Series: Questions
Title: Who is This That Darkeneth Counsel
by Words Without Knowledge?
Text: Job 38: 1-2
Date: December 31, 2017
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
Since this is the last day of 2017,
knowing that with each new year God will see to it his people are tried, I
thought it would be good to look at two questions God asked Job at the end of
his trial. The first question is found in Job 38. The second question in Job
40. God asked Job a lot of questions but these two questions deal with the two
problems Job had for which God sent him the trial. So in this message we will
take the first question in Job 38. Then we will take the second question in the
next message.
Job
38: 1: Then the LORD answered
Job out of the whirlwind, and said, 2:
Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? 3: Gird
up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.
This is God’s question to Job—“Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words
without knowledge?” Here the LORD begins to teach Job the lesson for which
he gave Job such a grievous trial. The trial brought out what God knew was in
Job’s heart—and God sent the trial to deal with it and to teach Job.
Do you recognize Job’s problem by God’s
question?—“Who is this that darkeneth
counsel without knowledge?”—this was a question meant to humble. Job had a
problem with pride, self-exaltation, thinking himself wise, even wiser than
God. Job spoke some good things about God—but Job also spoke some prideful things
that exalted himself.
Job 23: 3: Oh that
I knew where I might find him! that I
might come even to his seat! 4: I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments. 5: I would know
the words which he would answer me,
and understand what he would say unto me.
Job is saying, “I would demand of God some
answers as to why he has treated me this way.” Job is proud. He considers
himself wise, accusing God of not dealing with him wisely by sending him this
trial. So already, we see Job’s first
problem was pride: self-exaltation. So
God is about to humble him. This is a
problem every believer has. God humbles his child so that we do not perish in
pride.
Proposition: The Lord humbles
us by reminding us that he—not us—is the absolute sovereign who creates and
rules with perfect power and wisdom.
GOD
IS THE SOVEREIGN CREATOR
God humbles us from our pride by declaring
he is the sovereign creator, not us.
Job 38:
4: Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou
hast understanding.
When we become proud of our understanding,
remember, you and I were nowhere around when God created all things. We were nowhere
around when God purposed to create a new heavens and new earth. God chose
Christ his Son and chose a people in his Son before the foundation of the
world. God trusted his Son to create his people new and thus create a new
heaven and new earth. But where where we when God did so?
Job
38:
5: Who hath laid the measures
thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? 6: Whereupon are the foundations
thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; 7: When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God
shouted for joy?
When we begin to be lifted up in pride, God
says then answer these questions if you are so wise. Christ was with God. Christ is Wisdom who was
with God from the foundation of the world when the stars sang and the sons of
God shouted for joy. And Christ is the
Foundation upon which all was founded in covenant. Christ is the Chief corner
stone of the foundations of the world, upholding all things by the covenant word
of his power!
Job
38: 8: Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as
if it had issued out of the womb? 9:
When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband
for it, 10: And brake up for it
my decreed place, and set bars and doors, 11: And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here
shall thy proud waves be stayed?
When we become proud, look to the ocean. God made the seas
to be born like an infant. He salted and
swaddled preserving the sea. God set the bounds of the sea saying, “Hitherto
shalt thou come, but no further.” So when we are the proud waves, look to the
sea and remember who said “Hitherto shalt
thou come, but no further.”
Remember it is God who created us. It is
Christ who creates his people anew in righteousness and true holiness. We did
not make ourselves to be born-again, new creations—he did. We did not salt and
clean and preserve ourselves, he did. We did not swaddle ourselves, he did. And
he governs just as he does the sea. Like Job, when the child of God begins to
be lifted up in pride, God says, “Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and
here shall thy proud waves be stayed!”
GOD
IS THE SOVREIGN RULER
God humbles his child reminding us that
he, not us, rules all things by his sovereign power. When we become proud of
our power, answer this question.
Job 38:
12: Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and
caused the dayspring to know his place; 13:
That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be
shaken out of it? 14: It is
turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a garment. 15: And from the wicked their light
is withholden, and the high arm shall be broken.
