Alright, let's open our Bibles
to Job 26. Job 26. And tonight, I want to
talk to you about this subject. The infinite greatness of God. We've already seen some expression
of that in that Psalm. Psalm 97. The infinite. Infinite means it has no beginning
and no end. That's the nature of God himself.
And we're going to talk about the infinite greatness of God. But let's see how we get into
this. You know, Job 26 begins Job's
final reply to his three friends, those three miserable comforters
that Job had listened to and responded to off and on. Well,
this is his last reply to those three. And it's a long discourse. In fact, it goes from chapter
26 all the way to the end of chapter 31. Then we hear from
a man named Elihu. But listen to what Job says here. We'll just cover chapter 26 tonight. But listen how he starts out
here. He's answering Bildad. Bildad, you remember, spoke in
chapter 25. There that short chapter where
Bildad himself, this self-righteous religionist named Bildad had
had praised and lifted up the majesty of God and then he posed
that question in verse four, that question of questions. How
then can man be justified with God? And so these are good things. These are good things that men
and women need to think on and need to ponder. But the problem
is, is that Bildad did not seek the answers that we need to these
issues from the word of God. And what Job does in the first
four verses of chapter 26 as he opens up his final answer
to them, he really speaks sarcastically. Now, you know, I guess, you know,
there's some people who say, well, Job, you ought not do that.
You know, that's just not polite or anything like that. But you
understand now that Job in his struggles now, first of all,
this is the recorded word of God we're reading here. And Job
himself in his own, as the Spirit inspires Job to record these
things, he doesn't always record things that Job does that are
right all the time. But I believe this is so appropriate
because Job had listened to these men. He'd given them an audience. It's not like he'd cut them off
and say, well, I'm not going to hear anything you have to
say. He'd listened and he'd thought about what they're saying. He'd
given them answers, good answers. Not that he spoke what's right
every time, even out of his pain and anger, you know, Job went
too far a little bit, but he had given them an audience. And
listen to what he says. He uses this sarcasm and he says,
but Job answered and said, how hast thou helped him that is
without power? How savest thou the arm that
which hath, which hath no strength? how hast thou counseled him that
hath no wisdom and how hast thou plentifully declared the thing
as it is you see these are questions that he's he's posing to this
man and and really what he's saying in reality is you haven't
done me a bit of good he goes on he says in verse four to whom
Hast thou uttered words? Who are you talking to? Because
whoever it is you're describing in your answers or in your advice,
it's not me, he says. And listen to this, he says,
and whose spirit came from thee? In other words, what he's saying
there is by whose, where have you gotten all these so-called
wise sayings? This wise advice, where have
you gotten this? Whose spirit speaks through you? By whose spirit are you speaking?
And what his point is in these first four verses is this, that
man's wisdom in these matters of providence and man's wisdom,
especially in the matter of salvation. And in answering that question,
how can a man be just with God? How can a, he that be clean,
that's born of woman, man's wisdom is totally, absolutely worthless. It does no good at all. You know,
we know a lot of people who are wise in the things of this world.
And they can help us in many ways in the things of this world. But when it comes to dealing
with man's relationship with God, and God's dealings with
man here on earth, What build dad and so far and Ella faz were
spouting forth pouring forth was nothing more than false legalistic
self-righteous religion. And I'm going to tell you something.
It did Job no good, and it'll do us no good. No good at all. Think about it. Salvation. What were they preaching? What
were they advising in the matter of salvation and blessedness
and righteousness with God? It was totally based upon man's
works and man's efforts. And then providence. You see,
man, the Bible's clear from the beginning. This is the lesson
that God taught in Genesis chapter 3 after the fall of man when
he removed the fig leaf aprons from Adam and Eve and slew an
animal and made them coats of skin you know what the lesson
of all that is is that by deeds of law shall no flesh be justified
in God's sight that if man is going to be just with God there
must be a proper God-appointed powerful and willing and able
substitute to take his place and to do what he couldn't do
for man what man cannot do for himself and that means death
that's why he slew an animal in Genesis chapter three he told
Adam in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die
the wages of sin is death now Bildad thought that you could
equal out the scale of that wages of sin by your good works it
will not do it's iniquity And then providence, considering
providence, the workings of God upon this earth in his sovereign
government. That's what, you know, that's
what God's providence is. It's God's government. God governs
this world. The Lord reign, we read in Psalm
97, the workings of God upon this earth in his dealings with
the righteous and with the wicked. And if you judge it by sight,
You might look at a wicked person at any given time and you'd say
based upon your own human wisdom and judgment and reasoning, which
is sinful, well, that's a righteous man. And you might look at God
dealing with one of his children, one of his righteous ones at
any given moment in time, and out of your own human wisdom
and judgment, again, which is sinful, you might say, well,
that's a wicked person. Well, what sense does that make?
