Job 38:13

_HAST THOU COMMANDED THE MORNING SINCE THY DAYS; AND CAUSED THE DAYSPRING TO KNOW HIS PLACE;_ Passing from creation to phenomena in the existing inanimate world. Verse 12. HAST THOU - as God daily does. COMMANDED THE MORNING - to rise. SINCE THY DAYS - since thou hast come into being. ITS PLACE - it varies in its place of rising from day to day, and yet has its place each day according to fixed laws. Verse 13. TAKE HOLD OF THE ENDS ... - spread itself over the earth to its utmost bounds in a moment. WICKED - who hate the light, and do their evil works in the dark (Job 24:13). SHAKEN OUT OF IT - the corners (Hebrew, wings or skirts) of it, as of a garment, are taken hold of by the day-spring, so as to shake off the wicked. Verse 14. Explaining the first clause of...

12-24 The Lord questions Job, to convince him of his ignorance, and shame him for his folly in prescribing to God. If we thus try ourselves, we shall soon be brought to own that what we know is nothing in comparison with what we know not. By the tender mercy of our God, the Day-spring from on high has visited us, to give light to those that sit in darkness, whose hearts are turned to it as clay to the seal, 2 Corinthians 4:6. God's way in the government of the world is said to be in the sea; this means, that it is hid from us. Let us make sure that the gates of heaven shall be opened to us on the other side of death, and then we need not fear the opening of the gates of death. It is presumptuous for us, who perceive not the breadth of the earth, to dive into the depth of God's counsels. We should neither in the brightest noon count upon perpetual day, nor in the darkest midnight despair...

Verse Job 38:13. _THAT THE WICKED MIGHT BE SHAKEN OUT OF IT?_] The meaning appears to be this: as soon as the light begins to dawn upon the earth, thieves, assassins, murderers, and adulterers, who all hate and shun the light, fly like ferocious beasts to their several dens and hiding places; for such do not dare to _come to_ _the light, lest their works be manifest_, which _are not wrought in_ _God_. To this verse the _fifteenth_ appears to belong, as it connects immediately with it, which connection the introduction of the _fourteenth_ verse disturbs. "And from the wicked," such as are mentioned above "their light is withholden;" they love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil; and as they prowl after their prey in the night-season, they are obliged to _sleep in_ _the day_, and thus its "light is withholden" from them. "And the hig...

THAT IT MIGHT TAKE HOLD OF THE ENDS OF THE EARTH - Margin, as in Hebrew “wings.” Wings are in the Scriptures frequently given to the earth, because it seems to be spread out, and the expression refers to its extremities. The language is derived from the supposition that the earth was a plain, and had limits or bounds. The idea here is, that God causes the light of the morning suddenly to spread to the remotest parts of the world, and to reveal everything which was there. THAT THE WICKED MIGHT BE SHAKEN OUT OF IT - Out of the earth; that is, by the light which suddenly shines upon them. The sense is, that the wicked perform their deeds in the darkness of the night, and that in the morning light they flee away. The effect of the light coming upon them is to disturb their plans, to fill them with alarm, and to cause them to flee. The idea is highly poetic. The wicked are engaged in various...

CLOSE OF THE CONTROVERSY BY THE INTERFERENCE OF THE ALMIGHTY. EXPOSITION The discourse, by which the Almighty answers Job and rebukes his "friends," occupies four chapters (ch. 38-41.). It is broken into two parts by the interposition of a-short confession on Job's part (Job 40:3). Job 38:1 and Job 39:1 are closely connected, and form a single appeal—a sort of _argumentum ad verecundiam—_to_ _Job's profound ignorance of God's natural government, which incapacitates him from passing judgment upon what is far more incomprehensible and myste

THAT IT MIGHT TAKE HOLD OF THE ENDS OF THE EARTH,.... As when the morning light springs forth, it quickly does, reaching in a short time the extreme part of the hemisphere; which, and what goes before, may be applied to the light of the Gospel, and the direction of that under divine Providence in the several parts of the world, and unto the ends of it; see Psalms 19:4; THAT THE WICKED MIGHT BE SHAKEN OUT OF IT? the earth, by means of the light; which may be understood either of wicked men who have been all night upon works of darkness, and be take themselves on the approach of light to private lurking places, like beasts of prey, so that the earth seems to be, as it were, clear of them; or of their being taken up in the morning for deeds done in the night, and brought to justice, which used to be exercised in mornings,...

V. THE LORD'S TESTIMONY TO JOB AND CONTROVERSY WITH HIM CHAPTER 38:1-38 _ 1. The Lord speaks to Job (Job 38:1)_ 2. The questions of the Lord (Job 38:4) Job 38:1. The voice of man is hushed; the voice of the Lord begins to speak. The Almighty, the Creator, the Lord of All comes now upon the scene. He too, like Elihu, had been the silent listener; He heard Job's complaint and wailing and the babblings of his friends. Elihu's wonderful utterance, inspired by the Lord, was ended. The thunderstorm is on, no doubt a literal storm, the dark clouds gather-- _ Then from the North there comes a golden light._ God appears in wondrous Majesty ...

Yahweh, speaking to Job out of the storm, challenges him to the contest, which he has so often demanded....

THE WICKED. lawless. All the ancient versions and early printed editions read "the lawless...

A survey of the inanimate creation, the wonders of earth and sky the earth, Job 38:4; the heavens, Job 38:18...