Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said: “Who is this who darkens counsel By words without knowledge? Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me. Job 38:1-3, NKJV
Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said: “Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me: “Would you indeed annul My judgment? Would you condemn Me that you may be justified? Job 40:6-8, NKJV
Every time I re-read the Book of Job, I always gain something new. Praise God. This year I’m going through it via the Bible Recap with Tara-Leigh Cobble (you can peruse it via their website here). The main new thing I learned is the possibility that, in the preceding chapters, Elihu’s rebuke of Job likely turned out to be just as bad and missed the point, just like Job’s “friends.” Up until this point, I had always believed that Elihu was on point, unlike the others, and that when God spoke afterwards, it was as if Elihu was preparing the way for the Lord to speak (kind of like John the Baptist before the start of Jesus’ ministry).
The bottom line is that while Elihu may have said some things that were right and true, even he was self-righteous. And recalling something else I heard in a sermon preached about five years ago now, even though, as the scripture says, God answered Job out of the whirlwind, the significance isn’t that God was angry (although He certainly was), nor that Job had to completely backtrack (although he certainly had to)… no, it was that, behind all the multitude of words, Job was crying out for God’s presence, even though he went about it sideways. God showed up.
I’m pausing to post because I’m recalling a moment from last month when I heard God say something similar to me: “Who are you to determine what is right?” (I recorded it in this post, in fact.) It brought back to mind a memory from sixth grade at my school in New York, at the beginning of the year. We had just gotten a new headmaster, and along with turnover of 2/3 of the faculty, suffice to say it was a regime change in terms of how things were done at school. This included sweeping changes to norms such as proper manners at the dining table. I forget what the issue precisely was, but I had repeatedly gotten irked at some of the new fifth graders (at the time still the youngest grade at the school) who weren’t, in my eyes, “following the rules” (i.e. the old rules that were in place from the previous year). Of course, I was saying these things within earshot of the new headmaster.
Finally, after a few instances of this, he spoke up to me directly and told me to stop: “Don’t go on about what you think we’re ‘allowed’ to or ‘not allowed’ to do! I’m the headmaster, and what I say goes!”
Suffice to say, I stopped.
Then, when it happened again last month, I stopped then as well.
Recently, I’ve been finding myself murmuring again about some of the same old aspects of the same old circumstances that have been getting under my skin. I say that as a confession, not as a boast.
Do all things without complaining and disputing, Philippians 2:14, NKJV
What I also really wanted to mention was something that I picked up from the Book of Job that was new two years ago, the last time I read through this book. I had glossed over Job 42:10-11 in previous readings, but it stood out to me, not only as a sign of God’s mercy, but also as an answer to prayer:
And the Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. Then all his brothers, all his sisters, and all those who had been his acquaintances before, came to him and ate food with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him for all the adversity that the Lord had brought upon him. Each one gave him a piece of silver and each a ring of gold. Job 42:10-11, NKJV
It’s important to note that this only happened after Job completely repented, and after Job prayed for his three friends who were brutal to him. I thought this was amazing. Often one of my prime complaints when I look back through the hard seasons in my life (especially childhood) is how I often felt like I never got a chance to recover after a given trial before the next one came along. That thankfully changed somewhat when I became an adult. Thankfully. Even though I still struggle with trials, seeing the above verse from Job 42 was a glimpse of how, even though Job had all sorts of bad things happen to him, and then he still was in trouble with God and was the one to have to admit wrongdoing, Job did in fact get a chance to recover from his many trials. And, going strictly off Scripture, Job appears to have never had another serious trial again after that. That gives me hope.
In each of the video recaps that Tara-Leigh Cobble posts after each day’s reading, she shares what she calls a “God Shot.” It’s almost always different for each day. Mine for this whole book could be contained in Job 42:10-11. God may (and does) allow affliction. But He will always offer comfort after.
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28, NKJV
That’s my hope. And it’s the hope I’m going to offer to you today.
