Introduction. Read Job38to42.

God rarely speaks at great length when communicating directly to a person. A classic instance of this is the interchange between God and Moses at the burning bush. Similarly when God sends an angel with a message it is delivered clearly and briefly. The angels at the tomb announced an amazing event by saying: "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'" Lk24v5to7.

The elaborate and long winded response of God to the complaints of Job confirm me in my belief that the book is a story composed to illustrate important truths. The poetry of chapters 38 to 42 is wonderful but there is no doubt the message could have been expressed more directly and briefly. So I believe the book of Job is an inspired story rather than a description of reality. The author puts words into God's mouth. However, I will continue - along with all the commentators I have used - as if God did actually speak to Job!

I will examine the passage under four headings:

(1) A response. Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm.

What Job wanted and, indeed, needed in his distress was a response from God. Finally God spoke.

Job's longing for God's involvement with his problem is something he shares with other characters in the Bible.

When the children of Israel complained to Moses about their boring diet of manna in the wilderness Moses let God know how he felt. He said: "I cannot carry this people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. If this is how you are going to treat me put me to death right now - if I have found favour in your eyes - and do not let me face my own ruin." Nu11. God came to the rescue of Moses and sent vast quantities of quail into the camp - not that it did the Israelites much good. They gorged themselves on so much meat that their digestive systems could not cope and they died.

Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane for reassurance that the ordeal facing him was really necessary and Paul prayed for God to remove his thorn in the flesh. In both instances God came with the necessary reassurance.

There are times we need confirmation of God's presence with us. We, like Gideon, feel the need to put out the fleece in the midst of a severe trial of our faith.

It was very gracious of God to answer Job and bring the examination of his faith to a conclusion. I believe that when we are justifiably deeply troubled God will make his presence felt.

(2) A rebuke. "Who is this that darkens counsel with words without knowledge?" Ch38v2.

The LORD asks Job, "Who are you to question my decisions without knowing all the facts?" Job indisputably did this. He questioned why he experienced one misfortune after another without knowing it was a test of his faith - a test to prove Satan wrong.

There are many instances in the Bible of God working his purposes out by strange means. Joseph would have been forgiven for thinking God had abandoned him when he was sold as a slave into Egypt. Yet God was with him and preparing him for his role as Prime Minister of Egypt and the saviour of his people.

Moses, as a young man, was quite willing to be the champion of his enslaved people. However, his aspirations were rejected by the Israelites and he had to flee to Midian where he worked as a shepherd for his father-in-law in the semi-desert. The forty years he spent there were essential preparation for the period he led the Israelites in the wilderness.

The early church in Jerusalem was scattered by fierce persecution. This must have been very unpleasant at the time but resulted in the gospel being spread over a wide area. When Paul was imprisoned his sphere of operation was limited but nonetheless he was able to witness to the palace gaurd.

I expect many missionaries in China questioned the providence of God when they were forced to leave by the communists but the result was a rapidly growing house-church movement.

Things will happen to us which we cannot understand. Like Job we may well question God. When we are tempted to do so it is as well to remember that, unlike God, we do not have all the facts.

(4) A recital.

God replies to Job by asking him 72 questions - none of which he can answer. The questions fall into three categories:

(a) Could you replicate my creation? 38v1to38.

I am not going to deal with all the questions God asked in this category. I intend instead to give a flavour of the questions God posed Job.

• "Did you play a part in deciding on the dimensions of the earth?" These dimensions are crucial for the support of life on earth.

• "Did you decide on the proportion of land to sea and the distribution of the oceans?"

• "Can you explain the mystery of light and darkness. Why does light consist of the seven colours of the rainbow?

• "Do you really understand the weather? Can you make the rain, dew and frost?"

• "Can you control the movement of the stars in the heaven."

Some of the matters God raises are much better understood now than in the time of Job but there remain many things we still do not understand about the origin of planets, the affect on climate of a different pattern of land and sea and the nature of light. Whereas the weather is now largely understood man remains a long, long way from controlling it. We remain very much at the mercy of the elements - a humbling thought!

