A sermon on Job 38–41, exploring what God's speeches from the storm reveal about suffering and divine sovereignty
A sermon from the Latimer: Listen channel, preaching through the book of Job.
Summary
This is a sermon on Job chapters 38 through 41, delivered at a church in the Latimer: Listen series. Tim Capill works through God's two speeches to Job — the first a sweeping tour of creation, the second focused on the creatures Behemoth and Leviathan — and draws out two central truths: that God is in control of all creation, and that God is in control of evil itself. Tim Capill argues that the Leviathan in Job 41 is not merely a crocodile but a figure for Satan, and that God's point to Job is that even the arch-enemy of humanity operates only within limits God has set. The sermon concludes by connecting Job's restoration of confidence in God to the cross of Jesus, where Satan is ultimately defeated.
Key Takeaways
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Introduction: Questioning God's management
Thank you very much, Tim Capill. Do keep your Bibles open there.
I remember sometime last year I went to buy an appliance. I won't say what store because I'm about to give them a bad reputation. It took me only a few moments to walk up to the counter and purchase what I wanted — quick and efficient customer service. And then they sent me to the warehouse to go and pick it up around the corner. And, oh, it was a nightmare. I get there, it's pouring with rain, I've got three kids in the car who are hungry and grumpy, and there's this queue of people waiting. I think, oh no, we're in trouble. It felt to me like a Mickey Mouse outfit. There were two or three people managing this massive warehouse, and a person would walk in with their invoice, they'd look at it, find what they wanted, and then they just seemed to have no idea where anything was. They would spend five minutes walking around the warehouse, looking up and down the shelves, go right up the back, and then you'd see them five minutes later come back to get a forklift. It took like half an hour to serve a customer. I was there for over an hour and gave up.
Now, I stood there in my arrogance thinking, I am pretty confident that I could manage this place better than them. They don't know what they're doing. And you know what, sometimes I confess that I've had that thought towards God. God doesn't know what he's doing. Have you noticed? The world is full of awful suffering. The world is a pretty horrible place to live. Now, if I was God, I reckon I'd just make heaven. Just bypass all this sin and suffering. Just create a perfect world where there's no pain, no sin, no death. Fill it with people and — straight to heaven. Isn't that a better plan?
Can you relate to that way of thinking, where we start to question God's ways? Maybe you've done that on a big-picture level, but maybe you've done that personally as well. If you could write the story for your own life, wouldn't you write it differently? Maybe right now there are things going on that you wish you could just change. And you think, God, are you really in control? God, I think I could manage my life better than you're doing right now. What are you up to? It's easy to think like that.
Job's story: From prosperity to ruin
The man Job — that is how he started to think. Job is a man who, as we've seen over the last few weeks, lost everything. In his day, he was the most popular man, the most powerful man in the East. He was a God-fearing, upright, righteous, blameless man. He was rich and popular. He had a wonderful, happy family with seven sons and three daughters. He was in his prime, healthy and wealthy, and then tragedy struck and he lost everything. He lost all of his wealth overnight. In a tragic accident, his house collapsed and all ten of his children were killed. And then in the midst of his grief, still reeling from that, he lost his health and his body broke out in itchy, pussy sores. The man was reduced to nothing.
At first, his response was nothing but admirable. In the midst of his pain, he cried out, "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Praise the name of the Lord." I love that. It's a great response. But as time went on and Job continued to grieve without relief from his suffering, he started to question God. He started to doubt God's goodness. And what we have in the book of Job is almost 42 chapters of Job wrestling with God about his suffering. I love that. I love that the book just doesn't go from chapters 1 and 2 right to the end in chapter 42, but you have these chapters in the middle — this dialogue between Job and his friends and God. Because so often our experience is that of Job's. We might start strong, confident in God's sovereignty, and when tragedy strikes we can say, yeah, I know, but God is in control. But when we face prolonged times of pain and grief and suffering, doubt inevitably creeps in. And that was Job.
