GOD CARES FOR CREATION

1. God Governs Heaven and Earth (Job 38:1, 18-38) 

2. God Cares for Animals (Job 38:39—39:13, 19, 26-27) 

3. God Is Sovereign Over Humankind (Job 31:1-6; 40:1-5) 

Central Truth: God cares for all of His creation. 

Focus: Recognize and affirm that God is actively caring for and sustaining all He has created. 

Evangelism Emphasis: God is worthy of complete trust because He loves and cares for all of His creation. 

Text: “Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?” (Job 31:4). 

INTRODUCTION 

Job knew he was innocent of many of the accusations his friends brought against him, and that God could be trusted. Job’s so-called friends brought withering accusations against him, claiming that he was suffering because of his sins. They argued that he needed to acknowledge his sins and repent. Job knew he was innocent of the charges they were bringing, so he stated his case for his innocence in more eloquent terms than they had spoken against him. 

Job lost everything he had, including his family, but he never lost his faith in God. In his struggle to understand what was happening to him, Job even raised questions about God. But, in the end, he approached the Lord in humility and stood in silent acceptance before the provident care of the Almighty. In the midst of it all, Job said, “Though he [God] slay me, yet will I trust in him” (Job 13:15). It was this kind of trust that enabled him to say, “And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another” (19:26-27). Because of his unwavering trust in God, more was restored to Job than he lost. 

1. GOD GOVERNS HEAVEN AND EARTH 

A. Have You Been There? (Job 38:1, 18-21) 

1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, 

18 Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all. 19 Where is the way where light dwelleth? and as for darkness, where is the place thereof, 20 That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof? 21 Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born? or because the number of thy days is great? 

This chapter from the Book of Job contains God’s longest recorded speech. It is in response to Job’s urgent request for God to answer his inquiries. Job had raised questions about what he thought were injustices in God’s actions. God rebuked Job for raising questions about His ways. The end result of this confrontation was that Job responded in humility to the questions God asked him that he could not answer, and ultimately he showed a repentant attitude. 

God’s answer to Job was accompanied by a whirlwind or storm, a tempest of violent winds—a testimony to His heavenly majesty, arresting Job’s attention. The conference of God with Job was straightforward but not harsh. It shows how tenderly God deals with those who have been offensive toward Him, and how they may be brought to confession of their sins and to true repentance. 

God asked Job, “Do you realize how large the earth is? Explain it to Me if you know” (see v. 18). God confronts Job with everyday matters of this world. He challenges Job’s knowledge of the physical universe. In Job’s day, people knew much less about the earth than is known today. Even now, human knowledge is limited when compared to that of God. The Creator has all the answers. 

God’s next question to Job regarded light and darkness. “Where does light come from? Where does darkness come from? Can you take them back to where they belong? Do you know how to get there?” (vv. 19-20 ERV). God alone, without any help from anyone, established the rising of the sun and the setting thereof. As to darkness, what is it? Is it merely the absence of the sun? 

In Nicodemus, we have an example of how the natural person cannot grasp even the lesser mysteries of God, to say nothing of the wonders of salvation. In His conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus spoke of the new birth and the mystery of the blowing of the wind, to which Nicodemus asked, “How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?” (John 3:9-10). 

In a bit of sarcasm, God suggested He was not telling Job anything he did not already know. After all, wasn’t Job born before the world was created (Job 38:21)? How foolish Job must have felt at this point. 

The Omnipresent One 

God is in all things and in every place. There is not a place in the world in which He is not most truly present. Just as birds, wherever they fly, always meet with the air, so we, wherever we go, or wherever we are, always find God present.—Francis de Sales 

B. Can You Control Nature? (Job 38:31-38) 

33 Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth? 

36 Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart? 37 Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven, 38 When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together? 

God posed questions to Job that revealed his impotence and God’s omnipotence. “Pleiades” contains the seven stars that bring in the spring, while “Orion” is the constellation that rises in November and brings in winter (v. 31). Only God can change the order of things. If He chooses, He can make the spring cold and the winter warm. But no man has the power to do that. 

In verse 32, God continues to ask Job what he knows about the secrets of the starry skies. “Can you bring out the other constellations at the right times? Can you lead out the Bear with its cubs [‘the Big Dipper’ and ‘the Little Dipper’]?” (ERV). While Job was helpless to make any changes in the heavenly bodies, God is in absolute control of them and understands the ordinances by which they operate (v. 33). 

Now God asked if Job could call out to the clouds and make it rain, or make lightning appear and cause it to strike wherever he chose (vv. 34-35). The rain and the lightning are controlled by the providence of God. He knows when to send rain and when to withhold it. Sometimes God allows a drought to happen to remind us of how much we depend on Him. He controls these things according to His knowledge of the need. 

God reminded Job that the clouds are numberless and filled with water (v. 37). The rain is kept like water in a jar, and God pours it out when He sees fit. Think of the miraculous nature of this—water is fluid and flows downward, yet it stays in the soft air above us and cannot fall until God decides where and when it should pour forth on the earth. It is at His bidding that dry, parched clods are moistened and softened by the falling rain (v. 38). 

