Bible Study

Just for your thoughts.

*The Book of Job —*
*Bible Study 34*

*The 77 Questions God Asked Job —*
*Part Two*
*Job’s four* friends came to comfort him when they learned about his suffering. They spoke about the greatness, righteousness, and wisdom of God. However, their words did not fully satisfy Job’s heart.
Finally, God Himself began to speak directly to Job out of the whirlwind (Job 38:1).
Yes. The well-known Bible scholar W. Wiersbe notes that God asks Job approximately 77 questions in Job chapters 38–41.
One remarkable thing about these questions is that God does not directly discuss Job’s suffering, the reason for his suffering, or why He allowed Job to go through these trials. Instead, God reveals His own character, wisdom, authority, and sovereignty.
In the previous study, we looked at God’s questions concerning His creation. In this study, we will look at the following:
Questions About the Deep, Death, Light, and Darkness
(Job 38:16–21)
Have you entered into the springs of the sea?
Have you walked in search of the depths of the deep?
Have the gates of death been revealed to you?
Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?
Have you understood the vast expanses of the earth?
Do you know where light dwells?
Do you know where darkness resides?
Can you take light to its boundary?
Do you know the paths leading to the dwelling place of darkness?
Have you understood all these things because you were already there when they existed?
Questions About Snow, Hail, and Rain
(Job 38:22–30)
Have you entered the storehouses of snow?
Have you seen the storehouses of hail?
Do you know that I reserve them for the time of trouble and for the day of battle and war?
Do you know the path where the lightning is dispersed?
Do you understand how the east wind spreads across the earth?
Does the rain have a father?
Who gives birth to the drops of dew?
From whose womb does the ice come?
Who gives birth to the frost from heaven?
Can you explain how the waters become hard like stone and the surface of the deep becomes frozen?
Questions About the Stars and the Heavens
(Job 38:31–38)
Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades?
Can you loosen the cords of Orion?
Can you bring out the constellations in their seasons?
Can you guide them along their appointed paths?
Do you know the laws governing the heavens?
Can you establish their rule over the earth?
Can you count the clouds?
Can you pour out the water jars of heaven and cause the rain to fall?
Can you control the dust when it becomes a mass and the clods of earth cling together?
What Do We Learn from These Questions?
When many things happen in our lives that we cannot understand, explain, or comprehend, we are often tempted to ask, “Why?” Many times, we expect God to give us an answer for everything that happens in our lives.
But that is not true faith.
Faith is not trusting God only after we have received an explanation for everything. Faith is trusting God even when we do not have an explanation.
God does not always give us an explanation for everything He does, but He always gives us a reason to trust who He is.
In God’s ministry,