Ecclesiastes 3:14 I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.
Malachi 3:6 “For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. “
As we muse about God’s appearance at the end of the book of Job, chapter 38-41 what is it that we learn? Is it his sovereignty, his omnipotence, is omniscience or even His omnipresence? I will venture a guess here, it is Him, it is God.
Simply God is enough. Yes, founding every doctrine, every parable, every principle outlined in the Word of God, is the essence of God. We must realize that every judgment is rooted in who God is, as well as every blessing. God’s eternal Being, limiting him to perform only things that are eternal, is the foundation for holy reverence, and also for extreme security. Ecclesiastes chapter 3 (above) makes this clear in verse 14.
Peter Kreeft makes a comment,” the wonder of these speeches ( Job 38-41\ is not in the answers they give but, in the fact, that God spoke at all. Both Job and his friends felt God had abandoned him.”
Another quote, “the elaborate self -vindication, the impassioned egotism, the vehement self-gratulation , the lengthened arguments in self-defense — all is laid aside.” C. H. Macintosh
Friends, we find this quality in God, he is everlasting, eternal, having no beginning nor ending. Unfathomable to us, we embrace him by faith. The scriptures manifest this nature again and again.
In Isaiah_40:28 ” Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, ‘
In Isaiah 9:6 He is The everlasting Father.
Isaiah reveals in 24:5 the everlasting covenant.
In Isaiah 26:4 He is everlasting strength:
Isaiah 35:10 teaches, “‘And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads.
However, in contrast, Isaiah 33:14 “The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
Jeremiah 20:11 ” their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.’
Jeremiah 23:40 And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.”
But,
Isaiah 45:17 “…Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.”
And also, Jeremiah 31:3 “The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.”
Now in the new Testament we have again the everlasting God:
1John 1:2″ “(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)”
Romans 16:26 “But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God ….”
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
John 3:36 “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life”
John 5:24 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life.” John 6;47
Beloved, the very stability of our lives, if we be ever steadfast, unmovable, we must have our foundations firmly implanted in the very nature of God. And particularly His unchangeable nature, his eternal nature, his acts which bear an eternal footprint. We must be able to stay with David, God is on my side. This I know that God is for me. We must see in John chapter 10 verse 28 that no man, nothing can pluck me out of my father’s hand. We must be established in this reality as it says in
Romans 16:25 ‘Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel”
My dear friends, is not the great lesson of the book of job this, no, life is not random accidents, nor is it situational ethics, fluctuating emotions, nor is it the whims of a capricious God. Instead, what we discover as Job did, and also his friends, that life is not a mere moral trek. In contrast, not one event takes place outside of the sovereign God who gives sovereign grace to Job and his family, awakens his three friends to reality, and stabilizing an extremely unstable situation by his mere presence. love ya
1Thessalonians_3:13 To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God,
2Thessalonians 2:17 “Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.
2Thessalonians 3:3 But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.
1Peter 5:10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
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