“Job answered the LORD and said:
‘I know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
“Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?”
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
“Hear, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.”
I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you;
therefore I despise myself,
and repent in dust and ashes.’
“After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite: ‘My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.’ So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the LORD had told them, and the LORD accepted Job’s prayer.
“And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him. And each of them gave him a piece of money and a ring of gold.
“And the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. He had also seven sons and three daughters. And he called the name of the first daughter Jemimah, and the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-happuch. And in all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job’s daughters. And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. And after this Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, four generations. And Job died, an old man, and full of days.” [1]
Everyone knows that the Book of Job is the story of a man. But Job is not the key character! Oh, he speaks a lot, and he is the focus of Satan’s attention, but if you read the book with the thought that the story is about Job, you will miss the most important facets of what is written. The unseen God is the key to understanding the book. We witness the Living God at the beginning of the story, and we meet Him again at the conclusion of the account. And throughout the book, we witness an innocent man at the mercy of the vicissitudes of life that any of us might experience. Currents swirl about Job that leave the reader befuddled, astounded, and even confused.
Job is dismayed at the overwhelming torrents unleashed against him. If you’ve never been dismayed, never been stunned by events that hammer you, you are an anomaly. Job is frustrated with God. If you’ve never been frustrated with God, perhaps it is because you don’t know God. Job comes near to charging God with unfairness. If you’ve never been tempted to say that God is unfair, is it because you have had little interaction with God? Job appears angry with God at points. If you’ve never been angry with God, could it be because you don’t really know God?
Every twice-born follower of Christ will have had an encounter with God, an encounter that resulted in the forgiveness of sin and salvation for that individual. Having encountered the Living God, the child of God has been born from above and adopted into the Family of God. However, as time passes, the tendency is that the child of God will slide again into a state of spiritual somnolence, resulting in a tepid relationship with God.
It is not that God moves away from His child; rather, it is that the child of God becomes conditioned by the press of daily life to focus on the mundane, and the humdrum of daily existence drowns out the excitement of walking with God. Though we who are saved still have immediate access into the presence of the Lord GOD, our prayers become routine, pedestrian, almost rote. We move farther and farther from the Lord, and our walk with the Master no longer causes us to anticipate those times—we become casual in our time with Him, even taking Him for granted until…
Some years past, the brilliant essayist, C. S. Lewis, wrote, “Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” [2] God is real; God reigns. We witness Him through the world about us, but too often we fail to hear Him as He speaks. Have we never heard the words penned by David so many years past?
“The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.”
[PSALM 19:1-4a]
God is! And God speaks, though we often prove to be deaf to His voice, or we are exposed as obtuse and unwilling to hear Him.
As already mentioned, due to our fallen condition, it becomes necessary from time-to-time that the one who follows the Saviour will need to be stirred up. Surely, this is what is in view when we read in the Letter to Hebrew saints, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” [HEBREWS 10:23-25]. In the fellowship of believers, we acknowledge our need for one another—we pray for one another, watch over one another, warn one another when we stray, and we urge one another to stand firm in the Faith as our spirit lags and as we grow weary.
Working together with the faithful, we know also that the Spirit of God, dwelling in each believer is always working to stir up that believer to pursue righteousness. For this reason we read, “Do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, ‘He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us’” [JAMES 4:5]?
And how does the Spirit of the Lord work to stir up the people of God? Among other things, He draws back the veil that separates this life from the reality of eternity to give God’s holy people a fresh glimpse of the Lord. I’m always humbled when I read of Moses. Moses wasn’t a perfect man, but he was a great man. He made some serious mistakes that kept him from entering the land God had promised to Israel. Despite his flaws, he is known as a man who spoke with God face-to-face. And that should encourage us when we grow weary or when discouragement settles in.
