- The Explore the Bible lesson for July 11 focuses on Job 40:1-14.
How do you picture God? There are many times throughout mainstream media and entertainment, a God-like figure is personified. From an elderly man with a beard in cartoons, to a character with a Morgan Freeman-like voice, God often is depicted as old, sage-like, gentle and somewhat removed from what is happening on earth. As believers, what do we know of God? Our primary sources of knowing God are his word and prayer.
In this lesson, Job gets the tables turned on him. Previously, Job had taken a trial-like offensive, making accusations and demanding answers from the Almighty regarding all the affliction and suffering in his life. God now puts Job on the defensive, asserting the major differences between the divine and humanity.
God is God; we are not
I wonder how often we fall into the trap of considering Almighty God in a way that is very un-God-like. We are often tempted to make God in our own image and understanding – someone in which we can control and relate. Yes, God is one who has created us as a people with whom we can share all the beauty and joy of a close, intimate relationship. But as Job has realized, there are times that we need to realize the truth of Ecclesiastes 5:2—“Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.”
To safeguard against any other foolish talk, Job like a penitent child, puts his hand over his mouth.
When considering Job in his book Peculiar Treasures: A Biblical Who’s Who, Fredrick Buechner describes this exchange between Job and God once Job and his friends end their “Where’s God in all this?” discussion. Buechner calls this passage, “The most gorgeous speech that God makes in the whole Old Testament, and it is composed almost entirely of the most gorgeous and preposterous questions that have ever been asked by God or anybody else” (p. 75) Buechner continues, “You can think about God as a great cosmic bully here if you want, but you can think of him also as a great cosmic artist…” (p. 75) If God were to sing with the full might of his voice, it would burst the eardrums of those hearing it. It would completely overwhelm and consume whatever the sound touched. Thankfully, God is God, and we are not.
Due reverence
Contemporary Christian artist, Point of Grace, made popular a song God Forbid that God has used to impress upon me the reverence and fear he is due. The song can be heard here.
Chorus: “God forbid, that I find you so familiar
That I think of you as less than who you are
God forbid, that I should speak of you at all
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Without a humble reverence in my heart.”
Where do you see God most? How has God displayed his power and majesty in your life? Perhaps it is like Job amid tremendous suffering? Or perhaps it is in major victories or mountain-top experiences in worship and praise? Job is learning, and taking us through the journey, that God is God and we are not. God does the things that only God can do. This is the same power in the life of Christ as seen in the Gospels. Jesus goes about his human life on this earth doing things that only God can do and thus revealing his true nature as God’s Messiah, the one who will take away the sins of the world.
Davey Gibson is associate pastor of education and discipleship at Sugar Land Baptist Church in Sugar Land, Texas.
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