Job 38:1–41

One more thing crowns Elihu's work: the incomparable favour Job had also, in a frantic way, begged for. He asked that a man rather than God might meet him; but he asked that he might find God too. And so he does. God appears. Jehovah Himself gives His answer from the whirlwind... this is the special value at the close of the book of Job: God does not wait until the day of judgment to decide where there is faith to look for Him. Only now it is His word, and in no way an appearance of God in visible form. Jehovah meets him here, when Elihu's word had done its work.

Here, then, we have Jehovah — notice that this name has not appeared after Job 2 (except in Job 12:9) in the historical part... He speaks according to His authority and His relationship. That is exactly what "Jehovah" means. It is God not merely in the abstract, but God in relation to man upon the earth. And so He answers Job. But He answers him here because it was a rebuke out of the whirlwind... And it is a terrible thing when God does not rebuke a soul upon the earth. What does it mean? It means judgment by and by for ever. Everyone God brings into living relationship with Himself has His interference.

The whirlwind had continued a long time, and is still blowing when the Lord speaks in these verses. The whirlwind itself was meant to impress on Job that all his swirling troubles and confusion stood under the Creator's controlling hand. "The LORD has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet" (Nahum 1:3).

Wind is not visible; yet when it blows hard, men feel its pressure and hear its roar. As the whirlwind came near, its roar was the voice of Jehovah Himself. He spoke to Job alone.

Out of that whirlwind Jehovah replies to Job's empty questions and laments — not to Elihu, who had been God's spokesman leading up to this. So it was not Elihu who darkened counsel. "My desire is that the Almighty would answer me," was Job's closing word (Job 31:35). He is now to have his wish granted; but how different the effect! "As a prince would I go near to Him" (v. 37), he had declared. "I am vile" is what he has to say when he hears His voice. Jehovah asks, "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?" To darken counsel is to hide the purposes of God and the truth. Job had poured out a flood of words — laments, protests, accusations. Much was true and excellent. But as far as God's purposes went, it was all spoiled by one thing: he exalted his own righteousness at the expense of Jehovah's.

The other very striking thing comes at the end. All the cloud of words had died away, and Jehovah answers Job out of the whirlwind. What will He say?... He didn't do it! Not one word of explanation of Himself did God utter. Not one word to answer the questions that Job had asked. His words were entirely concerned with the things of this earth and nature.

These moments in the presence of God produced a result that all the talk of the three friends, and even of Elihu, had not achieved. Here was a man who stood out among men, with a good word from God Himself. Now he had discovered his own utter sinfulness in the deepest springs of his being. A discovery we all in our turn have to make!

"My desire is that the Almighty would answer me," was Job's closing word (Job 31:35). He is now to have his wish granted; but how different the effect! "As a prince would I go near to Him" (v. 37), he had declared. "I am vile" is what he has to say when he hears His voice. Jehovah asks, "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?" To darken counsel is to hide the purposes of God and the truth. Job had poured out a flood of words — laments, protests, accusations. Much of it was true and excellent. But as far as God's purposes went, he spoiled it all by exalting his own righteousness at the expense of Jehovah's. Instead of light, the clear flame of divine truth, it was all a smoke-cloud of unbelief that blotted out the sun in the sky. Who is this? Is it some divine being, Jehovah's equal, calling the other's acts into question? Was it some mighty angel, gifted with heavenly wisdom, that dared lay a charge against his Maker? No, it was a man, frail, ignorant, sinful.

It should be very clear to everyone that God is not speaking to Elihu. He confirms what Elihu had said, and He answers Job directly (v. 1). Most of what God says is in the form of questions. His first question is, "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?" (v. 2). In other words: "Who do you think you are, Job?" Job's words lacked the knowledge he ought to have had, and God will drive that home to him.

"Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?" He does not mean that Job did not know Him at all. He did mean that Job's knowledge was limited, and that he knew nothing like enough about God's dealings… God is going to ask him many questions. Job had been questioning the dealings of God. Now God turns it back on him; now He says, I am going to ask you, and answer Me like a man if you can.

It was meant to be a rebuke and that Job should really feel it and profit by it. And it is a terrible thing where God does not rebuke a soul upon the earth. What does it mean? It means judgment by and by for ever. God steps into the lives of those He has brought into living relationship with Himself. That is not just the fact that they are in relationship — it is the proof of it.

And yet Jehovah is not seeking to crush Job, but rather to bring him to a true knowledge of himself and of God. God will not ask questions which a man cannot understand… When Jehovah speaks to Job like this, it shows His purposes of mercy for him. His appeal is to reason, and so to conscience.

The other very striking thing comes at the end. All the cloud of words had died away, and Jehovah answers Job out of the whirlwind. What will He say? How will He explain what Job's friends failed to explain? How will He finish the explanations Elihu began? He didn't do it! Not one word of explanation of Himself did God utter. Not one word to answer the questions that Job had asked. He spoke only about the things of this earth and nature.

This is God's question to all the vain words of men. They may be the cries of imagined wrong. They may be the empty efforts of human reason to explain the state of the world around us, and of the human family in particular. Whatever form they take, they only darken true wisdom. Write this divine question over the doorway of every library. Its volumes of human science, history and philosophy shut out the revelation of God, whether on purpose or in ignorance.

Calamity had not broken him. Insult and scorn could not subdue his proud spirit. He would hold his head up without fear before the best of his fellow men. Even in the presence of the Almighty he would stand up as a prince. What could a man say after that? That surely was the climax, the limit, and Job felt it so to be, for he added, "The words of Job are ended." But they were not. The Almighty took up his challenge. He had heard all his proud words and now He answers him and demands that Job should open his mouth again.

If he had longed wistfully to find God, Jehovah does answer him... He had asked God, challenging Him to such a meeting. God replies: "Gird up now your loins like a man." It is not now, "What is mortal man?" as Job had said... He used the word "man" in the sense of mortality or weakness. But God uses a very different word: "Gird up now your loins like a hero," for that is pretty much the force of the word. It means a strong man. He had challenged God to this judicial trial, and he was now heard.

"Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth." This is the first thing... Our state comes first, and there is no divine activity until the heart is perfectly in order. The loins are the seat of strength when they are properly tied up. But they stand for the deep affections and movements of the heart. This picture comes from the customs of the country where these instructions were given. People there wore long garments, which got in the way of their work unless they tied them up. We get the expression in Job 38:3 — "Gird up now your loins like a man" — that is, to see what he had to say to God.

And Jehovah does answer out of the storm. He challenges Job to gird up his loins as a hero: let the creature then make the Creator know, seeing that He now asks questions of him! What a proud thing the flesh is, and no better in the saint than in the sinner! Would Job also set aside the moral dealings of Jehovah? Worse still, would he condemn Him so as to justify himself? Grace produces the exact opposite in every soul born of God. It makes a person ready to take God's part against self, to judge his own ways, and to bow to the word.

And yet Jehovah is not seeking to crush Job, but rather to bring him to a true knowledge of himself and of God. Let him gird up his loins like a man. God will not ask questions which a man cannot understand. His loins are girded with truth, and he can answer — as indeed he does — these questions. The very fact that Jehovah addresses Job this way shows His purposes of mercy for him. His appeal is to reason, and so to conscience.

God expects Job to take only a man's place. The questions God asks are simple enough for a man to understand. Yet Job would find himself helpless to answer them.

The whole address is largely in the form of questions. Job had presumed to sit in judgment on the Lord and His ways; his competence for this is tested: what does he know? What can he do? The creature is so small in power, so ignorant, and yet so full of empty pride. Shall he presume to instruct God about His duties, to point out His failures, in fact to take over what belongs to Him alone?

"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?" (v.4). Does the earth have foundations — an earth that turns in space with nothing to hold it up? Yes, it could not even exist without a basic foundation of truth, but could Job explain this? Can anyone today explain it? No! For one thing, none of us was present when God laid these foundations. And who can understand how creation came into existence? "For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm" (Psalm 33:9). The earth's foundations and the earth itself were created at the same instant, simply by the word of God.

When, in the end, all the cloud of words had died away, the Lord answers Job out of the whirlwind. What will He say? How will He explain the things that Job's friends have failed to explain? How will He complete the explanations that Elihu began? He didn't do it! God did not utter one word of explanation about Himself. Not one word to answer the questions Job had asked. His words were entirely about the things of this earth and of nature.

Present-day knowledge can talk in a learned way about nebulae and the solar system, about attraction and the laws of gravitation. It can explain how these laws work together to give the earth its shape and its stable place among the heavenly bodies. It can explain how the particles of the earth hold together, by the laws of cohesion and chemical affinity. But law means a Law-giver. Who established these laws? How do they act without ever failing? Revelation, and revelation alone, gives the answer — "in him all things hold together" (Col. 1:17). Where was Job, where was man, when the Lord established and set these laws in motion?

In these words God takes up only a small part of His wisdom and power in the outward world. He does so because that part is so small a thing compared with the ways of His grace. They are no more than what, so to speak, His fingers have formed... Do you suppose that His ways with us are merely the product of such skill? They speak of incomparably more. His heart, His thoughts, His plan of love and goodness — all that God is — has come out in the blessing of His saints.

"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?" "By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God." This is where faith begins. So is the truth that whoever comes to God must believe that He is. Job did believe in God as existing, but his faith was not simple and settled in the might of God, in His greatness. He is now called to consider whether he could explain or know the origin of any of God's works.

"Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?" He does not mean that Job did not know Him at all. But He did mean that his knowledge was limited, and that he had no adequate knowledge of the dealings of God. Job had been questioning the dealings of God. Now God turns it back on him; now He says, I am going to ask you, and answer Me like a man if you can. "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?" What an overwhelming question! What did Job know about it? "Who determined its measurements — surely you know!" He did not know. "Or who stretched the line upon it?"

