And Jehovah answered Job and said,
The voice out of the whirlwind pauses, and God turns from creation to speak to one man by name. Why does He pause here, and what is He asking Job to do?
God's questions have run on for chapters. One writer notes the break and what fills the space around it:
The words of Jehovah fill four chapters, with a brief interlude at the opening of Job 40. He puts question after question to Job for him to consider and answer, if he could. All of them concern the mighty power that had acted in creation.
Those questions were about creation. Now the aim narrows to the man himself:
Just notice how directly He puts the question in Job 40 to Job in person. "Moreover Jehovah answered Job, and said, Shall the one who contends with the Almighty instruct Him?" He ought to be able, if he judges God. This is what fills Job with shame... Job had contended with the Almighty.
The challenge that follows names Job by what he has been doing:
And Jehovah answered Job, and said, Is the censurer to correct with the Almighty? The reprover of God, let him answer it.
The same writer sets that challenge against who God is:
It is Jehovah-God then, who alone orders and alone knows. His kind wisdom takes in every creature, including those clearly outside all the care or even the knowledge of man. Is he then to contend with God, or, if he is so presumptuous, can he pretend to instruct God?
Job's friends had accused him of hidden crimes. God's charge is different, and one writer locates it precisely:
Here lies the root of Job's trouble: he had sat in judgment on God — he had accused the Almighty of evil.
Job had asked for exactly this hearing. He wanted God to answer so he could lay out his case. Now the request is granted, and the effect is not what he expected:
Job had said that if God would only listen to him, he would present his whole case showing how God was unfair in His dealings. So now God gives Job the opportunity to do this. He asks Job, "Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him?" Where were Job's arguments then? How crushing God's words were to the misplaced pride of Job!
One writer ties the storm to what Job still needed to learn:
It was not the lesson of a sinner that Job had to learn. He already knew the grace of God. It was the lesson of a saint he needed to be taught, or taught more fully. That is why the Lord seats Himself in the whirlwind. Suppose Job had needed to learn the lesson of a sinner for the first time. Then the Lord would rather have spoken to him in "the still small voice," the tone that suits grace... But Job was already a saved sinner. He knew the grace, but had still to be taught the rights, of God.
Job does reply. One writer weighs what that answer admits:
He says, "Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer You? I lay my hand over my mouth..." Job goes deeper here than apologising for what he has said. He expresses his judgment of himself as a person... Then he judges also what he had spoken more than once, and says he lays his hand over his mouth. This is just what Romans 3:19 says of all mankind: "that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God."
Yet Job's confession is not the end of the story:
Here the test of Job is all but over. Yet in faithfulness Jehovah will probe still further, into the deepest corners of his heart, to lay bare its potential evil. So we must listen further to what the Lord has to speak.
- The pause — The questions about creation break off. God turns to speak to Job in person.
- The charge — Job had sat in judgment on God and accused Him of wrong.
- The invitation — Job had demanded a hearing. God grants it, and asks His critic to answer.
- The purpose — Job already knew God's grace. Now he had to learn God's rights, so the voice came out of a storm.
- The result — A hand over the mouth. That is the answer God waited for, and the posture every mouth takes before Him at last.
Shall he that will contend with the Almighty instruct [him]? he that reproveth +God, let him answer it.
God answers Job with a question of His own: can a man who argues with the Almighty correct Him? Job had asked for this meeting, and now he must make his case or drop it.
This verse is God taking Job at his word. The ESV calls him a "faultfinder". The older wording the writers use asks whether the man who contends with the Almighty can correct Him.
Job had said that if God would only listen to him, he would present his whole case. He would show how God was unfair in His dealings. Therefore now God gives Job opportunity to do this. He asks Job, "Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? He who rebukes God, let him answer it." Where were Job's arguments then? How withering God's words were to Job's shameless pride!
To rebuke God is to claim you can instruct Him. The question asks Job to make that claim good.
If he judges God, he ought to be able to instruct Him. This is precisely what fills Job with shame. Job had contended with the Almighty. God brought Job right down from his own high opinion of himself. He was ashamed that he had complained against God and His ways without understanding the least of them.
So where did Job go wrong? One writer points past the suffering to Job's own answer, quoted here in older wording.
