Job chose to be silent after all the time wanting to have a chance to plead his innocence before God, but after seeing God Job decided he no longer needed to say anything. He could then see how limited he was as a human. He became humbled. When Job saw the greatness of God, he had no more complaint. As God revealed Himself to Job, all he could do is repent.
Now we come to the conclusion of the book of Job. Some may feel a little disappointed not to learn the reasons that bad things happen to good people. God does not explain Job’s suffering and instead of argument He gives interrogation. Job was not meant to have his suffering explained. We, like Job, are meant to learn the lesson that God can not explain our suffering without nullifying the purpose for the suffering. It all comes down to Faith - complete trust or confidence in God!
Job 42:1-6
Then Job replied to the LORD: “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”
Then, in the end, something wonderful happened. Verse twelve of chapter 42 says that “The LORD blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part.” That gives us some sort of relief after imagining Job’s suffering. However we are not promised our reward for endurance will be on this side of Heaven. In faith we must allow God to work in our lives the way He wants. We should strive to learn who He is instead of why He does things. To know God is all one needs to know.
I want to have a little fun with some of what we read today. Have you ever wondered where all the stories about dragons really come from? Have you ever wondered if there was some truth to those legends of fire-breathing dragons? What do you think about today’s reading? My study notes suggest that the text is describing a crocodile, but wouldn’t it have to be a very large croc to match up with the details given? I think it would have to be very large like that of a “dinosaur.” Hey but wait a minute? Did dinosaurs live during the same time as man? I believe they did because God created our world in six days and man was created on the sixth day, just one day after all the living creatures. There is something very significant about this text.
Some explain away some of the details of these animals described as being mythological. Of course it is hard to imagine a fire-breathing dragon could be real but the Word is clearly explaining something other than the ordinary crocodile or alligator. If a fire-breathing creature is difficult to believe in then look up the bombardier beetle. This beetle is a native of Central America, and has a nozzle in its hind end that acts like a little flame thrower.
I bring out this point about the leviathan simply because of what I was taught growing up. I was taught at church that God created the whole universe in six days and then went to school and was taught that life on earth evolved over millions of years. I wonder how many young lives have been steered in the wrong direction because of this. As christian parents, we want to bring up our children in the"nuture and admonition of the Lord..." The very first concept taught in the Bible, that we must pass on to our children, is "In the Beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Gen 1:1) Then we come to the book of Job and read more about God through His creation. "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundations?" Job 38:4
