For he saith to the snow, Fall on the earth! and to the pouring rain, even the pouring rains of his might.
A storm is gathering as Elihu speaks to Job, turning him from arguments about suffering to the weather overhead. Snow falls only because God tells it to — so what does that speaking mean, and what should it do to the man standing under it?
The Hebrew behind this verse gives God a direct order to the weather, and it distinguishes two kinds of rainfall. One rendering of the passage brings out both the speaking and the two measures — a light shower and a downpour — along with the effect on people who are working outdoors:
For to the snow He says, Fall to the earth, and to the small rain, and to the rains of strength. The hand of every man He seals up, that all mortals may come to know His work.
Many people explain weather by the laws of nature. One writer shows that this does not push God out of His own world:
All the forces of nature act according to divine laws. "Laws of nature" are but laws of God, the manner in which all things are upheld by the word of His power. He has not given up His rights as the God of providence any more than His place as Creator.
The verse names a gentle rain and a strong one, and both arrive on command. That is exactly the point Job needed, and it exposes something about us:
He tells the snow or the rain when to fall on the earth, sometimes a gentle rain, sometimes a fierce rainstorm. Men have tried in many ways to control the weather. It is a foolish, useless effort, because they do not want to let God have His way. All this was meant to speak to Job about the hard circumstances he was going through. Would Job not allow God to have His way?
Snow does more than fall. It stops human work, and that is part of its lesson:
And if snow covers the earth like a burial cloth, and winter's icy hand stops all man's work — it is His snow, His hand, to teach man His supreme power. The beast goes into its shelter; let us too enter into the "cleft of the rock" until these troubles have passed. How good then to humble ourselves under His mighty hand!
Later in the book God asks Job whether he has entered the storehouses of the snow. Writers note that the same frozen water arrives as kindness in one place and as judgment in another, and that even a snowflake's shape is designed:
Those storehouses of mercy and of judgment are in the hand of God. His word produces them — the snow, to protect the grass in winter and to cool and refresh in summer; the hail, in striking plagues and sweeping judgments. Cold acting on vapour makes snow, we are told, turning its molecules into crystals of lovely and varied form. Who planned those forms?
Why does God point Job to weather instead of doctrine? Job lived before Scripture and before Christ, so God taught him from the only book he had:
Here we can understand that we are in the infant days even of God's saints. They spelled out the vast letters of heaven and earth, seen before anyone read the Scriptures. We are in these early seasons. God chose to teach by the speech that day after day utters. He did not teach by the gospel preached to every creature, or by the Son who had come down from heaven to show us the Father in Himself.
Elihu describes the storm overhead. Job is living through a storm of his own:
The storm is upon them now, and Elihu trembles. He calls on Job to hear God's voice in it all. We may well believe he was to hear that voice in his own storm of sorrow too. It has come blow upon blow, the sharp lightning stroke of affliction, the awful thunder of God's chastening. God has been doing marvellous things, things beyond our understanding — but it is God. "Be still, and know that I am God."
- He speaks. Snow and rain fall at His order. What we call laws of nature are His laws — He upholds all things by the word of His power.
- He measures. He sends the light shower and He sends the downpour. Efforts to master the weather are futile.
- He stops us. Winter seals the working hand so that all may know His work. Humble yourself under His mighty hand.
- He aims it. One store holds both — snow to protect, hail to judge. Mercy and judgment rest in His hand.
- He teaches. Before Scripture, God spelled out His majesty in the letters of earth and sky. Job was to hear His voice in his own sorrow, not just in the storm overhead.
He sealeth up the hand of every man; that all men may know his work.
Elihu's last speech moves from God's dealings with people to a storm in the sky, and now to winter: snow falls and work stops. Why would God halt human activity at all, and what should people see once their hands are idle?
Elihu points to what people can see, not to written Scripture. One writer explains why:
The chapter before turned our ears to the ways of God in providence. Those ways are clearly righteous and good, mighty as He is, and especially so in corrective blessing. Job 37 now turns our eyes to the wonderful works of God in the outside world... It is not the unseen, but the visible. Here we can see that we are in the early days of even God's people. They spelled out the vast letters of heaven and earth, which could be seen before the Scriptures were read.
The picture is of a hand stopped mid-task. One writer describes winter closing in and checking everything a person planned to do.