His first three friends were useless. They told him that he was suffering because he had sinned in some way, that the way he had been treated was because he had disobeyed God and God was punishing him. Job refused to believe them. He knew he had done nothing wrong. And so as he tried to defend his righteousness — because he knew that there is no correlation in this world between righteousness and prosperity, or wickedness and suffering; that will be seen in the world to come, but in this world the righteous often suffer more than the wicked, and the wicked often prosper more than the righteous — as Job defended his own righteousness, he began to question God's righteousness. He put God in the dock, as it were, and started to question God's judgment as though he could manage things better than God.
In chapter 10, verse 3, just to give you an example of what he says, he asks God: "Does it please you, God, to oppress me? To spurn the work of your hands while you smile on the plans of the wicked?" Or in chapter 19, he accuses God of treating him unjustly and says, "Know that God has wronged me and drawn his net around me. Though I cry violence, I get no response. Though I call for help, there is no justice." What are you doing, God?
Elihu's warning and the approaching storm
Job longed to speak to God so that God could explain himself. Well, be careful what you wish for, Job. Because God does speak. But before God speaks, another friend speaks in chapters 32 to 37 — this man Elihu. And as Elihu finishes his speech in chapter 37, which we looked at last week, it's like he sees a storm approaching. He reminds Job that it is God who controls even the weather. In chapter 37, verse 15, Elihu says, "Do you know how God controls the clouds and makes his lightning flash?" Come on, Job, you want to tell God how to do his job? Do you know how the weather works? God does and you don't. Elihu reminds Job that he is a mere mortal but God alone is God. It's almost like Elihu can see God approaching in the storm that is gathering around them.
God speaks from the storm: Chapter 38
Because in chapter 38, God finally speaks, and he speaks from the storm. For 36 chapters, God has been seemingly silent. Job has questioned God over and over again but has got no answer. But now God speaks. Have a look at chapter 38:
"Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said: Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man. I will question you, and you shall answer me."
Job has questioned God's management of the world, but now God questions Job. And it's almost comical, isn't it? The creator of the universe says, come on, Job, put your big boy pants on. Your turn. Man up, you face me. You've been questioning me — my turn. Let me ask you some things, Job.
What follows in these two speeches that God gives — chapters 38 and 39, and then chapters 40 and 41 — each speech teaches a different truth that Job needs to understand. These two truths don't explain suffering, but they are two truths that if tonight we can grasp and believe and hold on to, they will bring us great comfort when suffering comes. The book of Job is not so much concerned about why we suffer. It is more concerned about how we suffer. And so if we can learn these two truths that God teaches Job, we'll be prepared to suffer well.
Truth One: God is in control of all creation
Truth one: God is in control of all creation. Simple truth, easily forgotten.
In God's first speech, which runs from chapter 38 through to chapter 40, verse 2, God takes Job on a tour of creation. And all the way, God is saying: Did you make this, Job? Is this your work, Job? This is amazing, Job — was this you? Of course the answer is no. Of course it wasn't. I did it, Job, says God. This is my work. The whole universe is the work of my hands, not yours, Job. So who are you to question me?
The tour of creation begins by looking at the earth below in verses 4 to 7. He says, "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation, Job? You seem to know everything, Job, so where were you when the world was made? Who measured off the dimensions of the earth? Was that you?"
Then the tour moves to the sea in verses 8 to 11, and God says to Job, "Were you there when I fixed the place for the sea? When I told the oceans that they could only come so far and then no further — when I looked at New Zealand and I said, right, east coast, that's where you're stopping, you're not going anywhere — was that you, Job?"
Then it moves to the dawn in verses 12 to 15, and God says, "Who makes the sun rise, Job? Do you give orders to the light? No, I do. That's me, not you, Job."
