FBT Daily Devotional: Job 41

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Transcript

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Today we are doing Job 41. God destroys our illusion of control. Okay. Quick review because it was a long book. Job was righteous, said to be righteous. Heaven testified about him before earth, and earth attacked him. In one sweep, he lost children, wealth, health. His friends tried to explain suffering with their formulas, verses, words, beliefs, and Job defended his integrity. He acted like he was in the courtroom. Elahu, who was a young man, watching all this going down with Job and his friends, and he decided to speak up on God's righteousness and how they need to be disciplined. He's gonna tell them what to do, the young one. So Job must have been out of his mind, I'd say, with illness and started smelling himself because throughout the chapters, toward well, the last few chapters and going forward, at certain points, Job had made statements against or questioned God. Crazy Job questioned God and accused him of being unjust and incompetent of running the universe. Then finally, as we just heard in 38, God shows up in a whirlwind, whoo, saying, Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man. I will question you. Oh my gosh. And remember in chapter 31, Job, who wanted an advocate, said his righteousness was so pure that he would walk confidently into court to confront God. Uh-oh. So then God swooped down and he takes Job on a virtual world tour to question him.

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Wow.

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So now here we're going forward. Job, God's questioning Job's knowledge and abilities about creation. Not necessarily to humiliate him, but he needs to recalibrate him. Okay, so there's always a reason with God. I even wondered why would God entertain the devil, give a hoot's care about what he thinks, or give any access to his child, especially a righteous one like Job. Huh. So now in 41, God gives his final exhibit in this virtual world tour, is the Leviathan. Wow. So there was a movie by that name some years ago, this uncontrolled, undefeatable sea creature. And this isn't merely about a reptile type creature, guys. It's about God's sovereignty, which is his power and authority. Okay, it's a symbol of the disorder, the danger, and chaos that exists in the world. So let's look further into this story and the connection with our lives today. Okay, so here comes some fire. Job opens with a question in verse 1 of chapter 41. Canst thou draw out Leviathan with a hook? In other words, can you control what terrifies you? Leviathan is armored, his scales are shut down together as with a closed seal, it says in verse 15. Swords bounce off, spears snap, his heart is as firm as a stone, it says in verse 24. He laughed at the shaking of a spear in verse 29. So God is painting a picture of something untamable, undefeatable. And here's a fiery connection in it. God is saying to Job, You've been trying to understand suffering, but you cannot even manage a creature within my creation. Now, again, as I said last week, had I been there, I would have definitely been stepping to the left. Exit stage left. I don't want any of that smoke. Okay. If you can't control Leviathan, he's saying, why are you trying to control me? Okay, he knew there was a problem when God came down the whirlwind. He knew it's on and popping. Okay. So the Leviathan again embodies uh human limits. Okay. Leviathan represents the forces that mock human strength. There are things in our lives that feel scale covered, systems that don't seem to budge, diagnoses that ignore our prayers seemingly, and cycles in families that seem unbreakable. Cultural chaos that feels like it's crowned. And here's the subtle insight. Verse 33 says, Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear. Leviathan fears nothing. But don't miss this. He may not fear man, but he is still described by God. The one describing him outranks him. Okay. So that connects powerfully with what David had declared in Psalm 24:1. The earth is the Lord and the fullness thereof. Okay. So the world and the day and they that dwell in it, if Leviathan is in the earth, he belongs to the Lord. Okay. So chaos does not have independent sovereignty at all. Okay. Now it's turning a little more personal. Job had been defending himself, right? All along. Not sinfully arrogant. Yeah, but he was edging towards self-justification. Yeah, he was. So let that burn for a moment. Chaos rules where pride lives. Okay. Pride says, I deserve an explanation. I can reason this out. I know. I can manage this myself. God owes me clarity. God owe you. But humility dethrones the chaos, takes it off the throne. James says in 4 6, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Leviathan may be king over pride, but he is powerless over surrendering. That's why God doesn't explain the why, he reveals the who. Okay? Because once you see God correctly, your need to control decreases. Okay. Think about today. Let's talk about some of us have prayed over situations that feel like they're armored. We're not getting through. Okay. You've confronted them, you've counseled them, you've fasted about it, and nothing penetrates. That thing is still there, ain't it? Okay. It laughs at your little spear and rituals, but here's the revelation. You were never assigned to defeat the Leviathan. God never told Job to fight it, did he? He didn't say that. He simply asked, Can you? Can you handle this? Can you do this? Can you control this? And when Job realized he could not, that was the breakthrough he needed. Okay. The victory in Job is not Leviathan's removal. It is Job's total surrender to it all. So think about the book of Isaiah 45:9. Woe unto him that striveth with his maker. We exhaust ourselves fighting what only God governs. We think we got it. Here's a hidden mercy to me in this. God never said the Leviathan was evil, did He? He never said that. I never saw and read that. He simply said it is powerful. That means some things in our lives are not necessarily attacks, but rather they are reminders of our limits. Look at those Leviathans hiding all in there everywhere. Wow, our limitations are not necessarily punishments, they are invitations to trust God in all things. Leviathan exposes human frailty, but it also exposes God's divine supremacy. So if Leviathan is terrifying to kings, as it said in verse 25, and yet fully under God's description, then your situation, no matter how movable, is still inside God's jurisdiction. Wow. Did Job still have a deep Leviathan? Now that's fire to me. How righteous was he? He had a Leviathan. Listen, everybody needs to read and understand the book of Job at some point because the end of their lives is coming. Just like Job lost possessions, loved ones, and his health, we're going to lose them all, also. You might have significant trials long before you die. Losing things important to you. We need to get ready, y'all. Can we handle it? Can we really handle it? It's easy to say that now while things are kind of comfortable. But as we prepare to go to our breakout rooms, let me have you note a few things. Another shift is coming. And it's not defeat to acknowledge that we don't know everything. That's an awakening. Okay. Move from demanding all the answers to reverencing his authority over all things. All things. So go from defending your own integrity like Job to submitting to God's sovereignty. Because once pride bows, you get that off of you, and full restoration will follow. Amen. We can go to breakout rooms. Thank you.