And if the fall of snow covers the earth like a burial cloth, and the icy hand of winter is laid upon man, checking all his activities — it is His snow, His hand, to teach man His supreme power... How good then to humble ourselves under His mighty hand!
The second half of the verse gives the reason for the interruption. God does not just stop the work. He stops it so that people measure His work against their own.
Whatever man tries to do about it, God sends weather that seals the hand of every man. Then everyone will know His work as infinitely greater than theirs (v.7).
Translations of the second half differ. One rendering ties the knowledge to God's work:
He seals up the hand of every man, so that all mortals may come to know His work.
Elihu never speaks of an impersonal system. One writer warns against that way of thinking.
It is sad when we reduce everything to impersonal nature, as if these things simply must happen, with no connection to anything in particular. But these verses show that God is actively and intelligently behind what men call nature.
The same refusal shows up in human efforts to control the weather:
Men have tried in many ways to control the weather. It is a foolish, useless effort, because they do not want to let God have His way.
The sealed hand is not always discipline. A few verses later Elihu himself gives three reasons for the rain.
He causes the rain to fall for three express reasons — for correction, which man often needs; for His land, which needs rain if it is to bear fruit; or for mercy, at times when His creatures suffer from drought.
Elihu is not lecturing on meteorology. He is holding a mirror up to the man in front of him, whose own activity had been sealed by loss and disease.
The storm is upon them now, and Elihu trembles. He calls on Job to hear God's voice in it all. And surely we may believe he also calls him to hear that voice in the storm of sorrow that has fallen on him. Blow upon blow it has come: the sharp lightning stroke of affliction, the awful thunder of God's discipline. God has been doing wonderful things, things beyond our understanding — but it is God. "Be still, and know that I am God."
One writer sums up what Elihu is doing, and presses it further:
That is, he shows the absolute sovereignty of God. And if that is true about natural things, is it not still more necessary in spiritual things?
- Sealed — God lays winter on the world and stops every person's hand. It is His snow and His hand doing it.
- Taught — the stop has a purpose. With your work halted, you measure His work against yours and find His far greater.
- Personal — this is not impersonal weather. God stands behind what people call nature.
- Varied — the same skies come for correction, for the land, or for mercy. A sealed hand is not always a punished one.
- Applied — God's sovereignty over natural things holds even more in spiritual things. Job's own storm was the lesson, and the answer was to be still and know that He is God.
And the wild beast goeth into its lair, and they remain in their dens.
Elihu is describing a storm as it breaks — snow, rain and cold — and he points to the animals taking cover. The question for Job is whether man will learn from the storm what the beasts already know by instinct.
One writer sets the beasts' retreat beside the weather that stops man's own work:
Whatever man tries to do about it, God sends weather that seals the hand of every man. Then everyone knows His work is far greater than theirs (v. 7). The beasts take refuge in dens, whether to hide from the wind or the thunder and lightning (v. 8).
Elihu's closing argument stays on ground man cannot manage:
Having warned Job, Elihu turned again to the greatness of God as seen in creation, and the rest of his speech stays on that theme. He looked above all at the control the Creator holds over what lies wholly outside man's control — the clouds, the winds, the thunder, the lightning, the rain, the snow, the frost. As these things came before his mind, he had to confess that his heart trembled and was deeply moved.
One writer explains why Elihu argues from earth and sky, not from the gospel:
Job 37 … finally turns our eyes to the wonderful works of God in the outward world… Here we can understand that we are in the infant days of even God's saints, when they spelled out the vast letters of heaven and earth, seen before anyone read the Scriptures… For that very reason, because Christ was not here, the outward world serves to show God's majesty, faithfulness, and gracious power in all that surrounded man.
Elihu begins the chapter with his own heart trembling, and then turns to the beasts:
"At this also my heart" — that is a very different thing from the mere instinct of the cattle — "my heart trembles," etc. (Job 37:1-8). Even the beasts have more sense than some men… He shows the absolute sovereignty of God. And if that is true about natural things, is it not still more necessary in spiritual things?
One writer takes the animal's den as a lesson for the believer in trouble:
When snow covers the earth like a burial cloth, and winter lays its icy hand on man, all his activity stops. Yet it is His snow and His hand, teaching man His supreme power. The beast retires into its shelter; let us too enter into the "cleft of the rock," until these calamities have passed over. Whether the storm comes in the whirlwind of the south, or from the frozen north, it is only His breath. How good then to humble ourselves under His mighty hand!