(b) Are you responsible for the nature of living things? SeeJob38v39to39v30.

In this magnificent poetic description of living things God asks Job if he is responsible for:

• The hardiness of the mountain goat whose "young thrive and grow strong in the wilds." v4.

• The freedom of the wild donkey. "He ranges the hills for his pasture and searches for any green thing." v8.

• The strength of the wild ox.

• The eccentricity of the ostrich - a bird so careless of its eggs and its young. "Yet when she spreads her feathers to run she laughs at horse and rider." v18.

• The sheer majesty of the war horse. "He paws fiercely, rejoicing in his strength and charges into the fray. He laughs at fear, afraid of nothing; he does not shy away from the sword." v21and22.

• The soaring and far sighted eagle. "A rocky crag is his stronghold. From there he seeks his food; his eyes detect it from afar." v28and29.

Only God could design creatures of such magnificence. The process God used might be open to debate but Christians see the living world as the fruit of God's immense creative imagination. Men can design wonderful machines but nothing that pulses with life like the war horse, wild goat or golden eagle. No drone is going to rival the sheer beauty and grandeur of the soaring eagle - rising on the thermals and swooping on its prey.

(3) Can you subdue the strong? Seech40and41.

In his speeches Job questioned God's justice. He didn't consider that he was treated fairly. See ch6v29 and ch27v1to6. The patriarch questioned why God failed to judge the wicked. See ch21v29to31 and ch24v1to17.

God rebukes Job for this. He asks him, "Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself?" See 40v8. God then invites Job, if he really has what it takes, to subdue and subjugate the wicked. "Unleash the fury of your wrath, look at every proud man and bring him low, look at every proud man and humble him, crush the wicked where they stand." 40v11and12.

Perhaps God decides Job ought first to get some practice in by subduing Behemoth and Leviathan.

Behemoth might be the hippopotamus. The only feature that counts against this is the description of its tail: "His tail swings like a cedar." I must say that in my experience cedars are not much like a tail of any description and don't really sway in the wind! Perhaps the reference is to a smaller, slenderer conifer that does sway. The spruce in my back garden certainly sways in a gale! Now a hippo's tail is shaken violently from side to side when it marks its territory by defecating. This is not something the commentators have picked up on! Just "Google" hippopotamus tail to see! The tail also tapers a bit like a spruce.

The point God makes is that a hippopotamus is very difficult for man to subdue. "Can anyone capture him by the eyes or trap him and pierce his nose." 40v24.

Leviathan is in all likelihood a crococile. The magnificent description of the beast bears a close resemblance to a giant crocodile. I like the reference to it snorting and blowing water out of its nostrils like smoke. The spray catches the light - flaming and gleaming in the sunshine. See 41v18and20. God points out the difficulty of subduing the crocodile with a series of questions:

• "Can you pull in the crocodile with a fishhook?" 41v1.

• "Will he keep begging you for mercy? Will he speak to you with gentle words?" 41v3.

• "If you lay a hand on him, you will remember the struggle and never do it again." 41v8.

I think the implication is that although Job would find it hard enough to subdue a hippopotamus and a crocodile he would find it even harder to subjugate wicked men. How true this is! We have laws galore, law enforcement agencies, courts, judges and prisons but still wickedness abounds.

COMMENT UPON GOD'S RECITATION:

(a) God's long recitation of things Job cannot do was not the answer the patriarch wanted. He either wanted God to level charges against him which he would do his best to answer or he wanted God to vindicate him. Job did not get the response from God that he expected.

(b) God's references to his creation is not the answer the reader expects either. It is easy to be irritated with God. Why didn't God just tell Job that he was being tested - that faith to be faith has to be tested?

(c) It seems that God was not entirely satisfied with Job's response to suffering. This is not something that all the commentators are willing to accept. They refer to what God said to Eliphaz: "You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has." 42v7. However, God also says to Job: "Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?" 38v2. "Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself." 40v8.

