Job 38:25 - Meaning and Application

Up to now, God has asked Job questions meant to show his lack of knowledge and how limited his view is. Now God goes on in the same way to show Job his weakness and inability. Since Job knows so little, he should not judge God’s plans. Since he can do so little, he should not oppose what God’s providence, his wise rule over all things, is doing.

Let Job think about the great things God does and see whether he can do the same. Is he really God’s equal? God has thunder, lightning, rain, and frost under his command, but Job does not. So Job should not compare himself with God or argue against him. Weather is one of the clearest things we cannot control. It comes as God chooses, not as we choose, unless we learn to want what pleases God.

God shows his greatness in several ways here. First, he rules over the waters and has set their path, even when they seem wild and beyond control (Job 38:25). He has made a channel for the rain and directs where it falls, even in the middle of a heavy storm, as surely as if it flowed through pipes or canals. Scripture says the hearts of kings are in God’s hand, and in the same way he turns the rains, those “rivers of God,” wherever he wills. Every drop goes where he sends it. God promised that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth, and we can see he is able to keep that promise, because the rain is in his control.

He also rules over lightning and thunder, which do not move at random, but follow the path he sets for them. They are mentioned here because he prepares lightning for the rain (Psalm 135:7). Those who fear God need not be afraid of thunder or lightning. These are not blind forces. They go where God directs them, and he means no harm to his people.

When God directs the rain, he does not forget the wilderness, the desert land, where no person lives (Job 38:26, Job 38:27). There is no one there to tend the ground, yet God’s care reaches there too. His providence goes farther than human labor. If he did not care more for many lesser creatures than people do, they would soon suffer. God can make the earth fruitful without our skill or effort (Genesis 2:5, Genesis 2:6). When there was no person to work the ground, a mist still rose and watered it. But we cannot make the earth fruitful without God. He is the one who gives the growth.

The desert is also a place where there is no one to enjoy the harvest, yet God still cares for it. He does not overlook the lower creatures, even though he has special care for people. He causes the tender grass to grow for food for all living things, as well as for human use. Even the wild donkeys get water from him (Psalm 104:11). God has enough for all, and he wonderfully provides even for creatures that give him no service and receive no human care.

In a sense, God is the Father of the rain (Job 38:28). It has no other father. He brings it forth by his power, directs it, and uses it as he chooses. He even sends the small drops of dew to the earth as the God of nature. As the God of grace, he also sends righteousness down on us and is like dew to Israel. See Hosea 14:5, Hosea 14:6; Micah 5:7.

The ice and frost, which freeze the waters and cover the ground with a hard crust, also come from his providence (Job 38:29, Job 38:30). These are common things, so we may not notice them much. But if we think about how quickly they change the world, we should wonder at them. The waters are hidden as if a stone, even a grave stone, were laid on them, so thick and strong is the ice. Even the face of the deep can freeze over. So we may ask, “Out of whose womb came the ice? What creating power could make such a thing?” Only the Creator himself. Frost and snow come from him, and they should turn our thoughts to him, for he does great things beyond our understanding. We will also bear winter’s discomfort more patiently if we learn to use it this way.

Then God turns to show how weak man is. Can Job do any of these things? No. He cannot command even one shower of rain for himself or his friends (Job 38:34, Job 38:35). Can he call to the clouds, those bottles of heaven, and make them pour out enough water to cover him and water dry fields? If we call on God for rain, we may receive it (Zechariah 10:1). But if we speak to the clouds as if they were at our command, they will soon show us they are not, and we will go without rain (Jeremiah 14:22). The heavens do not help the earth unless God causes them to do so (Hosea 2:21). This shows how dependent we are. We cannot live without rain, and we cannot get it whenever we want.

Job cannot even send out one flash of lightning if he wanted to use it against his enemies (Job 38:35). Can he send lightning on his errand, so it does the work he wants? Will lightning come when he calls and answer, “Here we are”? No. The servants of God’s wrath will not serve our private anger. Why should they, since human anger does not accomplish what is right before God? See Luke 9:55.

Second, God has the stars of heaven under his rule and knowledge, but we do not. Now our thoughts rise higher, far above the clouds, to the bright lights above. God especially mentions the fixed stars, not the planets that move in lower paths, but the stars that stand farther away and seem more constant. People thought these stars affected the earth in some way, despite their great distance, not by controlling human choices or fixing events, for people’s fate is not determined by the stars, but by helping govern the ordinary order of nature. They are set for signs and seasons, days and years (Genesis 1:14). If the stars have some rule over the earth (Job 38:33), even though they are only created things, then how much more does God rule, their Maker and ours, the Eternal Mind.

Here too we see how weak we are. We cannot change the powers of the stars (Job 38:31), even those that help bring the joys of spring. Can we loosen the bands of Orion, that striking constellation whose influence is seen in the roughness of winter? We cannot control or drive away either summer or winter. God can change them if he chooses. He can make spring cold and so bind the sweet influence of Pleiades, or make winter warm and so loosen the bands of Orion. But we cannot.