The beast's retreat sits inside a storm where nothing acts on its own:
What can man do, in the presence of God's awful voice, but seek to learn? Even the wild beast retires to shelter and keeps to his home, while the whirlwind comes out of its chamber, and out of the north the cold. But God's breath also works wonderful change… Turn about as it may, it still carries out what He commands across the face of the earth. Whether it comes as a rod to correct, or is meant for His earth, or comes in kindness, it is God who causes it to come to them.
- His snow. The winter that drives animals into cover is His snow and His hand. He lays it on man to teach him who holds supreme power.
- His limit. Elihu argues from clouds, wind, frost and cold on purpose. They lie wholly outside man's control.
- Their instinct. The beast retires to shelter and stays there, and that reflex shows more sense than some men manage.
- Our shelter. Where the animal has a den, faith has the cleft of the rock — a place to wait until the trouble has passed over.
- His command. Every part of the storm carries out orders. God sends it as a rod to correct, or in kindness. So we humble ourselves under His mighty hand.
From the chamber [of the south] cometh the whirlwind; and cold from the winds of the north.
Elihu's last speech leaves Job's arguments behind and turns to the sky, where a storm is gathering as he speaks. He points to the winds and the cold, and asks Job what he can do about any of it.
Elihu picks out the parts of creation that no human hand has ever managed.
Having warned Job in this way, Elihu turned again to dwell on the greatness of God as seen in creation. The rest of his speech stays on that theme. He gave particular attention to the control the Creator exercises over what lies wholly out of man's control. That means the clouds, the winds, the thunder, the lightning, the rain, the snow, the frost. As these things came before his mind, he had to admit that his heart trembled and was deeply moved.
That helplessness has not changed with time or technology.
In our day men have made many discoveries. They have gained limited control over a few of the subtle powers that lie in God's wonderful creation. But the things Elihu mentioned they cannot master. When, as he put it in verse 9, the whirlwind comes out of the south and the cold out of the north, the cleverest of men can only accept the situation. They look for shelter or warmth, whichever they need.
The ESV reads "from the scattering winds." Older translations read "out of the north." Both come from one rare Hebrew word.
mezarim means "the scattering." It treats the north wind as scattering the clouds and bringing severe cold. Elihu said the cold came out of the north. The word occurs only in Job 37:9.
Older translations also name that chamber as the south. The whirlwind itself carries a settled meaning across the Old Testament.
The Old Testament often mentions the whirlwind as one of the means God wields in His judgements on the earth. It is twice connected with the south.
Elihu is not delivering a nature lecture. The storm is evidence in a case about who runs the world.
"Out of the south comes the whirlwind," and so on (verses 9-12). That is, he shows the absolute sovereignty of God. And if that is true about natural things, is it not still more necessary in spiritual things?
The verses that follow give the storm a purpose, and it is not always the same purpose.
Elihu recognised that God ordered the weather with a wise purpose. What He sends may be "for correction," that is, discipline for wrongdoing. It may be "for His land," that is, to keep the ordinary productivity of the earth going. Or it may be "for mercy," that is, to bring about some merciful deliverance. This too had a bearing on Job's case.
Job was sitting under losses he could not explain. The storm gave him a lesson he could not argue with.
Men have tried in many ways to control the weather. It is a foolish, pointless effort, because they do not want to allow God to have His way. God meant all of these things to speak to Job about the unpleasant circumstances he was going through. Would Job not let God have His way? So the storm was a most important object lesson for him.
The beast takes shelter. Ridout says where we should take ours.
The falling snow may cover the earth like a burial cloth. Winter may lay its icy hand on man and stop all his activity. Even so, it is His snow, His hand, to teach man His supreme power. The beast retires into its shelter; let us too enter into the "cleft of the rock," until these troubles have passed over. Whether the storm comes as the whirlwind of the south, or from the frozen north, it is only His breath. How good, then, to humble ourselves under His mighty hand!
The same writer sees nature's balance of forces repeated in a suffering person's life.
All nature is balanced in this way, one force against another; and so too there is a divine equilibrium in the clouds of life. He will "with the temptation provide the way of escape." All things work — but they work together for good to those who love God. There are the balancings of the clouds.
