If he withholds the waters, they dry up; if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.
Job's three friends treat his suffering as proof of guilt. In reply he piles up examples of God's power over the world. Verse 15 gives two of them: drought and flood, both from the same hand.
Two Extremes, One Hand
The verse sits beside its twin in verse 14, where God breaks down and shuts up. One writer reads both together and notices something Job missed about his own case:
Leslie M. GrantSpeaking of wisdom brings Job face to face with God, who is infinite in wisdom and strength. He has counsel and understanding beyond anything human. "If He breaks a thing down, it cannot be rebuilt" (v.14). In fact Job had been broken down. He did not realise that the One who broke him down could also rebuild him, though Job could not do it. If God imprisons someone, man cannot release him, though God can. God could use waters as He saw fit. If He withheld the water the earth would dry up; if He sent a torrent of water this could cause an overwhelming flood (v.15). These two extremes have often followed one another. Men are helpless, and God does not explain why He does this.
Too Little Water, Too Much
The two halves of the verse are not the same disaster twice. They are opposite ruins, and both leave people with nothing. The writer follows an older translation, which ends "they overturn the earth" where the ESV has "they overwhelm the land":
William Kelly"Behold, he withholds the waters, and they dry up" — and the world is in a terrible state when there is no water. But then it comes in another way. He gives them too much water: "also he sends them out, and they overturn the earth." The waters sweep everything away.
An Ancient Witness To The Flood
The second half of the verse is not just a remark about weather. One writer counts it among the Bible's witnesses to the flood that once covered the world:
W. W. FeredayThis world-wide ruin is mentioned twice in the ancient book of Job (Job 12:15; Job 22:16). The Son of God Himself solemnly confirmed it during His ministry, and so did the Spirit of God in the letters of Peter and to the Hebrews. It is sheer foolhardiness to doubt the fact.
Another writer applies these words to the flood. His point is that God was not simply running the ordinary laws of creation:
The Bible TreasuryIt was for God now to carry out His word of judgment: whether or not He caused His wind to blow, the waters flowed. It was no question of His ordinary regulation according to the laws He impressed on creation. His word is paramount. Man must learn that He is, and that He punishes, even in this world where He sees fit, the iniquity that goes too far. He is long-suffering, but He gave this early lesson to the ungodly, which they can only forget or deny at their peril.
Why Job Says It
Job is not preaching a sermon on providence for its own sake. He is pulling apart the idea that circumstances show where a person stands with God. Verse 15 is one item in a long list of reversals, and the list makes a single point:
William Kelly"He looses the bond of kings, and girds their loins with a girdle. He leads princes away spoiled, and overthrows the mighty... He increases the nations, and destroys them; he enlarges the nations, and narrows them again." There are all kinds of change. There is nothing, therefore, that shows the settled judgment of God. Everything among men keeps changing — a constant flow and change. So nothing could be more foolish than the basis of the three friends' attack on Job.
What Job Leaves Out
The argument is true as far as it goes. But a description of bare power is not a description of God, and one commentator marks the gap:
Samuel RidoutNo one, however exalted, can escape Him. ... He withholds water and a drought follows, or He releases it only to overwhelm in a flood. All — judges, kings, princes and priests — are held up to contempt by this Almighty One. Truly this is right, if they deserve it, but Job omits that side (vv. 14-21).
Summary
- One hand. Drought and flood are opposite ruins from the same hand — He holds the waters back, and He lets them go.
- No override. What that hand breaks, no one rebuilds; whom He shuts in, no one releases. People stand helpless, and God gives no explanation.
- A real event. This ancient book records a real flood. God's word, not the ordinary running of nature, drove those waters.
- No verdict readable. Everything among men keeps changing. So circumstances never show God's settled judgment, and the friends' case against Job falls apart.
- The missing half. Job's account of God's power is true but unfinished. The One who breaks down can also rebuild, and when judgment falls on those who deserve it, it is right.