Job was sure that his speeches had been filled with wisdom and knowledge, but God’s first question put an end to that delusion: “Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?” (Job 38: niv). The Living Bible paraphrases it, “Why are you using your ignorance to deny my providence?” God didn’t question Job’s integrity or sincerity; He only questioned Job’s ability to explain the ways of God in the world. Job had spoken the truth about God (42:7), but his speeches had lacked humility. Job thought he knew about God, but he didn’t realize how much he didn’t know about God. Knowledge of our own ignorance is the first step toward true wisdom.
God began with the creation of the earth (38:4–7) and compared Himself to a builder who surveys the site, marks off the dimensions, pours the footings, lays the cornerstone, and erects the structure. Creation was so wonderful that the stars sang in chorus and the angels (1:6; 2:1) shouted for joy, but Job wasn’t on the scene! How, then, can he claim to know so much about the works of God?
From the beginning, God planned His creation to be a garden of joyful beauty; but sin has turned creation into a battlefield of ugliness and misery. Man in his selfishness is wasting natural resources, polluting land, air, water, and outer space, and so ravaging God’s creation that scientists wonder how long our planet will support life as we know it. Mahatma Gandhi was right: “There is a sufficiency in the world for man’s need but not for man’s greed.”
The Lord then moved to a consideration of the seas (38:8–11). The image here is not building but birth: The seas were “knit together” in secret (v. 8; see Ps. 139:13) and then burst forth like a baby emerging from the womb. They were clothed with clouds and darkness, and their limits were set by God. “Who did all of this?” asked God of Job, and Job knew the answer.
The next aspect of creation that God mentioned was the sun (Job 38:12–15). Here God pictured Himself as a general commanding His troops (the heavenly host). Had Job ever told the sun to rise and dispel the darkness? As the light spreads across the world, it reveals the details of the landscape, like the impression of a seal on clay or the unfolding of a beautiful garment taken out of a dark closet. But the light also puts an end to the evil deeds done in the darkness (John 3:19–21) and stops the criminal from attacking his victim.
The next eleven questions (Job 38:16–24) relate to the vast dimensions of creation. The average child today knows more about the heights and depths of the universe than Job and his friends could ever have imagined. Had Job ever taken a walk in the depths of the sea and visited “the gates of Sheol”? Did he know how far down he had to go to find the ocean’s floor? (The greatest depth measured so far is in the Pacific Ocean—35,810 feet or 6. miles.) And as for the reaches of space, Voyager 2 spent twelve years going 4. billion miles, and in 1989 passed within 3,000 miles of Neptune’s cloudbank!
In verses 19–21, God asked Job if he could calculate the reaches of east and west, or if the horizons were too much for him to measure. Then God inquired if Job understood the heights where the snow and hail were stored until God needed them (vv. 22–23; Ex. 9:18–26; Josh. 10:11) or the places where God kept His lightning and winds (Job 38:24). To be sure, God’s words are full of irony; but that’s what Job needed to puncture his pride and bring him to his knees in repentance.
How much did Job know about the rain (vv. 25–28)? Did he know how to plot its course so that it would accomplish God’s purposes? Could he tell the lightning where and when to flash? Was he able to “father” rain and dew so that the land would have the water that it needed? Can he explain why God sends rain to the places where nobody lives? Then God turned from the spring and autumn rains to the winter hail and frost (vv. 29–30). If Job didn’t know how the rain was “fathered,” did he understand how the ice was “born”?
By this time, Job was probably wishing for a reprieve; but the Lord kept right on. He centered Job’s attention on the heavens—the Pleiades, Orion the hunter, the various constellations (“Mazzaroth,” kjv), and the Bear (“Arcturus” with his cubs). Did Job understand the laws that governed their movements, and could he control these stars and planets and make them appear in their proper seasons? Man may study the heavens, but he can’t control them.
The question “Canst thou set its dominion in the earth?” (v. 33) is translated in the NASB, “Or fix their rule over the earth?” The NIV reads, “Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth?” and The Living Bible says, “Do you know … how the heavens influence the earth?” Is there a suggestion here that the stars and planets have a direct influence over events on earth as the advocates of astrology maintain? Not at all. The statement can be paraphrased: “Job, if you understand so much about the heavenly bodies that are thought by some to affect the earth, then why don’t you use that authority to change your situation?” The Lord was speaking with “holy sarcasm” and not revealing some profound truth.
In verses 34–38, the Lord called Job’s attention to the clouds. Since Job knew the laws of the heavens, could he order the clouds to give rain? Was the lightning his servant, reporting for duty? Could Job take inventory of the clouds and “tip them over” like jars to make the rain come?
Creating all these things is one thing; maintaining them for man’s good is quite something else. The Lord moved next into a series of questions about His providential working in the world. He moved from the inanimate world to the animate.