Well, Job knew that Bildad didn't have the answer, so he asked
him, he said, who is inspiring you to speak the way you do? Well, I'll tell you exactly who
it is. You don't have to turn there, but you read it in 1 Corinthians
2. What man knows what is in man, but
the spirit which is in man, that's a sinful spirit. All we know
by nature All we know by nature is what we can see out of that
sinful principle of thinking, motives, all of that, the flesh. That's all we know, fallen, sinful,
human nature. And that's why Paul wrote in
1 Corinthians 2, well, who knows the spirit of God but God himself? The only way we're going to know
the right answers to these things is that God reveals them by His
Spirit through His Word. And so we have to be careful
by what spirit we think and act. Else we'll justify the wicked
and we'll condemn the righteous. We'll justify hatred. We'll justify vengeance. We'll
even justify division. except we walk by the Spirit
of God according to the Word of God. We have to thank by and
act as we're taught and motivated and inspired by the Spirit of
God and by His Word of Truth. So the bottom line that Job says
when he starts out his last answer to these men is this. Man's wisdom
is worthless. Man's greatness is nothing. Man
has no greatness in and of himself. You know man can accomplish some
great things. on this earth. He can build some
great things, he can do some great things, but I'll tell you
one thing he cannot do. He cannot conquer the greatest
of all enemies, sin. He can't tell you how a man can
be justified with God. He cannot accomplish righteousness,
the righteousness that we need in order to be justified before
God, for the righteousness of man is worthless there. That's
why the gospel is the revelation of the righteousness of God,
Romans 1, 16 and 17. And that's in Christ. Man cannot
find eternal life. There are times he can extend
life, he thinks with medicines and procedures and breathing
machines and all of that, but he can't conquer it. You know,
it's, it's amazing here. Bill dad, finally, he did come
up with the right question. How can, how then can man be
justified with God? But he didn't have the right
answer. So what Job does, beginning at verse 5 and to the end of
the chapter, he begins to speak of the greatness of God, the
infinite greatness of God, and God's wisdom and power in all
things. Listen to what he says. Now think
about it this way. Now, Bildad had said that dominion
and majesty belonged to God. He was right. He said that up
there in chapter 25. And Job is saying in verses 5
through 14, he's saying, Bill, that's an understatement. You
haven't told the half of it. And we can't even imagine the
depths of God's greatness and power. And since we're only seeing
the very fringes of what God has done in the exercise of his
power. And what Job is trying to prove
in these last verses of chapter 26 is that sinful man's only
hope Is to turn humbly to God and beg for mercy just cast yourself
at the mercy of God He say it's like he's saying this build a
if you really knew anything of the greatness of God You wouldn't
speak so proudly you wouldn't talk about how you've you've
earned his blessings You'd be humbled before God Look at verse
5. He says dead things are formed
from under the waters and the inhabitants thereof Bildad had
spoken of God's greatness and power and majesty in the highest
of regions. You remember, he talked about
the moon. He said, behold, even the moon and it shineth not.
The stars. Well, Job, he goes the other
way. He says, Job, he extends it to the lower regions. And
here he may be speaking of the souls of the dead. That word,
when he says the dead things are formed, that word's a tremble.
He may be speaking of inanimate objects. His point is this, whatever
he's talking about specifically, is that God's sovereign majesty
and greatness and power not only reaches to the highest of the
heights, it goes to the lowest of the low. Look at verse 6. Hell is naked before him, and
destruction hath no covering. God is in control even of that,
you see. There's nothing out of God's
control. Turn over to Psalm 139. Listen to what the psalmist writes
here. Very similar to what Job is saying. In fact, these would
be parallel verses. Psalm 139, look at verse 7. The Psalm of David here. And
he's talking about the all-seeing greatness and providence and
power of God. He says in verse six, he says,
such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It's high. I cannot attain
to it. I can't get there from here.
God's too big for me. That's what he's saying. But
look at verse seven, whither shall I go from thy spirit or
whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into
heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold,
thou art there. That's exactly what Job is saying.
