Daily Scripture Reading Job 36:1 - 37:4
Scientific inquiry over the past several centuries has given humans deep insight into the cause of weather events such as thunderstorms, tornadoes, and hurricanes. We understand the atmospheric conditions that lead to such storms enough that we are able to predict, with a fair amount of accuracy, when such storms will arise, giving us the ability to prepare for said storms. As a result, most humans do not think about God when they are in the middle of a severe weather event.
That was not the case with Elihu. He considered thunder and lightning to be the voice of God. When he was in the middle of a thunderstorm, he believed he was seeing lightning from God’s hand and hearing the depth of God’s voice.
The fact that modern man can explain the atmospheric conditions that generate severe weather events does not mean we should dismiss God’s role in storms. Instead, we should remember that God created the atmosphere, and all the elements of weather that generate storms. The power of severe weather should remind us of the power of God.
We are in the middle of reading the 19th section of Job, which is Elihu’s speech to Job and his friends.
In the passage we read yesterday, Elihu asked Job to look at the heavens and notice their height. The vastness of creation declares the strength and superiority of God. Thus, God does not listen to prideful men, because He is far superior to humans.
Job 36:1 ¶ Then Elihu continued and said,
Job 36:2 “Wait for me a little, and I will show you
That there is yet more to be said in God’s behalf.
Job 36:3 I will take up my knowledge from afar,
And I will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.
Job 36:4 For truly my words are not a lie;
One who is perfect in knowledge is with you.
Job 36:5 Behold, God is mighty but does not reject;
He is mighty in the power of His heart.
Job 36:6 He does not keep the wicked alive,
But gives justice to the afflicted.
Elihu expressed the same opinion that had been expressed multiple times by Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, and that is that God does not allow the wicked to prosper.
Job 36:7 He does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous;
But with kings on the throne
He has seated them forever, and they are exalted.
These four men also repeatedly told Job that righteous men will prosper. The implication was that since Job was not prospering, that meant he had sin that needed to be confessed.
Job 36:8 And if they are bound in fetters,
And are caught in the cords of affliction,
Job 36:9 Then He declares to them their work
And their transgressions, that they have magnified themselves.
Job 36:10 He opens their ear to discipline,
And says that they return from wickedness.
Job 36:11 If they hear and serve Him,
They will end their days in prosperity
And their years in pleasures.
Elihu implied that if Job would repent, then he would once again be healthy and wealthy.
Job 36:12 But if they do not hear, they shall pass away by a weapon
And they will breathe their last without knowledge.
Job 36:13 But the godless in heart lay up anger;
They do not cry for help when He binds them.
Job 36:14 They die in youth,
And their life perishes among the cult prostitutes.
The pronoun “they” refers to godless men. Elihu claimed that the godless always die in their youth.
Job 36:15 He delivers the afflicted in their affliction,
And opens their ear in time of oppression.
Job 36:16 Then indeed, He enticed you from the mouth of distress,
Instead of it, a broad place with no constraint;
And the comfort of your table full of fatness.
Job 36:17 ¶ “But you were full of judgment on the wicked;
Judgment and justice take hold of you.
The pronoun “you” refers to Job.
Job 36:18 Beware lest wrath entice you to scoffing;
And do not let the greatness of the atonement turn you aside.
Job 36:19 Will your cries keep you from distress,
Or all the forces of your power?
Job 36:20 Do not long for the night,
When people vanish in their place.
Job 36:21 Be careful, do not turn to wickedness,
For you have chosen this to affliction.
Job 36:22 Behold, God is exalted in His power;
Who is a teacher like Him?
Job 36:23 Who has appointed Him His way,
And who has said, ‘You have worked out unrighteousness’?
Job 36:24 ¶ “Remember that you should exalt His work,
Of which men have sung.
Job 36:25 All men have beheld it;
Man looks from afar.
Job 36:26 Behold, God is exalted, and we do not know Him;
The number of His years is unsearchable.
Look at the word “exalted”, “do not know Him”, and “unsearchable”. Elihu declared that God is so exalted it is not possible to know or understand Him.
The art of Hebrew poetry is saying the same thing over and over again, but in different ways. The following verses repeat the idea that God is far superior and cannot be understood or known.
Job 36:27 For He draws up the drops of water,
They distill rain for His stream,
Job 36:28 Which the clouds pour down,
They drip upon man abundantly.
Job 36:29 Can anyone discern the spreading of the clouds,
The thundering of His pavilion?
The implied answer is no.
Job 36:30 Behold, He spreads His lightning about Him,
And He covers the depths of the sea.
Job 36:31 For by these He judges peoples;
He gives food in abundance.
Job 36:32 He covers His hands with the lightning,
And commands it to strike the mark.
Elihu believed God controls the lightning.
Job 36:33 Its thundering declares about Him;
The cattle also, concerning what is coming up.
Job 37:1 ¶ “At this also my heart trembles,
And leaps from its place.
Job 37:2 Listen closely to the thunder of His voice,
And the rumbling that goes out from His mouth.
Elihu attributed thunder as being the voice of God.
Job 37:3 Under the whole heaven He lets it loose,
And His lightning to the ends of the earth.
Job 37:4 After it, a voice roars;
He thunders with His majestic voice,
And He does not restrain the lightnings when His voice is heard.
Anyone who has been in the middle of a strong thunder storm has felt the power of thunder and lightning. Humans know that we cannot control thunderstorms, tornados, or hurricanes.
Elihu stated that thunder and lightning are the voice of God. Since modern man can explain the atmospheric conditions that generate severe weather events, very few people in the 21st century consider thunder and lightning to be the voice of God.
The fact that modern man can explain the atmospheric conditions that generate severe weather events does not mean we should dismiss God’s role in storms. Instead, we should remember that God created the atmosphere, and all the elements of weather that generate storms. The power of severe weather should remind us of the power of God because God created the power that is being displayed in the midst of a storm.
Here is one other thought. In addition to causing a lot of destruction, hurricanes and tornadoes often cause death. It is common for people to die during those severe weather events. Loss of life and losing homes and businesses is tragic and sad, but every time there is a massive storm that overwhelms an area, I am reminded that God is in control and humans are not.
Humans have harnessed the energy found in oil, coal, uranium, wind, and sun in order to create machines that do wonderful things. However, despite all our technological advancement, humans still cannot control the weather. When a hurricane or tornado comes through, all we can do is hunker down and endure it.
What is the worst storm you lived through?
Did it remind you God’s power?
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”