We also cannot direct the movements of the stars, and we have not been given the task of guiding them.

God, who calls the stars by name (Psalm 147:4), also brings them out in their proper seasons and sets the times for their rising and setting. But that is not our task. We cannot bring out Mazzaroth, the stars in the southern signs, or guide Arcturus, the stars in the northern sky (Job 38:32). God can summon the stars to battle, as he did when they fought against Sisera, and direct them in the work he assigns. Human beings cannot do that.

We are not only uninvolved in the rule of the stars, both the rule they are under and the rule they carry out, but we also do not understand it at all. We do not know the laws of heaven (Job 38:33). We are so far from changing them that we cannot even explain them. They are hidden from us. So why would we pretend to know God’s plans and the reasons for them? If we were told to manage the stars on earth, we would soon be lost. How much less should we try to teach God how to rule the world?

God is the source and giver, the father and fountain, of all wisdom and understanding (Job 38:36). The human soul is a nobler and more excellent being than the stars, and it shines more brightly. The powers of reason, the ability to think, and the amazing work of the mind give us some likeness to the blessed angels. Where does this light come from, except from the Father of lights? Who else has put wisdom into the inward parts of man and given understanding to the heart?

The rational soul itself, and all its abilities, come from him as the God of nature, for he forms the spirit of man within him. We did not make our own souls, and we cannot fully explain how they work or how they are joined to our bodies. Only the one who made them knows them and knows how to govern them. He forms human hearts alike in some ways, yet different in others.

True wisdom, with all its growth and usefulness, comes from him as the God of grace, the giver of every good and perfect gift. Why should we act wiser than God, when all our wisdom comes from him? And why should we try to be wise beyond the place he has given us? He meant for our understanding to help us serve God and do our duty, not to make us rulers over the stars or the lightning.

God also has the clouds under his care and rule, but we do not (Job 38:37). Can any person, with all his wisdom, count the clouds or describe what they are like? Though they are close to us, in our own air, we know little more about them than about the stars far away. And when the clouds pour out so much rain that the dust turns to thick mud and the clods stick together (Job 38:38), who can hold back the waters of heaven? Who can stop them so that it will never rain again? In this we must see God’s power and goodness. He gives the earth enough rain, but not too much. He softens it, but does not drown it. He makes it fit for the plow, but not unfit for the seed. As we cannot command rain, so we cannot command a clear day without God. Our dependence on him is constant and complete.

God also provides food for the lower creatures, and they are fed by his providence, not by any care or work of ours. The next chapter is entirely about God’s power and goodness toward animals, so some people join the last three verses of this chapter to that one. These verses speak of the food he provides, first for the lions (Job 38:39, Job 38:40). “You do not claim that the clouds and stars depend on you, since they are above you. But on earth you think you are in charge. Then let us test that. Will you hunt prey for the lion? You pride yourself on your cattle, oxen, donkeys, and camels, which were once fed from your own crib. But will you take care of the lions and the young lions, when they crouch in their dens waiting for food? No, you do not need to do it, because they can fend for themselves without you. You cannot do it, because you do not have enough to satisfy them. And you would not dare do it, because if you tried to feed them, they would seize you.” But God says, “I do it.”

See the complete sufficiency of God’s providence. It has enough to satisfy the desire of every living thing, even the most hungry and violent. See its kindness, that wherever God gives life, he also gives food, even to creatures that are not useful to humans and are often dangerous. See also its authority, because God allows some creatures to be killed to feed others. Innocent sheep are torn apart to satisfy the appetite of young lions, and yet those same lions are sometimes left hungry to punish their cruelty, while those who fear God lack nothing good.

God also feeds the young ravens (Job 38:41). Not only wild beasts, but wild birds are fed by divine providence. Who but God provides food for the raven? People do not. They usually care only for creatures that help them, or may someday help them. But God cares for all the works of his hands, even the smallest and least valued. The young ravens are often in special need, and God supplies them (Psalm 147:9). God’s care for the birds, especially these birds (Matthew 6:26), encourages us to trust him for our daily bread.

Notice first the distress young ravens often face. They wander because they have no food. People say the old birds neglect them and do not provide for them as other birds do for their young. In fact, creatures that are harsh toward others are often cruel to their own young as well, and unnatural in their care. Notice next what the young ravens are thought to do in that trouble. They cry out, because they are loud, noisy creatures, and this is taken as a cry to God. Since it is the cry of nature, it is treated as a cry to the God of nature. This kind view of the cries of young ravens should encourage us in prayer, even if all we can say is, “Abba, Father.”

Notice finally what God does for them. Somehow he provides for them so they grow and reach maturity. The one who takes such care of young ravens will surely not fail his people, or the children of his people. This is only one example among many of God’s compassion, and it should remind us how much good our God does each day that we never notice.