Job
42:1-6
Then Job answered the LORD and
said: 2 "I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose
of yours can be thwarted. 3 'Who is this that hides counsel without
knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too
wonderful for me, which I did not know. 4 'Hear, and I will speak; I
will question you, and you make it known to me.' 5 I had heard of
you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; 6 therefore
I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes."
what has Job
learned from this close encounter with his God?
Verse 2 shows us he got the main point:
God is all-powerful and his will cannot be stopped. In verse 3 Job quotes God’s original question
(38:2, nearly). In verse 4 Job confesses
his general ignorance of God’s ways. Remember
that this was a man described as “the greatest in the east” – and HE had to
make this confession! How ready am I to
make the same? In verse 4, Job again
quotes the Lord (38:3; 40:7). Do you
think the message got through to this wise man?
And then in verse 5 Job gets to the
main application. There is a difference
– a major difference – between hearing about God and seeing God. Job at one time lived on the basis of what he
had heard about God. Things now had
changed. The rest of his life would be
lived in light of the fact that he had seen God. It would be lived with a newfound humility
born of that encounter with the Lord of the Universe (verse 6). Things would never again be the same for this
man of Uz.
Today, we hear a lot of things about
God. Our world is not bashful in
proclaiming various theories and facts and opinions and doctrines related to
God. But there is still a major
difference between hearing those things, and seeing God. Seeing God will change your life forever.
“He is the image of the invisible God...”
“He is the radiance of the glory of God and the
exact imprint of his nature...”
“WHOEVER HAS SEEN ME HAS SEEN THE FATHER.”
(Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3; John 14:9)
