Job 37:3

3 Under the whole heaven he lets it loose, and his lightning to the corners of the earth.

Job 37:3 Meaning and Commentary

Job 37:3

He directeth it under the whole heaven
His voice of thunder, which rolls from one end of the heaven to the other: he charges the clouds with it, and directs both it and them where they shall go and discharge; what tree, house, or man, it shall strike; and where the rain shall fall when the clouds burst: yet Pliny F24 atheistically calls thunder and lightning chance matters. Thus the ministers of the word, who are compared to clouds, ( Isaiah 5:6 ) , are charged with it by the Lord: they are directed by him what they shall say, where they shall go and declare it, and he directs where it shall fall with power and weight; yea, he directs it into the very hearts of men, where it pierces and penetrates, and is a discerner and discoverer of their thoughts and intents;

and his lightning unto the ends of the earth:
it cometh out of the east, and shineth to the west, ( Matthew 24:27 ) ; and swiftly move to the further parts of the earth: and such a direction, motion, and extent, has the Gospel had; the glorious light of it, comparable to lightning, it first broke forth in the east, where Christ, his forerunner and his disciples, first preached it, and Christian churches were formed; and from thence it spread into the western parts of the world, and before the destruction of Jerusalem it was preached unto all nations; it had a free course, ran, and was glorified; the sound of the voice of it went into all the earth, and the words and doctrines of the apostles unto the ends of the world.


FOOTNOTES:

F24 Nat. Hist. l. 2. c. 43.

Job 37:3 In-Context

1 "At this also my heart trembles, and leaps out of its place.
2 Listen, listen to the thunder of his voice and the rumbling that comes from his mouth.
3 Under the whole heaven he lets it loose, and his lightning to the corners of the earth.
4 After it his voice roars; he thunders with his majestic voice and he does not restrain the lightnings when his voice is heard.
5 God thunders wondrously with his voice; he does great things that we cannot comprehend.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.