- Chamber — The whirlwind has a chamber it comes out from, and the cold comes from the scattering winds. The rare word behind "scattering" appears nowhere else in the Bible.
- Helpless — Elihu names the forces that lie wholly outside human control. The cleverest of men can only look for shelter or warmth.
- Sovereign — God rules absolutely in natural things. That must be even more true in spiritual things.
- Purpose — God sends weather for correction, for His land, or for mercy. The storm has a reason even when you cannot name it.
- Shelter — The animal hides in its den. We hide in the cleft of the rock, humbled under the mighty hand behind the storm.
By the breath of God ice is given; and the breadth of the waters is straitened.
Elihu has been pointing Job away from his own case and up to the sky — to thunder, snow, and storm. Now he names the coldest thing he can think of, and traces ice back to the breath of God.
Elihu argues from the visible world because that was the light he had. One writer explains why creation, and not the gospel, carries the weight here.
Job 37 turns our eyes to the wonderful works of God in the outward world. We are in those early days, when God was pleased to teach through the speech that each day pours out. He did not teach by the gospel preached to every creature, nor by the Son who had come down from heaven to show us the Father in Himself. For that very reason, because Christ was not here, God takes up the outward world to show His majesty, faithfulness, and gracious power in everything that surrounded man.
Breath is warm, yet here it hardens water. The same writer sees a change God Himself works, and weather that carries out His orders.
But God's breath also works a marvellous change. Out of it He gives ice, and He presses the broad waters together. He loads the cloud with moisture, and scatters the clouds of His light. Whichever way it turns, it still does what He commands across the face of the earth. It may come as a rod to correct, if that is what He has appointed for His earth, or it may come in kindness. Either way, God is the one who sends it.
Another commentator puts it plainly: the breath is air, and God sends it cold.
Ice comes from the breath of God — air that God sends in a cold state.
The word used here for breath runs all through Scripture, and its force is not always gentle.
It is the "breathing," the "inspiration," the "blast," as in Genesis 2:7; Job 4:9; Job 37:10; and Isaiah 30:33.
Elihu is not describing scenery. He weighs human power against God's power. One writer applies that to our own day, quoting verse 9 in an older translation than the ESV.
In our day men have made many discoveries. They have gained a kind of control over a few of the subtle powers in God's wonderful creation. But the things Elihu mentioned they cannot master. As he put it in verse 9, "Out of the south comes the whirlwind, and cold out of the north." Faced with that, the cleverest of men can only accept the situation and seek shelter or warmth.
Cold stops work. One writer takes that halt as the lesson, and points the reader to shelter.
Snow may cover the earth like a burial cloth. Winter may lay its icy hand on man and stop all his activity. Even so, it is His snow and His hand, sent to teach man His supreme power. The beast goes into its shelter. Let us too go into the "cleft of the rock" until these troubles have passed. Whether the storm comes in the whirlwind of the south, or from the frozen north, it is only His breath. How good then to humble ourselves under His mighty hand!
The frost is an argument aimed at a suffering man. Elihu's call is simple: look away from yourself and look at what God does.
Let Job forget himself, his troubles, his "friends"; let him "stand still and consider the wonderful works of God." Can he explain these purposes? Does he realise the light that shines behind the clouds? Does he understand the balancing of these clouds? How amazingly simple that statement is! All nature is balanced in this way, one force against another. In the same way, there is a divine balance in the clouds of life.
- Breath — God's breath freezes wide waters. It is air He sends in a cold state, and elsewhere the same word means a "blast."
- Sovereign — Ice is no accident of climate. God works the change, and the weather does what He commands — as a rod to correct, or in kindness.
- Limit — Whirlwind and cold mark the edge of what man can master. With all our discoveries, we can only seek shelter or warmth.
- Humbling — Winter's icy hand stops man's work on purpose. It teaches God's supreme power and drives us into the cleft of the rock.
- Comfort — The God who balances the clouds keeps the same balance in the clouds of life. So Elihu tells Job to stop staring at his troubles and to stand still and consider God's works.
Also with plentiful moisture he loadeth the thick clouds, his light dispels the cloud;
Elihu ends his last speech not with argument but with weather — cloud, rain, thunder and lightning, all of it handled by God. Verse 11 sits at the centre: the cloud does not fill itself, and the lightning does not scatter itself.
