that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?
Out of the storm, God asks Job whether he has ever ordered a sunrise, sent its light to the far edges of the earth, and shaken the wicked off the ground. The question is not astronomy but a test: if Job cannot govern one daybreak, how can he judge the One who governs them all?
The Question Put to Job
Job had been demanding an explanation from God. God answers by asking who runs the daybreak.
Leslie M. GrantDid 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.
Dawn Reaching the Edges of the Earth
First light spreads until it grips the far rim of the world — the "skirts", or ends, of the earth. With light comes a plain effect on how people behave.
William Kelly"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.
Light That Exposes
Nothing changes shape at sunrise; only what can be seen changes. The next verse compares this to soft clay taking the mark of a seal.
Samuel RidoutAs 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.
A Picture of a Coming Day
Commentators also read this sunrise as the preview of a far larger daybreak.
Leslie M. GrantVerse 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.
How the Daylight Shapes a Life
The light that exposes evil also shapes how God's people live now, and where they will live at last.
Samuel RidoutSo 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."
Hope Hidden in the Question
The question that silences Job also carries a promise. The God who never fails to bring a morning has one for him too.
Samuel RidoutThis 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?
Summary
- Whose morning — Job wanted his darkness to end, but he could not command a single sunrise; only God causes the dawn to know its place.
- What light does — daybreak changes nothing on the ground. It stamps the earth like a seal on clay, so everything stands out as it is.
- Why the wicked scatter — night covers murder, theft and crooked dealing. When light takes hold of the earth's far edges, the raised arm is broken.
- The larger dawn — the same pattern points ahead to a day when the Sun of righteousness rises, exposes evil and shakes the wicked out of the earth.
- The believer's answer — children of the day live by the light now. They are heading for a land where night never falls and the Lamb is its lamp.