God's longest speech to humanity (part 1)

 One could say that the entire Bible, as it is God’s Word, is His longest speech to us. Certainly it is inspired by God to humans, it was written by humans, in response to a multitude of events regarding the history of the Israelites, and those of the early church via the apostles. The reality is, that His longest actual recorded speech to humanity is in the book of Job, especially chapters 38-42. And it is clear that the primary emphasis is on His creation!

In all of the messages given in church services, etc., there is precious little that discusses God’s creation. There is, of course, lots of great information on how to live, how to honour God, what the greatest commandment is, etc., but so very little on His actual creation.

Why is that?

It’s almost as if God’s longest speech doesn’t account for much. Yet His word in these chapters in Job, as well as many verses in the Psalms and elsewhere, focus very much on God’s creation. In paying attention to verses and chapters such as these, they are giving us a very definite focus on His majesty and glory, which is as it should be.

An excellent book I have read through a couple of times is called The Gospel According to the Earth, by Dr. Mathew Sleeth. One of the more interesting chapters, at least to me, is entitled God the Creator. Dr. Sleeth and I are definitely on the same page on this topic! I have drawn on some of his information to come up with this post.

If we paid attention to what God is saying in Job, we should pay more attention to birds, forests, stars, etc.

Prothonotary Warbler

Rich Beech/Maple Forest

Dark Sky Preserve, Grasslands National Park

After Job’s friends were chastising him for something that he, at least in their minds, must have done wrong to have so many things he lost or had to contend with regarding his health, and blaming God for it, God’s response to Job and his friends are questions like “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? The morning stars sang together; He made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness; He prescribed bounds for the oceans and said Thus far you shall come and no farther, and here your proud waves be stopped.” Job 38: 7-11

 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Job 38: 37 

Do you know when the doe bears her fawn; their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds Job 39:1, 4

 Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread its wing toward the south? Job 39:26

  Does the eagle soar at your command. Job 39:27 

Everything under heaven belongs to me. Job 41:11

God is a nature lover, and to get closer to Him, we need to be a nature lover and worship Him especially while being out in His creation! And as we spend more time being in awe of His beautiful, complex, magnificent creation, we would become more humble regarding who He is, and far more grateful when we praise Him. When we know about how much He loves sparrows and the lilies of the field....

 

 ...it should indicate to us how much He values and loves us. And He wants us to learn from His creation. If we want to know more about Him, we should take Job 12: 7-10 to heart.

 But instead, we are ‘too busy’ with so many other things that we have allowed to dominate much of our lives. Therefore we should pay more attention to the following:

Our hearts definitely grow more grateful when we praise God’s creation, as stated in Ps 148: 3-6:

"Praise Him sun and moon, praise Him all you shining stars, praise Him you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for He commanded and they were created. He set them in place forever and ever."

Praise the Lord!!! 

 

If you would like to subscribe to Life Is A Journey, send an email to: prairietramper@gmail.com