God Speaks
November 25, 2018

Scripture: Job 38:1-8

I. God speaks in suffering that He is sovereign over creation and evil.

A. The Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind (vs. 1). God spoke to Elijah in a still, small voice in 1 Kings 19. But there was no still, small voice for Job. God gave Job the full tornado treatment. Why? Because God had a message for Job: I am the sovereign God of the universe. I can do whatever I want, and no one and nothing can stop me. God is not angry with Job in vs. 2-3. Let’s remember what God said about Job in Job 1:8: “And the LORD said to Satan, ‘Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” God’s opinion of Job’s character or his behavior have not changed since chapter 1.

B. But the words that Job spoke about God were without knowledge. So, God is now going to give Job an education about Himself. God speaks to Job about the world that He and He alone created. God questions Job about the earth in vs. 4-7, the sea in vs. 8-11, the morning in vs. 12-15, the world of the dead in vs. 16-18, light in vs. 19-21, snow in vs. 22-23, storms in vs. 24-27, rain in vs. 28-30, the constellations in vs. 31-33, and clouds in vs. 34-38. God does not answer Job’s questions about suffering by talking about His creation. Why? God has something far more important to give Job and to give us than answers to our questions. Knowledge of Himself. By asking these rhetorical questions God helps us to know how great He is.

C. One thing we will see as God asks His questions is that He is sovereign over not just creation but also over evil. For example, verse 12 talks about how God is like a general who commands the morning to begin. And what happens every morning according to vs. 13? God shakes the wicked – the wicked who love darkness rather than light – out of the earth. Every day we get a preview of God’s judgment over evil. Every day we see what God will do in the future. Darkness will not last forever. It will be defeated just as sure as the sun rises every morning.

II. God speaks in suffering that He knows more than we do.

A. Beginning in vs. 22 we learn about what God is doing in the skies. God asks Job rhetorically in vs. 33, “Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth?” Again, the answer for Job and for us to this rhetorical question is, “No, God, I can’t. But you can.” God knows far more than we do. There is simply a lot about His world that we don’t know or understand. We like to think that we know just as much as God or even more than God. But the truth is only God understands and knows certain things. The truth is that even evil and suffering can serve the purposes and the glory of our great God. And the truth is that in some mysterious way even darkness is necessary to show forth the light of God’s goodness.

III. God speaks in suffering that He wants our trust more than anything else.

A. The rhetorical questions God asks reveal that God wants Job to know Him better. But if we can’t answer God’s questions, if we can’t understand all that God is doing, then what does God want? More than anything else God wants our trust. God wants us to say in our suffering, “God, I don’t understand what you are doing. But I do know enough to know that you are still good.”

Application:
Trust God in your suffering. He is still good.

Sources:
The book of Job
Commentaries on Job by Francis Andersen and Christopher Ash