"Who determined its measurements — surely you know!" (v.5). Of course Job knew that only God could do this. "Who stretched the line upon it? To what were its foundations fastened?" (v.6). Certainly the foundations of the earth are not fastened to anything visible to us. Whether Job knew this at that time or not, he could not answer God's question.

It almost looks as if Paul were alluding to God's work in creation, as stated in Job 38:5, where God Himself asks, of the earth, "Who determined its measurements — surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?" He is a God who works by measure and by line, whether in creation or in the administration connected with His grace.

Present day knowledge can speak in detail about nebulae and the solar system, about attraction and the laws of gravitation. It can explain that the working together of these laws has given the earth its shape and its steady relation to the heavenly bodies. It can explain that the particles of the earth cling together by the laws of cohesion and chemical affinity. But law means a Law-giver. Who has established these laws? How do they act unfailingly? Revelation, and that alone, gives the answer — "By Him all things consist" (Col. 1:17). Where was Job, where was man, when the Lord established and set in motion these laws and principles? The form of the question met Job's knowledge at that time; it equally meets man's advanced knowledge at the present.

Who, Jehovah further asks, has laid down the measures of this great fabric and set His line upon it? The question suggests the possibility of another Presence. It points to One who was with Him, and who acted for Him in laying down and carrying out the whole vast plan. Who was this? "The Lord possessed Me in the beginning of His way, before His works of old… Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth" (Prov. 8:22, 25). Or in the language of the New Testament, "All things were made by Him" (John 1:3).

And yet Jehovah is not seeking to crush Job. He is seeking to bring him to a true knowledge of himself and of God… The very fact that Jehovah addresses Job in this way shows His purposes of mercy for him. His appeal is to reason, and so to conscience. He leads Job through the vast, and yet familiar, scenes of creation. Can he solve one of ten thousand of its riddles?

Though Job had heard something about the Lord, it was not enough to meet Job's actual need. Now the Lord brought him face to face with His own greatness and glory. The result was, "I abhor myself." It was not simply a matter of what he had done that he abhorred, but himself. This was the root of what he may have done, and God was dealing with that root: the pride of Job's very character. Every believer needs to be brought down to this very point.

God appears on the scene for the express purpose of flattening the pretensions of man. He does it in the most magnificent language, as far as I know, that was ever spoken on such subjects — language worthy of Him who is said to have spoken it. Jehovah appears to put Job in his true place, and that place was dust and ashes. Jehovah only touches the skirts of His power, the outer edge of His glory; yet what had man to say? And did he who could not explain God's least things presume to judge the deepest part of His ways and designs?

"To what were its foundations fastened?" Two things are true of the earth. Stability for the time — that is the point here, and that is why the verse speaks of foundations. But this same book of Job gives another view: the earth hangs on nothing. That never entered anyone's mind until recent times. Even scientists have only just arrived at it. But there it was in Scripture before them.

Jehovah begins with the earth, the home of man. Does Job know the history of his own dwelling place? Where was he when the great Architect laid its foundations? They were sunk not in shifting sand, nor on lasting rock, but in the empty space of apparent nothingness.

Who, Jehovah further asks, has laid down the measures of this great structure and set His line upon it? The question suggests the possibility of another Presence, of One who was with Him, His agent in laying down and carrying out the whole vast plan. Who was this? "The LORD possessed Me at the beginning of His work, the first of His acts of old… Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth" (Prov. 8:22, 25). Or in the language of the New Testament, "All things were made through Him" (John 1:3). Here was a truth more wonderful even than creation.

The corner stone, the foundation of the earth — who laid it? Where is it? What is the basic law of physics or of chemistry? Does science know any more now than Job did then? Atoms and ions are grouped together, clasped and unclasped, as other great laws are brought to bear on them. Where is the foundational law? "For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. 3:11). To be brought to God, to know Him, is the object of all facts.

God is speaking here to Job, a man on earth. He names sons of God who were present, and who showed their delight, when He made the foundation of the earth firm and laid the corner-stone. Intelligent creatures, heavenly beings, already existed then, and they watched God prepare the earth for man.

God appears on the scene for the express purpose of destroying the pretensions of man. Here the Lord uses the most magnificent language I know of on such subjects. He appears to put Job in his true place, and that place was dust and ashes. Who and what was Job to speak or murmur against God? The Lord only touches the skirts of His power, the outer edge of His glory; yet what had man to say? And did the man who could not explain God's least things presume to judge the deepest part of His ways and designs?

There is no doubt the sons of God are angels (Job 1:6), who were therefore created before the earth was. If "the morning stars" are literal stars, then the stars too were created before the earth was. Some may object that Genesis 1:16 seems to place the making of the stars on the fourth day, when the earth was made over. But that notice is likely not in time order. It records a creation earlier than the history of the fourth day. We may question whether literal stars can sing, but science tells us a harmony of sound comes from the stars. At the very least there was a great celebration among God's creatures when He created the earth.

Job 38:7 seems to express in poetry the joy of the heavenly bodies when God first brought them in as the hosts of heaven. With it came the audible shout of the angels, whom this book, like Genesis, calls God's sons.

The expression "sons of God" seems to suggest not merely a spirit-nature, but moral likeness to God as well. The mention of "Satan" in contrast underlines this further. "Sons of God" shouted for joy when God founded the material universe. We know too that infernal beings will also own that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:10-11). But that is by compulsion; the worship of the "sons of God" flows out of their hearts.

There has been a creation song, when the earth came fresh from the hands of God and "the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy." But sin spoiled that beautiful creation, and singing gave way to weeping, and songs to groans. In the thousand-year day to come, earth will become new. Creation's groan will stop, and heaven and earth will unite in a new song.

The corner stone, the foundation of the earth — who laid it? Where is it? What is the basic law of physics or of chemistry? Does science know now any more than Job did then? Other great laws come to bear on atoms and ions, grouping them, clasping and unclasping them. Where is the foundation law? "For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 3:11). To be brought to God, to know Him, is the object of all facts, and nature is only in harmony with the great mediatorial law when it leads us to Him. Only when seen this way do we hear the morning stars sing together. Only then do the sons of God shout aloud for joy.

What questions these are. They cover every field of what man calls "natural sciences" — geology, meteorology, geography, oceanography, astronomy, and so on. Job had not a single answer to these questions, and if he had spoken his words would have been folly... But what is the aim of the Lord in putting these questions? To show that God is greater than man and to humble man, to bring Job to the needed true knowledge of himself and to deliver him from the pride of his heart.

Well, it was a very bold child, this new ungovernable creature that came into existence! And so He speaks about covering it up and swaddling it. "And prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors, and said, Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed." For who can control the ocean?

Jehovah passes from the earth to "that great and wide sea." He describes it not in its original creation, as part of the heavens and the earth, but as gushing out from its mother's womb. It covered the whole face of the world, and "darkness was over the face of the deep." Left to itself it would have swallowed everything. But its Maker was its Master. He set bounds to it, breaking the land, as it were, into great mountain chains to make a place for it, barred and closed so it could not escape. Its storms and fury in His almighty hands are only the wailings of a newborn baby. He wraps it in the swaddling clothes of clouds and thick darkness, and hushes it to rest.

Man gazes on it with awe, but cannot control its power. His "thousand fleets sweep over it in vain"; he "marks the earth with ruin," but his control stops at the shore.

So too in the ocean of evil — the pride of Satan which burst out in rebellion against God, when the angels did not keep their first position. God's restraining hand holds it all in check. The wicked, like the foaming sea, seem to rise higher and higher in their violence and pride. But God says to them, "Thus far shall you come, and no farther." In this way He shows His power to restrain evil. Job watched evil seem to win. He looked into the dark surging of his own self-willed heart. He might well have been appalled. Who but God can control evil?

The great Sea is a picture of the Gentile nations (Rev. 17:15). It is so often in a state of upheaval and unrest, seeking to push into the land, but the power of God holds it in check... Though the world may threaten to swamp the testimony of the people of God, yet God is greater than the world, and will preserve His people.

Creation itself is, we would reverently say, a divine humbling... The swaddling bands of Ocean are only a figure of those bands which He who made all things took upon Himself, when He became flesh. The whole universe, immense and boundless, forms the garments of the infinite God, who reveals Himself in this way.

"Or who shut in the sea with doors, when it burst out from the womb? When I made clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band." Well, it was a very bold child, this new creature that came into existence and would not be controlled! And so He speaks about covering it up and swaddling it. "And I marked out for it the limit I had decreed, and set bars and doors, and said, Thus far shall you come, and no farther; and here shall your proud waves be stayed" — for who can control the ocean?

Left to itself it would have covered everything. But its Maker was its Master, and He set bounds to it. He broke the land, as it were, into great mountain chains to make a place for the sea, barred and closed so nothing could escape. In His almighty hands its storms and fury are only the wailing of a newborn baby. He wraps it in the swaddling clothes of clouds and thick darkness, and hushes it to rest.

"Who shut in the sea with doors?" (v. 8). God is not speaking here of the original creation. He is speaking of His separating the waters above from the waters beneath (Gen. 1:6-7). At first the earth was covered with water. Then He separated the waters and the dry land appeared. As the Word of God caused the appearance of the land, so His Word caused the waters to be gathered "into one place" (Gen. 1:9).

God's first move is to overwhelm the man who claimed to sit in judgment on His moral ways. He makes Job feel his complete ignorance and powerlessness in the smallest works of divine power, even in creation. Where was Job when Jehovah founded the earth?… And where when He set limits to the sea? A man left baffled by such a question was in no position to judge God's deep things. Angels were there to shout for joy when the sea was born and wrapped in clouds and thick darkness. Its wild lawlessness fought to rise against God's restraint, but He set bars and doors.