Job's suffering exposed some weaknesses:

• He lacked humility. Job over estimated himself and under estimated God. He was presumptuous to think he could hold his own with God; that they could meet and discuss his case as equals! Job was unaware of how little he knew. He did not fully appreciate that suffering had other purposes besides punishing the wicked. He had inklings of this but it was not something he dwelt on much.

• Job was so obsessed with proving he was in the right that he appears willing to discredit God's commitment to justice for the sake of being adjudged innocent. The patriarch was fanatical about being shown to be undeserving of the suffering he had to endure. He was prepared to prove his case that God had no reason to afflict him.

  So God found it necessary to draw attention to his creative power and genius in order to humble Job. God did it in a fairly light-hearted and occasionally comical way. No one wants to tangle with a crocodile!

• At this juncture someone might object by saying, "But surely Job was an upright man and blameless in God's eyes." This was God's considered judgment. It must be our conclusion too on the evidence of Ch31.

  God's evaluation of Job conflicts with what evangelical Christians are brought up on: We are dead in trespasses and sin; born to sin as the sparks fly upwards; there is none righteous no not one; the law condemns us. See Rom3v9to19.

  Job is not the only character in the Bible who is called righteous. Simeon and Cornelius are just two examples from the New Testament. It seems to me that anyone who believed in God and expressed that belief by good works was accepted by him as righteous. God credited men of faith with righteousness. This does not mean that such men and women were without sin. Abraham a great man of faith - a faith God credited to him for righteousness - resorted to duplicity when he thought the sheer attractiveness of his wife would get him into trouble in Egypt. David, a man after God's own heart, was deeply flawed.

  The heroes of faith were not condemned for their sins but rather commended for their lives of faith and good works.

  It is not surprising that immense pain and chronic loss revealed certain Of Job's weaknesses. In the end it was these that God addressed thereby giving another reason for suffering, namely, that we might know ourselves better.

(4) A reaction.

(a) After inquiring whether Job could replicate his creation or take responsibility for living things God invites a response. He said: "Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!" There is NO POINT pretending that this isn't a rebuke. Job wisely decides to say nothing! See 40v4.

(b) Job finally replies after God has highlighted the difficulty of subduing wicked men by comparing the problem to subjugating the hippopotamus and crocodile. Job in reply:

• Accepts God's greatness. None can thwart his purpose.

• Admits he talked about things he didn't understand.

• Repents of what he has said about God. After seeing and hearing God he acknowledges that he was presumptuous to question God's commitment to justice.

LESSONS:

(a) We need to remember that there is a huge gulf in understanding and power between us and God. It helps to reflect on all God has created to be humble before him. It is highly likely that the one who created the universe, made this earth fit to live on and produced such an amazing variety of living creatures knows best.

(b) God will use suffering to test our faith and reveal our weaknesses. Faith is not faith without testing. We need to know our weaknesses in order to plead God's help to overcome them. One weakness in particular needs subduing and that is pride - a wild creature trickier than a crocodile to subjugate.

(c) God does not always provide an explanation for why we suffer. The disciples asked Jesus for an explanation for a man's congenital blindness - but they did not get one. The disciples thought it must be due to his own sin or the sin of his parents but Jesus did not even blame Adam's sin. Jesus virtually told the disciples that suffering provides an opportunity to show compassion and to do what we can to alleviate it.

(d) Job received what he longed for most of all. Then the LORD answered Job ..... . What wonderful words they are. That was what Job needed most of all. He needed confirmation that God was there and that he cared about him. When God finally spoke it was wonderfully reassuring.

I love the line in Psalm 23: Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil: FOR THOU ART WITH ME. v4. AV.

How the words of the angel to the women must have comforted Peter: "Don't be alarmed, you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you to into Galilee.'" Mk16v7.

When Paul was imprisoned in Jerusalem and doubtless feeling rather down we read in Acts: The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, "Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome." Acts23v11. How that must have reassured the little apostle.

We all need reassurance from time to time. That is why we sing:

Hold Thou my hand! so weak I am and helpless,
I dare not take one step without thine aid;
Hold Thou my hand! for then, O loving Saviour,
No dread of ill shall make my soul afraid.