I have a question\u00a0for you.\u00a0 I am researching a passage and I\u00a0would like your input.<\/p>\n
“Behold, God is great, and we know him not, neither can the number of his years be searched out<\/em>” (Job 36:26).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Is Job’s friend, Elihu, telling us here that God’s greatness is just as unsearchable as the number of His years?\u00a0 Could this passage be used in defense for God’s infinity?\u00a0 Could I expound on this and say that according to Psalms 145:1-3 that since God is unsearchable, we will be praising him forever due to his infinite greatness?<\/p>\n
I would like to use the two passages above to confirm this truth I feel: It fills me with awe knowing that I could no more exhaust my God’s greatness than I could count the hours and minutes of eternity.<\/p>\n\t
Answer:<\/h2>\n
I just read that verse in Job last night as a part of my lesson. Yes, Elihu is stating that God is beyond our full comprehension. We sometimes can talk about the characteristics of God in broad strokes, just like we can talk about infinity as a concept, but really grasping what it means is beyond our capacity.<\/p>\n
“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts”<\/em>” (Isaiah 55:8-10).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Paul expressed it in this way:<\/p>\n
“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! “For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?” “Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?” For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen<\/em>” (Romans 11:33-36).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I love your last line. It is a great rephrasing of what Elihu stated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: I have a question\u00a0for you.\u00a0 I am researching a passage and I\u00a0would like your input. “Behold, God is great, and we know him not, neither can the number of his years be searched out” (Job 36:26). Is Job’s friend, Elihu, telling us here that God’s greatness is just as unsearchable as the number of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[472,90],"class_list":["post-23323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-eternity","tag-god"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":27703,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-job-3626-saying-we-can-never-exhaust-the-knowledge-of-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":23323,"position":0},"title":"Is Job 36:26 saying we can never exhaust the knowledge of God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 9, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I would like to get your opinion to see if I am interpreting the Bible correctly on this one passage. Job 36:26 American Standard Version: Behold, God is great, and we know him not; The number of his years is unsearchable. Stated this way I believe it is telling\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27747,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-an-implied-fact-as-authoritative-as-a-direct-statement\/","url_meta":{"origin":23323,"position":1},"title":"Is an implied fact as authoritative as a direct statement?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 13, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: All of the passages: Psalms 147:5; Romans 11:33-36; Deuteronomy 33:27; Psalms 145:3; Isaiah 40:28; Psalms 40:5; Psalms 92:5-6; Job 5:8-9; Job 11:7-9; Job 9:10-12; Job 26:14; and Psalms 106:2 imply that God is infinite except for Psalms 147:5 where it explicitly states God's understanding is infinite.\u00a0 Does this mean\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15929,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-does-the-unsearchable-riches-of-god-mean\/","url_meta":{"origin":23323,"position":2},"title":"What does “the unsearchable riches of God” mean?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 27, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: There is a phrase used that I've heard which I am not sure I understand. The unsearchable riches of God. Why do people say, \"unsearchable riches?\" By reading and study of the Bible, we can learn what God wants and learn what Jesus did, said, and taught. But \"unsearchable\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62324,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-eternal-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":23323,"position":3},"title":"The Eternal God","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 24, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Romans 11:25-36 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Imagine going back to the early days of this country and trying to explain the marvels of our time to someone living then. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Explain how we get around by automobiles: \u201cWell, they are kind-of like carriages, but there are no horses. They\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32795,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-plea-for-a-daysman\/","url_meta":{"origin":23323,"position":4},"title":"The Plea for a Daysman","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 1, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jarrod M. Jacobs Job chapter nine records one of the speeches Job made when defending himself against Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. This speech in chapter nine is somewhat different from the others. Job does not spend much of his speech responding directly to Bildad and what he said in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":58361,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/not-our-workmanship-but-his\/","url_meta":{"origin":23323,"position":5},"title":"Not Our Workmanship, But His","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 23, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Bill Hall via Gospel Power, Vol. 13, No. 33, Aug. 13, 2006 \"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them\" (Ephesians 2:10). 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