Though Moses had been the divine instrument to deliver the people from slavery, and though he led them through the trackless wilderness, he dishonoured the Lord and was thus kept from setting foot on the soil which God reserved for Israel. An unknown author gives us insight into how the Great Deliverer was able to accomplish all that was done when he writes, “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen” [HEBREWS 11:24-27 NASB95].
As Moses grew dispirited, as he grew weary, God would draw back the curtain that keeps man from peering into the holy precincts to permit His servant to look up and see Him Who is unseen. And God does the same for each of us when we grow weary, or when we begin to be consumed with the cares of this dying world. The Spirit of the Living God draws aside the curtain; and lifting our eyes we can see in a fresh way what we have begun to take for granted. Looking again on the face of our Father, we are refreshed and enabled to enter again into the hard tasks that distinguish us from those who drift through life without a vital connection to the Living God.
The next time you read the Book of Job, I encourage you to read with understanding that the Living God is central to all that takes place. Read, understanding that as you read of the trials of Job, God is overseeing all the events, ensuring that His glory is being revealed. And just as nothing could come into the life of that godly man without the permission of God Who is too good to needlessly hurt His servant and too wise to make a mistake, know that nothing can ever come into your life without the permission of your Heavenly Father.
SLIDING INTO SPIRITUAL SENESCENCE — Job was known to God; and the enemy knew Him as well! As the account of Job’s struggles opens, we read of this godly man, “There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, ‘It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.’ Thus Job did continually” [JOB 1:1-5].
I admit that the text doesn’t say that Job had slipped into a state of spiritual decrepitude, but events appear to suggest that his religious devotions were already moving toward mere pro forma acts, if they had not actually reached that state. Job was blessed in the material realm. His children were able to enjoy regular feasting at a time when such celebratory actions would be rare. Job routinely moved through religious devotions as he would plead for his children. Candidly, it was easy for Job to be religious in his particular situation. The danger of growing casual about one’s religious temperature is that when ardour has begun to cool, it seldom flares up again. This is especially true when the opportunity for flaming into life again is dependent on our own action. God alone can fuel white hot faith.
I remind you that we can stir up the coals of faith, but the flame itself must be ignited by God Himself. Paul would encourage Timothy, “Fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” [2 TIMOTHY 1:6-7]. This does require that there must be some tinder at least. If you are a child of God, the tinder is the faith and good works, and you can ensure that these combustibles are readily available.
I suggest that Paul’s words to Timothy gain even more force in our lives when we note his admonition to the congregation in Salonica. The Apostle urged the Thessalonian saints, and us, “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil” [1 THESSALONIANS 5:19-22]. In short, urges us to discipline ourselves to be sensitive to the leading of the Spirit of Christ. Compare what others may say or what you may read against the Word God has given, seizing upon what is good and eschewing that which is evil. Let the Word of God direct your life so that you have a foundation on which the Spirit of Christ can effectively work.
In some ways, Job’s plight in life was not unlike that in which we find ourselves in this day. On the world scale, Canadians are wealthy. Decades of peace have ensured that we need not be concerned that our sons or our daughters will soon see combat. Even our poor own and drive a vehicle, often a newer model car or truck. Every home has a flat-screen television and a computer. Our children all have cell phones from early ages. We amuse ourselves with vapid communication via What’s App, or Facebook, or Twitter, or Tik Tok. Few Canadians will ever go to bed hungry, and we have homes and apartments in which we can retire each evening. Unemployment is higher than it should be, but in comparison to most of the world, Canadians can work if they want to.
Canadians, as is true in even greater measure for those living in the United States, enjoy greater blessings than ever. And we are less grateful to God than ever! We who profess to know the Living God, we who claim to have been twice born, demonstrate too often that we have grown comfortable with a performance rather than an encounter with the Living God. We are too often willing to give an occasional crumb of our time, rather than losing ourselves in worship, bowing in gratitude before the God Who always showers us with His grace. We Christians in these last days have grown drowsy, and we have stumbled into spiritual senescence without knowing that we have fallen asleep. We are sleepwalking through life, unconsciously moving toward a rude awakening. For when disaster comes to us as Christians, when God permits the wicked one to touch our lives, we will have nowhere to turn because we have unwittingly allowed ourselves to be deaf to the Spirit’s pleas and we have shut ourselves off from divine mercy.
