◄ What Does Job 36:22 Mean? ►

"Behold, God is exalted in His power; Who is a teacher like Him?

Job 36:22(NASB)

Verse of the Day

God's attributes speak for themselves and God needs no human witness to defend His cause or character, His words or His actions. The different comforters of Job had their own understanding and perceptions about God that had built up over time, some of which were correct but some of which denied God's goodness. The different comforters looked at the distresses that had overtaken this pitiable man and voiced their own thoughts, opinions, and reasons for his overwhelming problems, some of which were correct but some of which unwittingly pointed the finger of accusation at God's eternal goodness.

In Chapter 32, it is the turn of Elihu to voice his opinions about God and about the situation that Job found himself in. He even claims to speak "on God's behalf." But the immature and pious soliloquy of this verbose young man concludes with a cascade of condemnatory advice aimed at Job, without fully understanding the spiritual implications that had triggered his pain. Indeed, the truth of Elihu's statement of God's power and knowledge indirectly identifies his own lack of understanding of the perfection and power, status and strength, knowledge and wisdom of our God.

God is indeed exulted in His power and there is no equal to be compared with His eternal-wisdom and His omniscient understanding, for His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not ours. And so, in the discourse that follows, spoken by the Lord Himself, we witness the most powerful display of God's wisdom.

"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?" the Lord questions, "Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place?" As God's rhetorical questions continue, we glimpse His sovereignty over all creation, from the stars, to the animals, to the weather, to the very residence of light and darkness.

God's attributes speak for themselves and God needs no human witness to defend His cause or character, His words or His actions, nor is God obliged to answer our petulant and foolish questions as to why and how and when and what and who…

God's character speaks for itself, and God's Word is His own witness to truth. And though we may not understand, we would do well not to speak for God in our ignorance, nor unwittingly accuse God due to our lack of understanding. Rather, let us listen to God and sit at His feet so as to gain a deeper knowledge of God and closer walk with Him - for "Behold, God is exalted in His power; and there is no teacher like unto Him."

My Prayer

Heavenly Father, too often I try to speak for You in ignorance and even attempt to defend You or advise You, when I actually need to quietly sit at Your feet and listen. Give me a teachable spirit, I pray, and draw me into closer and more intimate communion with Yourself. May you be exulted in my life. In Jesus' name, AMEN.