Join us as we journey through the book of Job, where God questions Job, inviting him to respond. Job’s remarkable decision to remain silent speaks volumes about humility before the divine. This episode provides a commentary on the beauty of recognizing our small place in the universe compared to God’s vastness. We also discuss the benefits of Bible journaling, which offers a new perspective on scripture reading and a way to cultivate a closer relationship with God through reflective writing.
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. Alan J. Huth shares a Bible passage with comments from over 35 years of his personal Bible reading journals and applies the Word of God to our daily lives.
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Today in Job chapter 40, God calls Job a fault finder. He invites Job to respond. Job wisely responds. chooses silence, and God continues to speak. So let’s listen to Job chapters 40 and 41.
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Job 40 And the Lord said to Job, Shall a fault-finder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it.
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Then Job answered the Lord and said, Behold, I am of small account.
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What shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once, and I will not answer. Twice, but I will proceed no further.
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Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, Dress for action like a man.
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I will question you, and you make it known to me. Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right? Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like His? Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity. Clothe yourself with glory and splendor. Pour out the overflowings of your anger and look on everyone who is proud and abase him. Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low and tread down the wicked where they stand. Hide them all in the dust together. Bind their faces in the world below. Then will I also acknowledge to you that your own right hand can save you. Behold behemoth. which I made as I made you. He eats grass like an ox. Behold his strength in his loins and his power in the muscles of his belly. He makes his tail stiff like a cedar. The sinews of his thighs are knit together. His bones are tubes of bronze, his limbs like bars of iron. He is the first of the works of God. Let him who made him bring near his sword.” For the mountains yield food for him where all the wild beasts play. Under the lotus plants he lies, in the shelter of the reeds and in the marsh. For his shade, the lotus trees cover him. The willows of the brooks surround him. Behold, if the river is turbulent, he is not frightened. He is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth. Can one take him by his eyes or pierce his nose with a snare? Job 41. Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook or press down his tongue with a cord? Can you put a rope in his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook? Will he make many pleas to you? Will he speak to you soft words? Will he make a covenant with you to take him for your servant forever? Will you play with him as with a bird? Or will you put him on a leash for your girls? Will traders bargain over him? Will they divide him up among the merchants? Can you fill his skin with harpoons or his head with fishing spears? Lay your hands on him. Remember the battle. You will not do it again. Behold, the hope of a man is false. He is laid low even at the sight of him. No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up. Who then is he who can stand before me? Who has first given to me that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine. I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, or his mighty strength, or his goodly frame. Who can strip off his outer garment? Who would come near him with a bridle? Who can open the doors of his face? Around his teeth is terror. His back is made of rows of shields, shut up closely as with a seal. One is so near to another that no air can come between them. They are joined one to another, they clasp each other and cannot be separated. His sneezings flash forth light, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn. Out of his mouth go flaming torches, sparks of fire leap forth. Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke, as from a boiling pot in burning rushes. His breath kindles coals, and a flame comes forth from his mouth. In his neck abide strength, and terror dances before him. The folds of his flesh stick together, firmly cast on him and immovable. His heart is hard as a stone, hard as the lower millstone. When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid at the crashing they are beside themselves. Though the sword reaches him, it does not avail, nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin. He counts iron as straw and bronze as rotten wood. The arrow cannot make him flee. For him sling stones are turned to stubble. Clubs are counted as stubble. He laughs at the rattle of javelins. His underparts are like shark pot shirts. He spreads himself like a threshing sledge on the mire. He makes the deep boil like a pot. He makes the sea like a pot of ointment. Behind him he leaves a shining wake. One would think the deep to be white-haired. On earth there is not his like, a creature without fear. He sees everything that is high. He is king over all the sons of pride.
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In 1984, at 29 years old, I read Job 39 and 40 on one day and 41 and 42 on the second day. Concerning chapters 40 and 41, I wrote in my personal Bible reading journal, God continues lecture to Job. He gives Job opportunity to respond. Job declares, Behold, I am insignificant. What can I reply to thee? Praise God Almighty. And to those who won’t believe, I referred to chapter 40, verse 8. Will you condemn me that you might be justified? Related to chapter 41, I wrote concerning verse 11. Who has given to me that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole earth is mine. In 1997, at 42 years old, I read Job 35 through 42 on the same day. And concerning chapters 40 and 41, I wrote, Everything under heaven is mine. And I was referring to verse 11 of chapter 41. I continue to write, When Job has a chance to answer, he laid his hand over his mouth. I will not answer. There is no answer or question to God. In 2015, at 60 years old, I read Job 40 through 42 on the same day. Concerning chapter 40 and 41, I wrote, God calls those who question him fault finders. Job desired. He waited for the opportunity to present his case before God. He now has the chance to do so, and he says nothing. We are so small before God, our articulation is babbling. Doubtful any of us are going to question God or present our futile case before him. I continue to write, God never answers Job. He never explains what happened to Job. He reminds Job of how big he is. Chapter 40 opens with this question to Job from God himself. Shall a fault finder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it. Are you a fault finder? Do you find fault with God? Do you question him? Do you question how he’s been treating your life? Do you really want to contend with God Almighty? Job answers very wisely. Behold, I am of small account. What shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth. Friends, I think we forget who God is. We think we have equality with God or we think we have standing with God. We might have an image of him of being five foot eight coming on a white horse someday. No, that is not the picture of God we’re seeing in these last few chapters of Job. I hope all of us get the practical application out of these last few chapters that God is God. He is mighty. He is all-powerful. He is uncomprehendable. And we are of small account before Almighty God. God reminds Job and he reminds us in verse 8, Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right? Oh, if you’ve ever done that, plead for God’s forgiveness. He is God. We are not. He is our Creator. We are His creation. Another application from this chapter is may we lay our hand over our mouths. May we refrain from criticizing God, questioning God, even cursing God. And lastly, may we comprehend, may we understand the sovereignty of God. Whatever is happening in our lives can work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose. That’s Romans 8, 28. So my prayer as we finish out the book of Job is that we have not been hearers only, but doers. We can apply these very principles we’re learning to our lives. We can live better because we’ve been in the book of Job. But we’re not finished. In chapter 42, the last chapter, Job has another chance to answer God. So we look forward to the wonderful concluding chapter of the book of Job. Father, we bow our heads and our hearts humbly before you. We thank you for reminding us of who you are and who we are in you. Lord, we bend the knee. We bow our heads and our hearts and simply praise and worship you. We lay our hand over our mouths in silence. Amen. Thanks for listening to AdBible today. You have probably noticed I refer to my personal Bible reading journals in AdBible. I took an honors English class in high school and learned about journaling. I kept a journal in high school probably related to that class, and then I quit. For some reason, I started journaling my Bible reading about 10 years later. I don’t know why I decided to journal my Bible reading, but my first journal is dated 1983. Back then, I bought spiral-bound notebooks from a retail store. Nothing fancy. But when I started the Ezra Project, I decided to publish Bible reading journals. You can find two of them on our website at ezraproject.net. Why journal? It will change the way you read the Bible. If you struggle with your daily quiet time, try it. If you know you’re going to write something down after you read, you will pay more attention to what you’re reading. It can be as simple as your favorite verse in the passage or the major point you got out of the passage. You decide. It’s your journal. And it’s not a personal journal. It’s a Bible reading journal. So you shouldn’t have to worry about someone finding it and reading it. I wanted to print a bumper sticker once called Real Men Journal. I figured it would look good on the back of the pickup trucks. Well, you know, I never printed it because I knew it wouldn’t sell. But get an Ezra Project Bible reading journal at EzraProject.net. I know you’re going to enjoy it.
