God’s Answer to Job

INTRODUCTION: Job has gone through great trials without turning against God and cursing Him. However, he does complain of being unjustly persecuted and expects God to give him reasons for his suffering. In this chapter, God actually appears to Job. However, instead of giving explanations to Job, He demands an answer from Job. God takes several chapters to contrast His power and knowledge with that of Job’s. In the end, Job is expected to submit to God simply because of His superiority and not because He has explained to Job the cause of his troubles.

This chapter is the first of several meant to highlight the glories of God in His knowledge, creation, and providence. It is full of treasures to the Bible student. Pay close attention to the wording of the verses. Wonderful truths often lie hidden in these verses.

1. CONCERNING THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH (Job 38:1-7)
1. The Reply of the Lord (Job 38:1-3)
1. Out of the whirlwind (Job 38:1)
1. The appearance of God to Job (Job 40:6)
2. The taking of Elijah to heaven (2 Kings 2:1, 11)
3. The approach of the presence of God (Ezekiel 1:4-5)
4. Representative of Gods power (Isaiah 66:15; Jeremiah 4:13; Jeremiah 23:19)
2. His accusation of Job (Job 38:2)
1. He darkens counsel.
2. He speaks words without knowledge.
3. His challenge to Job (Job 38:3)
1. Gird up your loins (1 Peter 1:13).
2. Make answer to God.
1. Job expected an answer from God (Job 23:3-5; Job 31:35).
2. God demanded an answer from Job (Job 40:1-5).
2. The Laying of Earths Foundations (Job 38:4-7)
1. No understanding of the earths foundations (Job 38:4; Psalm 102:25; Psalm 104:5)
2. No knowledge of the earths measurements (Job 38:5; Isaiah 40:12)
3. No conception of the fastening of the foundations (Job 38:6; Job 26:7)
4. No memory of the praise of the angels (Job 38:7; Job 1:6; Job 2:1)
2. CONCERNING THE CONTAINMENT OF THE SEAS (Job 38:8-11)
1. The Breaking of the Doors of the Sea (Job 38:8-9)
1. The breaking forth of the sea (Job 38:8)
1. The initial breaking forth (Genesis 1:2)
2. The later breaking forth (Genesis 7:11)
2. The covering of the sea (Job 38:9)
1. The cloud
2. Thick darkness
2. The Halting of the Waves of the Sea (Job 38:10-11)
1. The setting of bars and doors (Job 38:10)
2. The command to go no further (Job 38:11)
1. The initial command (Proverbs 8:29; Genesis 1:9)
2. The later command (Genesis 9:11; Psalm 104:6-9; Jeremiah 5:22)
3. CONCERNING THE JUDGMENT OF THE WICKED (Job 38:12-15)
1. The Command for the Morning to Come (Job 38:12; Psalm 74:16)
2. The Command for the Dayspring to Come (Job 38:13-14)
1. The dayspring to know his place (Job 38:12) The dayspring could speak of the spring of the day or the beginning, but the context will show that Jesus Christ is the dayspring (see Luke 1:78; 2 Peter 1:19).
2. The dayspring to shake the wicked out of the earth (Job 38:13); Christ will come to judge the world in righteousness (Acts 17:31).
3. To turn as the clay to the seal (Job 38:14) Jesus took on Himself a body of human flesh (clay) and took the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of man (Philippians 2:7).
3. The Power of the Wicked to Be Overcome (Job 38:14-15)
1. The wicked to stand as a garment (Job 38:14); probably refers to garments being hung up as on a postthey are not going anywhere and have nowhere to go, but must stand before God in judgment (Revelation 20:11-12).
2. The light of the wicked to be withheld (Job 38:15; Job 18:5)
3. The high arm of the wicked to be broken (Job 38:15; Psalm 37:17)
4. CONCERNING VARIOUS WONDERS IN THE WORLD (Job 38:16-24)
1. The Springs of the Sea (Job 38:16)
2. The Gates of Death (Job 38:17; Psalm 107:18; Psalm 23:4)
1. Have the gates of death been opened unto thee?
2. Hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?
3. The Breadth of the Earth (Job 38:18)
1. Evidently known by man today
2. But contrast Jeremiah 31:37.
4. The Way Where Light Dwells (Job 38:19-20)
1. The way where light dwells (Job 38:19); Note: light is a ray, so this description fits perfectly.
2. The place of darkness (Job 38:19-20)
1. The boundary of darkness; Note: perhaps referring to the boundaries of the universe
2. The paths to the house of darkness; Note: possibly refers to black holes
5. The Number of the Days (Job 38:21)
1. Were you already born when this happened?
2. Are you this old?
6. The Treasures of Precipitation (Job 38:22-23)
1. The treasures of the snow (Job 38:22)
2. The treasures of the hail (Job 38:22-23)
7. The Way Light Is Parted (Job 38:24)
1. The parting of light; as with a prism
2. The scattering of the east wind
5. CONCERNING THE WONDERS OF WEATHER (Job 38:25-29)
1. The Courses for the Waters (Job 38:25)
1. A watercourse for overflowing waters
2. A way for the lightning
2. The Bringing Forth of Rain (Job 38:26-27)
1. Into places uninhabited (Job 38:26)
2. To satisfy desolate ground (Job 38:27)
3. To bring forth the bud of the herb (Job 38:27)
3. The Source of Precipitation (Job 38:28-29)
1. Hath the rain a father? (Job 38:28)
2. Who hath begotten the drops of dew? (Job 38:28)
3. Out of whose womb came the ice? (Job 38:29)
4. Who gendered the hoary frost of heaven? (Job 38:29)
6. CONCERNING THE WONDERS OF THE HEAVENS (Job 38:30-33)
1. The Face of the Deep (Job 38:30)
1. The water hid as with a stone perhaps the waters above the heavens (Psalm 148:4)
2. The frozen face of the deep perhaps the crystal pavement of heaven (Ezekiel 1:22; Revelation 4:6)
2. The Placing of the Constellations (Job 38:31-32)
1. Pleiades (Job 38:31; Job 9:9)
2. Orion (Job 38:31; Job 9:9; Amos 5:8)
3. Mazzaroth (Job 38:32)
4. Arcturus (Job 38:32; Job 9:9)
3. The Ordinances of Heaven (Job 38:33); the order or organization (Genesis 1:14-19)
7. CONCERNING THE WONDERS OF PROVIDENCE (Job 38:34-41)
1. The Control of the Weather (Job 38:34-35)
1. Can you bring forth rain? (Job 38:34)
2. Can you send forth lightning? (Job 38:35)
2. The Understanding of the Heart (Job 38:36; Job 32:8)
3. The Holding Back of the Rain (Job 38:37-38)
4. The Provision for the Animals (Job 38:39-41)
1. Provision for the lions (Job 38:39-40)
2. Provision for the raven (Job 38:41)

CONCLUSION: In this chapter, God is beginning to show Job just how much he does not know. This is a good lesson for all of us. We must be humble in the sight of God in order for Him to lift us up (James 4:10).