A Few Questions
Text: Job 38:1-3, 40:1-14

Theme: God questions to Job reveal his sovereignty, knowledge and justice.
Purpose: To direct us to trust a God who is sovereign, all-knowing and just. 
Readings
•	Job 38:1-21, 40:1-14 
Congregation, 
You've heard of people who answer a question with a question. It can be a bit frustrating because you don't get a direct answer to the question you asked. It can also be frustrating because you wanted a simple and straight-forward response, but instead you have to think about it for yourself. 
Jesus often answered a question with a question:
The pharisees asked: Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? (Mark 10:3-4)
In reply Jesus asked them: "What did Moses command you?" 
A rich young man asked: "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" (Mark 10:17-18)
Jesus asked him, "Why do you call me good?" 
The pharisees asked: "By whose authority do you do these things?"
Jesus asked them, "Tell me, was John's baptism from God or from men?" 
Now, Job had a lot of questions that arose out of his suffering - questions he asked of God:
Show me my sin?
Why do you hide your face?
Why are you still pursuing me? (cf. 13:23-25) 
We might think that after all Job has been through God might come to him and say something comforting and reassuring; "Job, I commend you for persevering through all these trials". 
Maybe God could have given him a compliment; "Job, I'm proud of you."
Or maybe God could have even given him a brief explanation of what was going on in the background - a bit of insight into the causes and reasons for all that had happened.
But God doesn't say anything like this.
Instead God comes with some questions. Job had plenty of questions; now God has a few of his own. 
He questions Job about the created world: 
"Where were you when I laid the earth's foundations? Who marked off its dimensions? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone - while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?" 
After this tour of the created world and his control over it God goes on to question him about his understanding of the animal kingdom:
Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
Who let the wild donkey go free?
Will the wild ox consent to serve you?
Do you give the horse his strength?
Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom? 
God's questions are not designed to humiliate Job.
They are not asked so as to crush him with the contrast between his minuteness and God's majesty.
They are not asked to mock him as he puts his tiny mind next to God's vast intellect. 
Rather they are designed to teach Job - to teach him something about God and, through that, something about himself. 
And they are designed to lead Job to a deeper trust in the Lord; to help him put his faith in God; to enable him to submit to God's providence in his life; to stretch his hope; to reinforce his belief in the Lord his God.
Through these questions Job learns to trust in God even more than he did before; he learns to trust especially in God's knowledge, in God's sovereignty, and in God's justice. 
1. First of all, Job came to appreciate that God was ALL KNOWING 
Job's knowledge was limited
He did not know the background to his suffering. He did not know why these trials had come to him. He did not know about the discussion that had taken place between God and Satan. And God did not tell him about these matters. 
In the same way we don't know why God allows trouble and trial to come into our lives. Our perspective is very limited and our knowledge is finite. We only see a very small part of the total picture. And we only see a very small section of the history of the world. It is hard for us to grasp the big picture. 
For God to explain the whole scheme of his plans to us would be like a physicist explaining Einstein's theory of relativity to a three year old - it wouldn't make sense. 
Or it would be like you staring through a microscope at a small creature on a slide and trying describe the world to that creature. That would be beyond comprehension - such a limited creature could not grasp that. 
Now, God has made us "in his image" and we have been given a high position in his creation. But we are still limited. Even if God had explained the whole situation to Job it probably wouldn't have helped all that much. He probably would not have been able to see the significance of it all. 
It was because Job's perspective was so limited that God said that he was speaking "words without knowledge". (38:2) There had been too much talk between Job and his friends with too little understanding. Instead of clarifying the issues they had only confused the whole subject and each other. 
God, however, has all knowledge and can see the entire picture. 
God sees the whole span of our lives, our seventy years, or eighty if we are strong.
He knows the end from the beginning.
He also knows all that is going on in the entire world, in the life of each individual, each city, each nation. He has a comprehensive overview of the whole world.
Even more than that, God sees the entire sweep of all of history. We only see one frame at a time but God sees the whole movie, from one end to the other, in a flash! God the father sees how it all fits together. 
