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.

Go Deeper

What would your response be to God? Why do you think God did not answer Job directly?

Pray with Us: Lord God, in the end, Job came to know You in a new and deeper way. He remained faithful to You. We ask You to open our eyes to see You better, obey You with humility, and to follow You more faithfully.

BY Eric W. Moore

Eric Moore is Professor and Chair of the Applied Theology Field at Moody Theological Seminary. Eric is graduate of Michigan State University, Dallas Theological Seminary, the University of Michigan, and Western Seminary. He is the author of Pastoring the Small Church and a contributor to the One Volume Seminary (Moody Publishers). He has pastored Tree of Life Bible Fellowship church for over two decades. Eric and his wife, Marilyn, live in southeast Michigan and have three children.