Job 38:1-21
1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said:
2 "Who is this who darkens counsel
By words without knowledge?
3 Now prepare yourself like a man;
I will question you, and you shall answer Me.
4 "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell Me, if you have understanding.
5 Who determined its measurements?
Surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
6 To what were its foundations fastened?
Or who laid its cornerstone,
7 When the morning stars sang together,
And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8 "Or who shut in the sea with doors,
When it burst forth and issued from the womb;
9 When I made the clouds its garment,
And thick darkness its swaddling band;
10 When I fixed My limit for it,
And set bars and doors;
11 When I said,
'This far you may come, but no farther,
And here your proud waves must stop!'
12 "Have you commanded the morning since your days began,
And caused the dawn to know its place,
13 That it might take hold of the ends of the earth,
And the wicked be shaken out of it?
14 It takes on form like clay under a seal,
And stands out like a garment.
15 From the wicked their light is withheld,
And the upraised arm is broken.
16 "Have you entered the springs of the sea?
Or have you walked in search of the depths?
17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you?
Or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death?
18 Have you comprehended the breadth of the 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 its territory,
That you may know the paths to its home?
21 Do you know it, because you were born then,
Or because the number of your days is great?
After first letting Job know that empty words only hide good counsel, the LORD God questions Job and expects his answers in return. He sets the foundation with His work and power of creation as in Genesis 1:1–10, and His omnipotence. God asks where His servant was when He created the universe and the world beneath Job’s feet, asking him to measure the earth and tell its creator exactly how big it is. Only the designer knows it’s foundations and anchor points of gravity and centrifugal force as it hurls around the sun. God created and anchored it in place as the angels sang joyful praises to honor His work. Job was not there; what could he then know of any of God’s ways or judgments? God created clouds and rain, setting limits to form sea borders, telling the waves at the shores to go that far and no further, limiting their prideful attempts to overrun the land. This is as an analogy of the limits we all have to set boundaries on our pride as well. God alone spoke and the sunrise and sunset times were established. He asked if Job did that. Of course he could only humbly answer that he did not and could not. God shakes out the wicked day by day in His time according to His will. He holds back the light from the evildoers to demonstrate their end is darkness. God asked if Job found out the measurements of the depth of the sea, or the place of death’s entrance, or the size of the earth. These things the creator alone knows until He reveals it to us by enabling us to find out His blueprints of creation. Job certainly could not do it then. God asked if Job knew the physics of light and darkness, things which are largely theoretical to this day in the precise nature of photons and their makeup. We still try to understand the creation as if to outthink God. Job was not present at the instantiation of light and darkness as in Genesis 1:3-4, because he was not that old as God pointed out, but also because it was made before mankind. In other words, God knows best and Job should have humbled himself instead of thinking he knew what God was doing with his suffering. Job had been ascribing the reasoning and purpose of God’s working without knowing what was really happening. We have this same sinful trait, judging His judgment and claiming we know His timetable for the end times, the reasons we suffer, and our blaming Him when things go unpleasantly for us. We need to hear God speaking of His omnipotence and understand that we know only what is revealed; we are to act on what we know and not speculate further (Deuteronomy 29:29), letting our pride settle with the understanding He gives day by day as we walk by faith (Philippians 3:15-16, 1 Corinthians 4:5). And we can learn of God’s mercy and compassion for us as Job did (James 5:11) as we patiently endure our own suffering.
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