It is the same with the ocean of evil — the pride of Satan that burst out in rebellion against God, when the angels did not keep their first place. God's restraining hand holds all in check. The wicked, like the foaming sea, seem to rise higher and higher in their violence and pride, but God says to them, "Thus far shall you come, and no farther." Job watched wickedness that seemed to be winning. He looked into the dark surging of his own self-willed heart. He might well have been appalled. Who but God can control evil?

Had they considered that He was the Creator of the universe, would they have felt a moment's alarm? Was it not He who, ages before, shut in the sea with doors and made clouds its garment? Was it not He who said, "Thus far shall you come, and no farther; and here shall your proud waves be stayed"? Would, or could, the sea swallow its own Lord and God?

The Lord turns from the earth to "that great and wide sea." He does not describe it in its original creation, as part of the heavens and the earth, but as gushing out from its mother's womb. It covered the whole face of the world, and "darkness was over the face of the deep." Left to itself it would have swallowed everything. But its Maker was its Master. He set bounds to it, breaking the land, so to speak, into great mountain chains to make a place for it, barred and shut so that it could not escape.

People may speak of "natural laws" as causing this phenomenon, but who is the Author of natural law?

At the beginning God restrained this restless mighty ocean. He restrained it again when in judgment He let it swallow the earth. Man gazes at it with awe, but cannot control its power. His "thousand fleets sweep over it in vain"; he "marks the earth with ruin," but his control stops at the shore.

Job had not a single answer to these questions, and if he had spoken, his words would have been folly. And we, 3000 years or more later, with all our boasted progress and scientific discoveries of the great laws of nature, still cannot answer these questions in a satisfying way. … But what is the Lord's aim in putting these questions? To show that God is greater than man, and to humble man. To bring Job to the true knowledge of himself that he needed, and to free him from the pride of his heart.

So too in the ocean of evil — the pride of Satan that burst out in rebellion against God, when the angels did not keep their first position. God's restraining hand holds everything in check. The wicked, like the foaming sea, seem to rise higher and higher in violence and pride. But God says to them, "Thus far shall you come, and no farther." This shows His restraining power over evil. Job watched wickedness that seemed to be winning, and he looked into the dark surging of his own self-willed heart. He might well have been horrified. Who but God can control evil?

How striking is the spiritual meaning of God's control of the seas! Job felt as though the waves of the sea were swallowing him in a string of painful troubles that seemed out of control. Believers may pass through times of turbulent unrest and distress, as though tossed by the waves of a rolling sea. But God is in perfect control of it all, and He can quiet the sea at once, just as the Lord Jesus did when His disciples were so alarmed: "He awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, 'Peace! Be still!' And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm" (Mark 4:39).

God appears on the scene for the express purpose of destroying the pretensions of man. Here He uses language more magnificent than any I know of on such subjects — language worthy of Him who is said to have spoken it. The LORD appears to put Job in his true place, and that place was dust and ashes. He only touches the edges of His power, the outer border of His glory; yet what had man to say? What could Job answer? Not a word. And did the man who could not explain God's least things presume to judge the deepest part of His ways and designs?

Left to itself it would have covered everything; but its Maker was its Master, and set bounds to it, breaking the land as it were into great mountain chains to make a place for it, barred and closed so it could not escape. Its storms and fury, in His almighty hands, are only the wailing of a newborn baby; He wraps it in the swaddling clothes of clouds and thick darkness, and hushes it to rest.

This is confirmed in verses 10 and 11. God "prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors" and said, "Thus far shall you come, and no farther." People may speak of "natural laws" as causing this, but who is the Author of natural law?

The disciples marvelled as He rebuked the winds and the sea. They did not understand that with them was the same blessed Person who once said to the sea, when God formed the earth, "Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed" (Job 38:11).

So too in the ocean of evil — the pride of Satan which burst out in rebellion against God, when the angels did not keep their first position. God's restraining hand holds it all in check. The wicked, like the foaming sea, seem to rise higher and higher in their violence and pride, but God says to them, "Thus far shall you come, and no farther." Job watched wickedness appear to win. He looked into the dark surging of his own self-willed heart. He might well have been horrified. Who but God can control evil?

He who sits on the throne will never let the enemy seize the reins of government. His controlling hand measures everything that must fall upon His own, and the enemy has no power to go beyond that measure. When Satan sought Job's ruin, God allowed him to afflict Job only step by step, exactly as He prescribed.

We look forward to the time when this control will be absolute, in that new heavens and new earth, when "there shall be no more sea." On that day God will banish evil to its eternal home, away from His redeemed creation. Looking ahead to it, we can own Him as supreme alone.

This is the man who claimed to sit in judgment on God's moral ways. The first thing done is to overwhelm him with the sense of his utter ignorance and powerlessness in the smallest things of divine energy, even in creation. Where was Job when Jehovah founded the earth? ... He whose understanding stood baffled at such a question was not in a position to judge of His deep things.

Has Job ever commanded a single morning to appear, or caused the dawn to know the place of its appearing? With all his supposed knowledge and power, man cannot command the forces of nature to do his bidding. Day by day the light appears in its appointed place. It floods the earth with light, and the guilty flee from it. Evening falls, and no word of man can stop or hurry this constant action. Only One gave His command at the beginning: "Let there be light." Since that time evening and morning have known their appointed time and place.

Did Job decide when the morning was to dawn? What a question for the man who thought he could in effect make God accountable to him! The morning always follows the night, and what man can change this amazing fact? Job had been feeling the darkness of night in the hard experiences he had suffered. If he could command the morning, then he could bring complete relief to the trials of darkness. But only God can cause the dawn to know its place.

"…that it might take hold of the ends of the earth" — that is, when the sun rises to gild it — "that the wicked might be shaken out of it?" The darkness of night gives the opportunity for murder and burglary and all the other crimes of men, more than any other time. "It is turned as clay to the seal." When the earth is in darkness, you can no more make it out than clay before the seal is pressed into it. But the moment the light shines, there you find its shape and its beauty as God fixed it.

When the millennial day dawns it will embrace "the ends of the earth," and the wicked will be shaken out of it. The wicked love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. At that day the light of "the Sun of righteousness," rising with "healing in His wings," will expose them. The Lord Jesus, the true Light, will so expose the wicked as to shake them out of the earth.

This appeal to day and night is most effective. Shall Job accuse One who is Light, who sees all things as they are? Shall he doubt One who knows the secrets of his heart, and the reason for these chastenings? Do not these questions give a hint that God will cause Job's night to end, and at the appointed time cause His dawn to visit the poor sufferer?

Did Job decide when the morning was to dawn? (v.12). What a question for the man who thought he could in effect make God accountable to him! The morning always follows the night, and what man can change this amazing fact? Job had been feeling the darkness of night in the hard experiences he had suffered. If he could command the morning, then he could bring complete relief to the trials of darkness. But only God can cause the dawn to know its place.

"That it might take hold of the ends of the earth" — that is, when the sun rises to gild it, as it were — "that the wicked might be shaken out of it?" This is because the darkness of the night is exactly what gives the opportunity for murder and burglary and all the other crooked dealings of men more than any other time.

As the mark of the signet-ring on the formless clay, so the light stamps on the face of the earth the varied forms and colours of all things. They stand out like a lovely garment — or the reverse, a scene of ruin — under the light. The light shows all things as they are: "Anything that becomes visible is light" (Eph. 5:13). The night is the light of the wicked; they hate the light, and will not come to it, in case their deeds should be exposed. The coming of the light stops their deeds. Their uplifted arm is broken.

Verse 13 reminds us that when the millennial day dawns it will embrace "the ends of the earth," and the wicked will be shaken out of it. The wicked, who love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil, will at that day be exposed by the light of "the Sun of righteousness" arising with "healing in His wings." The Lord Jesus, the true Light, will so expose the wicked as to shake them out of the earth.

So the light of God's presence detects evil. When He causes the dawning of a new day — "The day of the Lord" — evildoers will be shaken out of the earth. For this reason, His people, who are "children of light, children of the day," order their life by the light. For this reason, in that fair land where there is no night, nothing unclean can enter. It is the home of the light. None could remain there but the sons of light. "Its lamp is the Lamb."

This appeal to day and night is most effective. Shall Job accuse One who is Light, who sees all things as they are? Shall he doubt One who knows the secrets of his heart, and the reason for these chastenings? Do not these questions give a hint that God will cause Job's night to end, and at the appointed time cause His dayspring to visit the poor sufferer?

Has Job ever commanded a single morning to appear, or caused the dawn to know the place of its appearing? With all his supposed knowledge and power, man cannot command the forces of nature to do his bidding. Day by day the light appears in its appointed place. It floods the earth, and the guilty flee from it. Evening falls, and no word of man can stop or hurry this constant action. Only One gave His command at the beginning: "Let there be light." Since that time evening and morning have known their appointed time and place.

Stones with words, letters, or symbols cut into them. In ancient times people pierced these stones and hung them from the arm or the neck by a cord or chain, or set them in rings and wore them on the finger. They pressed the design into pieces of clay attached to official documents. In the East such a document is not considered genuine unless it carries a seal.

"It is turned as clay to the seal." While the earth lies in darkness, you cannot make it out at all. It is like clay before the seal is pressed into it. But the moment the light shines, there you find its shape and its beauty as God fixed it.

The signet-ring leaves its mark on formless clay. In the same way, the light stamps the varied forms and colours of all things on the face of the earth. They stand out like a lovely garment — or the reverse, a scene of ruin — under the light. The light shows all things as they are: "Anything that becomes visible is light" (Eph. 5:13). The night is the light of the wicked; they hate the light and will not come to it, in case their deeds should be exposed.

So the light of God's presence detects evil. When He causes a new day to dawn — "the day of the Lord" — evildoers will be shaken out of the earth. For this reason His people, who are "children of the light and of the day," order their life by the light. For this reason, in that fair land where there is no night, nothing that defiles can enter. It is the home of the light. None could remain there but the sons of light. "The Lamb is the light of it."

