Job 38

CHAPTER 38

The Lord Speaks (38:1–41)

1–3 After Elihu had finished, the LORD⁷⁵ then spoke to Job. The Lord first rebuked Job for “darkening” or obscuring His counsel with words without knowledge (verse 2). God was criticizing Job for arguing with Him and for rashly implying that God had treated him unjustly. Job had said: “...let the Almighty answer me” (Job 31:35). Job now is about to receive God's answer!

The Lord's answer comes in the form of a series of questions that for Job (or for any human) are unanswerable. The questions are not designed to humiliate Job but to open his eyes to the wonder and mystery of God's activities in the universe. God does not give Job answers and explanations; rather, He reveals to Job who He is. Job never learns the reason for his suffering. God neither condemns him nor acquits him. What Job learns from God in Chapters 38–41 is that God is the all-good, all-knowing, all-powerful Creator of the universe—and that He cares enough for Job to come and speak with him. Job learns that he can place his faith in such a God—even without getting answers from Him. In the end, Job realizes that God is his Friend after all. And God will demonstrate His friendship for Job by restoring to him all that he has lost (Job 42:10–17). The restoring of Job's prosperity will be the vindication Job has so earnestly sought for.

We need to reflect on why God did not explain to Job the reason for his suffering. First, Job was not meant to know; if he had known, the whole point of his suffering would have been negated. It was because Job held fast to God—in spite of not knowing, in spite of feeling God had deserted him—that his faith was proven true and Satan's accusations were proven false (Job 1:9–11; 2:4–5). And so it is with us: whenever we face suffering, we must cling to God without expecting answers;⁷⁶ and God will bring us through to the other side, and Satan will be defeated.

4–7 God, through His questions, takes Job on a figurative journey through the universe. As Job listens to God speak, he becomes more and more aware of how little he knows. Today, more than three millennia later, we know much more about the universe than Job did; yet even our knowledge is tiny compared with what is still unknown. Let us then join Job on his tour of the universe, and with Job let us learn to stand in awe of its Creator.

In verses 4–7, God asks Job where he was when the earth was created. God portrays the earth as a “building” with a foundation and cornerstone (verses 4,6). God's point, of course, is that Job was not there when the earth was created, so how could he possibly understand how God did it. Even the angels couldn't explain it; all they could do was to “shout for joy” (verse 7).

8–11 Here the formation of the sea is pictured as an infant bursting forth from the womb (verse 8). Simply by speaking, God set the boundaries of the earth's waters (verse 11). Jesus, the Son of God, also controlled the sea by speaking to it (Mark 4:35–41).

12–15 Here, in figurative language, the morning and the dawn are personified; they come and expose the wicked who have been at work during the darkness of night, and they shake the wicked out of the earth (verses 12–13). Has Job ever shown the morning and dawn what to do? Of course not.

16–18 Here God asks Job if he has ever been to the bottom of the sea or to the abode of the dead. Can he comprehend the vast expanses of the earth? (verse 18). The answer is “No.” These places are all beyond Job's experience.

19–21 Here light and darkness are personified; can Job take them to their places? (verses 19–20). In contending with God earlier, Job had at times talked as if he were equal to God—as if he had been present at the world's creation. Surely Job must know these things! Here God is using irony to show Job how wrong his attitude had been.

22–30 Next God questions Job about the origin of snow, hail,⁷⁷ lightning, wind and rain. Does Job know where they come from or how to control them?

31–33 Does Job know how to move the stars in their courses?⁷⁸ Does he know the laws of the heavens? (verse 33). Through all this questioning, Job is being reminded that this is God's universe, and that God's creation is wonderfully diverse and complex, but at the same time orderly and stable.

Notice in verses 25–27 that God does many things that are not directly related to mankind. Though human beings are the highest stage of God's known creation, they are not the center of His universe. God is the “center,” and Job (and we) must always remember it.

34–38 Only God has the wisdom and power to control and maintain His universe. Certainly Job is not able to do it!

39–41 Up until now, God has been speaking of the inanimate universe; now He begins citing the animate creation to show how He cares for the animal world.

In these verses, God mentions lions and the raven. Does Job provide for them? No, God does. Job provide for them? No, God does. God cares not jut for humans, but for every living creature (Matthew 6:26; 10:29).