If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts
of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right
hand shall hold me. You see, the wicked cannot escape
God's judgment. The righteous, the sinners saved
by the grace of God in Christ cannot escape his mercy. That's
a thought. that you say well why would I
want to escape his mercy oh my so let us get out on our own
a little bit you say God will not turn his people loose that's
what David is saying well Job is basically saying the same
thing back here look back at chapter 26 again look at look
at verse 7 he says he's talking about God he said he stretches
out the north over the empty place and He's talking about
the highest regions of the earth there. And he hangeth the earth
upon nothing. He keeps the earth suspended
in space. Even old Job knew a little bit
of geology and physics, didn't he? A little bit there. You know
those old wise Greeks. You know, we talk about the wisdom
of the Greeks. Well, they thought the world
was held up by the shoulders of Atlas, who stood on an elephant,
who stood on two turtles. What wisdom? Job said it's the
Lord that hangs this earth in space, that suspends it. Now,
where's the wisdom, you say? The wisdom of God. It's God Almighty
that keeps this earth. Somebody says it's gravity. Well,
who created gravity? God did. You ever thought about
gravity too much? I don't think about it a whole
lot. I used to wonder when I was a little boy, I said, well, if
I took off and started walking to China, when will I be walking
upside down? Somebody said, well, you won't
be walking upside down because gravity will keep you from it.
Well, that's Almighty God. That's Almighty God. Look at
verse 8. It says, He bindeth up the waters in His thick clouds,
and the cloud is not rent or torn under them. In other words,
God creates and controls the clouds and the rain. When it
rains, when it doesn't rain, when there's a drought, God's
in control of that. You see, we've just seen a little
bit of his greatness. Look at verse 9. He holdeth back
the face of his throne and spreadeth his cloud upon it. You see, the
heavens declare the glory of God, but only so far. You know that? That's what he
holdeth back the face of his throne. In other words, we can
see something of the glory of God in creation. Psalm 19 speaks
that way. The heavens declare the glory
of God, the firmament His handiwork. But it tells us that that only
goes so far. Paul wrote about that in Romans
chapter 1 when he talked about the revelation of God to the
whole human race through creation. That man can know something of
the glory and majesty of God by looking at creation. Now granted,
man in his depravity and our depravity will deny that glory. That's what Paul talks about
when he talks about not holding the truth in righteousness, but
turning the Son into a God instead of seeking the Creator who made
such a wonderful thing for this earth. And so that's man's reasoning. So he does reveal something of
himself. But he holds back some things.
And he spreads his cloud upon it. And what he's talking about
here is the Shekinah glory of God. In other words, you're not
going to see the greatest manifestation of the glory of God by looking
at nature. Where are you going to see that?
Where are you going to see the Shekinah glory? The greatest
glory, the infinite greatness of God in His glory, not but
one place, and that is in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians
4, 6, For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness,
hath shined in our hearts, our minds, our affections, our will,
to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. It's in His Word, you see, that
leads us to Christ, who is the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
You can look at the Son and marvel at God's majesty, but you're
not going to see the fullness of the Godhead in the S-U-N,
the physical Son. You're only going to see the
fullness of the Godhead bodily in the Son of righteousness,
the S-O-N, the Son of God. And look at verse 10. He says,
he says he hath compassed or surrounded the waters with bounds
or boundaries until the day and night come to an end. There's
some differences among the commentators on what Job means there. I'll
be honest with you. I'm not certain what Job had
in his mind when he wrote this. Some say he's talking about the
horizon. It looks like a boundary. If you've been to the ocean,
you stood on the shore and you look out and you see the horizon
there. And it looks like a line, looks like a boundary. Now you
know that things go beyond that, but that's what it looks like.
This is man's view of things. And what he's talking, what he
could be talking about here, the boundary of the horizon where
you can see the sunrise and the sunset, which would cover what
he's talking about here until the day and night come to an
end. When the day and night come to an end, whenever the Bible
speaks of day and night coming to an end, you know what it's
talking about? It's talking about the end of the world. That's
the end of the world. But I want to tell you a thought
that I had when I read this, and I can't help but think about
this, and I'm going to bring it to you. Now, I'm not saying
this is what Job had in mind. Maybe it was what he had in mind. I don't know. But it doesn't
matter. It's what I've got in my mind
when I read the Scripture and interpreting Scripture with Scripture.
