There Is More Going On Than What We See

I'll say it again; there is more going on than what we see. It's important to get this concept into our heads and never forget it. Honestly, I'm confessing it now so that first and foremost, I understand and believe it myself.

After listening to Job over the last few days in the Daily Audio Bible podcast (yep, I'm still behind), chapters 40-42 were absolutely amazing. Here we find God speaking to Job, correcting him by asking almost unfathomable questions to which he has no answer. With each passing paragraph, it becomes clear that God is absolutely sovereign (and we aren't). God is always right and his ways of thinking and doing far exceed our own.

There is more going on than what we see.

Job 40-42 (English Standard Version)

Job 40

1And the LORD said to Job:
2"Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty?
He who argues with God, let him answer it."

Job Promises Silence

3Then 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.
5I have spoken once, and I will not answer;
twice, but I will proceed no further."

The LORD Challenges Job

6Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
7"Dress for action like a man;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.
8Will you even put me in the wrong?
Will you condemn me that you may be in the right?
9Have you an arm like God,
and can you thunder with a voice like his?

10"Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity;
clothe yourself with glory and splendor.
11Pour out the overflowings of your anger,
and look on everyone who is proud and abase him.
12Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low
and tread down the wicked where they stand.
13Hide them all in the dust together;
bind their faces in the world below.
14Then will I also acknowledge to you
that your own right hand can save you.

15"Behold, Behemoth,
which I made as I made you;
he eats grass like an ox.
16Behold, his strength in his loins,
and his power in the muscles of his belly.
17He makes his tail stiff like a cedar;
the sinews of his thighs are knit together.
18His bones are tubes of bronze,
his limbs like bars of iron.

19"He is the first of the works of God;
let him who made him bring near his sword!
20For the mountains yield food for him
where all the wild beasts play.
21Under the lotus plants he lies,
in the shelter of the reeds and in the marsh.
22For his shade the lotus trees cover him;
the willows of the brook surround him.
23Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened;
he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth.
24Can one take him by his eyes,
or pierce his nose with a snare?

Job 41

1"Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook
or press down his tongue with a cord?
2Can you put a rope in his nose
or pierce his jaw with a hook?
3Will he make many pleas to you?
Will he speak to you soft words?
4Will he make a covenant with you
to take him for your servant forever?
5Will you play with him as with a bird,
or will you put him on a leash for your girls?
6Will traders bargain over him?
Will they divide him up among the merchants?
7Can you fill his skin with harpoons
or his head with fishing spears?
8Lay your hands on him;
remember the battle—you will not do it again!
9Behold, the hope of a man is false;
he is laid low even at the sight of him.
10No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up.
Who then is he who can stand before me?
11Who has first given to me, that I should repay him?
Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine.

12"I will not keep silence concerning his limbs,
or his mighty strength, or his goodly frame.
13Who can strip off his outer garment?
Who would come near him with a bridle?
14Who can open the doors of his face?
Around his teeth is terror.
15His back is made of rows of shields,
shut up closely as with a seal.
16One is so near to another
that no air can come between them.
17They are joined one to another;
they clasp each other and cannot be separated.
18His sneezings flash forth light,
and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn.
19Out of his mouth go flaming torches;
sparks of fire leap forth.
20Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke,
as from a boiling pot and burning rushes.
21His breath kindles coals,
and a flame comes forth from his mouth.
22In his neck abides strength,
and terror dances before him.
23The folds of his flesh stick together,
firmly cast on him and immovable.
24His heart is hard as a stone,
hard as the lower millstone.
25When he raises himself up the mighty are afraid;
at the crashing they are beside themselves.
26Though the sword reaches him, it does not avail,
nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin.
27He counts iron as straw,
and bronze as rotten wood.
28The arrow cannot make him flee;
for him sling stones are turned to stubble.
29Clubs are counted as stubble;
he laughs at the rattle of javelins.
30His underparts are like sharp potsherds;
he spreads himself like a threshing sledge on the mire.
31He makes the deep boil like a pot;
he makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
32Behind him he leaves a shining wake;
one would think the deep to be white-haired.
33 On earth there is not his like,
a creature without fear.
34He sees everything that is high;
he is king over all the sons of pride."

Job 42

Job’s Confession and Repentance

1Then Job answered the LORD and said:
2"I know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 'Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?'Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
4'Hear, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.'
5I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you;
6therefore I despise myself,
and repent in dust and ashes."

The LORD Rebukes Job’s Friends

7After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite: "My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. 8Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has." 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the LORD had told them, and the LORD accepted Job’s prayer.

The LORD Restores Job’s Fortunes

10And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. 11Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him. And each of them gave him a piece of money and a ring of gold.

12And the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. 13He had also seven sons and three daughters. 14And he called the name of the first daughter Jemimah, and the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-happuch. 15And in all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job’s daughters. And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. 16And after this Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, four generations. 17And Job died, an old man, and full of days.

Isaiah 55:8
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.

Good Night