Job 40:1-5

Job was a renowned individual with a diverse and prosperous business, financial stability, and the love and support of a large family. He was generous to widows and those in need, serving as a mentor and respected counselor. He loved God and was a spiritual leader in his community. However, everything fell apart in his life. The man who was on top of the world was brought low.

There’s nothing more humbling than suffering. When you lose a loved one, the only thing you can do is grieve. Losing your livelihood strips you of your means and influence. A decline in health often results in a loss of privacy and independence. Pain and suffering bring us to our knees.

Pain and accompanying humility cause us to cry out. This is what Job has been experiencing. He desperately wishes for God to take the witness stand and swear under oath to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me… well, God is God. There is no name higher by which he can swear! God does not take the stand but responds with a profound interrogation of Job.

God has one more set of questions, but he pauses for a response here.

Job 40:1-2
And the Lord said to Job: ² “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it.”

The term translated as “faultfinder” is the Hebrew word yissor. It describes a person who continually rebukes and instructs others, someone who consistently finds fault. This individual embodies a critical spirit, spending most of their time complaining and is rarely, if ever, satisfied.  The Hebrew word rob translates as “contend,” meaning to engage in a struggle, attack, or complain. God’s questioning of Job is penetrating: Job, should someone like you, who constantly finds fault, challenge the Almighty? God states that Job has been arguing and rebuking him, striving for vindication, but now the tables have turned. God says, “He who argues with God, let him answer it.”

Job would have been happy to answer God until God appeared in a whirlwind. Now, God has been asking Job a series of questions:

• Job, where were you when I created the world? You created nothing. I made everything, yet you still question my person and work?
• Job, I govern the actions of everything in the skies above and the earth below, yet you question my authority? I meticulously oversee the world in perfect harmony, and still, you doubt my ability to guide your life.

Following his encounter with God, Job responds with humility.

Job 40:3-5
Then Job answered the Lord and said: 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.”

Job’s initial challenges to God remained unwavering. He concluded his final appeal by proclaiming, “Oh, that I had one to hear me!” He confidently declared, “Here is my signature!” One might imagine he signed like John Hancock, with bold, prominent letters. He then demanded, “Let the Almighty answer me!” (Job 31:35). Don’t overlook the exclamation marks. But now God has spoken. Job has changed his tune.

The same man who decisively challenged God says, “I am of small account…” Standing before God, he recognizes his impertinence and has no answer. Job reflects that he has spoken freely in the past but now lacks an adequate response and “will proceed no further.” To demonstrate his humility, he places his hand over his mouth.

When Job is silent, he starts to hear God. When he is low, he perceives God in the heights. Job cries out, and now God speaks directly to him. Job appreciates God’s majesty despite the mystery of his circumstances.

An old Puritan prayer says it well:

Let me learn…

               that the way down is the way up,

               that to be low is to be high,

              that the broken heart is the healed heart,

              that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,

              that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,

              that to have nothing is to possess all,

               that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,

               that to give is to receive,

               that the valley is the place of vision.[1]

Job faced God and discovered that the valley was indeed the place of vision.

PERSONAL TIME WITH GOD
Read Job 40:1-5. Focus on Job’s first response to God. What do you learn about God and Job?

Talking to God
Ask God to allow you to hear his voice clearly in your valley of vision.

Have Questions?
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[1] Edited by Arthur Bennet, The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions (The Banner of Truth Trust, 1989), 1.