Job: Who Can Understand God’s Majesty?
“Then Job answered: “How you have helped the powerless and saved the arm that is feeble! How you have counseled the unwise and provided fully sound insight! To whom have you uttered these words? And whose spirit spoke through you?
The dead tremble—those who dwell beneath the waters. Sheol is naked before Him, and Abaddon has no covering. He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth upon nothing. He wraps up the waters in His clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their own weight. He covers the face of the full moon, spreading over it His cloud.
He has inscribed a horizon on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness. The foundations of heaven quake, astounded at His rebuke. By His power He stirred the sea; by His understanding He shattered Rahab. By His breath the skies were cleared; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent. Indeed, these are but the fringes of His ways; how faint is the whisper we hear of Him! Who then can understand the thunder of His power?”
If Job sounds disgusted, he has excellent reason. For weeks, Job has sat there while his purported comforters have pontificated and blustered. The most frustrating aspect is that these men obviously have no first-hand knowledge of God but only whatever they have absorbed from tradition and those around them. While Job has honestly worshiped God for years, these men are only spouting sentiments. No wonder that Job is disgusted.
First Job rebukes his friends and then goes on to describe the God whom he has worshiped for years. The Bible is full of magnificent passages and this is certainly one of them.
“The dead tremble—those who dwell beneath the waters. Sheol is naked before Him, and Abaddon has no covering.” Only God has full knowledge of both heaven and hell; nobody else has such knowledge.
“He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth upon nothing. He wraps up the waters in His clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their own weight. He covers the face of the full moon, spreading over it His cloud.” The Sovereign God controls the weather in miraculous fashion.
“He has inscribed a horizon on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness. The foundations of heaven quake, astounded at His rebuke. By His power He stirred the sea; by His understanding He shattered Rahab. By His breath the skies were cleared; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent. Indeed, these are but the fringes of His ways; how faint is the whisper we hear of Him! Who then can understand the thunder of His power?”
In this passage, Job honors God with an amazing description of His power, His might, and His incredible knowledge. It is God who has divided day from night, who has repeatedly defeated evil. And all these accomplishments are “but the fringes of his ways,” only a small glimpse of His magnificence.
Please remember that this description is coming from a chronically ill man scratching himself with pieces of pottery while he suffers through lecture after lecture from men who think they know it all when they actually know nothing.
APPLICATION: Amy Carmichael was an Irish Christian missionary who lived from 1867 – 1951. After several years spent in various missions, Carmichael moved to India, where she spent 55 years. Through the Dohnavur Fellowship, Carmichael rescued children from sexual slavery as temple slaves, raising them at the Dohnavur orphanage, worked on behalf of women, and wrote nearly forty books. Despite a fall at a construction site resulted in an injury that rendered her a bedridden cripple for the last twenty years of her life, Carmichael continued to minister, to write, and to inspire millions.
One veteran missionary said that he always knew when his wife was struggling because she would begin reading Carmichael’s books. If anybody could ever identify with Job, it might have been Amy Carmichael, and yet she was one of the most cheerful and uplifting people imaginable.
One collection of Carmichael’s writings is entitled The Edges of His Ways. The title is taken from this passage in Job. Amazing! A man who loved God and who suffered thousands of years ago inspired a missionary working in India. Burning with the fire of faith, this woman took Job’s assertions about God and used it to inspire untold numbers of people.
Thanks to the internet, we now can view amazing footage of huge ships enduring massive storms that throw waves several stories high, tossing them as if they are wood chips. We can view storm videos, watching as entire towns are wiped out in seconds. When viewing such things, remember that God is far bigger than anything the videos capture. Truly, Job was correct: “Indeed, these are but the fringes of His ways; how faint is the whisper we hear of Him! Who then can understand the thunder of His power?”
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, many of us are discouraged, wondering if Your power really exists. Move in our hearts and help us to see the edges of Your ways in our lives. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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