GOD’S OVERSIGHT OF HIS CHILD — As we begin reading the Book of Job, we discover that behind the scenes, a titanic battle was taking place. From the first words of the account, we witness this great struggle. Job was unaware of what was taking place, but there was nevertheless a very real struggle taking place. As the account opens, we read, “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. The LORD said to Satan, ‘From where have you come?’ Satan answered the LORD and said, ‘From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.’ 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?’ Then Satan answered the LORD and said, ‘Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.’ And the LORD said to Satan, ‘Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.’ So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD” [JOB 1:6-12].
We are given a glimpse of this spiritual struggle. The reason we are permitted this glimpse of what was taking place in the unseen realm is not merely to set the stage for the remainder of the book, though without knowledge of this unseen battle we cannot really understand the account God has given. Just as there was a spiritual battle taking place in the heavenly places before Job was assailed, none of us can know what battles are even now taking place in the heavenly precincts, battles that will involve us. What we may be confident of as followers of the Risen Saviour is that our Heavenly Father watches over us to ensure that nothing will come into our lives that will not result in glory to His Name and that will result in good for us.
This is true, and because this is true, the child of God does not need to give way to despair when life turns sour for her or for him. When it seems as if all hell is breaking loose and anything that can go wrong has gone wrong, the twice born child of God can be assured that he knows the God Who is too good to needlessly hurt him and Who is too wise to make a mistake. Nothing comes into the life of the child of God that has not been permitted by that child’s Heavenly Father. Ever and always, our Loving Father is watching over us for our good and for His glory. As His child, nothing in your life will catch God by surprise. God will never need to have a “plan B.”
Christians do well to recall the confession of the Psalmist, who testified,
“I trust in you, O LORD;
I say, ‘You are my God.’
My times are in your hand;
rescue me from the hand of my enemies
and from my persecutors!”
[PSALM 31:14-15]
You have heard me recite these verses on other occasions—they are favourite verses for me; but do you remember the context that elicited the Palmist’s confession and plea? Listen to the verses immediately preceding his testimony.
“Because of all my adversaries I have become a reproach,
especially to my neighbors,
and an object of dread to my acquaintances;
those who see me in the street flee from me.
I have been forgotten like one who is dead;
I have become like a broken vessel.
For I hear the whispering of many—
terror on every side!—
as they scheme together against me,
as they plot to take my life.”
[PSALM 31:11-13]
The Psalmist was beset by multiple woes, and he had surrendered to baser attitudes and views because of what he was then experiencing. Here is the thing that we sometimes forget, or we at least neglect—David recognised his sinful condition, but he never gave up trusting the God Who loved him. Stalked by people that were determined to kill him, David looked up. He didn’t allow his unrighteous attitudes, or even his ungodly actions, keep him from looking to the LORD for deliverance. His prayer was not a demand that God acquiesce to David’s demands; rather, he confessed that whatever happened, he was confident that the LORD was in control.
And you who are children of the Living God, though times may be difficult, though your prospects may appear quite dark, though you may even question what will happen to you, you know in your heart that God loves you. Though you cannot say what is going to happen next, you have hope in God. You know that He is looking on you and that He is always working through you and working for you. And it holds true that amid your tribulations, you find yourself silently mouthing the words the old Patriarch Job spoke, “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him [JOB 13:15a].
The life of Joseph is encouragement for us as we follow the Lord. Though God had revealed to the young man that he would accomplish great things in God’s own time, Joseph found himself sold into slavery by his own brothers. Enslaved in a foreign land, he was falsely accused of a heinous offense against the wife of his master, which resulted in his imprisonment. Weeks passed, then months, and years and his situation remained unchanged. Nothing was going his way, and things were growing worse.
