“But of course you know all this! For you were born before it was all created, and you are so very experienced!”
Job 38:21 NLT—Drop the mic 🎤
To those who argue that the Bible is antiquated and out of touch, the Author has a question for you. Where were you when….? Solomon penned the words that we’ve all used from time to time. “ There's nothing new under the sun.” God has a revolving door set up. Every generation experiences something of what He’s written. The Bible is the only book to my knowledge that has not been rewritten or corrected. It has contained the same sixty-six books for thousands of years, the content has not changed and the message has outlasted every other religious book that has been written. You may fact check me. Since our God, who’s the Author, is ageless we must conclude that so is His Word. He steps out of time. People are still speculating about what “ in the beginning“ means. 🤔 Only He knows the answer.
In response to Job and his tormentors -I meant comforters- God Almighty asked a series of questions. For all the smart people in my audience, you may want to reconsider that perception of yourself. We are finite beings. We have been given limited information into certain spiritual things because to know everything would make us God and we’re not. You already see what happens to people who believe they possess vast knowledge, they’re puffed up to the gills. I've been watching a few of them bloviating all over television for over a year now, with no conclusive evidence or answers. He that sitteth in the heavens is having a good laugh at their expense. Why should He offer solutions or insight when they know it all? It's all about the science lol. Whose science? God knows how to humble us, and He will in time. But back to the question and non-answer session.
God had heard enough! And so He steps into the circle of the elites. Let’s learn what transpired.
“Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind: “Who is this that questions My wisdom with such ignorant words? Brace yourself like a man, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them. “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you know so much. Who determined its dimensions and stretched out the surveying line? What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? “Who kept the sea inside its boundaries as it burst from the womb, and as I clothed it with clouds and wrapped it in thick darkness? For I locked it behind barred gates, limiting its shores. I said, ‘This far and no farther will you come. Here your proud waves must stop!’ “Have you ever commanded the morning to appear and caused the dawn to rise in the east? Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth, to bring an end to the night’s wickedness? As the light approaches, the earth takes shape like clay pressed beneath a seal; it is robed in brilliant colors. The light disturbs the wicked and stops the arm that is raised in violence. “Have you explored the springs from which the seas come? Have you explored their depths? Do you know where the gates of death are located? Have you seen the gates of utter gloom? Do you realize the extent of the earth? Tell Me about it if you know! “Where does light come from, and where does darkness go? Can you take each to its home? Do you know how to get there? But of course you know all this! For you were born before it was all created, and you are so very experienced! “Have you visited the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of hail? (I have reserved them as weapons for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war.) Where is the path to the source of light? Where is the home of the east wind? “Who created a channel for the torrents of rain? Who laid out the path for the lightning? Who makes the rain fall on barren land, in a desert where no one lives? Who sends rain to satisfy the parched ground and make the tender grass spring up? “Does the rain have a father? Who gives birth to the dew? Who is the mother of the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens? For the water turns to ice as hard as rock, and the surface of the water freezes. “Can you direct the movement of the stars— binding the cluster of the Pleiades or loosening the cords of Orion? Can you direct the constellations through the seasons or guide the Bear with her cubs across the heavens? Do you know the laws of the universe? Can you use them to regulate the earth? “Can you shout to the clouds and make it rain? Can you make lightning appear and cause it to strike as you direct? Who gives intuition to the heart and instinct to the mind? Who is wise enough to count all the clouds? Who can tilt the water jars of heaven when the parched ground is dry and the soil has hardened into clods? “Can you stalk prey for a lioness and satisfy the young lions’ appetites as they lie in their dens or crouch in the thicket? Who provides food for the ravens when their young cry out to God and wander about in hunger?” Job 38:1-41 NLT
These questions kept coming from chapters 38 through 41(you must read these chapters) you’ll be left bewildered like Job. Remember Stephen Hawking? The most brilliant mind so-called of our generation? He said there was neither proof or need of God. Ahem… he’ll meet Him and there’s no do over, no retraction, no going back.
Another translation of verse two reads “who is this that obscures my plans?“ The word obscure here implies a hiding or veiling of meaning through some inadequacy of expression or withholding of full knowledge. In short. Job didn’t know what he was talking about and neither did his friends or Mr. Hawking, God rest his soul. So whenever we start smelling ourselves, we may want to take a break and read Job chapters 38-42 And realize we’re not as brilliant as we think. We may be permitted by His grace to know some things, He called that revelation knowledge and it’s for a specific purpose, but the secret things still belong to Him. Deuteronomy 29:29. Let’s read Job’s response to God after the inquisition.
“Then Job replied to the Lord: “I know that You can do anything, and no one can stop You. You asked, ‘Who is this that questions My wisdom with such ignorance?’ It is I—and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me. You said, ‘Listen and I will speak! I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.’ I had only heard about You before, but now I have seen You with my own eyes. I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.”
Job 42:1-6 NLT
It would serve the Hawking’s and Fauci’s of this world to take notes. The humble will be exalted, the exalted will be humbled. We are limited in our knowledge, even what you’ve learned in school isn’t exhaustive. God has a right to question us, He has the ultimate power and right to ask “where were we when…..?” He has neither beginning nor end. He knows all things about everything. Our problem is we’d rather pretend to know than ask the One who does. SO WHERE WERE YOU???
Job learned and so must we, that we don’t have the answers but He does. That’s why He’s God.
Written by permission of the Holy Spirit
W. Tennant
August 11, 2021