Job CCCXXV

 Job 38:12-18, “Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place, that it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it? It takes on form like clay under a seal, and stands out like a garment. From the wicked their light is withheld, and the upraised arm is broken. Have you entered the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in search of the depths? Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death? Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this.”

Had there been any pride left in Job, had his ego still had a say in the decision-making process or sway over his actions, with every question God posed, they would have shrunk a little more. Some men think highly of themselves. Whether deservedly or otherwise, the arrogance on display in certain situations is jarring, and you can quickly surmise that how they view themselves and what they believe their influence to be far exceeds the reality of their station.

If your self-worth derives from having the biggest house in Louisiana, so much so that you have to boast about it on national television while grinning that Cheshire cat grin, you may be great in your own eyes, but a minnow in a shark tank when it comes to wielding true power beyond your regional ecosystem.

God wasn’t boasting as He asked Job His series of questions. He wasn’t trying to impress Job or his friends because there was no need or purpose in doing so. He wasn’t even trying to establish dominance, because that went without saying. He was stating facts in the form of questions, not to prove Himself, but rather to reveal Himself in the fullness of who He is.

If you go to a specialist and he introduces himself as a cardio thoracic surgeon, he isn’t boasting; he is informing you of why he is qualified to crack your chest open and fiddle around with your beating heart. Your response shouldn’t be, “Good for you, I bet your mom’s really proud,” because it was not his intention to impress you or make you feel inferior, but to make you understand that he had the knowledge, qualifications, and ability to perform a complicated procedure that you may require. Unless one is wholly unaware of the specialties in the medical field, one would likely be less at ease if the man had introduced himself as a proctologist and then gone on to explain what open-heart surgery entails.   

This is who I am: I commanded the morning since days began, and caused the dawn to know its place that it may take hold of the ends of the earth. I have entered the springs of the sea and walked in search of the depths. I have seen the doors of the shadow of death, and comprehended the breadth of the earth. These are just some of My qualifications, not exhaustive or complete by any means, but we’re just getting started.

The only word in the English lexicon that comes close to describing God in all His wonder is majesty, and even that seems paltry and insufficient when considering this chapter in the book of Job.

Perhaps the only chapter in the entirety of the Bible that surpasses Job in describing the sheer awe, majesty, and grandeur of the God we serve is the fourth chapter of Revelation. While in Job we see God detailing His attributes, in Revelation we bear witness to how John saw and perceived the throne room of heaven, as well as He who sat upon the throne, and it is no less than humbling.

How can we not fall on our faces before such a One? How can we not be humbled into the dust as we read of the twenty-four elders falling down before Him, worshipping Him who lives forever and ever, and casting their crowns before the throne?

Whenever anyone tries to project an image of God as some lowly, lonely, grandfatherly type endlessly toying with His beard, having nothing to do but whittle away the hours, so desperate for a little company that He randomly teleports people to heaven just to have someone to talk to, reacquaint yourself with the fourth chapter of Revelation and see how utterly absurd those claims are in comparison to the reality taking place in heaven.

God isn’t lonely; He isn’t isolated; He isn’t desperate for company of any kind because He is tired of hearing the echo of His footsteps in the empty halls of heaven. Contrary to some modern-day teaching, God didn’t send Jesus because He grew bored with the four living creatures of the twenty-four elders who cry, “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power,” but because He loved His creation and wanted to see it reconciled to Him. It is love that guided God’s decision, not loneliness.

God wasn’t trying to make Job feel small, just like someone who tells you they can bench four plates on each side isn’t trying to make you feel small for barely pushing the bar off the rack. God is who He is and will not diminish His attributes, power, or authority because declaring who He is would make someone feel inferior. You will never be God, and neither will I. This is a well-established truth that some have tried to circumvent, and in their quest to elevate themselves, given that they cannot ascend or attain godhood, they make it their life’s mission to diminish, minimize, and shrink the attributes and sovereignty of God.

If I stand before one of the pyramids at Giza, shrug my shoulders, and insist I’m not at all impressed by either their size or structure, it does not diminish the pyramid itself in any way. The problem lies with me for not acknowledging its ingenuity, size, or scope. The same goes for God. Just because some men insist He is less than what He is, it does not diminish Him in any form or fashion.

He commands the morning, and causes the dawn to know its place. He spoke every living thing into existence by the power of His word. All things exist and were created by His will, but sure, Aunt Mildred, you sat on His throne and even beat Him at a game of rock, paper, scissors. Perhaps He was distracted in the moment, for surely the God who knows the end from the beginning would have seen you would play rock to His scissors.      

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.