How do you think Job was feeling now as God reminded him of how much He can do and how little Job could do? If ever there is reason to stand in awe of God, it is when we consider His wisdom and majesty. Are we guilty of taking God for granted? When we see the stars shining or feel the rain falling, does it ever make us think that God is at work? 

• Discuss the two questions posed by God in verse 36. How would secular people respond? 

2. GOD CARES FOR ANIMALS 

A. Wild Animals Belong to God (Job 38:39—39:1-13) 

39:1 Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? or canst thou mark when the hinds do calve? 2 Canst thou number the months that they fulfil? or knowest thou the time when they bring forth? 

5 Who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass? 6 Whose house I have made the wilderness, and the barren land his dwellings. 

13 Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich? 

Job is unable to answer God’s questions about when mountain goats and deer give birth or even how long they carry their offspring (39:1-2). God reminds him that apart from any human assistance, under God’s providential care they deliver their young in the wild (v. 3). After being nourished awhile by their mothers, they grow strong and head off on their own to make a life for themselves, never to return (v. 4). 

God tells Job of His care for the animal kingdom and how they survive without any aid from humans. We are of much greater value to Him than are the animals. He will take care of us if we put our trust in Him (see Matt. 6:26-29). 

In Job 39:5, God asks Job if he knows who gives wild donkeys their freedom. Who gives them their disposition and makes them so unmanageable? Why do they avoid and hate civilized places where other animals live quietly and contentedly (v. 7)? Who enables them to survive in the wastelands and arid areas (v. 6)? The wild donkey “ranges the hills for its pasture and searches for any green thing” (v. 8 NIV). If God takes care of the wild animals (clearly, He does), how much more will He provide for us if our life is centered on Him? 

God reminded Job how helpless he was to tame a wild ox (v. 9). He was so untamable that Job couldn’t even keep him in his barn overnight. It was not unusual that a cow could be domesticated and used to pull a plow, but not a wild ox. He could not be used to plow by himself or in yoke with another ox (v. 10). Job must have known this. In spite of its great strength, the wild ox could not be trusted to move the sheaves of the harvest from the field to the threshing floor (vv. 11-12). The farmer had no assurance whether or not the sheaves would be taken where he wanted them to go. 

Next, the ostrich comes into the picture. The ostrich is a strange-looking bird who has wings but cannot fly (v. 13). She is void of wisdom and understanding (v. 17). She is heavy but can outrun the swiftest horse (v. 18). So, God wants to know if Job could have made a bird like that. 

• What can we learn about God by studying undomesticated animals? 

B. Horses, Hawks, and Eagles (Job 39:19, 22, 26-27) 

19 Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? 

22 He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from the sword. 

26 Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, and stretch her wings toward the south? 27 Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high? 

God continues to pose questions Job cannot answer, or feats he cannot accomplish. This time He wants to know if Job had anything to do with the might of the horse or the mane that clothes its neck (v. 19). In ancient times, the horse played a major role in warfare. He is pictured as being fearless as he carried the warrior into battle (v. 22). 

How different the horse is in appearance to other creatures God made. Contrast him with the ostrich, ox, and mountain goat. Who made the horse the way he is? There is but one answer: God did. Job could have never made a creature like this, and he knew it. What is true in the animal kingdom is also true among humankind. We are not all alike. Our gifts differ; our talents are different. Sometimes we look at somebody else and think we want to be like them. Just remember, God gifted each of us to fulfill a divine purpose. If others are more talented than we are, they have greater responsibility to God. 

By now, Job has a clearer view of the providence of God at work in the universe. God turns his attention now to the hawk and addresses its migratory habits. God would have Job explain to Him how the hawk knows when it is time to leave the freezing weather during the winter and make its way to the warmer weather of the south (v. 26). No man can train the hawk to make this journey; it is a God-given instinct. 

Then comes discussion about the eagle, the king of birds. God made the eagle different than every other bird in its habits and traits. She makes her nest on a lofty perch and looks down with her God-given, remarkably sharp vision and is able to see the food that can satisfy her hunger and that of her eaglets (vv. 27-29). She can swoop down, catch her prey, and swiftly rise to the clouds and take the food to her nest. What man taught her to do that? No man; it is God’s wondrous work that makes it possible. 

God wanted Job to broaden his horizons regarding His majestic work. Certainly, Job came away from this discussion with a renewed vision of the glory of God in His creation. 

Heads Down 

Many of us say we want to experience God, but we don’t look for His majesty. We travel life’s paths with our heads down, focused on the next step with our careers or families or retirement plans. But we don’t really expect God to show up with divine wonder.—Margaret Feinberg 

3. GOD IS SOVEREIGN OVER HUMANKIND 

A. Job’s Plea (Job 31:1-6) 

1 I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid? 2 For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high? 3 Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity? 4 Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps? 5 If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit; 6 Let me be weighed in an even balance that God may know mine integrity.  

Job’s monologue in chapter 31 was spoken before the speech from God that we have just studied in chapters 38 and 39. Job defended himself against accusations that he was a sinner and deserved the terrible suffering he was experiencing. He declared himself to be innocent of these charges. He not only denied being guilty of sinful actions, but he also denied that he had harbored wrong attitudes and motives. 