Here lies the root of Job's trouble: he had sat in judgment upon God; he had accused the Omnipotent of evil. God has come near. He has made His presence felt, and pulled back the veil from nature to show part of His character. What is the effect on the proud man? "I am vile; what shall I answer You?" "I will lay my hand on my mouth."
The question answers itself, once you grant one plain truth.
If God is greater than man, then, obviously, He, and not man, must be the Judge of what is right. The unbelieving heart refuses this. So it keeps sitting in judgment on the works and ways and word of God — on God Himself. In his godless folly, man sets himself up to judge what is and is not worthy of God. He decides what God ought and ought not to say and do.
The question sounds harsh. One writer looks at the heart behind it.
Poor Job. He little knew the tenderness of the heart that was leading him to sound the depths of his own mind. He was to learn himself in his own insignificance, in the smallness of his outlook, in the poverty of his ideas of God... In short, deep sorrow was to teach him two things. Without knowing it, he had been making JOB his own centre. And the worst immorality is to judge GOD by what Job thought He ought to be and do.
Pride like Job's is not unique to him. One writer sets it against what grace produces.
What a proud thing is the flesh, and no better in the saint than in the sinner! Would Job also set aside the moral dealings of Jehovah? Worse still, would he condemn Him to justify himself? Grace produces the exact opposite in every soul born of God. It makes a person ready to take God's part against self, to judge his own ways, and to bow to the word, however withering its blast on every way or word, thought and feeling. Such is repentance.
- Contend — Job had demanded a hearing to argue that God was unfair. This verse gives him what he asked for, and his arguments vanish.
- Correct — the question tests a claim. Anyone who rebukes God is claiming to instruct Him, and would have to be able to make that good.
- Cause — Job's real trouble was not his losses. He had sat in judgment on God and charged Him with wrong.
- Common — the same reflex runs deeper than Job. Since God is greater than man, He, and not man, must decide what is right; yet the heart still rules on what is worthy of God.
- Converse — grace works the other way round. It takes God's part against self, judges one's own ways, and bows to His word. That is repentance.
And Job answered Jehovah and said,
Job 40:3 is one line of narrative, yet it turns the whole book. After thirty-seven chapters of argument, and after God's questions out of the storm, Job speaks again — now to answer God, not to plead his case.
Earlier Job had asked God to answer him, and he expected to face Him with dignity.
"My desire is that the Almighty would answer me" was Job's closing word (Job 31:35). Now he is to have his wish granted — but how different the effect! "I would go near to Him like a prince," he had declared (verse 37). "I am worthless" is what he has to say when he hears His voice.
God had challenged Job to answer. His reply is not the argument he once planned.
It is one thing to review the opinions of men, as Job might review those of his friends. It is quite another to sit in judgment on Jehovah's ways. Job had wished to come near His seat, and plead his own cause. Here He was now, if Job could answer, according to the boldness of his reproofs. The only answer he does make is to acknowledge himself worthless. He had no answer to the divine challenge beyond the confession implied in laying his hand on his mouth. The folly of refusing to submit is now before his soul. He had spoken too much: silence suited him. It was for Jehovah to speak.
Chapters 38–39 never answer Job's question about why he suffers. God shows Himself instead.
Jehovah answered Job out of the whirlwind (Job 38, 39). He did not use argument, or even instruction. He displayed the witness of His majesty and power, so that Job had to say, "Behold, I am of small account: what shall I answer you? I lay my hand upon my mouth: once have I spoken, and I will not answer; yes twice, but I will proceed no further" (Job 40:3-5).
Job could have withdrawn a few rash statements. His answer reaches past his speeches to himself.
Job goes deeper here than apologising for what he has said, for he expresses his judgment of himself personally. Indeed, how true it is that we ourselves, in our sinful nature, are worse than the worst thing we have ever said or done. Then he also judges what he had spoken more than once, and he says he lays his hand over his mouth. Romans 3:19 says the same of all mankind: "so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God."
God does not stop here. He speaks again from Job 40:6 on, and Job's fuller confession comes only in chapter 42.
There is in this confession the owning of what he is — worthless. But in the second confession he will go much further than this.
God speaks again for a reason.