This appeal to day and night is most effective. Shall Job accuse One who is Light, who sees all things as they are? Shall he doubt One who knows the secrets of his heart, and the reason for these chastenings? Do not these questions hint that God will end Job's night, and at the appointed time send His dawn to visit the poor sufferer?

The night is the light of the wicked; they hate the light, and will not come to it, in case their deeds should be exposed. The coming of the light stops their deeds. Their uplifted arm is broken.

Because the darkness of the night is exactly what gives the opportunity for murder and burglary and all the other dishonest dealings of men, more than any other time.

A signet ring stamps its mark on shapeless clay. In the same way, the light stamps the varied forms and colours of all things on the face of the earth. Under that light they stand out like a lovely garment — or the opposite, a scene of ruin. The light shows all things as they are: "Anything that becomes visible is light" (Eph. 5:13).

Because the wicked love darkness, light is withheld from them (v.15). Their arm, lifted up in opposition to God, is simply broken. Job should certainly have been deeply impressed by this. He had been dangerously close to raising his arm against God, and in this way acting as the wicked do.

So the light of God's presence detects evil. When He causes a new day to dawn — "the day of the Lord" — evildoers will be shaken out of the earth. For this reason His people, who are "children of light, children of the day," order their lives by the light. For this reason, in that fair land where there is no night, nothing unclean can enter. It is the home of light. None could remain there but the sons of light. "Its lamp is the Lamb."

This appeal to day and night is very effective. Will Job accuse One who is Light, who sees all things as they are? Will he doubt One who knows the secrets of his heart, and the reason for these chastenings? Do these questions not hint that God will bring Job's night to an end, and at the appointed time cause His dawn to visit the poor sufferer?

We come now to these questions about God's creation. They give us a complete cycle of divine truth as shown in His works, grouped in seven parts. (1) The foundations of the earth (verses 4-7). (2) The bounds of the sea (verses 8-11). (3) Day and night (verses 12-15). (4) Unknown depths (verses 16-21). (5) The elements (verses 22-30). (6) The heavenly bodies (verses 31-33). (7) The clouds and their control (verses 34-38).

In close connection with the all-revealing power of the light, God probes Job further. Does he know secret things? — "which belong to God." The hidden depths of the sea with its countless dead; the gates of death and what lies beyond. Has Job searched this out?

Now God asks Job if he had entered the springs of the sea or walked in search of the depths (v.16)… All the population of earth — human, animals, insects and birds — is nothing compared to the population of the seas. Life fills the seas in all areas and at every level. Job had no idea of what was unseen beneath the surface of the seas.

The first thing God does is to overwhelm the man who pretended to sit in judgment on God's moral ways. He makes him feel his utter ignorance and powerlessness in the least things of divine power, even in creation… The man whose understanding stood baffled at such a question was in no position to judge His deep things… Had Job even visited the fountains of the sea, or gone to explore the secret of the great deep?

These questions cover every department of what man calls the "natural sciences." They take in geology, meteorology, geography, oceanography, astronomy, and more. Job had not a single answer to these questions and if he had spoken his words would have been folly. And we, 3000 years or more later, still cannot answer these questions in a satisfactory way. All our boasted progress and our scientific discoveries of the great laws of nature have not changed that… But what is the aim of the Lord in asking these questions? To show that God is greater than man and to humble man, to bring Job to the needed true knowledge of himself and to deliver him from the pride of his heart.

It is enough to show what God said to overwhelm Job in his self-confidence. His ignorance was so great and his powerlessness was evident. He lacked the wisdom to enter into even the outer works of God. And, after all, what was God speaking about? Earthly things… And Job is completely unable to answer one of these questions. In fact they are not answered to this day, for all the bragging of science. If that is the case about earthly things, what about the heavenly?

One of the questions God asked Job was, "Have you walked in the recesses of the deep?" I would ask myself and others this. Are we content with the outward side of Christianity? Or have the deep things of God gripped our hearts in power?… Are we content with only a surface knowledge of the things of God? Or do we know, in the power of the Spirit of God, the blessedness of the deep things of God that He has revealed to us?

But this message tests and humbles man. He who boasted in his righteousness, who seemed to consider his knowledge enough, is obliged to own his ignorance, weakness, and his unrighteousness. It is divinely done, and done so effectively that the lesson brings Job to his true place for all time.

Now He goes down lower still. Sheol, or Hades, as we have it — that is, the place where departed spirits are kept — is pictured here as the heart of the earth, and it may in fact be so. It is not the same thing as the lake of fire. But here we have a prison for those who have died.

Had the gates of death been opened to him? (v.17). Of course the seas have swallowed countless millions of people, including those drowned in the flood of Noah's day. But apart from this, did Job understand where death had taken all those it had claimed through the years?

The first thing God does is to overwhelm him. This man claimed to sit in judgment on God's moral ways. So God fills him with a sense of his utter ignorance and helplessness before the least works of divine power, even in creation… A man whose understanding was baffled by such a question was in no position to judge God's deep things… Had the gates of death been revealed to him?

What is the aim of the Lord in putting these questions? To show that God is greater than man and to humble man, to bring Job to the needed true knowledge of himself and to deliver him from the pride of his heart.

Does he know the secret things — those "which belong to God"? The hidden depths of the sea with its countless dead; the gates of death and what lies beyond. Has Job searched this out?… Does modern science truly know it?… Jehovah addresses these questions not only to Job, whose knowledge was limited to his own time, but to people today.

What is the key to all these questions? It is God, the true knowledge of Himself. Knowing Him, we know the Author and Source of all knowledge. Leave Him out, and the sum of all science is a blank wall, with the hidden truth still lying beyond it.

Job had dared to sit in judgment on Jehovah and His ways. So God tests whether he is fit for it: what does he know? What can he do?… Job's two answers show the effect. In the first, he humbles himself and lays his hand on his mouth. In the second, he fully confesses his sinful pride and hates what he is. This prepares the way for his outward recovery and return to prosperity.

In no other way could the gates of death be opened for us than by His resurrection from the dead. He has opened them, and He holds their keys, as the One who lives forever. To all who put their faith in Him He says, "Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades" (Rev. 1:17-18). He is Master of death and the grave… He has flooded the darkness of death with the light of hope.

Now He comes up to the surface. "Have you perceived the breadth of the earth?" What do you know about it? "Declare if you know it all."

"Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Declare, if you know all this" (v.18). In Job's day he surely did not know that the earth was formed as a huge ball turning in space. Even today we are told the earth is 25,000 miles around. Who can grasp how great that is? Scientists have learned a great deal about God's creation. Yet the more they learn, the clearer it becomes that their ignorance is far greater than their knowledge.

Does he know secret things? — "which belong to God." … Has he fully known the expanse of the earth — all that it contains? Does modern science really know it? … The Lord asks these questions not only of Job, whose knowledge was limited to his own day, but of people today.

Job had not a single answer to these questions, and if he had spoken his words would have been folly. … But what is the aim of the Lord in putting these questions? To show that God is greater than man, and to humble man. It was to bring Job to the true knowledge of himself that he needed, and to free him from the pride of his heart.

So it is clear that God is bringing all Job's proud talk to nothing. But He is not satisfied with showing how small man is by what is vast. He also takes up things we might think are small by comparison. … So it makes little difference whether we look at the greatest of God's works or at the least. Everywhere we meet something completely beyond the reach of man. … Job had even claimed to judge the moral depths of God. Yet he could not face, and had no real idea of, what God is in the smallest part of His universe.

It is enough to show what God said to overwhelm Job's self-confidence. His ignorance was great. His powerlessness was plain. He lacked the wisdom to enter even the outer works of God. And, after all, what was God speaking about? Earthly things. … Job cannot answer even one of these questions. In fact no one has answered them to this day, for all the boasting of science. If that is how it stands with earthly things, what about the heavenly? What about the eternal things? There we depend on God completely. We know nothing but what He tells us, and this is all our blessing.

What after all is human knowledge but a knowledge, as Socrates said, of our ignorance? … What is the key to all these questions? It is God, the true knowledge of Himself. Knowing Him, we know the Author and Source of all knowledge. Leave Him out of account, and the sum of all science is a blank wall, beyond which the hidden truth still lies.

What is the way the light dwells, and darkness, where is its place, that you might bring it to its boundary, and that you might know the path to its house? You know! for you were then born, and the number of your days is great.

Could Job take the light or the darkness back to its original place of dwelling? (v.20). The very question would not have arisen in men's minds, but God raises it simply to show how greatly man's knowledge is limited. The irony of verse 21 is striking. Was Job born when light first appeared? Had he lived so many years? Of course God means these words only to put Job in his place.

What is the "home," or origin of light, or of darkness? Men have been asking about "the origin of evil." What do they know apart from divine revelation? In recent years modern science has seen more clearly that the sun is not the origin of light. Light exists apart from the sun and apart from any other visible source. Jehovah addresses these questions not only to Job, whose knowledge was limited to his own time, but to people today.

In Job 38 God asked Job two questions, "Where is the way to where light dwells?" (v. 19) and "By what way is the light parted?" (v. 24). Where does light come from and what is its nature? These are natural things, things we see in nature, and they are almost impossible to explain. How much more is this true of Him who is the source of all light?

What questions these are. They cover every field of what man calls "natural sciences" — geology, meteorology, geography, oceanography, astronomy, and so on. Job had not a single answer to these questions. If he had spoken, his words would have been folly… But what is the Lord's aim in asking them? To show that God is greater than man, and to humble man. It is to bring Job to the true knowledge of himself that he needs, and to free him from the pride of his heart.

Jehovah only touches the edges of His power, the outer region of His glory. Yet what had man to say? What could Job answer? Not a word… And did the man who could not explain God's smallest works dare to judge the deepest part of His ways and plans? For is anything so deep as His purposes, His affections, and His ways with the saints He loves? And all this while they are weak and face a mighty, cunning enemy.