Many readers have felt that Elihu is not remembering a storm but watching one. One writer gives his own rendering of the passage and points out how vivid it is:
What can be finer than the description of thunder and lightning that follows? It is so vivid that quite a few think Elihu is watching a storm as it happens, with its roar and rumble, followed by snow or rain falling in varying amounts. What can man do in the presence of God's awful voice but try to learn? … But God's breath also works a marvellous change. Out of it comes ice, and the broad waters are pressed together; and He loads the cloud with moisture, and scatters the clouds of His light. Turn about as it may, it still carries out what He commands it on the face of the world.
Notice his rendering of the second half: God "scatters the clouds of His light," where the ESV has the clouds scattering His lightning. Either way, the cloud may turn and drift, but its errand is fixed.
One commentator ties the moisture and the movement together, and traces both to one hand:
Thick clouds are full of moisture, and the clouds whirl as the wind drives them. But all this is by the guidance of God, directed as He commands (v.12).
Another writer names the three purposes rain can serve, and why Elihu raises them with Job:
Elihu recognised that God ordered the weather with wise purpose. What He sends may be "for correction," that is, discipline for wrongdoing. It may be "for His land," that is, to keep the earth producing as usual. Or it may be "for mercy," that is, to bring about some merciful deliverance. This too had a bearing on Job's case.
God not only fills the cloud. He also controls how it empties. One writer draws out the kindness hidden in the restraint:
And how good He is! If He opened the windows of heaven all at once, a flood would sweep all life away. Instead, He makes the drops of rain small, and they fall as refreshment on the place beneath. So it is with His afflictions; the suffering and the grief are, after all, only blessings in disguise for faith: "The clouds you so much dread Are big with mercy, and will break In blessings on your head."
A modern reader can explain saturation and static discharge and think that settles the verse. The same writer meets that head on:
But both science and poetry leave God out, and when men do not see Him, what is the value of all the rest? What use is it to speak of "gravity, expansion, condensation," if we do not see the spreading of His clouds, the majestic crash of the thunder in His tabernacle?
Elsewhere he grants that the second causes are real, and says where they lead: they are "the outer court of His tabernacle, the display of His attributes, leading us on into the holiest of His revealed Person, as seen in Christ Jesus."
Elihu is not giving a weather lesson. He is asking a suffering man to look up and draw a conclusion:
Let Job forget himself, his troubles, his "friends." Let him "stand still and consider the wonderful works of God." … Does he realise the light that shines behind the clouds? Does he understand the balancing of these clouds? How amazingly simple such a statement is. All nature is balanced this way, one force against another; and so too there is divine equilibrium in the clouds of life. He will "with the temptation provide the way of escape." All things work — but they work together for good to those who love God. There are the balancings of the clouds.
- Loaded. The thick cloud does not gather its own water; God weighs the load before it ever darkens the sky.
- Steered. The clouds turn and whirl, yet they still carry out what God commands on the face of the earth.
- Aimed. What falls comes for one of three purposes: correction, the land's fruitfulness, or mercy. Elihu means Job to apply that to himself.
- Measured. God never throws heaven's windows open at once. He makes the drops small, so the load falls as refreshment, not ruin.
- Balanced. As one force offsets another in nature, so God holds the clouds of a life in balance. A storm then calls for thought, not only endurance.
And they are turned every way by his guidance, that they may do whatsoever he commandeth them upon the face of the circuit of the earth,
Elihu is describing a storm as it breaks over him — thunder, lightning, rain and snow. Here he watches the clouds churn and turn overhead. Is that turning blind weather, or is it steered? The answer matters for a man who has just lost everything.
What looks like raw physics has someone behind it.
Thick clouds are full of moisture, and they whirl as the wind drives them. But all this is by the guidance of God, directed as He commands (v.12).
The cloud may spin however it likes; it still runs the errand God gave it.
Turn about as it may, it nonetheless carries out what He commands it across the face of the inhabited world.
The next verse names why God sends the storm. Each of the three words carries a different purpose.
Elihu recognised that God ordered the weather with wise purpose. What He sends may be "for correction," that is, discipline for wrongdoing. Or "for His land," that is, to keep the earth producing as it normally does. Or "for mercy," that is, to bring about some merciful deliverance. This too had a bearing on Job's case.
(Where older translations read "for mercy," the ESV has "for love.")
Grant points out what this knowledge would have spared Job:
If Job had realised this, it might have saved him some deep soul distress.