Then God considers the depths of the sea and the land in verses 16 to 18. He says, "How far have you been, Job? Have you been to the deepest parts of the ocean? You seem to know so much about the world. Or what about the most furthest away, desolate place — you've been there, Job?" God's point is clear. Job, you've not seen everything, but I have. There is no part of this world that God doesn't know about because he made it all. From the deepest part of the ocean to the most desolate place on earth, it is all the handiwork of God. So who are you to tell God how to manage the world, Job?
Then in the last half of chapter 38, God lifts Job's eyes off the earth to the heavens above. He questions Job about the place of darkness and of light. He mocks Job's age in verse 21, saying, "You're so old, Job. You've lived for such a long time. With wisdom comes age, Job. Tell me — where were you when I made the world? Where does darkness live? Where does light come from? Job, where does the snow come from? Or hailstones? Job, have you got a collection in heaven of hailstones stored up ready to throw down on earth — is that you, Job? Who makes it rain, Job? Can you make a desert wasteland turn into a green meadow, Job? Can you count the clouds, Job? Can you raise your voice and then the weather just obeys you — can you do that?"
Or, Job, look even higher. What about the stars? Do you control the constellations, Job? Did you put the stars in their place? Is that your work?
Then, moving into chapter 39, the tour of creation moves to the animal world. Job, how much do you know about animals? You seem to know everything about the world. Do you provide food for the wild beasts, for lions or ravens, Job? Is that you? Or what about when animals give birth — in chapter 39, verses 1 to 4, he says, "Do you know, Job, when an animal gives birth? Do you watch over them? Do you provide for them? Do you protect them, as the mountain goats or the deer raise their young?"
See what God's saying? It's pretty obvious. He's saying, Job, I see all of this. I know all of this. I'm in control of all of this. Every goat that gives birth in the mountains, I know about it. I know that some of you enjoy hunting and you go out in the bush and spend hours trying to find a stag — God knows exactly where they are. He's not caught by surprise. He knows every time an animal is born. I'm the one who feeds them. Who are you to question me, Job?
Or Job, think about the wild animals — can you control them? Do you set wild donkeys free in the wilderness? Is that you, Job? Can you tame a wild ox so that it serves you?
Or — I love this — what about the stupid ostrich, he says in chapter 39, verse 13. I mean, this looks stupid, doesn't it? Have a look:
"The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, though they cannot compare with the wings and feathers of the stork. She lays her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand, unmindful that a foot may crush them, that some wild animal may trample them. She treats her young harshly as if they were not hers. She cares not that her labor was in vain, for God did not endow her with wisdom or give her a share of good sense."
The poor ostrich! But why is the ostrich so stupid that it lays an egg and lets it get trampled? Because God is in control of everything. Even the foolish things in the world come from God. From the foolish ostrich to the mighty war horse — chapter 39, verse 19.
Look at the ocean, the stars, the sunrise, the size of our planet, the depth of the sea. Wherever you look, from the big picture to the tiniest detail, Job, you're seeing my wisdom, my power, my creation. So who are you to question my ways? Who are you to question my wisdom, even in the middle of your suffering? Don't you think, Job, that there are some things you just don't understand? There are some things you just don't know. And actually, some things you have no right to know.
That's humbling, isn't it? If God were to say that to us — as he is saying to every one of us tonight — friends, there are some things you just don't know. And there are some things you actually have no right to know. God is God. There are ten million things about the running of this world, and you and I, we don't even know the first thing. It's presumptuous and ignorant to think we can give counsel to God. It puts us in our place. There are things we don't know and have no right to know.
Job's response: "I am unworthy"
And so, having taken this great tour of creation, Job replies in chapter 40, verse 3:
"Then Job answered the Lord: I am unworthy. How can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer. Twice, but I will say no more."
