“Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou Me. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?” Job 38:3,4
Dear Ones:
There came a day, in the life of the Lord Jesus, after speaking to the multitudes, that He and his disciples entered into a boat to cross the Sea of Galilee. A storm arose, and the waves beat against the boat, which was now filling up. The Lord was sleeping on a cushion at the back of the ship, certainly exhausted from ministering to the multitudes. At their limit, the disciples come to Him, awaken Him, declaring to Him the dire circumstances they were in. The Lord then arose, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still.” (Mk. 4:39) Scripture tells us that “…the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.” Upon seeing this, the disciples asked this question: “What manner of man is this, that even the wind and sea obey Him?” (4:41) It is evident by the reaction and words of the disciples that they had not grasped WHO Jesus was, especially in regard to His power and authority. No man could ever tame, and control the wind and the sea, yet, before their eyes is One who commands the elements of this world by His very word.
When we read the book of Job, we are immediately confronted with purposes that are higher than those of men. But there is one thing that is clear with respect to God’s dealings with Job. He desired to bring Job to the place of declaring: “…therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.” “I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth Thee.” (Job 42:3,5) God’s grand design in His dealings with Job, even though Satan sought Job’s destruction, was to bring Job to a true understanding of who He truly was, and is. What does this say about the purpose of man, and his greatest privilege? It is in the revelation of God in truth, by the Spirit, that the highest, and greatest blessing of man is revealed…the knowledge of God. It is not just an intellectual knowledge which Job came to know. It was an experimental one, one lived, one seen and heard. How is this so? Man was created to know God, to love God, to receive the very life of God by the Spirit. If Job was to rise to the place where God would have him to be, and become the godly man that God purposed, then his knowledge of God in truth, in His greatness and glory, had to be revealed to him. With that knowledge, God could bless him with all other sorts of blessings, for He would have found in His servant Job, a worshiper of God in Spirit and truth.
When Cyrus, the King of Persia, was prophesied by Isaiah as coming onto the scene of history to be the instrument of God to rebuild Jerusalem, and rebuild the temple which had been destroyed, God revealed the difference between Himself and mortal man. It was God who designed the plan, raised up the man, and inspired Isaiah over a hundred and fifty years beforehand to announce his coming. Despite men’s kingdoms rising and falling, God brings His will to pass. The same Christ who stood upon the deck of that small fishing vessel, and spoke to the wind and the sea, is the God of history. And so, Cyrus is born, grows to be a man, becomes king. All the while the Orchestrator of History, by the power and authority that alone is His, brings about His will and purpose. This is the difference between God and man. Job clearly declared: “I know that Thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from Thee.” (Job 42:2) Jeremiah would express the great truth differently: “Ah Lord God! Behold, Thou hast made the heavens and the earth by Thy great power and stretched out hand, and there is nothing too hard for Thee.” (32:17)
Dear Father and God, We worship Thee. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad