“Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:”
We can be a lot like Job’s friends. Spurting out doctrines and ideas and concepts, ‘multiplying words without knowledge’. I would give examples but I fear that would defeat the point. They all make sense in their own little way, founded upon a few verses here and there. They may seem learned, or eloquent, or profound. But when God speaks out of the hurricane, it blows all these empty concepts out of the water. It’s the same when we put our ear to the hurricane of the Bible. Not citing and checking a few verses here and there, but getting engrossed in the pages.
God tells Job to man up in Job 40:7 and says, “Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me.” Let us hear God’s word speak first, and let our theology be a response to that. Don’t let our beliefs determine what we see in scripture and select what we hear. Don’t say, “I won’t worship a God like that.” Instead say, “Whoever you are, Lord, I will worship you.”
A wise man in my church named Roger once said to me, “Make use of the wisdom of your elders. But don’t rely on the wisdom of your elders. You can read; you’ve got to man up and read it for yourself.” Don’t rely on elders, sermons, blogs, songs and hymns, read it for yourself.
“Behold, God is exalted in his power;
who is a teacher like him?
Who has prescribed for him his way,
or who can say, ‘You have done wrong’?”
(Job 36:22-23)
God bless!
