In The Word
Read: Job 40:6-42:6
God Questions Job
6 Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind and said,
7 “Now tighten the belt on your waist like a man;
I will ask you, and you instruct Me.
8 Will you really nullify My judgment?
Will you condemn Me so that you may be justified?
9 Or do you have an arm like God,
And can you thunder with a voice like His?
10 “Adorn yourself with pride and dignity,
And clothe yourself with honor and majesty.
11 Let out your outbursts of anger,
And look at everyone who is arrogant, and humble him.
12 Look at everyone who is arrogant, and humble him,
And trample down the wicked where they stand.
13 Hide them together in the dust;
Imprison them in the hidden place.
14 Then I will also confess to you,
That your own right hand can save you.
God’s Power Shown in Creatures
15 “Behold, Behemoth, which I made as well as you;
He eats grass like an ox.
16 Behold, his strength in his waist,
And his power in the muscles of his belly.
17 He hangs his tail like a cedar;
The tendons of his thighs are knit together.
18 His bones are tubes of bronze;
His limbs are like bars of iron.
19 “He is the first of the ways of God;
Let his Maker bring His sword near.
20 Indeed the mountains bring him food,
And all the animals of the field play there.
21 He lies down under the lotus plants,
In the hiding place of the reeds and the marsh.
22 The lotus plants cover him with shade;
The willows of the brook surround him.
23 If a river rages, he is not alarmed;
He is confident, though the Jordan rushes to his mouth.
24 Can anyone capture him when he is on watch,
Can anyone pierce his nose with barbs?
God’s Power Shown in Creatures
41 “Can you drag out Leviathan with a fishhook,
And press down his tongue with a rope?
2 Can you put a rope in his nose,
And pierce his jaw with a hook?
3 Will he make many pleas to you,
Or will he speak to you gentle words?
4 Will he make a covenant with you?
Will you take him as a servant forever?
5 Will you play with him as with a bird,
And tie him down for your young girls?
6 Will the traders bargain for him?
Will they divide him among the merchants?
7 Can you fill his skin with harpoons,
Or his head with fishing spears?
8 Lay your hand on him.
Remember the battle; you will not do it again!
9 Behold, your expectation is false;
Will you be hurled down even at the sight of him?
10 No one is so reckless that he dares to stir him;
Who then is he who opposes Me?
11 Who has been first to give to Me, that I should repay him?
Whatever is under the entire heaven is Mine.
12 “I will not be silent about his limbs,
Or his mighty strength, or his graceful frame.
13 Who can strip off his outer covering?
Who can pierce his double armor?
14 Who can open the doors of his face?
Around his teeth there is terror.
15 His strong scales are his pride,
Locked as with a tight seal.
16 One is so close to another
That no air can come between them.
17 They are joined one to another;
They clasp each other and cannot be separated.
18 His sneezes flash forth light,
And his eyes are like the eye of dawn.
19 From his mouth go burning torches;
Sparks of fire leap forth.
20 From his nostrils smoke goes out
As from a boiling pot and burning reeds.
21 His breath sets coals aglow,
And a flame goes forth from his mouth.
22 In his neck dwells strength,
And dismay leaps before him.
23 The folds of his flesh are joined together,
Firm and immovable on him.
24 His heart is as firm as a stone,
And as firm as a lower millstone.
25 When he rises up, the mighty are afraid;
Because of the crashing they are bewildered.
26 The sword that reaches him cannot prevail,
Nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin.
27 He regards iron as straw,
Bronze as rotten wood.
28 The arrow cannot make him flee;
Slingstones are turned into stubble for him.
29 Clubs are regarded as stubble;
He laughs at the rattling of the javelin.
30 His underparts are like sharp pieces of pottery;
He spreads out like a threshing sledge on the mud.
31 He makes the depths boil like a pot;
He makes the sea like a jar of ointment.
32 Behind him he illuminates a pathway;
One would think the deep to be gray-haired.
33 Nothing on earth is like him,
One made without fear.
34 He looks on everything that is high;
He is king over all the sons of pride.”
Job’s Confession
42 Then Job answered the Lord and said,
2 “I know that You can do all things,
And that no plan is impossible for You.
3 ‘Who is this who conceals advice without knowledge?’
Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand,
Things too wonderful for me, which I do not know.
4 ‘Please listen, and I will speak;
I will ask You, and You instruct me.’
5 I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear;
But now my eye sees You;
6 Therefore I retract,
And I repent, sitting on dust and ashes.”
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
God continues to speak to Job and his friends by showing them how His creation declares His glory, power, and wisdom. He helps them understand that whatever “wisdom” they thought they had was not enough to create or even comprehend the majesty of the heavens and earth.
There are many ways that God speaks to us, and His creation is one of them. Romans 1:20-32 says that creation clearly tells about God’s “invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature.” It warns of the consequences that come from not listening to God. There are many who see the wonder of heaven and earth, but refuse to see that He is the Creator, or acknowledge the glory it plainly shows about Almighty. The passage in Romans continues to say that those people “suppress the truth in unrighteousness” by choosing to live how they want without having to be convicted by God’s truth. When they refuse God’s truth by turning the truth into a lie, they finally abandon the truth so much that they become like a beast in his thinking and in his living.
Throughout scripture, God uses His creation through plants, animals, stars, and weather to teach us lessons about who He is and how we are to act. Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.” Today, look upon God’s majestic creation and declare your awe, trust, and allegiance to a mighty God.