Shall Job accuse One who is Light, who sees all things as they are? Shall he doubt One who knows the secrets of his heart, and the reason for this discipline? Do not these questions give a hint that God will cause Job's night to end, and at the appointed time cause His dawn to visit the poor sufferer?

In close connection with the all-revealing power of the light, God probes Job further. Does he know secret things? — "which belong to God." What is the "home," or origin, of light, or of darkness? Whether we regard verse 21 as a question, as in our version, or as a statement in divine irony — "You know it, for then you were born" — the meaning is obvious.

"Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and where is the place of darkness?" (v.19). God had said, "Let there be light" on the first day of the remaking of the earth (Gen. 1:3), before the sun was set in its place on the fourth day. Some scientists thought the sun was the source of light. Further study has convinced them that light exists apart from the sun. Where does it come from? We do not know any more about this than Job did. So the origin of light and the origin of darkness are matters of which mankind is totally ignorant.

Could Job take the light or the darkness back to its original place of dwelling? (v.20). The very question would not have arisen in men's minds. God raises it only to show how limited man's knowledge is. The irony of verse 21 is striking. Was Job born when light was introduced? Had he lived so many years? Of course these words of God are simply intended to put Job in his place.

And yet let not modern science claim the ability to answer where Job could not. Outward knowledge has advanced. Men have discovered great laws and principles of nature. But can today's scientist give truer and more satisfying replies to these questions from God than Job could? What, after all, is human knowledge but a knowledge, as Socrates said, of our ignorance? What is the key to all these questions? It is God, the true knowledge of Himself. Knowing Him, we know the Author and Source of all knowledge. Leave Him out of account, and the sum of all science is a blank wall, beyond which the hidden truth still lies.

What questions these are. They cover every department of what man calls "natural sciences" — geology, meteorology, geography, oceanography, astronomy. Job had not a single answer to these questions, and if he had spoken, his words would have been folly. But what is the Lord's aim in putting these questions? To show that God is greater than man and to humble man, to bring Job to the needed true knowledge of himself and to deliver him from the pride of his heart.

And after all, what was God speaking about? Earthly things. Every one of these things is merely natural, and has to do with what is visible, what is seen and temporal. And Job is completely unable to answer even one of these questions. In fact they are not answered to this day, for all the boasting of science. If that is the case about earthly things, what about the heavenly? What about the eternal things? There we are entirely and absolutely dependent upon God. We know nothing but what He tells us, and this is all our blessing.

The snow and hail are laid up in storehouses — where? They are not in some hidden place, in vast masses. They are not merely in the invisible vapour filling the sky, as science would now say. Behind all that, those storehouses of mercy and of judgment are in the hand of God. His word produces them — the snow, for protection of the grass in winter, and for cooling and refreshing in summer; the hail, in smiting plagues and sweeping judgments (Isa. 28:17). Snow, we are told, forms when cold acts on vapour and turns its molecules into crystals of lovely and varied shape. Who planned those shapes? Whose laws do these tiny crystals obey?

In the snow there are treasures Job knew nothing about, and the same is true of the hail. While the snow may be for protection, the hail is reserved for times of trouble, battle and war. Both snow and hail are frozen water, but how different they are when falling on earth!

So the wrath of God rests upon the world, held back indeed by His patient love, which at the same time has provided a place of refuge. But still there are "the storehouses of the hail" which He has "reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war." And they will be poured out yet, while the heavens proclaim His righteousness in it. What makes it so terrible is this: it is the action of righteousness. Faith looks ahead to it, and takes it home now as something that governs one's thoughts and conduct.

And He shows that God has a store that man knows nothing about. God makes it act whenever He pleases… Look at the case of the Amorites, who, on the road to Beth-horon, fell by the hailstones that God rained upon them. And, again, in other cases He rained fire and brimstone on the cities of the plain.

Next to its coldness, and perhaps more striking than that, snow is the standard for absolute whiteness, for purity… But what "treasures" of whiteness does God reserve? He is light. The snow reflects the sunlight, and that suggests how fully His essential righteousness shines out in the work of redemption — the work that lets Him say: "though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow" (Isa. 1:18). Sins that once cried for vengeance now reflect the glory of God's character, through the precious blood of Christ!… In the "redemption that is in Christ Jesus," He has endless stores of whiteness and protection for the sins of the world. What fearful judgments will follow the rejection of that grace!

Job had not a single answer to these questions, and if he had spoken, his words would have been folly. And we live 3000 years or more later, with all our boasted progress and our scientific discoveries of the great laws of nature. We are still unable to answer these questions in a satisfying way… But what is the Lord's aim in putting these questions? To show that God is greater than man and to humble man, to bring Job to the needed true knowledge of himself and to deliver him from the pride of his heart.

What questions these are. They cover every department of what man calls "natural sciences" — geology, meteorology, geography, oceanography, astronomy. Job had not a single answer to these questions, and if he had spoken his words would have been folly. And we, three thousand years later, with all our boasted progress and our discoveries of the great laws of nature, still cannot answer them in any satisfactory way... But what is the Lord's aim in putting these questions? To show that God is greater than man and to humble man. To bring Job to the true knowledge of himself that he needed, and to set him free from the pride of his heart.

God is here bringing to nothing all the proud talk of Job. But He is not satisfied with showing man's littleness by what is vast. He takes up what we might think of as comparatively small things... It matters little whether we look at the greatest or at the least of the works of God. Everywhere we meet what is entirely beyond the reach of man's mind... Job had even presumed to judge God's moral dealings. But he could not face what God is in the least part of His universe. He had not the slightest adequate idea of it.

How amazing are the "partings" of the light — reaching every part of the earth where its rays fall. How unimaginably swift are "the wings of the morning," flashing from sun to earth in a few moments. How beautiful those "partings" are in the spectrum, where the rainbow paints the whole landscape in living colours. Why and how is one object green, another blue, another red?... Science has much to tell us that might well fill us with wonder and amazement, and with awe and worship — of Whom? The more we know only of His displays, the less we really know of Himself. We know Him only as He makes Himself known in Christ.

Man likes to think he is in control of things. But can he control the snow, the hail, or the wind? Verse 24 inserts the matter of the way in which light is diffused before speaking of the east wind. For Job had to realise that the light of God was at work in all His actions. It was at work just as surely when He sent His east wind of strong adversity. God's ways had really been darkness to Job, so he did not understand the way God was diffusing His light.

From the east, the apparent source of the light, comes also the sweeping east wind, spread over the land in the storm. It is a picture of wrath — the wrath of Him who in the light had spoken so quietly. But even the east wind is held in His fists, controlled by His will.

The east wind was destructive to plants and dangerous to ships at sea. It is a symbol of the withering power of God's judgments.

But storms and storm-clouds are only the prelude to the rain. Here too God is seen, bringing refreshment after the storm. So with Job — his chastening will be followed by the showers. Who knows how to "divide," to distribute, these refreshing showers? Man would distribute them unevenly, or at the wrong time. God knows when and how to send the welcome relief.

The first thing done is to overwhelm him. This is the man who claimed the right to sit in judgment on God's moral ways. He is made to feel his utter ignorance and powerlessness in the smallest things of divine power, even in creation. Where was Job when Jehovah founded the earth? What did he know of its fixed measure, or of the line stretched out on it... The man whose understanding was baffled by such a question was in no position to judge God's deep things.

Storms and storm clouds are only the opening act before the rain. Here, too, we see God bringing refreshment after the storm. So it is with Job: after his chastening will come the showers. Who knows how to "divide," to distribute, these refreshing showers? Man would hand them out unevenly, or at the wrong time. God knows when and how to send the welcome relief.

"When He made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder" (Job 28:26); "He causes the vapours to ascend [evaporation, or forming of clouds] from the ends of the earth; He makes lightnings for the rain" (Psalm 135:7)... His audience was much impressed. They might well be so.

Well, God does think of animals, He thinks of even the insect; He thinks of where no man is; there He has His thoughts and His plans and His goodness.

But God's work is not limited to human needs, little as we may understand these things. Our merely human thoughts circle around ourselves, and that is nothing but improper pride. God's thoughts are infinitely higher than we naturally imagine (Isa. 55:8-9).

Let Science tell us all it can discover about the laws and effects of snow crystals, about the changing temperature of air currents, about electric discharges and equalizations. Let us go as deep as we can into these second causes. We shall still find them to be only the outer court of His tabernacle, the display of His attributes. They lead us on into the holiest place of all: His revealed Person, as seen in Christ Jesus.

The voice that came to Job out of the whirlwind brought him into God's presence. Until now he had been greatly ignorant of His character. He had said many excellent things about God, but he had never before known His actual presence. This, we will find, is the key to the amazing change worked in Job.

God does think of animals. He thinks even of the insect. He thinks of where no man is. There He has His thoughts and His plans and His goodness.

Sometimes the rain causes overflowing floods. Sometimes this happens where nobody lives at all. Sometimes it happens where it badly affects the people living there. But God's work is not confined to the needs of humans, little as we may understand these things. Our merely human thoughts centre around ourselves, which is only unseemly pride. God's thoughts are infinitely higher than we naturally imagine.

But storms and storm-clouds are only the prelude to the rain. Here too we see God bringing refreshing after the storm. So with Job, the showers will follow his chastening. Who knows how to "divide," to distribute, these refreshing showers? Man would distribute them unevenly, or at the wrong time. God knows when and how to send the welcome relief.

This rain is spread so widely. It reaches beyond the places where people live, out to the waste places of the earth. Wherever the tiniest blade of grass grows, there you see the truth that "His mercy is over all that He has made."

Had Job been thinking that God did not consider his welfare? Was there any creature, small or mighty, that Jehovah did not care for — the leviathan of the flood waters, or the sparrow on the housetop? He cared for every creature of His in its need. Would God not care for Job too, the highest creature on earth, who also had a life beyond the grave?

