Jim Gallagher

Job 41:1 “Can you draw out Leviathan with a hook, Or snare his tongue with a line which you lower?

Job 40:15 “Look now at the behemoth, which I made along with you; He eats grass like an ox.”

Job 40:9 “Have you an arm like God? Or can you thunder with a voice like His?”

There is an interesting story in the life of Elijah where he fled in fear from a wicked queen who vowed to take his life. His fleeing led him deep into the desert, where he hid in a cave. There in hiding, he heard the sound of a mighty wind, an earthquake, and a fire, but he heard the voice of God only in a whisper. Job is having the exact opposite experience. He is hearing from God and His voice is like a whirlwind thundering in his ears. The truths being revealed are so profound they shouted loudly to Job. Those truths proclaim that God is unlike Job and Job is unlike God.

To make this point, God reminds Job, there are creatures in the animal kingdom that are beyond man’s ability to tame. He describes two creatures, one a land animal and the other a sea creature, that are so strong that a man with all his abilities would be incapable of containing. The purpose is to teach us,  since we cannot understand the ways of nature, how can we expect to fully understand the ways of the one who brought nature into being.

When Job finally grasps the fact that God is beyond his understanding, he is freed from the accusations he had brought against Him. As long as Job had a small view of God, he grew resentful of his circumstances. I think it is time for us to allow the Scriptures to expand our view of God. We need to see that there is an enormous, even eternal gap, between God and His creation. It is not that we cannot know Him, but that we need to know Him as God, and walk with Him accordingly.

Instead of shrinking God into a little image you can understand, allow the Bible to reveal the vastness of who He is, and shine into your life and circumstances.

Pastor Jim