God will not leave His servant with his lesson half learned. He plows deeper into his heart until He reaches and judges the hidden depths of pride.
Job was not a scandalous man, and his repentance was not about a hidden immoral life.
Was Job deeply sorry for a life of open sin and immorality? Oh, no! this was not Job's case at all. He was a true man of God; and had spent one of the most moral and upright lives on record… Then of what did he repent? He repented of this: — his striving to establish his own righteousness.
A man crushed with no confidence in God would only despair. Commentators read Job's collapse and his trust as arriving together.
Here then, in Job's case, we see both — his own worthlessness, and his confidence in God. It was his confidence in God, we may be very sure, that made him feel and own his worthlessness. His grace is the power. The last thing a man comes to is to think badly of himself.
- Answered. Job demanded a hearing with God. Verse 3 records him getting it, and the prince who meant to argue can only call himself a man of small account.
- Silenced. God explained nothing about Job's suffering. He showed His majesty instead, and that alone stopped the mouth thirty-seven chapters of debate could not stop.
- Deeper. Job does more than regret his words. He judges himself, and owns the self-righteousness behind them. Scripture passes that verdict on everyone.
- Unfinished. This is the first of two answers. God speaks again, because He will not leave the lesson half learned, and the full repentance comes in chapter 42.
- Trusting. Job's low view of himself grew out of confidence in God, not despair. Grace is the power that brings a man to think badly of himself, and that is the last thing he learns.
Behold, I am nought what shall I answer thee? I will lay my hand upon my mouth.
Job had demanded a hearing with God, and now he has one. After all his long speeches, his answer is a few words and then silence. Why does seeing God make a man turn against himself instead of defending himself — and is that confession the end of the matter, or only the start? (The writers below quote older translations, which render the opening words "I am vile.")
Job's reply is short. It ends his case, and with it his complaint that God had treated him unfairly.
And Job answers — and what an answer it is! It is the answer God was waiting for. "Look! I am vile; what shall I answer You? I will lay my hand upon my mouth." He admits that he had spoken too much, and that now he cannot answer and will go no further. He is completely silenced. He admits his own nothingness and vileness, that his words were wrong, and that he has nothing else to say. He was sure that a God who had spoken to him of creation and His creatures, showing His power, wisdom and care, could never be unjust in His dealings with man.
Job had asked for this very meeting. He had also pictured how he would handle it.
"My desire is that the Almighty would answer me," was Job's closing word (Job 31:35). Now he gets his wish — but what a different result! "As a prince would I go near to Him" (verse 37), he had declared. "I am vile" is what he has to say when he hears His voice.
Job had done more than weigh up his friends' arguments. He had judged God.
It is one thing to weigh up the opinions of men, as Job might weigh those of his friends. It is quite another to sit in judgment on God's ways. Job had wanted to come near God's throne and plead his own case. Now here God was — ready for Job to answer, if he could, as boldly as he had rebuked. The only answer he gives is to admit that he is vile. He had no answer to God's challenge except the confession that lay in putting his hand over his mouth… He now sees how foolish his refusal to submit was. He had spoken too much. Silence was what suited him. It was God's turn to speak.
New thoughts about God gave Job new thoughts about himself. His whole defence went with them.
His new thoughts about God brought new thoughts about himself at once. So we find that the careful self-defence, the passionate self-importance, the loud self-praise, the long arguments in his own favour — he lays it all aside. One short sentence of three words takes its place: "I am vile." And what is there to do with this vile self? Talk about it? Set it up? Fill his mind with it? Take advice about it? Make provision for it? No — "I abhor it."
The same writer adds where such a confession has to be learned.
It is one thing to say "We are all vile," and quite another to feel, deep down in the heart, that "I am vile." The second of those can only be known, and felt day after day, right in God's presence.
Job's confession here is real, but it is not the end of the road.
In God's presence his mouth is stopped. Then he said, "I am vile"; "I will lay my hand on my mouth." But God must take Job further, because He is bringing him to Himself. Job must come to confess not only that there is no good in him, but that there is a great deal of evil… So Job takes God's side against himself. He laid himself before God, and abhorred himself. Then he repents in dust and ashes, for it is only in God's presence that we learn repentance.