God does think of animals, He thinks of even the insect; He thinks of where no man is; there He has His thoughts and His plans and His goodness.

How widely distributed is this rain, reaching out beyond the homes of man, to the waste places of the earth. Wherever the tiniest blade of grass grows, we see the truth that "His tender mercies are over all His works."

Sometimes the rain causes overflowing floods. Sometimes it falls where no one lives at all. Sometimes it falls where the people living there feel its effects deeply. But God's work is not confined to the needs of humans, little as we may understand these things. Our mere human thoughts centre on ourselves, which is only improper pride. God's thoughts are infinitely higher than we naturally imagine (Isa. 55:8-9).

Nor are these things merely acts; they are, so to speak, the offspring of God's love and care. Rain and dew, ice and frost, are all the children of the great and good God.

Let science tell us all it can discover of the laws and effects of the snow crystals, of the changing temperature of the air currents, and of electric discharges and how they even out. Let us go as deep as we can into these second causes. We shall find that they are the outer court of His tabernacle, the display of His attributes. They lead us on into the holiest place, His revealed Person, as seen in Christ Jesus.

But storms and storm-clouds are only the prelude to the rain. Here, too, we see God bringing refreshing after the storm. So with Job: the showers will follow his chastening. Who knows how to "divide," to distribute, these refreshing showers? Man would distribute them unevenly, or at the wrong time. God knows when and how to send the welcome relief.

Job had not a single answer to these questions. If he had spoken, his words would have been folly. And we live 3000 years or more later, with all our boasted progress and scientific discoveries of the great laws of nature. We are still unable to answer these questions in a satisfactory way… But what is the Lord's aim in asking these questions? To show that God is greater than man and to humble man. To bring Job to the true knowledge of himself that he needed, and to deliver him from the pride of his heart.

These words are not so much a revelation of truth as a question. They ask Job whether he knows the truths that lie all around him in God's vast creation. It is this which makes these words of Jehovah so wonderful. He does not speak "in a tongue no man can understand." He speaks in the language of nature — about the earth, the sky, the clouds and rain, and animals and birds.

What questions these are. They cover every branch of what people call "natural sciences" — geology, meteorology, geography, oceanography, astronomy, and so on. Job had no answer to a single one of them, and if he had spoken his words would have been foolish. Even now, with all our boasted progress and our scientific discoveries of the great laws of nature, we are still unable to answer these questions in a satisfying way... But what is the aim of the Lord in putting these questions? It is to show that God is greater than man and to humble man. It is to bring Job to the true knowledge of himself that he needs, and to free him from the pride of his heart.

These things are not merely acts; they are, so to speak, the offspring of God's love and care. Rain and dew, ice and frost, are all the children of the great and good God.

Jehovah said to His servant Job, "Has the rain a father?" as if to show that the mighty God fathers even a drop of rain. Millions of tons of water rise from the oceans each day by evaporation. The clouds hold it as vapour until the ruler of nature needs it to water His garden.

Where and when the rain falls may seem to us completely random, but it depends simply on the will of our God and Father, who never makes a mistake.

As air cools it can hold less water. The point where the air can hold no more has a name — the "dew point." When the cooling air reaches the dew point, the extra water vapour in the air condenses and forms dew. Dew will form on anything that is cool enough compared with the air around it... This is a very gentle and delicate process, and is the way God "begets each drop of the dew."

Sometimes the rain causes overflowing floods, sometimes even where no one lives, and sometimes where the people are greatly affected by it. But God's work is not confined to the needs of humans, little as we may understand these things. Our merely human thoughts centre on ourselves, and that is nothing but improper pride. God's thoughts are infinitely higher than anything we imagine on our own (Isa. 55:8-9).

Let science tell us all it can discover about the laws and effects of snow crystals, about the changing temperature of air currents, about electric charges and how they even out. Let us go as deep as we can into these secondary causes. We will find that they are the outer court of His tabernacle, the display of His attributes. They lead us on into the holiest place of all, His revealed Person, as seen in Christ Jesus.

"Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew?" (v.28). Where and when the rain falls may seem to us completely random, but it depends simply on the will of our God and Father, who never makes a mistake. In the same way, frost is always sent by Him in perfect wisdom for every occasion (v.29). How it is possible for water to harden like stone is only explained by God's law in sending the cold (v.30). Who really understands this?

Frozen water or snow. God demanded of Job, "From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the frost of heaven?" It is answered in the Psalms: it is God who "hurls down His crystals of ice like crumbs; who can stand before His cold?" Job 6:16; Job 38:29; Ps. 147:17.

Nor are these things merely acts; they are, so to speak, the offspring of God's love and care. Rain and dew, ice and frost, are all the children of the great and good God. "These are Your works, Parent of all good!"

They cover every department of what man calls "natural sciences." These include geology, meteorology, geography, oceanography, astronomy, and so on. Job had not a single answer to these questions, and if he had spoken his words would have been folly. And we live 3000 years or more later. With all our boasted progress and our scientific discoveries of the great laws of nature, we are still unable to answer these questions in a satisfying way. All the boastings of science about getting at the secrets of creation are nothing but foam. One breath of the Almighty scatters man's speculations to the winds, when they are made apart from Him and His Word. But what is the Lord's aim in putting these questions? To show that God is greater than man and to humble man, to bring Job to the needed true knowledge of himself and to deliver him from the pride of his heart.

Let science tell us all it can discover of the laws and effects of the snow crystals, of the changing temperature of the air currents, of electric charges building up and evening out. Let us go as deeply as we can into these secondary causes. We shall find them to be the outer court of His tabernacle, the display of His attributes. They lead us on into the holiest place, into His revealed Person, as seen in Christ Jesus.

What is the effect, then, on a godly man who really believes in Him and His guidance? What is the effect of knowing our ignorance to be so immense? Reliance upon God. That was the great thing in which Job failed, murmured and found fault. He could not understand it. He might have believed and ought to have believed, and that is where we fail too, for we are quite as ready to reason and murmur as Job.

"Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew?" (v.28). Where and when the rain falls may look completely random to us, but it depends only on the will of our God and Father, who never makes a mistake. In the same way, He always sends frost in perfect wisdom for every occasion (v.29). Only one thing explains how water can harden like stone: God's law in sending the cold (v.30). Who truly understands this?

How can we explain ice coming from a womb? A womb is a warm place. Each of us was formed in one! Can ice come from such a place? And how is ice formed? Ice contains much less energy than liquid water. As energy leaves, things get colder. Water freezes at 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit). But we must remember where that energy came from before it could leave. It came from the sun. God sent it to us. He sends it and He prepared the way for it to leave. All is in His control. All is for the display of His love and care for us. The ice has come from His "womb"!

It is sad when we reduce everything to an impersonal nature, as if these things simply had to happen, with no reference to anything in particular. But these verses show that God is at work behind what people call nature, and He works with full intelligence.

The first thing God does is to overwhelm the man who dared to sit in judgment on His moral ways. He makes him feel his complete ignorance and helplessness in the smallest works of divine power, even in creation.

And yet modern science must not claim it can answer where Job could not. Outward knowledge has advanced, and great laws and principles of nature have been discovered. But can the scientist of today give truer and more satisfying answers to these questions of God than Job could long ago? … What is the key to all these questions? It is God, the true knowledge of Himself. Knowing Him, we know the Author and Source of all knowledge. Leave Him out, and all of science is a blank wall, with the truth still hidden beyond it.

These things are not just acts; they are, so to speak, the offspring of God's love and care. Rain and dew, ice and frost are all the children of the great and good God.

Can we doubt Him? Shall we misjudge Him? Our unbelief and discontent testify against us, just as Job's complaints did against him.

Out of that whirlwind, or golden storm-cloud, Jehovah replies to the vain questionings and lamentations of Job... "My desire is that the Almighty would answer me," was Job's closing word. He is now to have his wish granted; but how different the effect! "As a prince would I go near unto Him," he had declared. "I am vile" is what he has to say when he hears His voice.

Kimah. The Hebrew means "a heap or collection." Scripture names it alongside Arcturus and Orion, so it almost certainly refers to the group of stars we still call the Pleiades. The same Hebrew word appears as "seven stars" in Amos 5:8. There are many stars in the group, but seven are visible to the naked eye. Job 38:31 is better translated, "Can you fasten the bands of the Pleiades, or loosen the cords of Orion?"

Some think the Pleiades are pictured here as a cluster of brilliant jewels: "Can you fasten the shining brooch on the bosom of the night?" Others point out that the Pleiades belong to Spring, and Orion to Winter. To loose the cords of Orion would be to break up Winter. To bind the sweet influences of the Pleiades would be to delay Spring. Can you hold back the coming of Spring, or bring Winter to an end? Can you change the ordered, onward march of the hosts of heaven, or move the North out of its place?

The Lord draws his attention first to the Pleiades, meaning "the heap of stars." He asks if Job can "bind the chains of the Pleiades." Astronomers discovered "that the whole solar system is moving forward around Alcyone, the brightest star in the Pleiades"... The planets circle the sun. But the sun and all the planets circle Alcyone at the rate of 422,000 miles per day! Such are the chains of the Pleiades that hold the whole solar system captive. Could Job bind such forces? Could he loose the belt of Orion, the force that keeps Orion in its orbit?

Kima, the Pleiades, means a "hinge," or pivot — that on which all the heavenly bodies turn. Science points out that the whole visible universe is slowly turning round an unknown centre, seemingly not far from this hinge. What if God were hinting to Job at the great centre which holds all things to itself, showing him the One who holds all things in His hand?

Were the words of the Almighty meaningless to Job when He said, "Can you fasten the bands of the Pleiades, or loosen the cords of Orion?" These questions were not asked to interest Job in astronomy. They were asked to turn his attention to how small he is, compared with the greatness of the One he was fighting against, and to bring him to admit the hopeless folly he was pursuing. We can be sure the Lord's questions were in no way mysterious to him. They pointed to things he already knew something about.

