Job 38

1 Then out of the storm the Lord spoke to Job.

2 Who are you to question my wisdom with your ignorant, empty words?

3 Now stand up straight and answer the questions I ask you.

4 Were you there when I made the world? If you know so much, tell me about it.

5 Who decided how large it would be? Who stretched the measuring line over it? Do you know all the answers?

6 What holds up the pillars that support the earth? Who laid the cornerstone of the world?

7 In the dawn of that day the stars sang together, ¹ and the heavenly beings shouted for joy.

8 Who closed the gates to hold back the sea ² when it burst from the womb of the earth?

9 It was I who covered the sea with clouds and wrapped it in darkness.

10 I marked a boundary for the sea and kept it behind bolted gates.

11 I told it, "So far and no farther! Here your powerful waves must stop."

12 Job, have you ever in all your life commanded a day to dawn?

13 Have you ordered the dawn to seize the earth and shake the wicked from their hiding places?

14 Daylight makes the hills and valleys stand out like the folds of a garment, clear as the imprint of a seal on clay.

15 The light of day is too bright for the wicked and restrains them from doing violence.

16 Have you been to the springs in the depths of the sea? Have you walked on the floor of the ocean?

17 Has anyone ever shown you the gates that guard the dark world of the dead?

18 Have you any idea how big the world is? Answer me if you know.

19 Do you know where the light comes from or what the source of darkness is?

20 Can you show them how far to go, or send them back again?

21 I am sure you can, because you're so old and were there when the world was made!

22 Have you ever visited the storerooms, where I keep the snow and the hail?

23 I keep them ready for times of trouble, for days of battle and war.

24 Have you been to the place where the sun comes up, or the place from which the east wind blows?

25 Who dug a channel for the pouring rain and cleared the way for the thunderstorm?

26 Who makes rain fall where no one lives?

27 Who waters the dry and thirsty land, so that grass springs up?

28 Does either the rain or the dew have a father?

29 Who is the mother of the ice and the frost,

30 which turn the waters to stone and freeze the face of the sea?

31 Can you tie the Pleiades together ³ or loosen the bonds that hold Orion?

32 Can you guide the stars season by season and direct the Big and the Little Dipper?

33 Do you know the laws that govern the skies, and can you make them apply to the earth?

34 Can you shout orders to the clouds and make them drench you with rain?

35 And if you command the lightning to flash, will it come to you and say, "At your service"?

36 Who tells the ibis when the Nile will flood, or who tells the rooster that rain will fall?

37 Who is wise enough to count the clouds and tilt them over to pour out the rain,

38 rain that hardens the dust into lumps?

39 Do you find food for lions to eat, and satisfy hungry young lions

40 when they hide in their caves, or lie in wait in their dens?

41 Who is it that feeds the ravens when they wander about hungry, when their young cry to me for food?

Job 38 Commentary

Chapter 38

God calls upon Job to answer. (1-3) God questions Job. (4-11) Concerning the light and darkness. (12-24) Concerning other mighty works. (25-41)

Verses 1-3 Job had silenced, but had not convinced his friends. Elihu had silenced Job, but had not brought him to admit his guilt before God. It pleased the Lord to interpose. The Lord, in this discourse, humbles Job, and brings him to repent of his passionate expressions concerning God's providential dealings with him; and this he does, by calling upon Job to compare God's being from everlasting to everlasting, with his own time; God's knowledge of all things, with his own ignorance; and God's almighty power, with his own weakness. Our darkening the counsels of God's wisdom with our folly, is a great provocation to God. Humble faith and sincere obedience see farthest and best into the will of the Lord.

Verses 4-11 For the humbling of Job, God here shows him his ignorance, even concerning the earth and the sea. As we cannot find fault with God's work, so we need not fear concerning it. The works of his providence, as well as the work of creation, never can be broken; and the work of redemption is no less firm, of which Christ himself is both the Foundation and the Corner-stone. The church stands as firm as the earth.

Verses 12-24 The Lord questions Job, to convince him of his ignorance, and shame him for his folly in prescribing to God. If we thus try ourselves, we shall soon be brought to own that what we know is nothing in comparison with what we know not. By the tender mercy of our God, the Day-spring from on high has visited us, to give light to those that sit in darkness, whose hearts are ( 2 Corinthians. 4:6 ) government of the world is said to be in the sea; this means, that it is hid from us. Let us make sure that the gates of heaven shall be opened to us on the other side of death, and then we need not fear the opening of the gates of death. It is presumptuous for us, who perceive not the breadth of the earth, to dive into the depth of God's counsels. We should neither in the brightest noon count upon perpetual day, nor in the darkest midnight despair of the return of the morning; and this applies to our inward as well as to our outward condition. What folly it is to strive against God! How much is it our interest to seek peace with him, and to keep in his love!

Verses 25-41 Hitherto God had put questions to Job to show him his ignorance; now God shows his weakness. As it is but little that he knows, he ought not to arraign the Divine counsels; it is but little he can do, therefore he ought not to oppose the ways of Providence. See the all-sufficiency of the Divine Providence; it has wherewithal to satisfy the desire of every living thing. And he that takes care of the young ravens, certainly will not be wanting to his people. This being but one instance of the Divine compassion out of many, gives us occasion to think how much good our God does, every day, beyond what we are aware of. Every view we take of his infinite perfections, should remind us of his right to our love, the evil of sinning against him, and our need of his mercy and salvation.

Cross References

• 1. +238.7Baruch 3.34.
• 2. 38.8-11Jeremiah 5.22.
• 3. 38.31Job 9.9;Amos 5.8.

Footnotes

• [a]. heavenly beings: [See 1.6.]
• [b]. to hold back the sea: [See 26.12.]
• [c]. ibis: [A bird in ancient Egypt that was believed to announce the flooding of the Nile River.]
• [d]. [Verse 36 in Hebrew is unclear.]

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO JOB 38

In this chapter the Lord takes up the controversy with Job; calls upon him to prepare to engage with him in it, and demands an answer to posing questions he puts to him, concerning the earth and the fabric of it, Job 38:1-7; concerning the sea, compared to an infant in embryo, at its birth, in its swaddling bands and cradle, Job 38:8-11; concerning the morning light, its spread and influence, Job 38:12-15; concerning the springs of the sea, the dark parts of the earth, the place both of light and darkness, Job 38:16-21; concerning the various meteors, snow, hail, rain, thunder, lightning, and the influences of the stars, Job 38:22-38; and concerning provision for lions and ravens, Job 38:40,41.