God has revealed some of this to us. And we know much more than Job did. We know how all of history centres on the Lord Jesus; how everything finds its meaning in him; how God has established the kingdom of Christ and is causing it to grow. 
We need to accept this and believe it We don't know why things happen as they do, but we believe that God knows what he is doing. And we need to trust God's knowledge of all these events and believe that Jesus is working it all out. 
This is the bottom line for the Apostle Paul when he responds to the mysteries of God's election: 
"O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgements and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counsellor?" (Roms 11:33-34)
This is where we need to leave our questions as well - through faith in Jesus. 
Job came to see that God had all knowledge. 
2. He also came to see, secondly, that God was SOVEREIGN. 
The fact of God's sovereignty was not in dispute between Job and his friends. They recognised that; they told each other of God's great acts; they all believed he was majestic and all powerful. 
Whatever the reason for Job's troubles they all agreed that it wasn't that God had lost control. God was sovereign. 
The problem for Job was one of application. He couldn't connect this with his situation. He couldn't accept this in his circumstances. This is what lies behind God's question in chp 40:2, "Will the one who contends with the almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!" 
Job had questioned God's providence and his purpose in his life. God now questions Job's questioning! 
Job had whined: "Put yourself in my place!"
God thunders back: "No, you put yourself in my place! Are you contending with me? Are you questioning my plan? Are you accusing the almighty?" 
God says the same thing to us, for we too need to recognise the sovereignty of God. 
This means I must accept God's providence in my life. I must accept that God is in control of my particular circumstances and situation. My life is in his hands. He controls all that goes on and he knows what he is doing. 
We need to believe this and live with faith in a sovereign God. 
Living by faith means trusting in God even though we don't know the full story. God doesn't give us all the facts. 
God didn't tell Job everything, even after he had restored all his health and wealth. Even then he had to continue to live by faith. 
That is true for us as well. God does not owe us an explanation as to why things are the way they are. We need to accept that and trust in Him. 
Faith in God's sovereignty also means that we believe that God will work out everything in the end. God has a plan and a purpose and all that happens in our lives is part of that. 
The story of Joseph is an example of this - that God's works out everything for a good purpose in the long term. 
The Apostle Paul tells us this in Roms 8:28, "all things work together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose." 
So Job accepted that God is all knowing, and he came to accept that God was sovereign over the circumstances of his life. He also come to accept, thirdly, 
3. GOD'S JUSTICE 
Job had questioned God's justice.
In fact, he had made some strong statements about God's justice in the world.
9:16...., 22-24....
He was angry with God over God's treatment of him. "If only I could get hold of God", he said. 
But now God questions Job.
He does this in chp 40:8-14 in a series of blistering questions and statements. Job is called on the carpet to answer to God.
God accuses Job of discrediting his justice. He objects to the way Job has condemned God in order to justify himself. 
He the points out that in order to be a judge you need both authority and power. You need to be in a position to decide what is right and you need the ability to enforce those decisions. God can do both of those; Job can do neither. 
Job needed to accept that God was just. And we need to believe this as an article of faith.
This is what the Scriptures teach us about God. The judge of all the earth will do what is right. God is a righteous and holy God. 
And God the Father has entrusted all judgement to His Son. One day this Lord Jesus will come a second time, and he will balance the scales of justice. He will reward each person according to their faith in him and according to what they have done. 
Then we will see both the justice and the mercy of God:
Justice to those who have refused to believe in the Lord Jesus and who have persisted in lives of unbelief and independence.
Mercy and grace to those who have humbled themselves, repented from sin, and turned to the Lord in faith. 
The Lord answers the questions of Job with questions of his own. 
Through these questions he want to teach Job more about himself, more about his wisdom, his control over all events, his just rule over the world. 
He wants to teach Job to trust Him, even when things are confused and dark and difficult. 
God wants to teach you and me the same lessons: 
He wants you to put your faith in a God who is all knowing, all powerful, all just.
He wants you to submit to his providence in your life, 
to yield yourself to his will, 
to live with patience, faith and trust in a God who has all things in his hands, 
and who will work out all things according to his good purpose. 
Amen.