What questions these are. Job had not a single answer to them... And we live 3000 years or more later, with all our boasted progress and our scientific discoveries of the great laws of nature. We still cannot answer these questions in a satisfactory way... But what is the Lord's aim in putting these questions? To show that God is greater than man, and to humble man. He wants to bring Job to the true knowledge of himself that he needs, and to free him from the pride of his heart.

Jehovah answered Job out of the whirlwind. He did not argue, and He did not even instruct. He displayed the witness of His majesty and power. So Job had to say, "Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth."

Most of the address comes in the form of questions. Job had presumed to sit in judgment on Jehovah and His ways, so God tests his competence for it. What does he know? What can he do? Shall the creature dare to instruct God about His duties, to point out His failures, in fact to take over His rights? He is so puny in power, so ignorant, and so full of empty pride.

"Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth?" Conditions have an immense effect upon the earth. All of it is having an influence, either of a terrible kind or a beneficial kind. Who is it that has fixed all that? Was it you, Job?

So the stars were common knowledge this early in history, and their names have stayed the same. But did Job know the ordinances God had established in the heavens? Did he even understand how the stars relate to the earth — let alone set them in places of dominion over the earth? Astrologers try to link the movement of the stars to events on earth, but their efforts only expose how little they know.

It is important to see this. When God formed the present system of this world, He made a heaven to this earth, so that heaven should rule the earth. The earth's blessing, in material things and in moral things, depends on its connection with heaven.

Every great movement of the powers here below turned on the mind of heaven. And the opening chapters let us know it is just as true of a single saint... The world might be in confusion, the eyes of the judges blinded, oppression in the place of righteousness, groaning and misery everywhere. Yet despite the misrule and rebellion, heaven is the spring and centre of power... Even Satan himself cannot act without God. What an immense comfort!

And yet modern science must not claim it can answer what Job could not. There has been advance in outward knowledge, with discoveries of great laws and principles of nature. But can the scientist of today give truer and more satisfying replies to these divine questions than the patriarch of old could?... What is the key to all these questions? It is God, the true knowledge of Himself. Knowing Him, we know the Author and Source of all knowledge. Leave Him out of account, and the sum of all science is a blank wall, beyond which the hidden truth still lies.

One thing we do know. He, and He alone, can hold the stars in His hand. He numbers them and calls them all by name, and brings them out in due order, "because he is strong in power, not one is missing" (Isa. 40:26). The prophet reminds afflicted Israel that this One knows their affliction and their way.

He had spoken of the rain in verses 25-28. Now He asks whether Job could order the clouds to drop their water whenever he wanted. We may see the clouds dark and heavy, and think at such a time that we could tell them to pour out their rain. Yet it may be that no rain falls at all. Lightning may trigger a rainfall, but who can send the lightning?

"Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go and say to you, 'Here we are'? Who has put wisdom in the inward parts or given understanding to the mind?" It comes down to man now. "Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens, when the dust runs into a mass and the clods stick fast together?" Well, all that is perfectly simple to God, and God has command in every bit of it.

And then the rain clouds, the lightnings and their control. What questions these are. They cover every field of what man calls "natural sciences" — geology, meteorology, geography, oceanography, astronomy, and the rest. Job had not a single answer to these questions, and if he had spoken his words would have been folly. And we, 3000 years or more later, are still unable to answer these questions in a satisfactory way. That is true for all our boasted progress and all our scientific discoveries of the great laws of nature. All the boasting of science about getting at the secrets of creation is nothing but foam. One breath of the Almighty scatters man's speculations to the winds, when they leave Him and His Word out. But what is the aim of the Lord in putting these questions? To show that God is greater than man and to humble man, to bring Job to the needed true knowledge of himself and to deliver him from the pride of his heart.

He is not satisfied with showing man's smallness by what is vast. He also takes up things we might think small. He has travelled through the immense heavens and the uncontrollable sea, then the treasures of the snow and the hail, of the lightning and the waters. He looks at the heavenly bodies one by one. Then, towards the end of the chapter, He comes down to the little things of nature, where man is just as much at a loss. So it matters little whether we look at the greatest of God's works or the least. Everywhere we meet what man cannot know at all. Job had even claimed to judge the depths of God morally. But he could not face, and had not the slightest real idea of, what God is in the least part of His universe.

The LORD ends this part of His speech with fresh questions about the clouds, storms, and rain. Can Job bring down rain, or speak to the lightning flash? Does he have the understanding heart that knows the reason for the clouds — whether clouds of rain or clouds of grief? Can that heart bring the refreshing showers upon the dusty earth? What food for reverent meditation we have in all this.

To Him all power in heaven and earth has been given. He has not given us power to change the order of nature, or to go up into those heavens. But He teaches us to give the true answer to His questions, and that answer is, "We see Jesus."

And then the rain clouds, the lightnings and their control. What questions these are. They cover every field of what man calls "natural sciences." That means geology, meteorology, geography, oceanography, astronomy, and more. Job had not a single answer to these questions, and if he had spoken, his words would have been folly... But what is the Lord's aim in putting these questions? To show that God is greater than man, and to humble man. It is to bring Job to the true knowledge of himself that he needs, and to free him from the pride of his heart.

He had spoken of the rain in verses 25-28. Now He adds a question (v.34): could Job give orders to the clouds to drop their water when Job wanted it? We may see the clouds dark and heavy, and think at such a time that we could tell them to pour out their rain. But it may be that no rain falls at all. Lightning may trigger a rainfall, but who can send the lightning? (v.35).

God speaks first about the lifeless things — the earth, sea, clouds, hail and rain. He shows three things about them. First, that He designed them; second, that He created them; and third, that He controls them. Consider the whole range of lifeless things that make up the world, and the whole range of living creatures. God commands them all... The lesson for Job was this. It was far too great for him to try to get to the bottom of things and look for explanations. God in His counsels and actions is altogether too big for us.

It is clear that God is here bringing to nothing all the proud talk of Job. But He does not stop at showing man's littleness by what is vast. He takes up what we might think are small things... So it matters little whether we look at the greatest works of God or at the least. Everywhere we meet what is completely beyond man's understanding... Job had even claimed to judge the depths of God morally. But he could not face what God is in the least part of His universe, and he had not the slightest idea of it.

Outward knowledge has advanced, and we have discovered great laws and principles of nature. But can the scientist of today give truer and more satisfying answers to these divine questions than Job could long ago? After all, what is human knowledge but a knowledge of our own ignorance, as Socrates said?... What is the key to all these questions? It is God, the true knowledge of Himself. Knowing Him, we know the Author and Source of all knowledge. Leave Him out of account, and the sum of all science is a blank wall, beyond which the truth still lies hidden.

But storms and storm-clouds are only the prelude to the rain. Here too God is seen, bringing refreshing after the storm. So with Job: the showers will follow his chastening. Who knows how to divide, to distribute, these refreshing showers? Man would distribute them unevenly, or at the wrong time. God knows when and how to send the welcome relief.

He is not satisfied with showing man's smallness by what is vast. He also takes up what we might think of as small things. He has travelled through the immense heavens and the uncontrollable sea, then the treasures of the snow and the hail, of the lightning and the waters. He notices various heavenly bodies in detail. But towards the end of the chapter He comes down to the little things of nature, where man fails just as badly. So it matters little whether we gaze at the greatest of God's works or look into the least. Everywhere we meet what is completely beyond man's understanding.

Lightning may trigger a rainfall, but who can send the lightning? If man does have any wisdom at all, who has put it in his mind? Is he to have the credit for this? Or does he manufacture his own understanding?

And modern science should not claim it can answer what Job could not. Outward knowledge has advanced. Men have discovered great laws and principles of nature. But can the scientist of today give truer and more satisfying replies to these questions from God than Job could long ago? What after all is human knowledge but a knowledge, as Socrates said, of our ignorance? What is the key to all these questions? It is God, the true knowledge of Himself. Knowing Him, we know the Author and Source of all knowledge. Leave Him out, and the sum of all science is a blank wall, with the hidden truth still lying beyond it.

Can Job bring down rain, or speak to the lightning flash? Does he have the understanding heart that knows the reason for the clouds — whether clouds of rain or of grief — and that can bring the refreshing showers on the dusty earth?

And then the rain clouds, the lightnings and their control. What questions these are! They cover every department of what man calls "natural sciences" — geology, meteorology, geography, oceanography, astronomy. Job had not a single answer to these questions. If he had spoken, his words would have been folly… But what is the Lord's aim in asking them? To show that God is greater than man, and to humble him. To bring Job to the true knowledge of himself that he needed, and to free him from the pride of his heart.

After all, what was God speaking about? Earthly things. Every one of them belongs to the natural world, and has to do with what is visible, with what is seen and temporary. Job is completely unable to answer even one of these questions. In fact no one has answered them to this day, for all the boasting of science. If that is how it stands with earthly things, what about the heavenly? What about the eternal things? There we depend on God entirely and completely. We know nothing except what He tells us.

And then the rain clouds, the lightnings and their control. What questions these are. They cover every department of what man calls "natural sciences." That includes geology, meteorology, geography, oceanography, astronomy and more. Job had not a single answer to these questions, and if he had spoken his words would have been folly. And we live 3000 years or more later. We boast of our progress and of our scientific discoveries of the great laws of nature. Yet we still cannot answer these questions in a satisfactory way. All the boasting of science about getting at the secrets of creation is nothing but foam. One breath of the Almighty, and man's speculations, apart from Him and His Word, are scattered to the winds. But what is the aim of the Lord in putting these questions? To show that God is greater than man and to humble man, to bring Job to the needed true knowledge of himself and to deliver him from the pride of his heart.

