God’s Creation – God’s Answer to Man      Job 40

Job wanted to know why he was made to suffer. God’s answer begins in chapter 38 and continues through chapter 41.

In these chapters God uses an exposition of the things that he has created to highlight the gulf between God and man.

Why does a good God allow suffering? This question has been cited by many who are antagonistic towards God, but also by people who struggle with faith. Are you ready with an answer?

Job had to endure a lot of suffering. He didn’t know the reason for it, but he still revered God.

God rebuked Job (Job 40:1-2) this is a loving rebuke. God was about to instruct Job; to increase his wisdom. Even Job’s friends, who we tend to frown upon, were shown love and mercy by God. He was angry with them but was willing to forgive them- (Job 42:8) We all make mistakes but God will draw us back. He may rebuke us, but that’s because he loves us. (Proverbs 3:11-12)

(Job 40:3-5) The Lord speaks and Job sees that he is insignificant next to God and promises to be silent. What can man say before God? How then, can we speak to our Lord? How can we pray?

Like Job, we must come to the Lord with humility, understanding our lowly position in relation to our creator. Even then, our prayers would seem coarse to a perfect, Holy God, but we, as believers, have a helper; an advocate. (Romans 8:26-27)

(Job 40:6-8) Job endeavored to obey God and do what is right. By asking why God would make him suffer, there is an inference that God was guilty of wrongdoing. Many people today openly accuse God of wrongdoing. Guard your thoughts; there’s no telling where they will lead. (Philippians 4:8)

God makes a case to Job by telling him about all of the things he has made and how he sustains and controls them. He says that if Job can do these things then He would acknowledge that Job can save himself. (Job 40:9-14) Job isn’t God that he can save himself. None of us are.

(Job 40:15) God made the animals and God made man. All of creation came into being by a supernatural act of God. To say that things originated by naturalistic means is to attribute creative ability to inanimate matter. This is to worship the creature rather than the creator. (Romans 1:25)

Reading God’s descriptions of Behemoth (Job 40:15-24) and Leviathan (Job 41) we can see that these are very clearly creatures which are now extinct.

While Job had feared God and turned away from evil (Job 1:1), like the rest of us, he was still marred by sin. His righteousness and integrity were not enough to give him the right to stand before a Holy God. Now, having heard from God himself Job has a new appreciation for how enormous the gulf is between God and man.

Job, after all of his pain and despair, finally saw nothing else but to completely surrender to the creator. (Job 42:1-6)

In all that he has created, why should the creator have any regard for sinful man? Of what significance are we in this vast cosmos?

The answer is that we are the pinnacle of God’s creation. He made this earth with its abundant life to sustain us. All of God’s creation is there for our benefit. All we have to do is look around us and look up to see how great our God is.

Have you had turmoil in your life? God knows what it’s like. God the Son was reviled and beaten and nailed to the cross. He did no wrong! He was completely sinless, yet he knew suffering.

We’re not called to a life of ease, so don’t expect that everything will always go well for you. (Matthew 16:24)

We will all experience hardship. It’s not a sin to ask God to give us relief from our anguish. (Matthew 26:39) Sometimes God has mercy and gives us healing or comfort. If that happens for you then praise God; give Him the glory. Sometimes the answer is no. The best that we can do is to submit to God’s will. God’s plans are too wonderful for us to understand. How can we possibly understand the mind of the God who created the universe? Occasionally we can see some benefit come from our hardship; sometimes it’s for discipline (Proverbs 3:12) Sometimes we get to see God being glorified through our adversity. Some of the most wonderfully powerful hymns were written by people who experienced great suffering.

A lot of the time our suffering is a mystery. Bad things often happen for no apparent reason. Some seriously bad things happened to Job. He asked God ‘why did these things happen to me?’ He wasn’t told why he was made to suffer, but we can see at least a part of the answer; we have the benefit of having this record of his terrible experiences.

God’s ways are infinitely higher than our ways. All we can do is trust God. His plans are too wonderful for us to understand, but He loves us. As believers, we may not understand the reasons for our suffering but at least we know there’s a reason. (Romans 8:28)

Job knew that salvation could only come from God. Some of his words in this regard were prophetic- (Job 19:25)

This creator God: God the Son, the author of life, the one who made the whole universe, who is so far beyond us that we cannot possibly understand his plans; He became one of us and died in our place for our sins. (Philippians 2:5-11)