I wonder if you've ever said those words to God. God, I'm unworthy. I have no answer. There are plenty of people who would never say that. They just keep God in the dock and demand that he explains to them how he's decided to run the universe and why. They keep passing judgment on him. How can you do that, God? I'll do it differently. Why do you let me suffer like this, God? How can you create a world where children die of brain cancer and girls are sold as sex slaves? How can you create a world where grief and pain and sorrow and death are a reality? What are you doing, God? Tell me. And they never stop and say, actually, you know what, God? I don't know why. I have no right to know. But you are God.
Remember what Job said about wisdom back in chapter 28, verse 28 — this wise, righteous man Job said, "The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. And to shun evil is understanding." Do you see, friends, how Job, in the midst of his suffering, is learning afresh to fear the Lord? And I wonder if it's a lesson we will learn tonight. He is God, and we are not. When we can acknowledge that and stop demanding answers from God — answers we have no right to know — it is actually a tremendous comfort in the face of suffering.
Sarah reminded us earlier, and I mentioned in previous weeks, about my wife's struggle with depression and bipolar. One of the things I love about my wife is her appreciation for creation. She just notices little details and points them out to me, things I would never notice myself. This morning as we went for a walk, she noticed the moon was still out and pointed it out — isn't it amazing that those things are creatures that we can see even this far away? She loves creation because it reminds her of the bigness of God the creator. And when she was in her darkest moments of depression, she used to picture herself sitting in the hands of God. Her creator. She felt weak, weeping, useless, helpless, but she knew she was safe. She's not God. God is God. Safe under his protection. The God who created the universe. The God who governs the sun and the stars and the sea. The God who feeds the animals and sends rain on the fields.
Friends, that is the God who is looking after you. If you're one of his people, he is holding you. And he is in control over all creation. Isn't that a comfort? There is much joy to be found in praising our creator for his creation. "Lift your eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth."
So that is the first truth God teaches Job. It's a truth that brings great comfort. God is in control over all creation.
Truth Two: God is in control of evil
The second truth, which we learn from God's second speech in chapters 40 to 41, is that God is in control of evil. It follows, doesn't it, from the first truth. He's in control over all creation — even evil.
There is a sense in which God's first speech could be seen as a little bit frustrating, because Job has asked God, why are you allowing me to suffer? Why are you treating me so harshly? Why do you allow such evil to exist, God? And God's answer is, well, I'm God, you're not. Like — what? It's a cop-out, isn't it? He doesn't seem to answer the question. Job wants to know what's going on, and God says, I'm God, you're not. Know your place, Job.
Well, in God's kindness, he actually does address the question in the second speech. He doesn't have to, because he is God — he doesn't have to answer to us. But in his kindness, he does.
The second speech starts much the same as the first. Chapter 40, verse 6: "The Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. Brace yourself like a man. I will question you and you shall answer me." And again, what follows is just a barrage of questions. By the end of these two speeches, God has asked Job somewhere around 75 questions, depending on how you count them. Are you as strong as me, Job? Are you as powerful as me, Job? The questions just keep coming.
In verses 8 to 14, God challenges Job. Chapter 40, verse 8 to 14, he says, "Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself? Do you have an arm like God's? And can your voice thunder like his?" He says, Job, if you can humble the proud, if you can destroy the wicked, if you can bring justice and end suffering and evil, well then I'll acknowledge that you can do that. But you can't, Job.
The Behemoth and the Leviathan
And then God questions Job about these two creatures — the Behemoth in verses 15 to 24, and the Leviathan in chapter 41. Some commentators suggest that what is described in these two creatures is actually a hippopotamus and a crocodile. And you can see why they might think that if you read the descriptions. The Behemoth sounds a little bit like a hippopotamus — described as a strong beast hiding in the reeds of a marsh with powerful muscles. And the Leviathan, as you read the description, sounds a little bit like a crocodile — described as a water creature with a double coat of armour, fearsome teeth and scales. And God says to Job, can you tame these two mighty creatures? No, you can't. And that's basically the speech.
