- Lesson 12 in the Connect360 unit “Praise Him in the Storm: When Life Falls Apart” focuses on Job 40:6-9, 15-19; 41:1-7, 10-11; 42:1-6.
The focus of this passage is not on the fantastical monster, but on the almighty God who designed, created and ruled it along with every living creature on the face of the earth. As God says in 41:11, “Everything under heaven belongs to me.” The psalmist echoes this truth when he writes: “I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the insects in the fields are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it” (Psalm 50:9-12).
Confronted with God’s righteousness, Job recognized himself for the small, weak and sinful being he was. His response was the same as the tax collector’s, who couldn’t even bring himself to look up as he beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13). It was the same as Simon Peter’s when he fell at Jesus’ feet and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” (Luke 5:8).
Divine holiness exposes sin with blinding clarity. People either prostrate themselves before it or try to distance themselves from it, but no one can stand unmoved before it. Enlightened by the truth of God’s rebuke and touched that God had cared enough to give it, Job repented and submitted himself completely to God’s sovereign rule in his life. Before this encounter, Job had known about God, but now he had experienced God in a personal way. From that point on, Job’s faith and worship would be stronger, deeper and more meaningful.
As soon as God finished creating humans, he began communicating with them (Genesis 1:28: “God blessed them and said to them…”). Unlike the shadowy, mysterious deities in other ancient pantheons, God wanted people to know him and to know what he desired from them. Even God’s discipline is an act of love (Proverbs 3:11-12; Hebrews 12:6), for he wants us to experience the blessing of right relationship with him.
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