Job 38,39, 40:1-5 Lesson 5

Job Chapters 38-40:5

There is only one God—and He is omniscient?

Last week Elihu chastens Job for his lack of trust in God’s plan. God doesn’t need to answer man. He is omniscient, “having infinite awareness, knowledge, and understanding,”

He watches our coming and going. Elihu ends his speech by saying

37:23-24 The Almighty—we cannot find him; he is great in power;
    justice and abundant righteousness he will not violate.
    Therefore men fear him; he does not regard any who are wise in their
    own conceit.”

Job cries out for the LORD to hear his complaint. In Chapters 38-40 God does exactly that!

What would you do if you were having a meltdown and accusing the LORD of ignoring you and Almighty God, Creator of the universe showed up! ...in a whirlwind.

Job 38 ² “Why are you using your ignorance to deny my providence? ³ Now get ready to fight, for I am going to demand some answers from you, and you must reply. TLB

When we have disappointment in our lives, do we think God is not answering our prayers? When illness or malaise sets upon us especially around the holidays, after the death of a loved one, do we hide in the dark, pull the covers over our head and stay in bed all day? Or do we ask God what He wants us to learn from this situation?

For the next two chapters God hammers Job with 42 specific questions.

·        "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? v. 4

·        "Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place, v.12

·        "Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that a flood of waters may cover you? V.34

·        "Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you observe the calving of the does? 40:1

·    "Who has let the wild donkey go free? V.5

·    "Do you give the horse his might? Do you clothe his neck with a mane? v.19

·    "Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars and spreads his wings toward the south?26

·    Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up and makes his nest on high? 27

Ladies I would be hiding in a cave somewhere. After I had composed myself enough to speak I would surely answer as Job did in chapter 40:

4“Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you?
I lay my hand on my mouth.
⁵ I have spoken once, and I will not answer;
twice, but I will proceed no further.”

There is only one God—and He is omniscient?

Have you ever spoken out of turn? Have you said things to friends or family or someone at work and immediately wished you could take it back.

It is like trying to put toothpaste back in a tube. You can’t change the past, but you can confess to your Heavenly Father and ask forgiveness.

Praise God that Our Father sent Jesus to earth where He experienced temptation and trials and “life” in a human body.

Hebrews 4:15 For now …have a high priest(defender, advocate) who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses, one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Our LORD is so gracious to let His fallen children approach His throne any time of day or night and speak frankly about our sorrows and failures. We can cry out and even when we don’t have the words.

Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

We can trust God when we have the blues and don’t know why. We can trust God when we don’t know where our children are. We can trust God when we have lost everything. We can trust God in this economy, in this weather, in the time of our lives.

There is only one God—and He is omniscient?

Colossians 1:15-17

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and

invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities---all things were created through Him and for Him.

And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

Laminin is defined by the Webster Medical Dictionary as a "glycoprotein that is a component of connective tissue basement membrane and that promotes cell adhesion."  In other words, looking at laminin as a kind of glue isn't far from the truth.  There are several different laminins.

In their book The Laminins authors Peter Elkblom and Rupert Timpl go into more detail about both the importance of laminins and their structure.  They describe laminins that, together with other proteins, "hold cells and tissues together."   They also say, "Electron microscopy reveals a cross-like shape for all laminins investigated so far."  They went on to say that in solution the laminin shapes were more like a flower than a cross.  The strands of laminins do not always stand straight and at right angles, but they do consists of arms, three of which are short and one of which is long.

This song has been playing in my head every time I studied my lesson or read the text.

My daughter sings it beautifully and if I had the ability I would sing it for you tonight. Nicole Coleman Mullen revealed on TBN that she “was reading about a man who lost all 10 of his kids in one day. He lost his health; lost his wealth. He became depressed.  He didn’t have any answers. He didn’t know why. As a matter of fact he didn’t know that God had said in a prior conversation that he was blameless, done nothing wrong. Still he suffered. But there is have a hope in our suffering that Job discovered. That hope is found in the person of Jesus Christ.”

For I know that my Redeemer lives. Job 19:25a

There is only one God—and He is omniscient?

PPT and Redeemer by Nicole Coleman Mullen follow link to YouTube.

Closing

Mary Alice has shared with some of us the miraculous journey of healing of her nephew. His caring bridge post after Christmas would be a lesson to Job and to us.

We are not panicking or caught off guard by this news. My hope and confidence is ultimately in Jesus, and He's been handling things miraculously so far!! We know He's walking…carrying us through every step of this journey, and I know He's with us now. Are we concerned? Sure. Are we scared at all? Of course. We're weak & limited human beings. But our Savior is much bigger than our concerns & fears. Robby Ott

Will you choose to remember that there is only one God—and He is omniscient?