Elihu is not giving a lecture on meteorology. He is arguing from the smaller case to the greater one.
In verses 9-12 he shows the absolute sovereignty of God. And if that is true about natural things, is it not still more necessary in spiritual things? "He causes it to come, whether for correction" — that is what he was showing about the dealings with Job — "or for his land, or for mercy."
Elihu goes on to ask Job whether he understands how God balances the clouds. One writer takes that image and lays it over a suffering life.
All this display of divine power is to accomplish His will… but always it is God whose actions, plans and purposes are before the eye of faith. Let Job forget himself, his troubles, his "friends"; let him "stand still and consider the wonderful works of God." Can he explain these purposes? Does he realise the light that shines behind the clouds? Does he understand the balancing of these clouds? … All nature is balanced in this way, one force against another; and so too there is divine equilibrium in the clouds of life.
Elihu does not wait for the sky to clear before drawing the lesson.
The storm is upon them now, and Elihu trembles. He calls upon Job to hear God's voice in it all; and, we may well believe, to hear His voice in the storm of sorrow that has fallen on him too. Blow upon blow it has come — the sharp lightning stroke of affliction, the terrible thunder of God's discipline. God has been at work in wonderful ways, beyond our understanding, but it is God.
Once you see that God steers the storm, trouble stops being an accident. It becomes something to read.
Nothing happens without His hand in it. Stormy wind and rain only fulfil His word. "He causes it to come, whether for correction, or for His land, or for mercy" (Job 37:13). This is how we learn the most precious lessons. They are precious because we get past the trial that tests us, through to the loving-kindness of the Lord. Then our feet can stand on level ground.
And the right posture under that hand is not argument.
However wise in heart any of us — Job included — may think we are, our attitude before Him should not be one of criticism and questions. It should be fear.
- Whirling. The clouds turn and turn again; from below the motion looks like nothing but wind and weather.
- Steered. That same turning is by His guidance — spin as it may, the cloud still carries out what He commanded it.
- Purposed. God names the errand: correction for wrongdoing, ordinary fruitfulness for the land, or mercy that rescues.
- Personal. If God rules the rain and the wind, He rules a soul far more. That is the point Elihu presses on Job.
- Still. So the answer to the storm is not criticism but stillness. Stand and consider, and get past the trial to the loving-kindness behind it.
Whether he cause it to come as a rod, or for his land, or in mercy.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
Hearken unto this, Job; stand still and discern the wondrous works of God.
Elihu is still speaking as a thunderstorm breaks overhead, and he stops Job with a command: halt, and look at what God is doing. Two questions follow: what can a suffering man learn from clouds and lightning, and what should he do with the parts of God's work he cannot explain?
The weather Elihu describes is not decoration. It matches what has been happening to Job himself.
The storm is upon them now, and Elihu trembles. He calls on Job to hear God's voice in it all. We may well believe he also calls him to hear His voice in the storm of sorrow that has fallen on him. It has come blow upon blow, the sharp lightning stroke of affliction, the awful thunder of God's chastening. God has been doing marvellous things, things beyond our understanding, but it is God. "Be still, and know that I am God."
The first word to Job is not an argument but a pause. That pattern goes beyond Job.
God calls a halt and tells Job to listen, stand still and consider the wonderful works of God. Whenever God has something important to say, He calls man to stand still and listen. Everything in creation is evidence of God! In Romans 1 we read that created things show His eternal power and Godhead. So men everywhere are left without excuse. No one can plead ignorance. Nothing has appeared by chance, but by design — and that design is God's.
Elihu points Job to the weather, not to anything higher. One writer explains why that suits the early days the book belongs to.
The chapter before turned our ears to the ways of God in providence. Those ways are clearly righteous and good, mighty as He is, and especially so in corrective blessing, where men do not rebel to their own shame and ruin. Job 37 now turns our eyes to the wondrous works of God in the outward world. I admit these are very far from presenting the depth of truth that the doctrine of Christ or His grace gives. It is not the unseen, but the visible. We are in the infant days even of God's saints, when they spelled out the vast letters of heaven and earth before the Scriptures were read. Because Christ was not here, God takes up the outward world. It shows His majesty, faithfulness, and gracious power in everything around man.
After the command comes a run of questions about light, cloud and sky. Job cannot answer one of them.
