Under the whole heaven he lets it go, and his lightning to the corners of the earth.
A storm is breaking overhead as Elihu speaks. He reads it aloud as the voice and hand of God. The thunder rolls out under the whole sky, and the flash reaches the farthest edge of the earth. So one question presses on Job. What should a man do when the God who aims lightning across the world also has His hand in the storm of his own life?
A storm preached in real time
Commentators note how immediate the description is, as though Elihu is watching the sky as he talks.
William KellyThere is every reason to connect Job 37 with what goes before, not to separate it. "At this also my heart trembles and leaps out of its place." And what could be finer than the description of the thunder and lightning that follows? It is so vivid that quite a few think Elihu sees a storm in progress, with its roar and rumble, followed by snow or rain falling in varying amounts. What can man do, faced with God's awe-inspiring voice, but seek to learn?
The reach of the flash
The verse traces the path of the flash: God lets it go under the whole heaven, out to the corners of the earth. One writer follows the storm from the trembling of verse 1 to this sweep of light. Then he turns it back on Job's own experience.
Leslie M. GrantAs the storm breaks upon them, Elihu himself trembles (v. 1). The thunder of God's voice calls for man's close attention. His lightning spreads over the whole visible area (vv. 2-3)… Here before Job's eyes was an object lesson about the spiritual storm he had been through. He certainly could not stop the storm, yet God would allow it only for a time. He knows how to make the storm a calm (Ps. 107:29), as the Lord Jesus did when His disciples were torn with fear (Mark 4:38-39).
Chosen on purpose: what man cannot touch
Elihu picks the parts of the world that no human hand has ever reached.
F. B. HoleHaving warned Job in this way, Elihu turned again to the greatness of God as seen in creation. The rest of his speech stays on this theme. Above all he thought about the Creator's control over what no man can control: the clouds, the winds, the thunder, the lightning, the rain, the snow, the frost. As these things came into his mind, he had to admit that his heart trembled and was deeply moved.
From the weather to the argument
Kelly reads the storm as an argument, not just a scene.
William KellyHe shows the absolute sovereignty of God. And if that is true about natural things, is it not still more necessary in spiritual things?
Power that is going somewhere good
Ridout holds two things together here: how small man is, and how kind God's rule is.
Samuel RidoutHe carries on his thought from the previous section about God's uprightness. He rises quickly into the heavens and there sees Him in the clouds, the rain, the lightning and the storm. These show the wisdom and goodness of God… In all of it we see the almighty power and majesty of God, and man's feebleness. Yet all of it serves the purposes of wise government in mercy and blessing. Let Job think it all over: is he like God?
What Elihu asks of Job
Ridout sets the storm overhead beside the storm in Job's life. He calls for the same response to both.
Samuel RidoutThe storm is upon them now, and Elihu trembles. He calls on Job to hear God's voice in it all. And may we not well believe that Job is to hear His voice in the storm of sorrow that has fallen on him too? Blow upon blow it has come — the sharp lightning stroke of affliction, the awful thunder of God's chastening. God has been doing marvellous things, things beyond our understanding, but it is God. "Be still, and know that I am God."
Summary
- His storm. The thunder and lightning here read like a storm breaking as Elihu speaks. God preaches a sermon in the sky, and men are meant to listen.
- His control. Elihu points to clouds, wind, thunder, lightning, rain, snow and frost. No man controls any of them, and he admits his own heart trembled at them.
- His reach. The flash goes out under the whole heaven to the corners of the earth. Kelly calls this absolute sovereignty in natural things — and all the more in spiritual ones.
- His purpose. The display shows almighty power and man's weakness. Yet all of it serves God's wise government in mercy and blessing.
- His voice to you. Elihu calls Job to hear God in the storm above him and in the storm of sorrow around him. The God who does great things beyond understanding also knows how to turn a storm into calm.