Then one night, Pharaoh had a dream that disturbed him. That dream set in motion the events that would result in the rescue of Israel and his entire family, and it would be Joseph who was the instrument God had prepared for this very thing. After Israel’s death, the brothers who had sold Joseph into slavery became worried that he would at last exact revenge because of the evil they had done against him. They concocted a story of how their father had commanded them to ask forgiveness for the grievous wrong they had committed.
Listen to the Word that tells of Joseph’s response to their ruse. “Joseph said to [his brothers, who had earlier sold him into slavery], ‘Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.’ Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them” [GENESIS 50:19-21].
Joseph was able to look back over the scope of his life and see that through every trial, in every difficulty, facing every challenge, God had been at work to glorify His Holy Name to fulfil His will. Joseph could not have seen clearly that the hand of God was on him when he was sold into slavery. He could not have fully understood that God was in control when he was falsely accused and imprisoned. Only afterwards would it be evident that God was working through every situation to accomplish His perfect will.
And what was true for Joseph will be true for you! Only afterwards, only after events have played out to the conclusion God has permitted, will you be able to see why He allowed you the experiences you passed through. That is the Apostle’s conclusion when he writes the Corinthians, testifying, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort” [2 CORINTHIANS 1:3-7].
How our suffering benefits others is a theme throughout the writings of the Apostle. For instance, hear what he writes to a younger minister in what was presumably Paul’s final missive. Writing Timothy, we witness Paul encouraging the younger man, “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.
“Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. The saying is trustworthy, for:
‘If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he also will deny us;
if we are faithless, he remains faithful—’
for he cannot deny himself” [2 TIMOTHY 2:1-13].
Here is a truth you must never forget as you move through this life, and you must especially remember this as you encounter hard times, as you surely will! God has promised, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” [1 CORINTHIANS 10:13].
Though we sometimes find it difficult to accept, our Father has left us here in the world—and the world is a hostile place for the one who follows the Master! Jesus acknowledged this reality when He said, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” [MATTHEW 10:16-20].
Recall how the Master has prayed for us, asking the Father, “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world” [JOHN 17:6-16].
To this point, you may wonder what my words have to do with the closing chapter of Job. I’ve spoken of how easily we can slip into spiritual senescence. As followers of the Risen Son of God, as worshippers of the One True God, we tend toward complacency, move inexorably toward an attitude of casually ignoring God. It is as if we eagerly embrace the caricature of God presented by the world. Though we may not say the words, we begin to think of God as “the little man upstairs,” a kindly grandfatherly sort who wants what is good but isn’t always able to provide what he wants. We know God watches over us, but we aren’t really prepared to trust Him fully.
REKINDLING OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD — Job needed to rekindle his relationship with God. He didn’t have the ability to do this in his own strength; God had to be the one to initiate and complete this reignition of the relationship. And it was through the painful experiences that seem almost cruel that God worked to accomplish His will. We don’t really get what was going on, but God permitted Satan to assail Job in a vain attempt to demonstrate the power of evil.
Job was a wealthy man, and Satan took all the wealth Job had accumulated. Then, Satan took away Job’s children, killing all of them in brutal fashion. Job’s response to these devastating tragedies was to testify, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” [JOB 1:21]. I won’t suggest how you would respond to such tragedies, but I’m confident that I could not be that restrained. We are trained throughout life to define ourselves by what we possess, and when our possessions are stripped from us, we are uncertain of our worth. Our children represent our hope for the future; we labour to provide them with opportunity to achieve even more than we might have achieved. When our children are removed, something inside of us dies. Job’s response to these terrible losses is admirable for his calm acceptance of loss.
