The Bible Says
Job 38:1-7 Meaning

In Job 38:1-7, God answers Job’s petition to have a hearing (Job 23:3-7) and begins by demanding of Job that he answer a number of metaphysical questions to which Job will have no answer. In Job 23:3-7, Job expressed confidence that if he could only present his case before God, then God would alter His perspective. Job believes that God is lacking perspective, and needs additional information in order to see what He is missing.

It is important here to note that through all of Job’s travails, he never sinned with his lips or complained against God (Job 1:22, 2:10). Further, Job spoke of God only what was true, as declared by God Himself (Job 42:7). Job was God’s favorite human, a man of whom God was exceedingly proud (Job 1:8, 2:3). What Job did do, however, was express a belief that God lacked perspective.

Job asserted, “Oh that I knew where I might find Him and fill my mouth with arguments” and “There the upright would reason with Him; and I would be delivered forever from my Judge” (Job 23:4, 7). In this, Job expresses confidence that God is righteous and just. Job expresses confidence that God would do the right thing, IF He only knew what Job believed He was lacking—Job’s perspective.

Now God grant’s Job’s desire to share his perspective. The engagement begins: Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said (v. 1).

Job may have lived around 2000 BC, in or near the land of Uz, which may have been southeast of the Dead Sea. That the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind may foreshadow the dialogue that is to follow, since it will largely center on God’s creative powers in making all that is. It might also be a subtle answer from God that the answer to Job’s plea, “Oh that I knew where I might find Him,” is that “He is all around you, in everything you see.”

Some thousand years later, the psalmist David will express this idea clearly and plainly, asserting:

“The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; Their voice is not heard.”
(Psalm 19:1b-3)

Creation is always speaking. Romans 10:18 asserts that all have hear the “word of Christ” because of the testimony of creation. Romans 10:18 quotes Psalm 19:4 to support that assertion. The Hebrew word translated as “whirlwind” is translated “storm” in Job 40:6, “Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm.” When God spoke with Elijah in 1 Kings 19:10-15, God was not in the strong wind, but rather in a “gentle blowing” (1 Kings 19:12). God spoke to Elijah when he was under spiritual duress, and gave him comfort.

Perhaps God appears to Job in a storm because while Job is in great physical duress, he lacks the very thing he believed God lacked: the proper perspective. By choosing a storm out of which to speak with Job, perhaps God is both getting Job’s attention as well as making an illustration of the point He will now drive home: God has all perspectives; it is Job who lacks perspective. God challenges Job: Who is this that darkens counsel By words without knowledge? (v. 2).

This appears to be a direct challenge to Job’s assertion in Job 23:3-7 that the LORD needed his counsel. God counters that Job’s offered perspective constitutes words without knowledge. Job is using words, but they convey nothing useful. Therefore, these words serve to darken counsel. Job thought he could shed light on a subject for God. God begins by asserting that Job’s perspective would, instead, be words without knowledge, and therefore he is one who darkens counsel.

Quite an assertion to make. Particularly when we bear in mind that Job is God’s favorite person of whom He is intensely fond (Job 1:8, 2:3). As we will see, this is much more similar to a training session for an Olympic athlete contending for a gold medal than a tribunal, as this is a prelude to God pouring out a great blessing upon Job. But just as with any training, it will not be easy on Job. We should bear in mind that “Those whom the LORD loves He disciplines” (Hebrews 12:6). The Lord instructs Job: Now gird up your loins like a man, And I will ask you, and you instruct Me! (v. 3).

This phrase, gird up your loins, is a prequel to vigorous action. Ancients would tuck their robe into their belt to create a sort of “culottes” suitable for action. Since this refers to conversation, God is telling Job “You wanted a vigorous engagement of wits, here it is, you better get ready!” Job desired to make his case to God, that God might relieve his suffering (Job 23:3-7).

