Job CCCXXIII

 Job 38:1-3, “Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said: ‘Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me.”

You’ve undoubtedly said too much when God has to step in. There is a great divide between how Elihu saw himself and the words he spoke, and how God perceived them. While Elihu unashamedly declared that his lips uttered pure knowledge, God’s assessment was that the darkened counsel was by words without knowledge. Wise in his own eyes he might have been, but that didn’t make it true.

As someone who’s already seen a movie you’re watching, and they can’t help themselves, would say, we’re getting to the good part. Job had suffered the disrespect of his wife and his three friends, had been accused of wickedness he never committed, but Elihu’s bloviating seemed to be the straw that broke the camel’s back, and God stepped in.

Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? You may have a stronger constitution than I, but if God ever said that about me, I would deflate quicker than a popped balloon. Any haughtiness, pride, or high opinion of his own wisdom Elihu might have had was stripped away in one sentence. This was not a conciliatory question, nor was it formed in such a way that one would conclude that Elihu was partially right. All of his machinations, his attempted self-promotion, and his insistence that he knew better than Job flew out the window the moment God spoke.

Some have posed the question of why God would choose to speak to Job out of the whirlwind when He spoke to Elijah in a still, small voice. Short answer, because God does as He wills, speaks as He wills, and speaks when He wills.

As far as Elijah is concerned, God did not speak to him in the howling winds that broke the rocks in pieces, nor did He speak to him in the earthquake or the fire, but chose to do so in a still, small voice. The big takeaway here is a lesson we should all take to heart: do not assume God spoke until you know God spoke!

If Elijah did not know the voice of God, he could have presumed that the strong wind that tore into the mountains and broke the rocks into pieces was God trying to send him a message, and would have spent the rest of his days trying to decipher what the message was. Then the earthquake, then the fire, and had he not been still and waited for the voice of the Lord, clear and undeniable, by the time the still small voice spoke, he would have been a knot of confusion trying to interpret something which had no deeper meaning than that it was wind, earthquake, and fire.

When God speaks to His servants, it is clear. When men look for the voice of God when He has not spoken, everything from an oddly shaped cloud to a turkey crossing the road holds a deeper meaning, and rather than wait patiently for God to speak, they sprint down rabbit trails, creating an entire narrative around something that had no deeper meaning or spiritual implications.

I saw a squirrel in a tree; what does it mean, I wonder? That a squirrel was in a tree. That’s it. There’s nothing mystical going on; there’s no deeper meaning. You just happened to hear the rustling of leaves, looked up, and saw a squirrel.

We are bondservants of Christ, warriors of the cross, sons and daughters of Almighty God, not simpletons looking for the universe to send us a sign whether we should risk eating the expired can of tuna in the pantry.

When God speaks, you’ll know it whether He chooses to do so in a still small voice or out of the whirlwind, as was the case with Job. The issue at hand is knowing His voice so that when He speaks, you will know it's Him regardless of the manner in which He chooses to do so.

There should be no ambiguity as to whether God spoke or not, or whether or not it was Him. His sheep know His voice, and His voice is unique. There’s a difference between knowing you received a message from the Lord and hoping that you did, thinking that you did, or presuming that you did. Worse still are those who grow impatient, think God is taking too long in speaking, and presume to speak on His behalf, insisting that they know His thoughts and their opinions are just as valid as God’s own words. Not to belabor the point, but Elihu believed he knew the mind of God as well, and look how that turned out.

Few things could top the harsh rebuke of having God single you out and declare that you have darkened counsel by words without knowledge. When God steps in, everything changes. Every well-formulated narrative, every well-constructed theory, they all crumble under the weight of truth. Not some arbitrary truth, not some subjective truth, but the truth that comes from the mouth of God Himself.

After dealing with Elihu in no more than one sentence, God turns His sights on Job and tells him to prepare himself like a man because He has some questions for him, and not answering them is not an option. You shall answer Me! That’s as declarative as it gets, and Job had no option but to do as God commanded. If anything, hearing the voice of God was an unspeakable relief to Job. It is what his heart yearned for throughout the season of silence, and now, finally, God had spoken.

One thing that cannot go unmentioned is that even when God was silent, Job was faithful. Even when God seemed distant and far off, Job held tight to his integrity. Even when all seemed lost, Job clung to the hope that his relationship with God had fostered, to the point of remaining faithful when to human reason his faithfulness was fruitless and pointless.

We’ve all had our dry seasons. We’ve all had those moments when God is silent, and things seem to be spiraling out of control, and that is when the faith that we’ve built up over the years sustains us and gives us the endurance necessary to weather the storm.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.