Job now judges himself, not just his words. And what silenced him must silence everyone.
Job goes deeper here than apologising for what he has said. He passes judgment on himself. And how true it is that we ourselves, in our sinful nature, are worse than the worst thing we have ever said or done. Then he judges what he had spoken more than once, and says he lays his hand over his mouth. It is just as Romans 3:19 says of all mankind: "so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God."
- Sight — Job stopped arguing only when God spoke. We learn what we are in God's presence, not in debate.
- Silence — He had judged God's ways. Now he has no reply, and a hand on the mouth is all that fits when it is God's turn to speak.
- Self — The confession is personal, not general: not "people are bad," but "I am vile."
- Deeper — This is the answer God waited for, but not the end. God goes further, until Job abhors himself and repents.
- Everyone — What silenced Job must silence all. Scripture says it plainly: every mouth stopped, the whole world accountable to God.
Once have I spoken, and I will not answer; yea twice, but I will proceed no further.
God speaks to Job at last. He asks whether a man who argues against the Almighty is fit to correct Him. Job's reply is short. He covers his mouth, admits he has already spoken twice, and says he is finished — but God is not finished with him.
Job had contended with the Almighty through chapter after chapter. Now God puts one question to him, and it fills him with shame.
Notice how God puts the question in Job 40 straight to Job himself. "Then the LORD answered Job and said, Shall he who contends with the Almighty instruct Him?" Anyone who judges God ought to be able to instruct Him. This is precisely what fills Job with shame... Job had contended with the Almighty. "He who rebukes God, let him answer it." And Job does answer... He no longer stays silent like the others.
(The ESV renders God's question, "Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it." Older translations ask instead whether such a man can instruct God.)
Job counts up his speeches — once, then twice. The hand on his mouth reaches past his words to the man himself.
Job goes deeper here than apologising for what he has said. He passes judgment on his own person. Indeed, how true it is that we ourselves, in our sinful nature, are worse than the worst thing we have ever said or done. Then he judges what he had spoken more than once, and says he lays his hand over his mouth. Romans 3:19 says the same of all mankind: "that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God."
God had just paraded His works before Job, down to the great beasts behemoth and leviathan. The point was never the creatures.
Men talk as if God's object was merely to occupy us with His works. God, on the contrary, brings forward His works to turn us away from our thoughts and bow us to Himself. If the works of God are so wonderful, who is He that did the work? And what is man if he dares to judge such a God?... Do you think that after this Job was occupied with behemoth or with leviathan? Not at all, but with God; and this was the design of it all.
Job announces he is done talking. God is not done working.
He had said his words were ended, and now he says he will proceed no further. Oh yes, Job will proceed a little further yet. There is in this confession the owning of what he is — vile. But in the second confession he will go much further than this.
A second speech from God follows in the very next verse.
God will not leave His servant with his lesson half learned. He plows deeper into his heart until He reaches and judges the hidden depths of pride. The second address therefore dwells upon this pride so common to the creature.
A closed mouth is only half the work. The other half is a mouth opened in honest confession. Only then does God bless Job.
Job acknowledges his vileness. First he shuts his mouth before God, stopping his presumptuous words. Then he opens it in genuine confession before the gracious God who dealt with him. He now stood in God's presence in a truth and reality he had never known before: "I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes." Then God can fully bless him, and pardon his friends, putting each in his place.
Silence before God sounds like the worst outcome. It turns out to be the doorway to finding Him.
Job found it so: it was the end of his difficulty. "I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes," lifted him right out of where he was, and gave him more than he had before... And here, again, we get a sinner with his sins, standing before God with a stopped mouth. He finds only that God is for him and not against him.
- Contend — Job argued against the Almighty. God's one question shows that a man who judges God ought to be able to instruct Him.
- Silenced — the hand on the mouth is more than regret over words. Job judges himself. Scripture says the whole world stands before God with that same stopped mouth.
- Turned — the parade of creation was never meant to make Job a student of nature. It turned him from his own thoughts to God Himself.
- Deeper — "I will proceed no further" ends Job's speaking, not God's working. God plows on to the root of pride.
- Accepted — the mouth shut in shame is later opened in confession. The man with nothing left to say finds God for him, not against him.