The first item he discusses is chastity in his private life. By speaking of making a “covenant with mine eyes” (v. 6), he means he had solemnly resolved not to yield to any lustful desires toward the opposite sex. He refused to look upon any woman with a covetous eye—a look that might simulate unholy desires, because in doing so he would defile his conscience and dishonor the Lord. Think of how different things would have been for King David if he had taken this attitude. It would have saved him from horrific sin. The same thing is true for every believer. We need to make a covenant with our eyes to look away from anything that will cause us to be disobedient to God. 

If we walk after the lust of the flesh, what help can we hope for from a holy God.? He is never going to condone sin. Job’s determination to live a pure life was based on his awareness of God’s presence, providence, and judgments. To persist in sin is to miss the wonders of the grace of God and instead to experience the judgment of God (v. 3). Believers need to know what Job knew—that Almighty God sees everything we do and knows every step we take (v. 4). That should be a tremendous incentive against practicing evil. 

Job also sought to defend his integrity. He was willing for his life and deeds to be weighed in the scales of divine justice. Job knew in his heart of hearts that he had never intended to defraud anyone. But if, when weighed in the balances, he was found guilty, he was willing to face the consequences. He said, “If I have strayed from his [God’s] pathway, or if my heart has lusted for what my eyes have seen, or if I am guilty of any other sin, then let someone else eat the crops I have planted. Let all that I have planted be uprooted” (vv. 7-8 NLT). Job knew that only God knows what is in a man’s heart. 

Stirrings of Good 

It was only when I lay there on rotting prison straw that I sensed within myself the first stirrings of good. Gradually, it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes, not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either, but right through human hearts. So, bless you, prison, for having been in my life.—Alexander Solzhenitsyn  

B. God’s Answer and Job’s Reply (Job 40:1-5) 

1 Moreover the Lord answered Job, and said, 2 Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it. 3 Then Job answered the Lord, and said, 4 Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth. 5 Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.    

God turns the tables on Job. The patriarch had been challenging God by raising questions about Him. Now the Lord presents a challenge to Job. What God says here is intended to reveal the spirit in which Job has been operating. The issue He raises is very thought-provoking: Is it really smart to argue with God? To paraphrase, God says to Job, “If you are determined to question My works and ways, then speak up and let Me hear what you have to say.” 

Was Job so presumptuous as to imagine that his thoughts were superior to the wisdom and direction of God? As believers, who are we to question the work of divine providence in our lives? Do we think we can do a better job of running our lives than God can? There is a purpose for everything that comes into our lives. No matter how hard the times or how difficult the tasks, God’s grace is sufficient in every circumstance. Our all-sufficient Lord will never leave nor forsake us. He will enable us to be overcomers. 

Now it is Job’s turn to speak, and he does so with humility. He sees himself as unworthy to address the Almighty (v. 4). What a change of attitude on Job’s part! He finally comes to the conclusion that he is in no position to argue with his Maker. He concludes that from now on, he will bridle his tongue and willingly submit himself to the Lord. Job had argued boldly with his friends and defended himself against their false accusations. But when God spoke, he had to admit that he was “vile” in comparison with God. To say that he would put his hand over his mouth is Job’s way of expressing astonishment at the wonder of the Lord’s words. He had no reply to defend himself. 

Job acknowledges that he has said enough, maybe too much. He decides to say no more (v. 5). In his book on Job, Charles Swindoll concluded that at this point Job was relieved he didn’t have to give any more answers: “God didn’t want answers, He knew the answers. He knows all of them! He wanted Job to acknowledge, ‘I don’t know any of the answers. And if I don’t know about those things, as objective as they are, how could I ever fully understand the profound mysteries surrounding my world.’ By acknowledging that, quiet relief replaced troubling resistance.” 

Swindoll applies this truth to all believers: “When we are broken and brought to the end of ourselves . . . it’s to help us acknowledge that the Lord is God, and His plans and reasons are deeper and higher and broader than we can comprehend” (Job: A Man of Heroic Endurance). 

DIVINE WISDOM 

We are confronted in this lesson with the contrast between human logic and divine wisdom. Human logic argues that suffering is the consequence of sin in a person’s life. Divine wisdom sees this is not always the case, and acknowledges God’s ways are not our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. God brings a different perspective to the problem of suffering. He corrected Job when his thinking was wrong, but defended him against the false accusations of his friends. There is no better picture of God’s sovereign and righteous action. Job’s unfailing trust in God resulted in a great victory for him. 

Daily Devotions 

M.  David Acknowledges God’s Sovereignty (1 Chronicles 29:10-14) 

T.  Creation Attests to the Creator (Job 12:7-10) 

W.  God Provides for Creation (Psalm 104:10-18) 

T.  God Values His Creation (Luke 12:4-9) 

F.  God Cares for Lost People (Acts 17:24-28) 

S.  God Directs His People (James 4:13-15) 

Adopted from the Evangelical Sunday School Lesson Commentary 2021-2022.

Photo by Robert Koorenny on Unsplash.