Who and what was Job, then, to put God's ways on trial? It would be better to weigh it all, stand still, and consider His wonders. Did he know how God imposed law on the atmosphere, and caused the light of His cloud to shine? Did he know anything about the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of Him who is perfect in knowledge? Man can feel, but can he explain? Had Job spread out the skies with God, strong as a mirror of cast metal? If so, he could tell us what we should say to Him. If not, we have no power to set anything in order because of darkness.
The same writer presses the point past the weather.
He shows the absolute sovereignty of God. And if that is true about natural things, is it not still more necessary in spiritual things? "He causes it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy." The correction is what he was showing about God's dealings with Job. … Even with those men of God, we know only in part. There is great darkness even now.
That balance in the sky reaches into a sufferer's own life.
Let Job forget himself, his troubles, his "friends"; let him stand still and consider the wonderful works of God. Can he explain these purposes? Does he realise the light that shines behind the clouds? Does he understand the balancing of these clouds? All nature is balanced like this, one force against another — and there is a divine balance in the clouds of life too. He will "with the temptation provide the way of escape." All things work — but they work together for good to those who love God. These are the balancings of the clouds.
- Halt. God's first move with a man who has much to say is to call him to stand still and listen. The pause comes before the answer.
- Look. Elihu turns Job outward to sky, cloud and lightning. Creation is evidence by design, so no one can plead ignorance.
- Admit. Considering ends in questions Job cannot answer. Man can feel, but he cannot explain, and even God's own people know only in part.
- Trust. The God who balances the clouds balances the clouds of a life. The same rain comes for correction, for the land, or for mercy.
- Bow. If God's rule is complete in nature, it is more surely complete in spiritual things. So who was Job to put God's ways on trial?
Dost thou know how +God hath disposed them, and how he causeth the lightning of his cloud to flash?
Elihu, one of the men answering Job, has been describing snow, rain, wind and thunder — weather no one can command. Now he turns to Job with a direct question about the storm cloud overhead. The issue is not the weather but authority. Job cannot say how God makes the lightning flash in a cloud. So on what ground can he judge how God has run his life?
Job 37 argues from the visible world. Christ had not yet come.
The chapter before turned our ears to the ways of God in providence. Those ways are clearly righteous and good, mighty as He is, and especially so in corrective blessing. Job 37 now turns our eyes to the wondrous works of God in the outward world. It follows on from the close of Job 36, which singled out the rain and the thundercloud. These, I admit, fall far short of the depth of truth that the doctrine of Christ or His grace gives. It is not the unseen, but the visible... For that very reason, because Christ was not here, the outward world shows God's majesty, faithfulness, and gracious power in all that surrounded man.
Verse 15 follows an order to stop and look.
In the first of these passages God calls a halt. He tells Job to listen, stand still and consider the wonderful works of God. Whenever God has something important to communicate He calls man to stand still and listen. Job 37-39 describes the wonderful works in creation, which reveal God. Everything in creation is an evidence of God!... Nothing has appeared by chance, but by design and that of God.
"Do you know how God lays His command upon them?" is not asking for information. It is measuring Job against the One he had been accusing.
Who and what was Job then to put His ways on trial? It would be better to weigh it all, stand still, and consider His wonders. Granted, there is such a thing as law in the universe. But did Job know how God imposed that law on the atmosphere? Did he know how God caused the light of His cloud to shine? Did he know anything about the balancing of the clouds, the wondrous works of Him who is perfect in knowledge...? Man can feel, but can he explain?
God "lays His command" on the clouds. Elihu names three reasons for what He sends.
Elihu recognized that God ordered the weather with wise purpose. What He sends may be "for correction," that is, discipline for wrongdoing. It may be "for His land," that is, to keep the earth productive as usual. Or it may be "for mercy," that is, to bring about some merciful deliverance. This too had a bearing on Job's case.
Verse 15 speaks of light shining out of the cloud, and verse 16 of clouds held in balance. Both become pictures of how God handles a suffering life.
Let Job forget himself, his troubles, his "friends"; let him "stand still and consider the wonderful works of God." Can he explain these purposes? Does he realise the light that shines behind the clouds? Does he understand the balancing of these clouds? How amazingly simple such a statement is. All nature is balanced in this way, one force against another. God keeps the clouds of a life in the same balance. He will "with the temptation provide the way of escape." All things work — but they work together for good to those who love God.