The clay is without form, without
beauty, until the master rolls the seal over it. Then the clay is turned into a
thing of beauty. God is the Potter, we are the clay. Only Christ can make his
child a work of beauty in his hand. Therefore, Christ is able to bring down the
proud and break the high arm. He does so by making us to know it was God who
spoke and created life in dead sinners like us. He took these lifeless, formless,
sinful voids and Christ the DaySpring shined forth his Light revealing in our
hearts that we are the wicked. Christ turned
us from being plain old clay into his beautiful new creation like clay to the
seal. It is by his power that he brings down our pride and breaks our high arm.
GOD IS SOVEREIGN WISDOM
God humbles his child by
reminding us that he, not us, is wisdom.
Job 38: 16: Hast
thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of
the depth?
The beginning is the spring of
life. God supplies the little springs from where the mighty oceans are filled
with water. Do we know where the springs
of the sea are? Have we walked in the search of the depth? There are deep places in the sea that no man
has ever been.
Job 38: 17: Have
the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow
of death?
God also knows the end: the
gates and doors of death. We have no
experience of what is beyond the gates of death. We know what scripture says.
But we have never been beyond death. God has!
Job 38: 18: Hast
thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all.
God knows everything in
between the beginning and the end. Do we know it all? Can we declare these things?
Oh, how little we really know!
Job 38: 19: Where is
the way where light dwelleth? and as for darkness, where is
the place thereof, 20: That thou
shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths to
the house thereof? 21: Knowest
thou it, because thou wast then born? or because the number of
thy days is great?
Where does the sun get its light?
Where did darkness begin? God says I
create light and I create darkness. Are
we old and wise as God to know these things?
Job 38: 22: Hast
thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of
the hail, 23: Which I have
reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war? 24: By what way is the light parted, which
scattereth the east wind upon the earth?
At Waterloo, Napolean was
defeated because he had to wait till noon to attack because he was waiting on
the ground to dry out. During World war
2, Russia turned back the mighty German army for one reason, God sent the worst
winter they had ever seen. In the American Revolution, Washington crossed the
Delaware to defeat the Brits at Trenton because God froze the river so there
was just a narrow portion to cross by boat out in the middle of the river.
During the Civil War a simple wind made Lee change his strategy and led to his
defeat.
Likewise, God conquered our
proud hearts by Christ his Wisdom. He sent Christ the Life, the Beginning and
the Ending, the Apha and Omega. Christ is the Ancient of Days. He who conquered
us in the day of battle and changed our course forever! So when we become lifted up in pride of
wisdom remember Christ is the Wisdom of God, our Wisdom, who knoweth all things
and by his knowledge saves his people—not us!
GOD
IS THE SOVEREIGN PROVIDER
God humbles his child from our pride by
reminding us that he alone provides for us, not we ourselves.
Job
38: 25: Who hath divided a watercourse for the
overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder; 26: To cause it to rain on the earth, where
no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man; 27: To satisfy the desolate and waste ground;
and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth? 28: Hath the rain a father? or who
hath begotten the drops of dew? 29:
Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered
it? 30: The waters are hid as with
a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.
God takes man out of the way.
He speaks of the wilderness where there is no man to work the ground, no man to
irrigate the ground. Who sends the rain to bring forth the tender herb to feed
the hungry animals in the wilderness? Are these things done by ‘father nature’ or
is God the Provider? Are these things done by ‘mother nature’ or is God the
provider?
Job 38: 31: Canst
thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? 32: Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth
in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons? 33: Knowest thou the ordinances of
heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth? 34: Canst thou lift up thy voice to
the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee? 35: Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto
thee, Here we are? 36:
Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the
heart? 37: Who can number the
clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven, 38: When the dust groweth into
hardness, and the clods cleave fast together? 39: Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of
the young lions, 40: When they
couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait? 41: Who provideth for the raven his
food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.
God controls the
constellations in heaven. Can you and I control the laws of heaven so that they
provide for the living on earth? When we grow proud
thinking we are our own providers, remember it is God, not us, who is our
provider
He provided his Son from heaven to cause
it to rain on earth and bring forth life by his Word, “To satisfy the desolate and waste ground”—desolate sinners like us—“and
to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth!” Christ is the
Dominion ruling heaven and earth, who put wisdom in our inward parts and gave
true spiritual understanding to our hearts.
