Job 38:35

_CANST THOU SEND LIGHTNINGS, THAT THEY MAY GO, AND SAY UNTO THEE, HERE WE ARE?_ Here we are - at thy disposal (Isaiah 6:8)....

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 38:35. _CANST THOU SEND LIGHTNINGS_] We have already seen that the lightning is supposed to be immediately in the _hand_ and under the _management_ of God. The great god of the heathen, _Jupiter_ _Brontes_, is represented with the forked lightnings and thunderbolt in his hand. He seems so to grasp the bickering flame that, though it struggles for liberty, it cannot escape from his hold. _Lightnings _- How much like the sound of thunder is the original word: ברכים _Berakim_! Here are both _sense_ and _sound_. _HERE WE_ are?] Will the winged lightnings be thy messengers, as they are mine?...

CANST THOU SEND LIGHTNINGS? - That is, lightning is wholly under the control of God. So it is now; for after all that man has done to discover its laws, and to guard against it, yet still man has made no advances toward a power to wield it, nor is it possible that he ever should. It is one of the agencies in the universe that is always to be under the divine direction, and however much man may subsidize to his purposes wind, and water, and steam, and air, yet there can be no prospect that the forked lightning can be seized by human hands and directed by human skill to purposes of utility or destruction among people; compare the notes at Job 36:31. AND SAY UNTO THEE, HERE WE ARE - Margin, “Behold us.” That is, we are at your disposal. This language is derived from the condition, of servants presenting themselves at the cal

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

CANST THOU SEND LIGHTNINGS, THAT THEY MAY GO, AND SAY UNTO THEE, HERE WE [ARE]?] Thy humble servants; we have been where thou didst send us, and have executed what we were bid to do, and are returned, and here we are waiting further orders; see Matthew 8:9; no; lightnings are only at the command of God, and there have been some awful instances of it, Leviticus 10:1; but not in the power of men; indeed we have an extraordinary instance in Elijah, who, at the motion, and under the impulse of the spirit of prophecy in him, called for fire, or lightning, to consume captains with their fifties, and it came down on them, and consumed them, 2 Kings 1:10; but he is not to be imitated herein: when the disciples of Christ desired the s

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

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

CANST THOU SEND LIGHTNINGS THAT THEY MAY GO, AND SAY UNTO THEE, HERE WE ARE?— Nothing can be more elevated and sublime than this verse. How strong the image! how simple the expression! We read of winged lightnings in the heathen ports; but where do they live, and act, and speak, and wait for orders with impatience, as here? See Peters, and Longinus on the Sublime, sect. 9 and Dr. Smith's notes on sect. 18....