And what I think of is Noah and God's covenant of mercy displayed
in the rainbow. Now he's talking about the sea
here, the waters. God has surrounded the waters
with boundaries. In other words, God's in control
of the oceans. He's in control of the rivers,
all the waters of the earth. And in ancient times, you know,
the sea, for example, the oceans, they were considered places of
terror, places of trouble. Even death, that's what they
equated. You know, anybody who went out to sea, they were taking
their life in their own hands. But God, in His greatness, restrains
the waters with as much ease as a mother restrains her infant
child. Now, where did I get that from?
Look at Job 38. Turn over to Job 38. Now, this is later on
in the book of Job. where God speaks to Job out of
the whirlwind and you know God pretty much gives Job the answers
that he's going to give Job out of that whirlwind and we'll get
to that later but look at verse 30 this is where this is where
the Lord confronts Job and he says now it's almost like God
is saying to Job, Job you want to have a discussion with me
on these matters of providence and sovereignty and uh... let me ask you some questions
first and one of the questions he asked him is where were you
when i hung the stars in space you know you weren't around me
so you can't what what god is telling joe p is you're not on
the level in your final in your uh... finite mind you're not
on a level to sit down and have a discussion with lord god almighty
on these things Our minds are small, his is infinite. But look
at it, he says in verse six, Job 38. Whereupon are the foundations
thereof fastened? Who laid the cornerstone thereof? Well, that's creation, that's
God. When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of
God shouted for joy, or who shut up the sea with doors? Who restrained
the sea? when it break forth as it had
issued out of the womb, just like an infant child. In other
words, just like that infant child is totally dependent upon
and at the mercy of its mother, that vast ocean, which is so
terrorizing and so frightful, is at the mercy of Almighty God.
In other words, God's power over that sea is no different than
a mother's power over her infant child just come forth from the
womb. And that's an amazing thing. Now, Job's comparing that. Well,
how do we know all that? Well, the sea is bound by God's
perpetual decree so that its waters cannot cover the earth
as it once did in that flood of judgment. And we can only
ascribe that to God's power. We can only ascribe that to God's
promise, His oath. Let me read you these scriptures.
Listen to this, Psalm 104 in verse 9. It says, Thou hast set
a bound that they may not pass over. That's the waters. That
they turn not again to cover the earth. You remember what?
Turn over to Genesis chapter 8. Look at that passage. Remember
God made a covenant. He swore an oath. While you're
turning there, let me read you this one. This is Jeremiah 5,
verse 22. And he says, Fear you not me,
saith the Lord? Will you not tremble at my presence,
which hath placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual
decree, that it cannot pass it? And though the waves thereof
toss themselves, yet can they not prevail? Though they roar,
yet can they not pass over it? God's in control. God has said,
that's it. This will hold true by God's
power and decree until when? Until day and night cease when
God destroys this world. And even then he won't destroy
it with a flood, he says. Look at Genesis chapter 8, look
at verse 20. He says, and Noah built an altar
unto the Lord. This is after Noah came off the
ark. And he took of every clean beast and of every clean fowl
and offered burnt offerings on the altar." See, that was the
prescribed way of worship. There's the type. There's the
picture, isn't it? You know, what a picture the
ark was. Picture of Christ. all who were in the park you
know the the rains that the rains of rap beat up on that are just
like our savior was made sin in the reign of god wrath up
uh... that was due upon his people
rain down upon him on that cross and we were in here we are in
here and how he took that punishment for our sins charged to him so
that we might be made the righteousness of god and here's no one now
all that picture that type, that gospel picture. And it says in
verse 20, And the Lord smelled a sweet savor, and the Lord said
in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for
man's sake, for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his
youth. Neither will I again smite any more everything living as
I've done, while the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, cold and
heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.
God's not going to destroy. And of course, you know, he put
the token of the rainbow in the, in the, uh, sky. So that was
a token of his mercy and his faithfulness to not to keep his
oath, to keep his covenant. Great is thy faithfulness. Once
you return to Jeremiah 31, Jeremiah 31. And I want you to see here in
Jeremiah 31, we, we read this quite often, but it's a, it's
a prophecy of the new covenant. And God says that he's going
to make a new covenant verse 31. He says, behold, the days
come sayeth the Lord that I will make a new covenant with the
house of Israel, with the house of Judah. Now notice the language. He says, not according to the
covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took
them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. Now,
what covenant is he talking about? There's any doubt? He's talking
about Sinai. So he says, I'm going to make a new covenant,
all right, with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,
but not like Sinai, not like the Mosaic law. He says, which
my covenant they break. They broke that covenant. It
was a conditional covenant. And as I've told you, that whole
covenant was a testimony of the sinfulness and depravity of man,
not just Israel, but all men and women by nature. Even though
we weren't there physically and weren't under it, had we been,
we'd have done the same thing Israel did. We're sinners. And
anytime blessings of God are based on or conditioned on the
sinner, it's a failure. And that's God's testimony. But
now this new covenant is not going to be like that. Because
they broke it. He said, even though I wasn't
husband unto them, sayeth the Lord. Now God joined Himself
to that nation temporarily. And He said it was temporarily.
