Job is a book that raises more questions than answers. God’s speeches in the final chapters of the book consist of a long series of questions. I counted 72 question marks in my English Bible. These questions range from ‘Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge?’ to ‘Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?’ and ‘Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?’
One of the main purposes of the book of Job is to put us humans back in our place and to give us realistic expectations of life. We cannot expect to understand everything about life or the mind and purposes of God in his dealings with us.
However, when Job is humbled and repents, we find his fortunes are restored. This reinforces our understanding of God whom Mary describes as ‘lifting up the humble’ (Luke 1:52). We can’t expect to receive this restoration of fortunes in this life, but we do know that God has promised us resurrection eternal life in Christ that will be more than we can ever dream of.
We will not always understand the mind and works of God, but we can trust that he is working of our good, and we can in patience wait upon his faithfulness.
If you’ve missed part of the Job preaching series, you can always catch up here: https://pwac.org.au/sermons/series/job/
Yours in Christ,
Ben
