Job 38

1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm.

2 "Who is this that belittles my advice with words that do not show any knowledge [about it]?

3 Brace yourself like a man! I will ask you, and you will teach me.

4 "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me if you have [such] insight.

5 Who determined its dimensions? Certainly, you know! Who stretched a measuring line over it?

6 On what were its footings sunk? Who laid its cornerstone

7 when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

8 "Who shut the sea behind gates when it burst through and came out of the womb,

9 when I clothed it with clouds and wrapped it up in dark clouds,

10 when I set a limit for it and put up bars and gates,

11 when I said, 'You may come this far but no farther. Here your proud waves will stop'?

12 "Have you ever given orders to the morning or assigned a place for the dawn

13 so that it could grab the earth by its edges and shake wicked people out of it?

14 The earth changes like clay stamped by a seal, and [parts of it] stand out like [folds in] clothing.

15 Wicked people are deprived of their light, and an arm raised [in victory] is broken.

16 Have you gone to the springs in the sea or walked through the valleys of the ocean depths?

17 Have the gateways to death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gateways to total darkness?

18 Have you [even] considered how wide the earth is? Tell me, if you know all of this!

19 "What is the way to the place where light lives? Where is the home of darkness

20 so that you may lead it to its territory, so that you may know the path to its home?

21 You must know because you were born then and have lived such a long time!

22 Have you been to the warehouses where snow is stored or seen the warehouses for hail

23 that I have stored up for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war?

24 Which is the way to the place where light is scattered and the east wind is spread across the earth?

25 "Who made a channel for the flooding rains and a path for the thunderstorms

26 to bring rain on a land where no one lives, on a desert where there are no humans,

27 to saturate the desolate wasteland in order to make it sprout with grass?

28 Does the rain have a father? Who gave birth to the dewdrops?

29 From whose womb came the ice, and who has given birth to the frost in the air?

30 The water hardens like a stone, and the surface of the ocean freezes over.

31 "Can you connect the chains of the [constellation] Pleiades or untie the ropes of Orion?

32 Can you bring out the constellations at the right time or guide Ursa Major with its cubs?

33 Do you know the laws of the sky or make them rule the earth?

34 Can you call to the clouds and have a flood of water cover you?

35 Can you send lightning flashes so that they may go and say to you, 'Here we are'?

36 Who put wisdom in the heart or gave understanding to the mind?

37 Who is wise enough to count the clouds or pour out the water jars of heaven

38 when the dirt hardens into clumps and the soil clings together?

39 "Can you hunt prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of her cubs

40 as they crouch in their dens and lie ready to ambush from their lairs?

41 "Who provides food for the crow when its young ones cry to God and wander around in need of 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.

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.