Job 38:38

"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).