Job 38:31 Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?
32 Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?
33 Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?
34 Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?
35 Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are?
36 Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart?
37 Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven,
38 When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together?
39 Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions,
40 When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait?
41 Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.
In verse 31 God pointed Job to some of the constellations. God set these constellations in their place. Job had no control over them. Pleiades is a constellation of seven stars. What keeps them in their same place year after year? Did Job have something to do with that? The answer of course is, No.
Orion is a constellation that is seen in the winter time. It is credited with bringing stormy winds, rain, snow and frost. These things can have a detrimental effect on our travels, etc. Christians do not worship the constellations. However, the Bible does tell us that they will effect the weather patterns.
In verse 32 God spoke of two more constellations. Job has nothing to do with these things. They are beyond his reach.
In verse 33 we see that Job had no control over the thunder or the clouds or anything in the heavens. He could pray and ask God for favourable weather, if he so chose to. However, He did not decree the actions that take place in the heavens. The rain comes when and if God chooses to send it. The same is true of the snow.
There are false religions that do their “rain dances” or some other type of ritual and they assume they have the power to affect the weather. They are deluded but they still believe that. It is amazing how many people belief their own superstitions over against the sure Word of God.
In verse 36 God reminded Job that any wisdom that he had did not come from himself. He received it from God. God had been good to Job and had blessed him with wisdom. Job had used his abilities wisely in the past. He had sought to protect his children from the wrath of God. He assumed that this had all backfired on him.
Job needed to understand that he had no say in the weather patterns. He could have killed off all his livestock and it would not have changed the weather at all. The weather was out of Job’s reach. It is a good thing when we understand our limitations. Rather than defy God and introduce things into the world that are against God, man is wise to respect God and choose to honour Him.
Job did not have the ability to stop the clouds from forming in the dry season. He could not snap his fingers and bring rain. This was beyond his control and he was dependent upon God for success.
In verse 39 God turned His attention to the animals. The lion certainly did not wait for Job to provide food for him. He looked after this all by himself. God instilled in the lion the behaviour that he wanted them to have. The lion’s nature was changed after the fall of man. What Job needed to do was to stay out of the lion’s way so that he did not get devoured.
Lions have a particular way of hunting. They like to surprise their prey. They often know just the right time to come out and attack. Job had nothing to do with that instinct. It was God that had prepared the lions to take heed to His rule over them. It was also wise for Job to understand that God had the rule over him..
God closed off the chapter with the ravens. The ravens are a larger bird. They are a scavenger type bird. As we see here, the ravens do not always find the food they need. They do not till the ground. They never plant a crop. They do not plan which grains they are going to grow for the year. God sets that all in its place. We can hear their call, and God told Job that their young will sometimes cry out to God for food. When we see the young birds making their noise as the adult birds come to bring them food, God says those young birds are actually crying out to Him. Important information that God is giving us here. The birds are dependent upon God for their food and for the ability to hunt their food. They do not rebel against God. They do their work and they are content to do that.
God commanded the ravens to feed Elijah at a crucial point in his life. They obviously did not bring him decayed food. They would have been careful to bring food that he could eat.
God can and does control His creation. The ones that are the most problem are mankind. God gave us the ability to think and to reason. Due to the fall of man, our reasoning and thinking is corrupted. We need to be born again in order to be able to think and reason properly. Job was a child of God, but he was not using his ability to think straight in a proper manner. God was reminding him of some very important truths that would help him snap out of the slump he was in.
We need to be careful to spend quality time in God’s Word, if we are saved. We need to be careful not to allow the devil to corrupt our thinking. God is good and He is worthy of praise.
Psalm 33:1 Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.
Pastor Bartel
