Sermon – Job 38 – God Responds to Job

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

First Presbyterian Church of Ocean City

Sermon – Job 38 – God Responds to Job

October 11, 2015

This is the third in a series of four sermons I am preaching on the Book of Job. Two weeks ago I told you that the Book of Job is not narrative history, or a set of laws. Rather it is a work of wisdom. In wisdom literature a literary devise is often used to exemplify a complex thought or idea. In this Book, Job is the personification of suffering. And the purpose of the book is to explore the question of why suffering occurs in a world make by the good Lord.

One possible answer to this problem of suffering came from Job's wife who blamed it on God and told her husband to curse God and die. Job faithfully rejected this advise. Suffering is not God's fault. Then Job's friends told him that he was suffering because of what he had done. They blamed the victim. Job rejected this advise too. Suffering may be caused by something we have done, but not always. Sometimes good people suffer. And the victim should never be blamed. Then, last week we heard Job's impassioned plea for a hearing with his God. Job thinks that if God would just listen to him his suffering will end. Today we will hear God's response to this request, but first let's pray.

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer.

When we first met God, in the Book of Job, he was sitting on a throne as judge of the world. Today the image of God that we have is not that of a judge, but rather that of a rabbi. In ancient times people would go to their rabbis with important questions because rabbis, or teachers, were very wise. An ancient rabbi would respond to someone's question not with an answer but with another question. If a rabbi gave an answer to the question then the conversation would be over. But by answering a question with a question the search for wisdom has just begun. This is what we see in the 38^th chapter of the Book of Job. God is sitting on a whirlwind as a rabbi. Job comes into his presence with his request for a hearing. Job asks his questions about suffering. And God, the rabbi, responds not with an answer, but with more questions.

Job 38

1 Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:

2 “Who is this that obscures my plans
    with words without knowledge?3 Brace yourself like a man;
    I will question you,
    and you shall answer me.

God appeared to Job in a storm. He did this to assure Job that he was same God who spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai. This is Job's God who will now respond as a rabbi would, not with answers, but with questions for Job and of course for us. God's purpose in doing it this way is not to give Job and answer but to make him wise. Let's listen.

4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
    Tell me, if you understand.5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
    Who stretched a measuring line across it?6 On what were its footings set,
    or who laid its cornerstone—7 while the morning stars sang together
    and all the angels[a] shouted for joy?

So where you there when God created the world? Do you know how he did it? We know he spoke the world into existence with his voice, and he did this for six days, but what exactly did he do? How did God start the Big Bang or whatever else happened?

8 “Who shut up the sea behind doors
    when it burst forth from the womb,9 when I made the clouds its garment
    and wrapped it in thick darkness,10 when I fixed limits for it
    and set its doors and bars in place,11 when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;
    here is where your proud waves halt’?

We have beach here in Ocean City. Have you ever wondered why the ocean comes to a certain point and stops? Even during last week's storms when sea levels had risen twenty feet the water was limited and did not get to 13^th street and the church. Who set this limit? And how and why was the limit set this way?

12 “Have you ever given orders to the morning,
    or shown the dawn its place,13 that it might take the earth by the edges
    and shake the wicked out of it?

If you stand on our beach early in the morning you will see a beautiful sunrise. Why does the sun come up regularly every day? Who tells it to rise and set? Who establishes the time of sunrise and sunset each day? And who designed the sunrise so beautifully?

14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;
    its features stand out like those of a garment.15 The wicked are denied their light,
    and their upraised arm is broken.

16 “Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea
    or walked in the recesses of the deep?17 Have the gates of death been shown to you?
    Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?18 Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?
    Tell me, if you know all this.

Consider for a moment the vastness of the land. Who made the mountains and the rivers? Who placed pockets of metal and minerals where miners could find them? Who put good drinking water underground for our wells and water systems?

19 “What is the way to the abode of light?
    And where does darkness reside?20 Can you take them to their places?
    Do you know the paths to their dwellings?21 Surely you know, for you were already born!
    You have lived so many years!

Where does darkness go when you turn on a light? What happens to the light when you turn a lamp off? Surely you must know because you have turned lamps on and off for years and years.

22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow
    or seen the storehouses of the hail,23 which I reserve for times of trouble,
    for days of war and battle?24 What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,
    or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?25 Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
    and a path for the thunderstorm,26 to water a land where no one lives,
    an uninhabited desert,27 to satisfy a desolate wasteland
    and make it sprout with grass?28 Does the rain have a father?
    Who fathers the drops of dew?29 From whose womb comes the ice?
    Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens30 when the waters become hard as stone,
    when the surface of the deep is frozen?

We all know that water is essential for life. And water comes to us in many ways. Who put all that water in the sky that dropped down on us last week? Who blew that 30MPH wind that lasted all week and caused the flooding? And where will all that snow come from this winter? And isn't it amazing that we have plenty of water to drink and grow our food? And, by the way, how did water get on Mars?

31 “Can you bind the chains[b] of the Pleiades?
    Can you loosen Orion’s belt?32 Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons[c]
    or lead out the Bear[d] with its cubs?33 Do you know the laws of the heavens?
    Can you set up God’s[e] dominion over the earth?

34 “Can you raise your voice to the clouds
    and cover yourself with a flood of water?35 Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?
    Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?36 Who gives the ibis wisdom[f]
    or gives the rooster understanding?[g]37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?
    Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens38 when the dust becomes hard
    and the clods of earth stick together?

Look up to sky. Did you put the clouds there? Who tell the clouds when the rain should start and stop? How about the stars and the moon and planets, did you start them on their orbits? Did you arrange the constellations we see in the night sky?

39 “Do you hunt the prey for the lioness
    and satisfy the hunger of the lions40 when they crouch in their dens
    or lie in wait in a thicket?41 Who provides food for the raven
    when its young cry out to God
    and wander about for lack of food?

Do you feed the fish in ocean? Do you put crabs in the bay? Do you tell the rock fish where to swim. Do you tell the corn and tomatoes how to grow? If not who did, and how did he do it?

When a wise person is suffering or knows someone who is suffering the best thing to do is to remember who God is and what God has done. God tells you who he is through the world he created and the Word he has given you in the Bible. As you sit with someone in a nursing home or hospital or hospice been don't blame God for the situation. And don't blame the victim for his own suffering. Rather remember who God is and all that God has done for you. The proper response to suffering is to read scripture and pray.

Next week we will listen as Job tries to answer God's questions. We will see what he does and God's final response. Until then think about this amazing God who is so much bigger than your problems. Let's pray.

Father in heaven we thank you for giving us this good earth with everything we need to thrive. Help us to always approach you with a spirit of thanksgiving, even in suffering, for all you have given us. This we pray in the name of the one who suffered for us, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.