And later on in the book of Jeremiah, or before this in the book of
Jeremiah, He talks about giving them a bill of divorce. But God
divorced Himself from them. You see, because they had gone
after other God that's adultery and they had abandoned the God
the true and living God. All right Incidentally, aren't
you glad that our husband doesn't divorce us? Who is our husband
Christ? He's the he's the bridegroom
where the bride and and you know why you know why there's no bill
of divorce meant in that marriage Union and Because the conditions
of the marriage covenant are not on the bride. Like they were
in Israel. They're on the bridegroom. And
you know what? He fulfilled all those conditions
by his obedience unto death. He put away our sins. He washed
us clean. And he put together a robe of
righteousness that's charged to us whereby we stand in eternal
union with him before God, justified. No bill of divorcement there,
see? All right. Look at verse 32, he says, or
33, he says, but this shall be the covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel, and after those days, saith the Lord,
I will put my law in their inward parts. This is regeneration and
conversion. This is the new birth. This is
circumcision of the heart. He says, I will write it in their
hearts. and will be their God and they
shall be my people they shall teach no more every man his neighbor
and every man his brother say no the Lord in other words there's
not going to be an ignorance of the God of grace here now
that there's a lot of things we don't know but we know God
we know God through Christ and he says for they shall all know
me from the least of them unto the greatest of them saith the
Lord for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember
their sin no more I will not charge them with their their
sin will not hold it against them now look at the next verse
now this is this is in the context of the new covenant and he says
in verse 35 thus saith the Lord which giveth the sun for light
by day and the ordinance of the moon and of the stars for a light
by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar,
the Lord of hosts is his name. If those ordinances depart from
before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall
cease from being a nation before me forever." In other words,
if God breaks his covenant that he made with Noah, seed time
and harvest, night and day, Then you can honestly say that God
could break his promise to save his people, spiritual Israel,
through Christ. But here's the thing. It's not
going to be broken. God promised it. God's engaged
himself. God's drawn a line that cannot
be passed by that which would destroy his people. Turn the
page over to Jeremiah 33. Look at verse 19, Jeremiah 33. Listen to this. And the word
of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord,
If you can break my covenant of the day and my covenant of
the night, and that there should not be day and night in their
season, then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant. Now where was David? Where was
King David at this time? Jeremiah wrote what, about 500
years? before the coming of Christ. Where was David? Well, his body
was 500 years in the grave at this time. His soul was with
the Lord. He's not talking about King David
of Israel, he's talking about the son of David, whom King David
typified. And broken with my covenant,
my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his
throne. And with the Levites, the priest,
my minister, that's the priesthood, which typified the priesthood
of Christ. What's he talking about? He's
talking about Christ, the King who sits upon the throne of David,
spiritual throne reign over spiritual Israel and who is our high priest
under God. And who's made us Kings and priests
under God. And that's what he's saying.
If that covenant that I made with Noah could be broken, then
this other one could be broken. But it can't. It cannot. Where do we find the infinite
grace of God here? I thought about Romans 5. You
know, he says there, where sin abounded. And that's a literal
picture of a person drowning in water, where sin overflowed
me like a flood, where I was drowning in a sea of sin." What's
the answer? What's the case? Grace did much
more about it. In other words, grace overwhelmed
even that sin that overflowed me. How did it do it? Verse 21. Wherefore, as sin reigned unto
death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal
life. How? By Jesus Christ the Lord. In Him we have a righteousness
that answers the demands of God's law and justice. Look back at
Job 26. Now God set a boundary. He's hedged us in, folks. And even nature itself, just
like we learned when we talked about the crimson worm last time,
even nature itself, if we look at it through the wisdom of God's
Word, through the glory of Jesus Christ and Him crucified, if
we look at nature through that way, We'll see the wisdom of
God. We'll see the infinite greatness
of God, not like Bildad and Zophar and Eliphaz. They didn't see
it, you see. They're on this one little level
plane of sin, and they judge everything that way. But if we'll
look at even nature, this is what Job is saying. Through the
eyes of the glory of God in Christ, his Redeemer, whom Job knew as
the Redeemer who would stand in the latter day. Then we'll
see the infinite greatness of God and we'll see our security. Look at verse 12 or verse 11.