There was nothing left to strip away from Job save his health, and God permitted Satan to rob Job of his health. Nothing was left, and Job’s wife hit rock bottom. She pleaded with Job, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die” [JOB 2:9]. Job’s response was beyond comprehension for most of us. The suffering saint simply said, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil” [JOB 2:10]?
There is a coda appended to the text after we witness Job’s initial response to this final insult to life. We read, “In all this Job did not sin with his lips” [JOB 2:10b]. This doesn’t mean Job was a stoic, or that he didn’t have questions about what had happened, or doubts about God’s justice and goodness. As we read the account of his interactions with his friends, we witness his confusion and the pain repeatedly bubbling to the surface. The grieving saint questions what is happening, questions whether God is fair, questions why he must pass through such dark vales, and responds indignantly to the ignorant suggestions of his friends. And there is no ready answer to any of his questions.
And then God intervened to reveal something of Himself. He asked Job to answer a few questions. God revealed His omnipotence. He called all things into being. Could Job explain even some of the simple aspects of the creation? Job was not able to do simple things, having no power beyond that which God gives. Isn’t that what Jesus challenges us with when He says, “Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith” [MATTHEW 6:25-30].
God also reminded Job of His knowledge, His omniscience. He knows what man cannot know, even knowing us. Perhaps you will recall the Psalmist when he testified,
“O LORD, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.”
[PSALM 139:1-6]
Even the wicked who have no respect for the LORD are known by Him. Cautioning the king of Assyria, a man who had no regard for the LORD, God warned,
“I know your sitting down
and your going out and coming in,
and your raging against me.
Because you have raged against me
and your complacency has come into my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth,
and I will turn you back on the way
by which you came.”
[2 KINGS 19:27-28]
If we allow ourselves to think about God’s knowledge, we will confess with the Apostle, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
‘For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?’
‘Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?’
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen” [ROMANS 11:33-36]. Amen, indeed!
To know how things work, to know how things are created, is knowledge that lies far beyond our ability to understand. But to know why we think as we do, to know why we respond to situations as we do, to know our secret thoughts, reveals that God is so far beyond our ability to comprehend that we can never understand Him. None of us can get in front of God, for He knows us.
And God reminded Job of His incomprehensible wisdom, what the theologian speaks of as omnisapience. You may recall how the Apostle ascribed to the Risen Saviour divine wisdom, wisdom that is available to the one who follows Him. Paul testified, “I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for those who have not met me face to face. My goal is that their hearts, having been knit together in love, may be encouraged, and that they may have all the riches that assurance brings in their understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” [COLOSSIANS 2:1-3 NET BIBLE 2nd].
Because we who believe have obtained an inheritance in Christ, having been predestined through our hope in Christ, and because of our faith in the Lord Jesus and our love toward all the saints, the Apostle prayed (and each of us can pray), “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give [each of us] the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of [our] hearts enlightened, that [we] may know what is the hope to which he has called [us], what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come” [EPHESIANS 1:17-21]. Amen! Amen, indeed.
The young man who at last spoke for God when Job had reached the point of utter frustration with the comfort of his friends, testified to the weary saint,
“Remember to extol his work,
of which men have sung.
All mankind has looked on it;
man beholds it from afar.
Behold, God is great, and we know him not;
the number of his years is unsearchable.”
[JOB 36:24-26]
Indeed, the message I have just presented is incomplete, for who can comprehend God? We know neither His might nor His power. We know only what He has revealed to us. And none of us can comprehend his wisdom. And yet, each one who has been redeemed by His grace has experienced His power—the power that transforms us from sinners under sentence of death to be adopted into His Family after He has forgiven us every sin. Each redeemed child of God has witnessed the knowledge of the Holy One, for He has revealed our innermost thoughts and dismissed our fears as we rest in Him. Each saved individual has witnessed His wisdom as we stand awed by the grace that He showered on us in Christ Jesus the Lord. And what He has done for us, He does for each one who receives Christ the Lord. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Good News Publishers, 2001. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain, p. 367
