Day 153. Job 37-39
 

Job 37-39

Today we get:

• Elihu continues
• God talks
• God continues

Job 37

As I was first reading this, I thought Elihu was sitting around the campfire with Job and Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar, just sort of chatting. But as you read it, the story becomes a little more interesting. It starts out slow, then builds to a HUGE crescendo.

1 At this also my heart trembleth, and is moved out of his place.

Imagine the part of Elihu being played by Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction, when he was saying that part about "And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee."

5 God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend.

As Elihu is talking... the weather worsens. A STORMS A BREWIN!!! He stands up and his voice starts getting louder.

6 For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength.

After each verse, there's lightning punctuating each line.

9 Out of the south cometh the whirlwind: and cold out of the north.

He's not simply talking about weather patterns, there's actually a tornado on the horizon. Right on queue. He's having to talk louder, tornado's (I've been told) are louder than trains.

11 Also by watering he wearieth the thick cloud: he scattereth his bright cloud:

The day goes from being nice, with fluffy white clouds to having one huge black cloud that suddenly appeared (along with a tornado).

14 Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.

He's nearly shouting at this point.

16 Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him which is perfect in knowledge?

Louder and louder, the tornado is getting closer. Elihu's standing up, holding onto his walking stick, sort of like Charlton Heston in the Ten Commandments, holding his cane to keep the Red Sea split.

He points his stick at Job, and shouts.

18 Hast thou with him spread out the sky, which is strong, and as a molten looking glass?

22 Fair weather cometh out of the north: with God is terrible majesty.

BOOM!!!

23 Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice: he will not afflict.

The wind is blowing hard, the tornado is right near them, the three friends are wanting to hide, but fear has them stuck in their seat. As Elihu speaks his presence just seems larger. He appears to be 8 foot tall, arms outstretched, he's not shouting, just projecting his voice with enough force that he could be heard over NHRA Top Fuel Dragsters! The tornado is coming closer... it's right behind him...

24 Men do therefore fear him: he respecteth not any that are wise of heart.

The tornado is there.

Job 38

1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,

All Job 37 was, is an introduction for God. Instead of saying "the diety who needs no introduction... it's GOD!!!" Elihu made it really dramatic, with a tornado, rain, hail, strong winds, lightning... it was theatrics at its best.

2 Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?

(He's talking about Job, not Elihu)

3 Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.

Remember, Job was sitting there in his sick clothes... probably not wearing undies. God isn't going to talk to anybody going commando.

4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.

Job (being a little bit smart at least) doesn't answer... yet.

8 Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?

You'd think a deity, wouldn't really need to come down and brag about his creation... but God is jealous, remember.

12 Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place;

Romantic poets would say the sun rises because of the love of their beloved... but we know it's because God makes the sun come up.

18 Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all.

God said... yeah, didn't think so!

22 Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,

I wasn't aware that hail was a treasure, but I guess if ice fell from the sky in a place like the middle east, it'd probably be a great thing. Imagine being able to drink cold water.

29 Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?

The answer to these questions is God...

31 Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?

It was back in Job 9, that we were first introduced to astronomy.

32 Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?

Alright, what is Mazzaroth? Most people believe Mazzaroth to be the zodiac. The real meaning of that word has been lost since it was used. But, if you read "constellations" instead of Mazzaroth, the verse also makes sense.

Or, it's possible that God mentions something that only he knows about. Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth??? (I probably shouldn't have said that)...

God then mentions that he sends clouds, lightning, wisdom, bottles of heaven, dust, lions, and ravens.

Job 39

1 Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? or canst thou mark when the hinds do calve?

A hind is a female red deer.

2 Canst thou number the months that they fulfil? or knowest thou the time when they bring forth?

Um... the gestation for red deer is 240 to 262 days. So... somewhere in the 8th month.

9 Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib?

The NIV translates this verse as wild ox. First God talks about wild goats, wild deer, wild asses, and now unicorns. NOT wild oxen.

11 Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great? or wilt thou leave thy labour to him?

Unicorns are really strong. Most people think unicorns don't exist, and never did.

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/2...IfvymtyNG4kg--

Single-horned unicorn found in Italy

Take that science!!!

Now God talks about peacocks, ostriches, grasshoppers, and eagles.

30 Her young ones also suck up blood: and where the slain are, there is she.

Sometime after the Bible was written, Eagles became predators and stopped being a scavenging bird.

So what have we learned today?

1. Elihu may give the best introduction to speakers, better than anyone ever.

2. Unicorns are REAL!!!

3. Eagles evolved from being scavengers to being predators. (Grasshoppers gained some legs)

YIC
V

Re: Day 153. Job 37-39
 

Elihu's got talent and impeccable timing. I can see why God picked him to be his personal Ed McMahon. Heeeeeeeeeeeeere's God!

Other than reading about the greatest introduction in history, the thing I like about this part of the book of Job is how God gives us readers a crash course in college level Earth science. Genesis 1 moved fast and gave the highlights, and Job 38-41 gives the details.

Job 38:4-7,18 God set the Earth upon foundations. He decided the exact dimensions. Scientists pretend to know the diameter and circumference of the Earth, but none of them agree with each other.

Job 38:8-11,16 God caused the sea to burst forth from the bowels of the Earth, like a woman giving birth. The purpose for clouds is to be clothes for the Earth, so that the Earth will not be naked and ashamed. The cliffs and the sandy beaches are the bars and doors for the sea, an impenetrable barrier that keeps the sea in place. The sea is fed by underground streams.

John Gill remarked that it was amazing that something as seemingly insufficient as sand would make a boundary that the powerful sea could not pass -- proof of God's power that the sea obeys God's command not to cross.

Job 38:12-15 God causes the sun to rise every morning. The first light of the sun comes from a different spot in the zodiac every day, and God decides where. Wicked folks who do their wickedness by the dark of night are always surprised when the sun comes up to shine its light on their evil deeds.

Job 38:19-20,24 God challenges Job as to the source of light and darkness. Scientists think that light comes from the sun (even though light existed before God created the sun), but they don't even pretend to have an answer as to where darkness comes from. Neither can they answer where all the darkness goes when the sun comes up and where all the light goes when the sun goes down.

Job 38:22-23 God stores up hail and snow for times of trouble and war. We saw this happen in Exodus and again in Joshua.

Job 38:25-30,34-38 Rain, lightning, thunder, and ice are all caused directly by divine intervention. When bodies of water freeze over, that's also caused directly by divine intervention.

Job 38:31-33 God directly intervenes to keep the heavenly bodies in their place.

Job 38:39-41 God directly intervenes to make sure that lions always have enough food.

Job 39:5-8 Wild asses are free because God loosed their bands, set them free, and created a suitable habitat for them in the wilderness.

As you can see, God is very busy at all times. The universe is set up in such a way that it requires His constant Holy tinkering to keep everything running smoothly.

Pastor Billy-Reuben