Job 38:1-38

V. THE LORD'S TESTIMONY TO JOB AND CONTROVERSY WITH Him

CHAPTER 38:1-38

1. The Lord speaks to Job (Job 38:1)

2. The questions of the Lord (Job 38:4)

Job 38:1. The voice of man is hushed; the voice of the Lord begins to speak. The Almighty, the Creator, the Lord of All comes now upon the scene. He too, like Elihu, had been the silent listener; He heard Job's complaint and wailing and the babblings of his friends. Elihu's wonderful utterance, inspired by the Lord, was ended. The thunderstorm is on, no doubt a literal storm, the dark clouds gather--

Then from the North there comes a golden light.

God appears in wondrous Majesty (Job 37:22).

The golden light of God's own presence and glory overshadows the scene. Out of the whirlwind His own voice is heard. It is that voice which David in the “thunderstorm-Psalm” (Psalms 29:1) so wonderfully describes. The voice which is upon the waters--full of majesty, the voice which breaketh the cedars; the voice which divideth the flames of fire. When David thus extolled the voice of the Lord, he shows the demands of that voice. “Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength. Give unto the LORD the Glory due unto His Name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.” And that voice, though terrible in majesty, will bring peace. “The LORD will bless His people with peace.” What a scene it must have been there in the land of Uz, when the voice of the LORD spoke out of the whirlwind! We can imagine how good Elihu stepped aside and covered his face. And Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar, terror-stricken, fell on their faces in the dust, while silent Job, awe-struck, dares not to look up. And what He speaks is for the one great purpose to humble Job, to bring him in the dust.

Job's last utterance was this: “Oh, that the Almighty would answer me” (31:35). He answers him now. “Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?” What a blunder expositors have made of speaking of Elihu's gentle words, and true words, as “a harsh judgment” and that God rebukes him in this verse. No; God does not rebuke Elihu who had exalted His Name and His works. He rebukes Job. He had darkened counsel by the multitude of his senseless words. God answers Job. He is going to ask him questions.

Job 38:4. If we were to examine these questions minutely, which the compass of our work does not allow, we would have to write many pages. There are 40 questions which the Lord asks of Job, His creature, concerning His own works in creation. They relate to the earth and its foundations upon which all rests. the bounds of the sea--

When I decreed for it My boundary

And set its bars and doors and to it said,

Thus far-no farther, ocean, thou shalt come:

And here shall thy proud waves be stayed.

He asks about the morning light and the unknown depths, the unexplored depths of the sea, with their hidden secrets, and the gates of death. He questions as to the elements, the treasuries of the snow, the storehouse of hail, the rain, the winds and the ice--

Whose is the womb whence cometh forth the ice?

And heaven's hoar-frost, who gave it its birth?

As turned to stone, the waters hide themselves;

The surface of the deep, congeal'd, coheres.

And what about the things above, the stars and their wonderful constellations?

Canst thou bind fast the cluster Pleiades?

Or canst thou loosen great Orion's bands?

Canst thou lead forth the Zodiac's monthly signs?

Or canst thou guide Arcturus and his sons?

And then the rain clouds, the lightnings and their control. What questions these are. They cover every department of what man terms “natural sciences”--geology, meteorology, geography, oceanography, astronomy, etc. Job had not a single answer to these questions and if he had spoken his words would have been folly. And we, 3000 years or more after, with all our boasted progress, scientific discoveries of the great laws of nature, are still unable to answer these questions in a satisfactory way. All the boastings of science of getting at the secrets of creation are nothing but foam. One breath of the Almighty and man's speculations, apart from Him and His Word, are scattered to the winds. But what is the aim of the Lord in putting these questions? To show that God is greater than man and to humble man, to bring Job to the needed true knowledge of himself and to deliver him from the pride of his heart.