Elihu's question expects the answer no. The cloud itself shows why.
Elihu answers this by directing Job's eyes to heaven. Just to observe the heavens should make anyone bow in awe at the greatness of the glory of God. Both the heavens and the clouds are "higher than you." Clouds hide what lies behind them. That should make us realise something: no mere man can perceive why God deals as He does. His ways lie beyond human sight.
- Stop. Before God explains anything, He calls a halt. Job must forget himself, stand still and consider.
- Look up. The cloud overhead is evidence. Nothing in creation came by chance, and Job had no right to put on trial what he could not command.
- Commanded. God lays His orders on the clouds, sending what He sends for correction, for His land, or for mercy.
- Balanced. The same hand that weighs the clouds keeps the clouds of a life in balance. All things work together for good to those who love God.
- Hidden, not absent. The dark cloud means His reasons are above us, not that they are missing. Light shines behind it, from Him who is perfect in knowledge.
Dost thou know about the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him that is perfect in knowledge?
Elihu's last speech turns Job's eyes from his own case up to the sky. If Job cannot explain how a cloud hangs in balance, what claim can he make on the ways of the God who hung it there?
Job had been arguing his case against God. Elihu's chain of questions shows how little Job knows about the world he lives in.
Who and what was Job then to accuse His ways? It would be better to weigh it all, stand still, and consider His wonders. Granted, there is such a thing as law in the universe. But did Job know how God imposed it on the atmosphere, and made the light of His cloud shine? Did he know anything about the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of Him who is perfect in knowledge... Man can feel, but can he explain?
Job felt everything that happened to him. Feeling is not the same as explaining.
One writer carries the balance of the clouds straight over into the life of a suffering man.
Let Job forget himself, his troubles, his "friends"; let him "stop and consider the wondrous works of God." Can he explain these purposes? Does he realise the light that shines behind the clouds? Does he understand the balancing of these clouds? How amazingly simple such a statement is. All nature is balanced in this way, one force against another; and so too there is divine equilibrium in the clouds of life. He will "with the temptation provide the way of escape." All things work — but they work together for good to those who love God. There are the balancings of the clouds.
Job was under a cloud himself, and God was weighing that one too.
Elihu urges Job to stand still and consider the wondrous works of God. Job thought he knew how the Lord should act toward him. But did he know when and how God sent the rain, or made the dark cloud shine as light? Did he know the balancings of the clouds (v.16)? Here is a lesson about God balancing the clouds of Job's suffering, in a way Job would never have thought of. But these are works of Him who is perfect in knowledge.
The title given to God here is the exact opposite of Job's condition, and of ours. Commentators read the verse as marking the limit of even a godly man's understanding.
What do you know about it all? "Do you know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of Him who is perfect in knowledge?" That is, even among those men of God, we know only in part. There is great darkness even now.
The gap is on our side, not His. His knowledge is complete; ours is only in part.
It can seem strange that a suffering man is answered with weather. One writer explains why the answer ran through the visible world.
Job 37... finally turns our eyes to the wondrous works of God in the outward world... These, I admit, are very far from the depth of truth that the doctrine of Christ or His grace gives. It is not the unseen, but the visible. Here we can understand that we are in the infant days of even God's saints. They spelled out the vast letters of heaven and earth, seen before the Scriptures were read... For that very reason, because Christ was not here, God takes up the outward world to show His majesty, faithfulness, and gracious power in everything around man.
The verse belongs to a call that begins with standing still.
A halt is called and Job is instructed to listen, stand still and consider the wonderful works of God. Whenever God has something important to say, He calls man to stand still and listen... Everything in creation is evidence of God! In Romans 1 we read that the things that are made show His eternal power and Godhead, so that men everywhere are left without excuse.
- Stand still — before the question about clouds comes the command to stop. God calls a man to halt and listen when He has something important to say.
- Look up — the answer to Job's inward storm is a sky he did not make. Everything in creation is evidence of God, leaving men everywhere without excuse.
- Admit the limit — even godly men know only in part; there is great darkness still. Man can feel his suffering, but he cannot explain it.
- Trust the balance — nature holds one force against another. In the same way there is a divine balance in the clouds of life: all things work together for good to those who love God.
- Rest in His knowledge — One perfect in knowledge weighed the clouds of Job's suffering, in a way Job would never have thought of.