why would you challenge me?
You wouldn't dare to pick afight with this sea creature,
but you're going to debate withthe One who made the leviathan.
God is showing Job his ignorance,and that's what gets us in trouble.
We criticize things thatwe don't understand.
(28:22):
And Job could not even explain thingsthat he had seen his whole life.
And we're no different.
We're all like children.
We see a very tiny partof the whole picture.
And we even get mad when lifetakes away our world as we know it.
How little we see.
How little we know.
Sometimes we're angry at lifeand we'll do everything it
(28:42):
takes to prove ourselves right.
That's what Job did.
So what was God's answerto the problem of evil?
He didn't explain anything.
He didn't say “Job, I didn't dothose things to you. Satan did
them. He's to blame, not me.”
So what was God's answer?
Simply this (29:00):
Job, if you can't, if you don't understand the simple
things of My creation, then you arein no position to criticize how I
oversee what happens to human beings.
If you're no expert on my reasons fornature working like it does, then you're
no judge of what's fair or not fair.
So the next time you think lifeis not fair, go outside and
(29:23):
look around for a few minutes.
Stop and really consider God's creation.
Think about how powerfulGod is to make all this.
Consider how wise He is tomake birds fly and fish swim.
Ponder the sun, the moon, and the stars.
God made all this.
He maintains it.
Can a God like that be unfair?
No.
(29:43):
Does a God like that knowwhat you're going through?
Yes.
As surely as He knows when a sparrowfalls to the ground [Matthew 10:29].
So what are we to do?
Let the creation hold you steady asyou go through the storms of life.
God knows what He's doing.
He knows your situationand how it will turn out.
You don't.
That's where faith comes in.
(30:05):
This is not a leap in the dark.
It's trusting in Godthrough the darkest hours.
Thank you for listeningto My God and My Neighbor.
Stay connected with our podcast on ourwebsite and on Apple, Spotify, YouTube,
or wherever fine podcasts are distributed.
Tennessee Bible College, providingChristian education since 1975
(30:26):
in Cookeville, Tennessee offersundergraduate and graduate programs.
Study at your level.
Aim higher.
Get in touch with us today.
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Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.