He says, the pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at
His reproof. That's the mountains probably.
The mountains, thunder, volcanoes, storms, the elements. He says
in verse 12, he divided the sea with his power and by his understanding
he smiteth through the proud. That word proud there is the
word Rahab that we read over there in Psalm 97. And that Rahab, I know we know
Rahab the harlot, but it's not referring to Rahab, that word
Rahab, it meant proud, it meant pride, that's what it meant.
That was Rahab's natural name, Rahab the harlot. But here it's
referring to Egypt. That was the name for Egypt.
And you see that in so many scriptures we don't have time to go to tonight.
But think about it. Listen, he said, he divided the
sea with his power. Well, we know God did that in
creation. He said, let the waters under the heaven be gathered
into one place, let the dry land appear, it was so. God called
the dry land earth and gathering together the waters, he called
the seas. He divided the sea. When's another time God divided
the sea? What about the Red Sea? when Israel was fleeing from
Egypt. In the redemption of Israel, God divided the sea, and He divided
His people from the proud, from Rahab. And I love that passage
there in Exodus 14, verse 13. You remember when they were complaining,
they were on the edge of the Red Sea, and they looked back
and they saw Pharaoh's army? And there they were murmuring
in their unbelief, and Moses stood up, And he said, fear ye
not, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which
he will show you today for the Egyptians, Rahab, to whom you
have seen today, you shall see them again no more forever and
the Lord shall fight for you and you shall hold your peace.
What a great picture of God's salvation by grace in Christ.
When Christ's disciples were frightened on the sea, What did
he do? He came out and he said, peace
be still. And the sea was calm. And they
were no more afraid. Some of them asked this question.
What, what kind of man is this that the seas obey? Well, he's
the Lord of glory. He's the infinite greatness of
God incarnate. That's who he is. And he's our
redeemer. He's our Savior. And not only
that, He's our Protector. He's our Advocate. He's our Prophet,
our Priest, our King. He's our Lamb. He's our Husband. He's the Lord, our Righteousness.
Look at verse 13. By His Spirit, He hath garnished
the heavens. His hand hath formed the crooked
serpent. God garnished the heavens with
stars and planets. That crooked serpent could be
a fleeing serpent. Some say he's talking about the
constellations because he's talking about garnishing the heavens.
That may be so. Some say he's referring to the same creature
that Job calls and Isaiah calls Leviathan. A lot of argument
over what Leviathan is. Is it an actual sea monster? Some even say it's a crocodile.
Some say, I've even heard some say it's an elephant. We don't
know. And I really don't care. what it really is. I know God
made it whatever it is, and he uses it as an example here. He's talking about a serpent.
God's in control of it. I remember there was a serpent
that appeared in the Garden of Eden. It was Satan in the form
of a serpent. And I know Satan is symbolized
as a serpent in all over the book of Revelation. That serpent's
Satan. He's the accuser of the brethren.
Well, God's in control. How do we defeat this serpent?
How do we put him on the run, fleeing here? By the blood of
the lamb. Isn't that right? Plead the blood
and righteousness of Christ. That's how we do it. That'll
do it every time. Look at verse 14. Lo, these are
parts of his ways, but how little a portion is heard of him, but
the thunder of his power, who can understand? What's Job saying? He's saying, that's a mere taste.
What I've told you, Bill Dadd, It's just a mere taste of the
reality of the infinite greatness of God. He's saying, Bill, dad,
you speak of the greatness of God and then you speak as if
man can please him and atone for his sins by his works. You
don't know God at all. God is infinitely great, too
great for us to grasp, too great for us to reconcile. You see,
it takes one who is God himself. equal with God in every attribute
of nature, even in his greatness, to save us from our sins, to
justify sinners before God. And we've seen the glory of God
in him, but we've only tasted it. We're like those two farmers
from West Virginia. I've told you this story, who
wanted to see the ocean. before they died, and they finally
made the trip there, and they're both standing there on the shore
looking out at the ocean. One says to the other, he said,
man, I didn't realize it was this big. And the other farmer
said, and yeah, and we're just looking at the top of it. Just
the top of it. You say, we haven't seen, the
half has not been told. John said it. He said, we'll
see him as he is, for we'll be like him when we come to glory. All right.