Job 38

God Speaks Now to Job

1 Then the LORD ¹answered Job out of the whirlwind and said,

2 "Who is this that ²darkens counsel By words without knowledge?

3 "Now ³gird up your loins like a man, And ⁴I will ask you, and you instruct Me!

4 "Where were you ⁵when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding,

5 Who set its ⁶measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it?

6 "On what ⁷were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone *,

7 When the morning stars sang together And all the ⁸sons of God shouted for joy?

8 "Or who ⁹enclosed the sea with doors When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb;

9 When I made a cloud its garment And thick darkness its swaddling band,

10 And I ¹⁰placed boundaries on it And set a bolt and doors,

11 And I said, 'Thus far you shall come, but no farther; And here shall your proud waves stop '?

God's Mighty Power

12 "Have you ever * in your life * commanded the morning, And caused the dawn to know its place,

13 That it might take hold of ¹¹the ends of the earth, And ¹²the wicked be shaken out of it?

14 "It is changed like clay under the seal; And they stand forth like a garment.

15 "¹³From the wicked their light is withheld, And the ¹⁴uplifted arm is broken.

16 "Have you entered into ¹⁵the springs of the sea Or walked in the recesses of the deep?

17 "Have the gates of death been revealed to you, Or have you seen the gates of ¹⁶deep darkness?

18 "Have you understood the expanse of ¹⁷the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this.

19 "Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And darkness, where is its place,

20 That you may take it to ¹⁸its territory And that you may discern the paths to its home?

21 "You know, for ¹⁹you were born then, And the number of your days is great!

22 "Have you entered the storehouses ²⁰of the snow, Or have you seen the storehouses of the ²¹hail,

23 Which I have reserved for the time of distress, For the day of war and battle?

24 "Where is the way that ²²the light is divided, Or the east wind scattered on the earth?

25 "Who has cleft a channel for the flood, Or a way for the thunderbolt *,

26 To bring ²³rain on a land without people, On a desert without a man in it,

27 To ²⁴satisfy the waste and desolate land And to make the seeds of grass to sprout?

28 "Has ²⁵the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew?

29 "From whose womb has come the ²⁶ice? And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth?

30 "Water becomes hard like stone, And the surface of the deep is imprisoned.

31 "Can you bind the chains of the ²⁷Pleiades, Or loose the cords of Orion?

32 "Can you lead forth a constellation in its season, And guide the Bear with her satellites?

33 "Do you know the ²⁸ordinances of the heavens, Or fix their rule over the earth?

34 "Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, So that an ²⁹abundance of water will cover you?

35 "Can you ³⁰send forth lightnings that they may go And say to you, 'Here we are'?

36 "Who has ³¹put wisdom in the innermost being Or given ³²understanding to the mind?

37 "Who can count the clouds by wisdom, Or ³³tip the water jars of the heavens,

38 When the dust hardens into a mass And the clods stick together?

39 "Can you hunt the ³⁴prey for the lion, Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

40 When they ³⁵crouch in their dens And lie in wait in their lair?

41 "Who prepares for ³⁶the raven its nourishment When its young cry to God And wander about without food?

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Images for Job 38

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.

Taken from Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise)

Cross References 36

1. Job 40:6
2. Job 35:16; Job 42:3
3. Job 40:7
4. Job 42:4
5. Job 15:7; Psalms 104:5; Proverbs 8:29; Proverbs 30:4
6. Proverbs 8:29; Isaiah 40:12
7. Job 26:7
8. Job 1:6
9. Genesis 1:9; Psalms 104:6-9; Proverbs 8:29; Jeremiah 5:22
10. Genesis 1:9; Psalms 33:7; Psalms 104:9; Proverbs 8:29; Jeremiah 5:22
11. Job 28:24; Job 37:3
12. Job 34:25, 26; Job 36:6
13. Job 5:14
14. Numbers 15:30; Psalms 10:15; Psalms 37:17
15. Genesis 7:11; Genesis 8:2; Prov Genesis 8:24, 28
16. Job 10:21; Job 26:6; Job 34:22
17. Job 28:24
18. Job 26:10
19. Job 15:7
20. Job 37:6
21. Exodus 9:18; Joshua 10:11; Isaiah 30:30; Ezekiel 13:11, 13; Revelation 16:21
22. Job 26:10
23. Job 36:27
24. Psalms 104:13, 14; Psalms 107:35
25. Job 36:27, 28; Psalms 147:8; Jeremiah 14:22
26. Job 37:10; Psalms 147:17
27. Job 9:9; Amos 5:8
28. Psalms 148:6; Jeremiah 31:35, 36
29. Job 22:11; Job 36:27, 28; Job 38:37
30. Job 36:32; Job 37:3
31. Job 9:4; Psalms 51:6; Ecclesiastes 2:26
32. Job 32:8
33. Job 38:34
34. Psalms 104:21
35. Job 37:8
36. Psalms 147:9; Matthew 6:26; Luke 12:24

Footnotes 12

[a]. Lit "know understanding"
[b]. Lit "broke My decree on it"
[c]. Lit "from your days"
[d]. Or "in search of"
[e]. Or "width"
[f]. Lit "house"
[g]. Lit "man"
[h]. Or "growth"
[i]. Lit "hides itself"
[j]. Heb "Mazzaroth"
[k]. Lit "sons"
[l]. Or "rooster"

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.