Daily Devotional | Challenging the Almighty

What must it have felt like to question God and then hear Him respond?! After asking Job a series of questions regarding His creation, God asked, “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!” (40:2). Job had made accusations against God. Now God was giving Job the opportunity to present his case against “the Almighty.” Job wisely kept quiet (40:3–5). He now realized that his accusations had no merit.

Yet God wasn’t done. He addressed the foolishness of a man challenging His power and wisdom (40:8–14). Then He addressed the limited power of humans by illustrating His control over the mightiest of beasts. First, He speaks of His control over the behemoth, a great and powerful creature. God stated, “It ranks first among the works of God, yet its Maker can approach it with his sword” (40:19). Then He spoke of the might of the leviathan, another powerful but unidentified creature. He said, “Any hope of subduing it is false; the mere sight of it is overpowering” (41:9). Yet, both belong to God (41:11). If men cannot stand up to these creatures, how can they stand up to God?

Job admits, “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted” (42:2). Previously Job had stated, “How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me, when his lamp shone on my head and by his light I walked through darkness! Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, when God's intimate friendship blessed my house, when the Almighty was still with me” (Job 29:2–6). But here, Job expresses a different view: “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you” (Job 42:5). Through his pain Job came to know God in a new and deeper way.