“Have you ever given orders…” Job 38:12a

The next question posed to Job by The Almighty had a qualifier: the orders given to the morning dawn were to shake the wickedness out of it! I had never paid close attention to this qualifier before. Oftentimes, one may read scripture and glance over such phrases without giving much thought. However, when each word is considered and their meaning sought-after like a hidden treasure, God often reveals the golden nuggets of truth.

God designed the morning dawn as a fresh beginning for every living thing… and as a fresh start for hurting souls. He asked Job, “Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place, that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it?” (vv. 12 – 13) What place does the dawn have? A strategically important place in God’s eyes: to shake the hell out of the earth! In other words, all the wickedness that occurred the day before has no power over God’s provision of a new day… the new beginning. God has ordered it, and His Word shall stand.

Again, God was reminding Job just how insignificant he was in the scope of creation. Job had no power over the rising of the morning sun. He may have never considered the significance God had given each dawn through the hope of new beginnings. We all need the promise, the hope of new beginnings, for we have all failed and need renewing. Some have never experienced God’s power of redemption, restoration and renewal. The writers of Hebrews advised that when God speaks, it should NEVER be refused:

”See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from Him who warns us from heaven? At that time His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.” (Hebrews 12:25-27)

If you’ve had the very foundations of your life to be shaken by sickness, despair, depression, hopelessness, loneliness, or addiction, listen for God’s voice in today’s words to Job. Perhaps what you have experienced is God’s grace working in you to provide hope for another day… by having the wickedness of it all shaken out of you, and what remains will be reshaped by The Potter.

I believe verses twelve and thirteen reflect the heart of Christ when He taught His disciples how to pray: “Father, hallowed be Your name; Your Kingdom come.” (Luke 11:2, NIV) God’s ultimate plan is to bring Heaven to earth. He designed earth to uniquely fit His specifications for the new Heaven. For that to happen, all the wickedness of earth – it’s history from the day man rebelled in The Garden of Eden to the day all things will be made new – must be expunged… erased… removed as far as the east is from the west… shaken like a rug to remove unwanted debris.

Pray with me for the dawn to shake the wickedness in our day from the earth.

Have a blessed day…