Job 38:28

_HATH THE RAIN A FATHER? OR WHO HATH BEGOTTEN THE DROPS OF DEW?_ Can any visible origin of rain and dew be assigned by man? Is man their author and creator? Dew is moisture which was suspended in the air, but becomes condensed on reaching the-in the night-lower temperature of objects on the earth....

25-41 Hitherto God had put questions to Job to show him his ignorance; now God shows his weakness. As it is but little that he knows, he ought not to arraign the Divine counsels; it is but little he can do, therefore he ought not to oppose the ways of Providence. See the all-sufficiency of the Divine Providence; it has wherewithal to satisfy the desire of every living thing. And he that takes care of the young ravens, certainly will not be wanting to his people. This being but one instance of the Divine compassion out of many, gives us occasion to think how much good our God does, every day, beyond what we are aware of. Every view we take of his infinite perfections, should remind us of his right to our love, the evil of sinning against him, and our need of his mercy and salvation....

Verse Job 38:28. _HATH THE RAIN A FATHER?_] Or, _Who is the father of the_ _rain_? We have seen above one part of the apparatus by which God produces it; other causes have been mentioned on Job 36:27, c. _THE DROPS OF DEW?_] אגלי _egley_, the sphericles, the small round drops or _globules_. _Dew_ is a dense moist vapour, found on the earth in spring and summer mornings, in the form of a mizzling rain. Dr. _Hutton_ defines it, "a thin, light, insensible mist or rain, descending with a slow motion, and falling while the sun is below the horizon. It appears to differ from _rain_ as _less_ from _more_. Its origin and matter are doubtless from the _vapours_ and _exhalations_ that rise from the earth and water." Various experiments have

HATH THE RAIN A FATHER? - That is, it is produced by God and not by man. No one among men can claim that he causes it, or can regard it as his offspring. The idea is, that the production of rain is among the proofs of the wisdom and agency of God, and that it is caused in a way that demonstrates his own agency. It is not by any power of man; and it is not in such a way as to constitute a relation like that between a father and a son. The rain is often appealed to in this book as something whose cause man could not explain, and as demonstrating the wisdom and supremacy of God. Among philosophic and contemplative minds it would early excite inquiry, and give occasion for wonder. What caused it? Whence came the water which fell? How was it suspended? How was it borne from place to place? How was it made to descend in drops, and why was it not poured down at once in floods? Questions like th...

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

HATH THE RAIN A FATHER?.... None but God; hence the Heathens themselves call God γετιος y, and ομβριος z; see Jeremiah 14:22; he that is our Father in heaven is the Father of rain, and him only; whatever secondary causes there be, God only is the efficient cause, parent, and producer of it: so the Gospel is not of men but of God, is a gift of his, comes down from heaven, tarries not for men, and is a great blessing, as rain is; OR WHO HATH BEGOTTEN THE DROPS OF THE DEW? which are innumerable; he that is the parent of the rain is of the dew also, and he only a; to which sometimes not only the word of God, and his free favour and good will, but the people of God themselves are compared for their number, influence, and use; see Psalms 110:3; and their new birth is similar t

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 ...

THE WONDERS OF THE INANIMATE CREATION. Where was Job when the earth was made? The work of creation is described as the building of a house. In Job 38:7 the stars, which are older than the world (contrast Genesis 1:16), are thought of as animated beings: the sons of God are the angels. The morning stars and the angels then composed the choir at the laying of earth's foundation-stone; the stone-laying, therefore, took place in the morning. JOB 38:8 speaks of the taming of the sea: when it burst forth from the womb of chaos, God clothed the newborn child with the cloud and swaddled it with thick cloud. In Job 38:10 read as _mg._ and brake for it

DEW. night mist. See note on Psalms 133:3....

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