Job’s goal was to tell God his perspective, believing if God understood Job’s perspective then He would change His mind. As we will see now, God will interrogate Job: I will ask you, and you instruct Me! The point of the interrogation will be to bring Job to a firsthand knowledge that, compared to God, he has no knowledge to offer, nothing to add to God’s perspective. God offers His first question: Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding (v. 4).

We will note that Job does not say anything in answer. This means that Job’s answer to Tell Me, if you have understanding is to remain silent. This is essentially a rhetorical question, since the answer for any human to the question Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth is, “I did not yet exist.” The point then is that God made all things without any input from Job. God did not need Job’s perspective, nor that of anyone else, to lay the foundation of the earth.

God then continues: Who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it? (v. 5). God now begins to mock Job’s presumptuousness in asking for a hearing in order to instruct God in knowledge He lacked (Job 23:3-7). By saying Since you know, God infers that in claiming he can offer God perspective He lacks, Job is claiming to be on God’s level of comprehension. So God asks Job a simple question: “What are the dimensions of the universe?” and “How was it measured?”

Again, Job will remain silent. It is clear that no human can know the dimensions of the universe. Even with our modern instruments, the more we learn the more we realize how little we know. As of this writing, many believe that “dark matter” and “dark energy” make up much of the universe, up to 85%. Neither dark matter nor dark energy can be experienced or interacted with; they are only inferred in theoretical explanations.

Astronomers say they don’t know if the universe is extremely large or infinite. Thus, they cannot answer God’s question about the universe’s dimensions. But it seems clear that there is an answer, and God knows the answer. And the point for Job is, “You have no idea about the perspective of reality apart from Me.”

The phrase stretched the line conjures thoughts of precision in construction. A craftsman uses a measuring line to ensure that each component fits perfectly. God thus asserts that He, as the Master Craftsman, knows the exact dimensions. However, Job’s perspective is like one who observes a finished masterpiece but cannot replicate the exact steps taken or the wisdom behind each measurement. In fact, Job doesn’t even have the capacity to begin to do so. Further, the Lord declares: On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone (v. 6).

God uses the terms bases and cornerstone as terms Job would understand from building construction. God is asking Job, “Where did I get the building materials? What did I make it from? What is the blueprint?” Of course Job has no idea. And, again, the more we learn in modern science the more we discover how much we do not know. In this respect, God has placed a testimony of Himself within all that He made.

A cornerstone in ancient construction was the key stone that anchored the entire structure. By referencing a cornerstone for the earth, God figuratively points to His flawless plan sustaining creation (Colossians 1:17). Job, like all humanity, only witnesses a small part of the finished product without grasping these vast, foundational, divine acts of creation.

Finally, God paints a grand scene during the creation event: When the morning stars sang together And all the sons of God shouted for joy (v. 7).

Here, morning stars likely symbolize angels, while sons of God similarly refers to the heavenly host. The phrase sons of God translates “ben elohim” in Hebrew. The phrase is used in Job 1:6 to refer to angels, including fallen angels, since Satan was among the “sons of God” that presented themselves before the Lord. The phrase “ben elohim” also appears in Genesis 6:2, 4, where the “sons of God” bore children from women, children that became “mighty men” who were “men of renown.”

The picture is of the angels watching on in amazement and shouting for joy at God’s creative work. We might think of a crowd watching a fireworks display.

This verse reminds us that there is a vast, heavenly perspective on events in this world. Our perspective is tiny and finite while God’s is vast and infinite. Yet, God engages with this one man, stooping to his level, in order to help him understand. God’s desire to bless Job goes dramatically beyond comfort. As we will see, God’s desire is that Job know Him fully by faith. As Jesus declared, “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whim You have sent” (John 17:3).

During the entire episode of Job 38-42, God seeks to lead Job to know Him while he is still here on earth, and can know by faith. We can take from this that God’s greatest favor to the man whom He most reveres is to lead him to the greatest knowledge of God by faith. This fits other passages that tell us overtly that our greatest blessing comes through learning to know God through the trials of faith (2 Corinthians 4:17, James 1:2-3, 12, Revelation 3:21).