But the question we have to ask is: is God just speaking about a crocodile and a hippo? There's something climactic about the second speech. At the end of it, Job is silenced entirely in chapter 42. It gives Job a new understanding of God. At the end of the speech, it causes Job to say, "My ears had heard of you, God, but now my eyes have seen you." There's something unique in the second speech that gives Job a fresh experience of God. But if all of the second speech is saying, Job, you haven't made a hippo or tamed a crocodile — that's a little bit anticlimactic, isn't it? He's already made that case in speech number one. So what's going on?
Well, in the ancient world, as is still true today, when you wanted to speak about the world, you often did so in terms of stories or myths. And one of the stories that made the rounds was of some kind of dragon god or serpent god or sea monster god who was the arch enemy of the chief god. In all of these old stories, these old myths, all sorts of battles were fought between this sea monster god and the other god. Now, sometimes the Old Testament writers use the language of these old myths and stories to teach us what is true about the one living God.
So take, for example, the Leviathan. Since most of the second speech is about the Leviathan, back in chapter 3, in Job's very first speech, he actually mentions the Leviathan. In chapter 3, verse 8, Job asks those who are ready to rouse up Leviathan. He says, if you're ready to do that, then curse the day of my birth. Now, no one thinks that in that verse he's speaking about a crocodile. No, he's speaking about Satan. To rouse Leviathan in order to curse life is to rouse the prince of darkness. The Leviathan in chapter 3 is Satan himself. And I put it to you that that's true all through the Bible.
Psalm 74, speaking of the God who rescues, the psalmist says, "It was you who split open the sea by your power. You broke the heads of the monster in the waters. It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan and gave it as food to the creatures of the desert." God is speaking about saving his people and he says, I've crushed Leviathan. It's clearly more than a crocodile there, isn't it? This is God's big enemy, described in storybook language, being crushed by God. God wins.
Isaiah uses the same imagery describing God's victory. Isaiah 27, verse 1: "In that day the Lord will punish with his sword, his fierce, great and powerful sword, Leviathan the gliding serpent, Leviathan the coiling serpent. He will slay the monster of the sea."
And while the Leviathan is not mentioned by name in the book of Revelation, a very similar picture of Satan is used — Satan is described as a beast coming up out of the sea, a dragon of the ocean.
So it seems that Leviathan, in biblical imagery, is the arch enemy of God. He is the prince of the power of evil. Satan, the god of this world, as Jesus calls him. Here is the embodiment of beastliness, of terror, of undiluted evil. The figures of Behemoth and Leviathan do not come as an anticlimax. Rather, they use the language of well-known stories to make the point that God is in control over evil.
Can you tame Satan, Job? No. But I can.
Job is challenged with this kind of dark comedy as God challenges him. He says, can you catch a Behemoth, pierce its nose? Or can you go fishing and hook Satan on your fishing rod — tie a fly and have a few casts and up comes Satan? Or in verse 5 of chapter 41, he says, can you put Leviathan on a leash, Job, and bring it home to your girls? You can imagine Job's young girls — Dad, can we get a pet? Oh, yep, no worries. And he goes out to the sea and comes back with this thrashing evil beast as if he could tame it. It's absurd. Of course you can't. You're not going to bring Satan home as a pet for your daughters, Job. Of course you can't do that, Job.
In fact, God says in verse 8 that if you get into a fight with Leviathan, you'll never forget it. You go head to head with Satan — that's a fight you'll lose. And you'll never forget the fight.
But then look at the comparison God makes in chapter 41, verse 10. He says, "No one is fierce enough to rouse it, the Leviathan. Who then is able to stand against me? Who has a claim against me?" Do you see what he's saying? God is saying, look at how terrifying the Leviathan is — and yet I am more powerful still.
Towards the end of the speech, chapter 41, verse 33, he talks about the Leviathan saying, "Nothing on earth is its equal. A creature without fear. Satan looks down on all that are haughty. It is king over all that are proud."