If man does have any wisdom at all, who has put it in his mind? Is he to have the credit for this? Or does he manufacture his own understanding? If one thinks he is wise, let him number the clouds! They are always changing and on the move, and often amazing in their magnificence. So we are wise to observe and marvel at the display they present, rather than to try to number them. May such lessons deeply impress us.

Who regulates the clouds by wisdom, / Or who inclines the pitchers of heaven, / When the dust is poured into hardness, / And the clods are compacted together?

Passing from the starry heavens to the sky nearer the earth, Job describes the clouds in beautiful and scientifically accurate language. They are the containing vessels for the waters above the earth. It is God who gathers the vapours of the sky and condenses them into the thick clouds. If these waters fell upon the earth without restraint, the result would be a destructive flood. So He binds these waters in the clouds. He sends them down in gentle showers, as He wills and as the thirsty earth needs.

He does not stop at showing man's littleness by what is vast. He also takes up what we might think are small things by comparison. He has gone over the immense heavens and the uncontrollable sea, and then the treasures of the snow and the hail, of the lightning and the waters. He notices various heavenly bodies in detail. But towards the end of the chapter He comes down to the little things of nature, where man is just as much at a loss. So it matters little whether we gaze at the greatest works of God or look into the least. Everywhere we meet what is completely beyond man's reach... What could better expose the futility of man's accusing God? Job had even claimed to judge the moral depths of God. But he could not face what God is in the least part of His universe, and he had not the slightest adequate idea of it.

The LORD closes this part of His address with fresh questions about the clouds, storms, and rain. Can Job bring down rain, or speak to the lightning flash? Does he have that understanding heart which knows the reason for the clouds, whether of rain or of grief? Is it a heart that can bring the refreshing showers upon the dusty earth? What food for reverent meditation we have in all this.

"Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the mind?" It comes down to man now. "Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens… when the dust runs into a mass and the clods stick fast together?" All that is perfectly simple to God, and God has command over every bit of it.

Jehovah concludes this portion of His address with fresh questions about the clouds, storms, and rain. Can Job bring down rain, or speak to the lightning flash? Does he have the understanding heart that knows the reason for the clouds — whether clouds of rain or of grief? Can he bring the refreshing showers upon the dusty earth?

He is not content to show man's littleness by what is vast. He also takes up what we might think are small things. He travels over the immense heavens and the uncontrollable sea, then the treasures of the snow and the hail, of the lightning and the waters. He notices heavenly bodies one by one. But toward the end of the chapter He comes down to the little things of nature, where man is just as much at a loss. So it matters little whether we gaze at the greatest of God's works or look into the least. Everywhere we meet what is entirely beyond man's understanding… Job had even claimed to judge the depths of God morally. He could not face what God is in the least part of His universe, and he had no adequate idea of it at all.

And then the rain clouds, the lightnings and their control. What questions these are! They cover every department of what man calls "natural sciences" — geology, meteorology, geography, oceanography, astronomy, and the rest. Job had not a single answer to these questions, and if he had spoken, his words would have been folly. And we live 3000 years or more later, with all our boasted progress and our scientific discoveries of the great laws of nature. We are still unable to answer these questions in a satisfactory way. But what is the Lord's aim in putting these questions? To show that God is greater than man, and to humble man. To bring Job to the true knowledge of himself that he needs, and to deliver him from the pride of his heart.

If in goodness He meets and supplies the needs of all His creatures by His skilful handling of the forces of nature, then it is easy to see how He may deal with the sins of men and nations. He has only to order the working of these forces so that the supplies are cut back. God makes this work out in such a way as to leave unbelieving men without excuse. For the living God made heaven and earth and sea and all things in them. He "did not leave Himself without witness, for He did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness" (Acts 14:15-17).

Jehovah answered Job out of the whirlwind (Job 38, 39). He did not argue, and He did not even instruct. He displayed the witness of His majesty and power, until Job had to say, "Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed no further" (Job 40:3-5).

It is clear that God is here bringing to nothing all the proud talk of Job. But He does not stop at showing man's littleness by what is vast; He takes up what we might think are small things by comparison... So it matters little whether we look at the greatest or the least of God's works; everywhere we meet what is entirely beyond man's understanding... What could better expose how empty it is for man to accuse God? Job had even claimed the right to judge the depths of God morally. Yet he had no real idea of what God is in the smallest part of His universe, and he could not face it.

We come next to see His wisdom and power displayed in His protecting and providing care over all His creatures. In this portion we pass from the glories of the Creator to look at the wisdom and goodness of the God of Providence. He has not only devised the wonderful plan of the universe. He has also filled the earth with living creatures who depend on Him for life and all things.

"Can you hunt the prey for the lion?" It says, That is what I do — I find food for the lions and for the young lions too. There they are crouching in their dens, waiting in hiding for their prey. I do not let them die for lack of proper food. "Who provides food for the raven?" It is not only the great lion. It is also the much smaller raven, when its young ones cry to God — there it is, they cry to Him. They do not murmur; they cry. They tell their want. God has put that into them. It is a cry, and God hears it as directed to Himself.

If the king of wild beasts is named first, it is not without purpose that the raven follows. The contrast is marked; but the LORD cared for both. He is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works. Was Job the one to hunt prey for the lioness, and fill the craving of her young...? Was it for Job to provide the raven with meat?... He who counts the hairs of our heads sees every sparrow that falls... So here the LORD shows that man may boast of his scanty knowledge of beasts and birds and call their classification science. Even so, it is God's work, not man's, to enter into the need of every one and watch over it.

God not only tolerates but cares for these creatures which prey upon others. They are part of His wise plan — once put under the hand of man and subject to him, but now turned against him as enemies. So Satan, whose attacks Job was feeling, was only a creature of God's will. Even by his hatred he worked out the purposes of God. If Job is ignorant of his schemes, God is not, and will bring good out of all his ravening and roaring.

It is said here, "its young ones cry to God." Whether they do so with understanding or not is not the question. God recognises their cry. If so, did God not hear the cry of Job? Of course He did, though He did not answer Job at just the time and in the way Job thought He ought to.

God is here bringing to nothing all the proud talk of Job. But He is not content to show man's littleness only by what is vast. He also takes up what we might think comparatively small things. He has crossed the immense heavens and the uncontrollable sea, and then the treasures of the snow and the hail, of the lightning and the waters. At last, towards the end of the chapter, He comes down to the little things of nature, where man is just as much at a loss. So it matters little whether we look at the greatest or at the least of God's works. Everywhere we meet what is entirely beyond man's grasp.

"Will you hunt the prey for the lion?" It says, That is what I do; I find food for the lions and for the young lions too. There they are crouching in their dens, "and they lie in wait in their thicket." I do not let them die for want of proper food.

He begins with the beasts of prey. That is not where we would likely begin. We think of predators as needing no outside care. But they need the care of God as much as every other creature. God has made them as they are, and provides for them in the very fact that they are able to hunt their own food. Who would think of hunting food for them, at least while they are in the wild?

If man boasts of his small knowledge of beasts and birds, and calls their classification science, Jehovah shows whose work this really is. It is His province, not man's, to enter into and watch over the need of every one. He watches those most remote from human dwellings, and no less those whose croaking may disturb man's ease. They are always before God, who has made them all and provides for each as a faithful Creator.

God does not merely tolerate these creatures that prey on others — He cares for them. They are part of His wise plan: once put under man's hand and subject to him, but now turned against him as enemies. In the same way, Satan was only the creature of God's will. Job was feeling his attacks, yet even his hatred worked out God's purposes. If Job is ignorant of his schemes, God is not, and will bring good out of all his tearing and roaring.

It is significant that the series opens and closes with beasts and birds of prey. They might seem worthless, if not positively harmful, and yet He cares for them with unerring wisdom. Shall He fail to watch over His child who knows and trusts Him?

Had Job been thinking that God did not consider his welfare? Was there any creature, small or great, that Jehovah did not care for — the leviathan of the deep waters, or the sparrow on the housetop? He cared for every creature of His in its need. Would He not care for Job, the highest creature on earth, who also had a life beyond the grave?

God is here bringing to nothing all the proud talk of Job. But He is not satisfied with showing man's littleness by what is vast. He also takes up what we might think are quite small things... It matters little whether we look at the greatest of God's works or at the least. Everywhere we meet something completely beyond the reach of man. Job had even claimed to judge the moral depths of God. But he could not face, and had not the slightest idea of, what God is in the least part of His universe.

God considers the young. Even a bird as unclean as the raven has its food provided by Him. It is wonderful to read that the helpless young ravens cry to God. Animals recognise the Creator by their instincts and look to Him for food. The sound may not be the sweet song of a lark, but only the croak of a raven. It reminds us of the witness this same Creator gave when He came in the form of a creature. "Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!" (Luke 12:24).

The word oreb comes from a root meaning "to be black"... When Noah sent the raven out from the ark, it could no doubt find food, though the dove could not, because it can feed on dead flesh... The meat-eating ravens brought flesh as well as bread to Elijah, and this shows God's miraculous power. He made them feed His servant. They are greedy eaters, and they have no storehouse or barn. Yet God feeds them, and He will surely feed those who trust in Him.

It is not only the great lion, but the much smaller raven, when its young ones cry to God — there it is, they cry to Him. They do not murmur; they cry. They tell their want, God has put that into them. It is a cry, and God hears it as directed to Himself. "They wander about for lack of food." But He hears and answers.

The raven is a bird of prey (v.41), but if God did not provide the prey for them and their young, how could they continue to exist? It is striking that the verse says here, "its young ones cry to God." Whether they understand what they are doing is not the question. God recognises their cry. If so, did God not hear the cry of Job? Of course He did, though He did not answer Job at just the time and in the way that Job thought He ought to.

It is significant that the list of animals opens and closes with beasts and birds of prey. They might look worthless, or even harmful, yet He cares for them with unerring wisdom. Shall He fail to watch over His child who knows and trusts Him?