I have spoken once, and I will not answer; 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.
The Question That Ends the Argument
Job had contended with the Almighty through chapter after chapter. Now God puts one question to him, and it fills him with shame.
William KellyNotice 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.)
Not an Apology, but a Verdict on Himself
Job counts up his speeches — once, then twice. The hand on his mouth reaches past his words to the man himself.
Leslie M. GrantJob 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."
Why God Paraded Creation Before Him
God had just paraded His works before Job, down to the great beasts behemoth and leviathan. The point was never the creatures.
William KellyMen 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.
"I Will Proceed No Further" — But God Will
Job announces he is done talking. God is not done working.
Charles StanleyHe 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.
Samuel RidoutGod 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.
From Shut Mouth to Open Confession
A closed mouth is only half the work. The other half is a mouth opened in honest confession. Only then does God bless Job.
J. N. DarbyJob 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.
What the Silenced Man Finds
Silence before God sounds like the worst outcome. It turns out to be the doorway to finding Him.
Frederick W. GrantJob 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.
Summary
- 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.