When our dry hearts were like hard clods of dry dirt, he sent the rain of
grace. He fed us the Bread from
heaven like he feeds the lion in the wilderness. When he brings us to cry
out to him like the baby ravens, he feeds us and provides all: righteousness,
holiness, redemption, protection, food for our souls.
Brethren, let none of us be proud that we
are our provider. Christ is our Provider, our Rain, our Bread, our Life.
GOD
IS THE SOVEREIGN GIVER
God humbles his child by reminding us he
is the one who gave us life, who gives us a nature which controls our will and
who gifts us with all gifts.
God is the giver who gave us life and
spiritual life—Job 39: 1: Knowest thou
the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? or canst thou mark
when the hinds do calve? 2:
Canst thou number the months that they fulfil? or knowest thou the time
when they bring forth? 3: They
bow themselves, they bring forth their young ones, they cast out their sorrows.
4: Their young ones are in good
liking, they grow up with corn; they go forth, and return not unto them.
God is the giver who gives us a nature
which dictates our will—Job 39: 5: Who hath sent out the wild ass
free? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass? 6: Whose house I have made the wilderness, and the barren land his
dwellings. 7: He scorneth the
multitude of the city, neither regardeth he the crying of the driver. 8: The range of the mountains is
his pasture, and he searcheth after every green thing. 9: Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy
crib? 10: Canst thou bind the
unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee? 11: Wilt thou trust him, because his
strength is great? or wilt thou leave thy labour to him? 12: Wilt thou believe him, that he
will bring home thy seed, and gather it into thy barn? When God gives a nature it dictates ones will.
The wild ass loves the wilderness, scorns the city and lives on every green
thing because that is the nature God gave it.
Either this animal called a unicorn has a nature that can be tamed to
work for a man or he may be saying it cannot be tamed by man but serves God
purpose in the wild. Either way this animal is willing to do this because that
is the nature God gave it. Christ is he
who makes his people willing in the day of his power when he gives us a new
nature to believe and serve him.
God gives us the gifts we have
and withholds the gifts we do not have—Job 39: 13: Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and
feathers unto the ostrich? 14: Which
leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in dust, 15: And forgetteth that the foot may
crush them, or that the wild beast may break them. 16: She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were
not hers: her labour is in vain without fear; 17: Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he
imparted to her understanding. 18:
What time she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his rider.
God deprived the ostrich of wisdom
to protect her young but he made her fearless to lift up herself against horse
and rider. Likewise, God gifted the
horse. 19: Hast thou given the
horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? 20: Canst thou make him afraid as a
grasshopper? the glory of his nostrils is terrible. 21: He paweth in the valley, and
rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth on to meet the armed men. 22: He mocketh at fear, and is not
affrighted; neither turneth he back from the sword. 23: The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the
shield. 24: He swalloweth the
ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that it is the
sound of the trumpet. 25: He
saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle afar off, the
thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
When it comes to the hawk, God is the giver who gifted the hawk and
eagle to build her nest in safety. 26: Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, and
stretch her wings toward the south? 27:
Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high? 28: She dwelleth and abideth on the
rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place. 29: From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold
afar off. 30: Her young ones also
suck up blood: and where the slain are, there is she.
We have no reason to be proud of our gifts
because every gift we have came from God our Father.
James 1: 17: Every
good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father
of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning
GOD’S
REBUKE AND JOB’S REPLY
Job
40: 1: Moreover the LORD
answered Job, and said, 2: Shall
he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth
God, let him answer it.
When God sends the trial, let us not
contend with him. Let us not attempt to reprove God with our murmuring. For we
can be sure God will humble us by his sovereign hand.
Job
40: 3: Then Job answered the
LORD, and said, 4: Behold, I am
vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth. 5: Once have I spoken; but I will not
answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.
So in the new year, when trials come, if
we truly believe all salvation is by the sovereign hand of our God then trust
that same sovereign hand every day in everything that he sends our way.
Amen!