Now, think about this with me. Why is God filling Job's head with this terrifying picture of evil? Job's already terrified. Job knows firsthand the power of evil — he's lost all of his wealth, he's lost his health, and he's lost his ten children. He knows the power of Satan. He's experienced it. He's confused by it. He's saying, what's going on? So why does God remind him of it?
Because God is pointing out: Job, you can't do anything about this problem of evil. You cannot tame this beast. But I can. This creature that terrifies men and cannot be tamed by men — he too is created. And I created him. Satan is God's devil. God made him. Satan answers to God. Satan is on God's leash. So do not be afraid, Job.
Friends, if you don't think God is on your side, then you have every reason to be afraid of Satan — every reason, because you cannot stand against him. He'll destroy you. But if God is on your side, you've got nothing to be afraid of. God is in control. God walks Satan around on a leash. It's like when you walk onto a property and you hear the ferocious barking of dogs and they come running at you and you're terrified. And you know the thought that comes to your mind? Where are the owners? Can someone pull the dogs off? God does that for Satan. Sit, boy. That is how in control God is.
Well, as Job suffered, he felt like evil was taking over. Is there anyone in control of this? And God speaks in the whirlwind of Job's suffering and he says, yes, Job, I am here. Satan cannot go one millimetre beyond the leash on which God keeps him. God is in control over all creation and over evil itself.
Job's final response: "Now my eyes have seen you"
And when Job grasps these two truths, he's filled with awe. Have a look at chapter 42, verse 2:
"Then Job replied to the Lord: I know that you can do all things. No purpose of yours can be thwarted. You asked, who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge? Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. You said, listen now and I will speak. I will question you and you shall answer me. My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."
Now this doesn't answer all of Job's questions, does it? It doesn't give us a nice, tidy, scientific, philosophical answer for the problem of pain and suffering. It gives us something much deeper. It opens our eyes to who God is. The one and only God who has no rival, no equal. Even the mystery of evil is his mystery. Even Satan the Leviathan is God's Satan. And that means, as we suffer and as we sit with others who suffer, we may with absolute confidence bow down to the sovereign God. Because we know that though evil may come, and may be terrible, it cannot and will not ever go one tiny fraction beyond the leash on which God has put it.
Do you believe that? Whatever evil comes your way, it'll never go, not one little bit, beyond what God would allow.
The cross: Where Leviathan is finally defeated
And friends, it will not go on forever. It is not until Jesus shows up on the scene hundreds of years later that we see just how much it cost the Son of God to win this great victory over Leviathan. It cost Jesus his own blood. For it is as Jesus is nailed to the cross that Satan is defeated once and for all. As the writer of Hebrews says, Hebrews 2, verse 14: Jesus died so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death — that is, the devil.
Friends, naturally the Bible says that every single one of us is actually under the power and influence of Satan, and it is seen in our refusal to acknowledge the one true God. But Jesus came to beat Satan for us and to free us from him. The God of the Bible is a God who deals in scars because he bears them in the person of his Son Jesus. And he does so that we might be free from Satan's power and grasp.
And so friends, when the darkness of Leviathan's presence overwhelms you, when you feel battered by evil, when you feel fearful for the future because of Satan's schemes, or when you feel agony in the midst of your suffering, turn with confidence to God. He's got you. He is in control over all creation, even evil. The whole world is in his hand. And friends, he loves you enough that he bore your sin in his own suffering. Trust him.
We don't know everything. We don't understand all of God's ways. We have no right to. Sometimes his ways will be especially confusing to us, but he is God. And our God is for us. And he's proven himself to be completely in control and completely trustworthy. So lay your questions at his feet like Job, and humble yourself under his mighty hand.
Friends, one day we will see the risen Jesus face to face — the great dragon slayer. And then we'll understand. Then evil will be no more. We will rejoice in the glory of our God.