Job 25:0 - Homiletics

Bildad to Job: The greatness of God and the littleness of man: an old sermon reproduced.

I. THE GREATNESS OF GOD . To impress Job with suitable conceptions of the ineffable majesty of that Divine Being before whom he desired so confidently and, as it appeared to the speaker, so irreverently to come ( Job 23:3-5 ), Bildad depicts God's dominion as:

1 . Absolute in its character. "Dominion is with him" (verse 2); i.e. as it is with no other. Earthly potentates derive their sovereignty from him ( Proverbs 8:15 ; 1 Peter 2:14 ). He also is the Fountain of authority for whatever principalities and powers exist in the heavenly places ( Colossians 1:16 ). But dominion exists in God essentially, absolutely, permanently. The uncreated, underived, and governmental supremacy of God is exhibited in Scripture with singular lucidity and fulness ( Genesis 14:19 ; Deuteronomy 10:14 ; 2 Kings 19:15 ; 1 Chronicles 29:11 ; Psalms 95:3 ; Matthew 11:25 ; Revelation 19:6 ).

2 . Awe-inspiring in its influence. "Dominion and fear are with him" (verse 2), the term "fear" defining the effect produced upon the creaturely imagination by the sublime majesty of the unnamed Deity, Bildad's omission of that Deity's name being a striking illustration of the precise import of his words. Reverential awe is the proper attitude for a creature to assume in presence of God ( Deuteronomy 5:29 ; Deuteronomy 10:12 ; Joshua 24:14 ; 2 Kings 17:36 ; Psalms 2:11 ); who should be feared by the inhabitants of earth generally ( Psalms 33:8 ), by his redeemed ones especially ( Exodus 15:11 ; Psalms 89:17 ), by such as would serve him acceptably ( Hebrews 12:28 ), by those who would dwell with him continually ( Revelation 11:18 ), by angelic hosts ( Isaiah 6:2 ) and glorified saints ( Revelation 15:4 ). This fear should be based on the majestical government of God, as Lord of heaven and earth.

3 . Peaceful in its efficiency. "He maketh peace in his high places" (verse 2), i.e. "among the celestial beings immediately surrounding him" (Delitzsch); producing

4 . Illimitable in its sway. "Is there any number of his armies?" (verse 3). The armies alluded to are

5 . Beneficent in its administration. "And upon whom cloth not his light arise?" (verse 3).

6 . All-transcending in its splendour. "Whom doth not his light surpass?" (Delitzsch), The resplendent Ruler of the numberless legions of heaven is One whose glory, i.e. as a personal Sovereign, outshines in radiance that of each and all of those beings of light over whom he reigns. These latter have no light they derive not from him, as the moon and planets have none they receive not from the sun, and Christians none that does not come to them from Christ, round whom they revolve like attendant satellites; and so the glory which the angels or other creatures have is as no glory by reason of "the glory that excelleth."

II. THE LITTLENESS OF MAN . With a painful lack of originality, Bildad, the master of ancient laws and popular traditions, quietly appropriates a sentiment which already Eliphaz had uttered ( Job 4:17-21 ; Job 15:14 16), and to which even Job had assented ( Job 9:2 ; Job 14:4 ), that in comparison with so transcendently glorious a Being man must for ever be immeasurably insignificant and mean.

1 . Guilty. "How then can man be justified with God?" (verse 4). The argument is a fortiori : If these radiant beings constituting God's celestial armies would never think of contending with him in order to establish the faultless purity of their characters, it is simply monstrous to suppose that a frail man, whose feebleness is the result of a depraved moral constitution, would ever succeed in securing acquittal before the bar of a holy God. The language implies

2 . Impure. "How can he be clean that is born of a woman?" (verse 4). In Bildad's estimation the moral defilement of man is

3 . Feeble. "Man that is a worm, and the son of man that is a worm" (verse 6). Man is compared by Eliphaz to a dweller in a mud hut ( Job 4:19 ), and by Job to a flower springing up from the soil ( Job 14:2 ). He is here likened to a worm bred by putrefaction, i.e. a mean, despicable, and insignificant creature ( Psalms 22:6 ), which he is

Learn:

1 . The claim God has on the reverential homage of his creatures.

2 . The antiquity of the gospel doctrine of justification by faith.

3 . The humility man should cultivate in thinking of himself.

4 . The infinite condescension of him who is the Lord of all the armies of light in becoming a worm and no man.

5 . The transcendent glory of Divine grace which contemplates the elevation of "man that is a worm, and the son of man that is a worm," to a position higher than the stars or the angels; yea, to a partnership in that very dominion ( Revelation 3:21 ) which belongs to God.