Job 38:1 - Meaning and Application

Let us notice here, first, who speaks. It is the Lord, Jehovah, not a created angel, but the eternal Word himself, the second person of the blessed Trinity, because it was through him that the worlds were made, and that was none other than the Son of God. The same one who speaks here also spoke later from Mount Sinai. Here he begins with creation, there with Israel’s rescue from Egypt, and from both comes the duty of submitting to him.

Elihu had said that God speaks to people, and they do not notice it (Job 33:14). But this time they could not miss it, and we have a still surer word of prophecy (2 Peter 1:19). Second, we notice when he spoke. It was then, when all had said their piece and still had not won their case. Then it was time for God to step in, because his judgment is always true.

When we do not know who is right, and maybe are even unsure about ourselves, this can still comfort us, God will decide soon in the valley of decision (Joel 3:14). Job had silenced his three friends, but could not prove his innocence in the main matter. Elihu had silenced Job, but could not bring him to admit his wrong way of arguing. Now God comes and does both. He first convicts Job of speaking too boldly, and Job must say, "I have done wrong." Then, after humbling him, God honors him by showing that his three friends had treated him unfairly.

God still does these two things for his people. He shows them their faults, so they can be ashamed of them. He also shows others their righteousness and brings it out like the light, so they may be ashamed of their unfair judgments. Third, we notice how he spoke, out of the whirlwind, that rolling and clouded storm Elihu had just described (Job 37:1, Job 37:2, Job 37:9). A whirlwind also came before Ezekiel’s vision (Ezekiel 1:4) and Elijah’s vision (1 Kings 19:11). God is said to have his way in the whirlwind (Nahum 1:3), and here he used it as the vehicle for his word, showing that even the stormy wind obeys him.

This also shows how powerful God’s voice is. It was not drowned out, but could be heard clearly even in the noise of the storm. In this way God meant to startle Job and call him to attention. Sometimes God answers his own people with severe correction, as from the whirlwind, but always in righteousness. Fourth, we notice to whom he spoke. He answered Job and directed his speech to him, first to show him what was wrong, before clearing him from the false charges against him. Only God can truly convict a person of sin, and those he plans to raise up must first be humbled.

Those who long to hear from God, as Job did, will surely hear from him in time. Fifth, we notice what he said. It is likely that Elihu, or someone else listening, wrote down the words exactly as they were spoken out of the whirlwind, for we read that when the thunder spoke, John was ready to write (Revelation 10:4). Or, if it was not written down then, the writer of this book was inspired by the Holy Spirit, so we can be sure this is a true and exact account. As Christ said, the Spirit would bring things to remembrance, and here he did that.

The opening words are very searching. God charges Job with ignorance and boldness in what he had said (Job 38:2). "Who is this that talks like this?" Is it Job? What, a man? Shall such a weak, foolish, and small creature try to tell God what he must do, or argue with him about what he has done? Is it Job? What, my servant Job, a man known as blameless and upright? Can he forget himself this far and act unlike himself? Who is this that darkens counsel with words without knowledge? Let him step forward if he dares and stand by what he has said.

It is a serious offense to cloud God’s wise plans with our own foolish speech. About God’s purposes we must admit that we do not know enough. They are too deep for us to measure. We are completely out of place when we try to explain them as though we understood them. Yet we are often too ready to speak about them with confidence and care, but all we really do is make things darker. We confuse ourselves and each other when we debate the order of God’s decrees, and the purposes, reasons, and ways of his work in providence and grace. Simple faith and honest obedience see farther into the secret things of the Lord than all the philosophy of the schools and the claims of so-called science.

This first word from God matters even more because Job later fastens on it in his repentance, and it is what silenced and humbled him (Job 42:3). He repeats it as the arrow that stayed lodged in him, "I am the fool who has darkened counsel." It might have seemed possible to turn this rebuke toward Elihu, since he spoke last and was still speaking when the whirlwind began. But Job applied it to himself, and that is how we should respond to faithful correction, instead of passing it off onto other people.

God then challenges Job to give the kind of proof that would justify his questioning of the divine counsels (Job 38:3). "Gird up now your loins like a strong man. Get ready for the contest. I will ask you questions, and you answer me if you can, before I answer yours." Those who try to call God to account must expect to be questioned themselves, so they may see their own ignorance and pride. God reminds Job of his own words, "Call and I will answer" (Job 13:22). Now God says, "Make your words good."