Chapter 430 of 1163

JOB 40–41

God finally gave Job the one thing he wanted most, the opportunity to meet Him in court and defend his case. Suppose God gave you the same opportunity. What would you say to Him? Would you rather meet God in court or at the throne of grace? The more you meet Him at the throne of grace, the less interested you will be to meet Him in court.

But Job had nothing much to say! He saw himself as insignificant and ignorant and totally unable to face God. The revelation of God completely stopped his mouth. But when we are silent, we can hear God’s voice better, even if we are in a storm.

God asked Job many humbling questions, but they can be summarized in these three: (1) “Are you My equal?” (40:6–14); (2) “Can you explain the behemoth?” (40:15–24); (3) “Can you control Leviathan?” (chap. 41). The behemoth was probably the hippopotamus and the Leviathan the crocodile. Job certainly would be afraid to fight these two creatures, but he was not afraid to challenge God, their Creator! Job could not control them, but he wanted to tell God what to do!

God made each living thing, including man, suited to its environment and task. But man is not content to be the creature: he wants to be the Creator (Rom. 1:25); and that is Satan’s promise to him if he will disobey God (Gen. 3:5). The next time you hear that invitation from Satan, look at God’s creation and remember that you are not God.

The Value of Silence

God cannot do much for us as long as we are busy telling Him what to do. He must shut our mouths, as He did with Job (40:4), Moses (Deut. 3:26), and David (Ps. 39:9). The lost sinner’s mouth must be stopped (Matt. 22:12; Rom. 3:19). One day, the whole earth will be silent before the glory of the Lord (Hab. 2:20).

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