When the dust runneth as into a molten mass, and the clods cleave fast together?
God's questions to Job have climbed through the stars and storms, and here they come down to mud: rain falls until dry dust packs into solid clods. The small scale is the point — Job can no more explain the soil than the sky.
The verse ends a run of questions about clouds and rain. One writer points out how simple all of it is to God:
"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.
Another writer turns the question on Job — not only power over the rain, but the understanding behind 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?
God has already pointed Job to the heavens, the sea, the snow and the hail. Now He comes down to soil and mud, and the change of scale is the point:
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.
The questions have an aim. One writer names it, and notes that centuries have not supplied the answers:
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.
The hand that sends rain can also hold it back. One writer links God's goodness in nature with His dealings with people:
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).
The questions were never answered by Job. They were answered in him:
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).
- Dust — The question moves from stars to soil. Rain packs dry powder into solid clods, and all of it is simple to God.
- Scale — The least of God's works humbles Job as much as the greatest. Great or small, man meets what is beyond his understanding.
- Aim — The questions are not after information. They show that God is greater than man, and free Job from the pride of his heart.
- Reach — The God who sends rain can also hold it back. He deals with men and nations the same way, and the rains are His witness.
- Answer — Job never answers a single question. He lays his hand on his mouth — and that silence is what God was after.
Dost thou hunt the prey for the lioness, and dost thou satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
God has been questioning Job about the vastness of creation, and now He stops at a lion crouching in its den. The real question is who keeps the world alive, and whether a suffering man can trust that God.
God has already pointed Job to what is vast. Now He turns to small things, and Job is just as helpless there.
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.
Commentators mark this verse as a turn in God's speech. Up to now He has spoken of how He made the world. From here He speaks of how He keeps it alive.
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.
The question is rhetorical, and God answers it Himself. He does not just watch the hunt; He feeds the hunters.
"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.
God names the lion first, then the raven: the king of the beasts and a far smaller bird. One writer speaks of the lioness here — the mother hunting for her young.
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 begins with hunters — the animals that kill, and that man treats as enemies. That matters for Job, whom an unseen enemy was tearing apart.
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.
A young bird's cry reaches God. That leaves one question for Job.
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.
- Small. God turns from the vast to a den and a nest. Man is as helpless before the least of God's works as before the greatest.
- Provider. God moves from how He designed the universe to how He feeds every living thing in it.
- Cry. The raven's young cry to God. He put that cry into them, and He takes it as addressed to Himself.
- All. He feeds both the king of beasts and the small raven — His care reaches every creature He made.
- You. God hears a young raven; He heard Job too, and answered in His own time, not Job's.
When they crouch in [their] dens, [and] abide in the thicket to lie in wait?
God has been answering Job by walking him through creation — the heavens, the sea, the snow, the lightning. Now He comes down to a lion waiting in its den. The question is not about animals at all. It asks who feeds a hunter that no man could feed, and what that says about the God Job has been arguing with.
The lion comes at the end of a long sweep through creation.
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.
God asks whether Job hunts for lions. One writer hears the question as God's own answer.
"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.
Of all creatures, hunters look the least needy.
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?
Job might name the creatures. He could never attend to each one's hunger.
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.
The lion in the thicket is a killer, and God still feeds it. One writer follows that thought to the enemy behind Job's suffering.
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.
The whole list of animals is framed by creatures man would gladly be rid of. That framing carries the point Job is meant to feel.
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?
Another writer puts the same reasoning as the question Job had been silently asking.
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?
- Least. God comes down from stars and seas to a lion in a den. Man is out of his depth in God's smallest works as much as His greatest.
- Feeds. The question is God's own testimony: He finds food for the lions and their young, and does not let them die of hunger.
- Equips. Provision for a predator looks like ability — God made it able to hunt, and that is His care for it.
- Rules. God does not just tolerate the hunters — He cares for them. Satan too was only a creature of God's will, serving purposes he never intended.
- You. God cares for every creature in its need. He will not overlook Job, the highest creature on earth, who has a life beyond the grave.
Who provideth for the raven his food, when his young ones cry unto God, [and] they wander for lack of meat?
God has been questioning Job about His works — the sea, the snow, the stars, the hunting lion — and now about a raven's starving chicks. If God hears the croak of a raven, what about the man who thinks his own cry has gone unheard?
Why does God move down from the heavens to a hungry bird?
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.
Of all birds, God names an unclean one with a harsh voice.
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).
Scripture has more to say about this bird: its name, and the times God used it to feed others.
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.
The chicks cannot hunt, and they have nothing stored. All they can do is make noise — and the verse sends that noise straight to God.
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.
Job had complained that God would not answer him.
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.
The choice of animals in the list is itself part of the argument.
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?
- Small. God humbles Job with a starving chick, not only with the heavens. Man is out of his depth in the least corner of creation as much as in the greatest.
- Unclean. God picked a black scavenger, not a songbird. His care does not stop at what we find attractive or useful.
- Cry. The young ravens do not murmur; they cry. God put that instinct in them, and He takes the sound as addressed to Himself.
- Heard. If a raven's croak reaches God, Job's cry was never ignored — God answered, but not on Job's timetable or in Job's way.
- More. The same Creator later stood on earth and pointed to these birds: no barn, no harvest, yet fed — and you are worth far more.