God Speaks Now to Job
Then the LORD aanswered Job out of the whirlwind and said,Job 40:6
2 “Who is this that adarkens counsel questioning my authority and wisdomBy words without knowledge? Job 35:16Job 35:16; 42:33 “aNow 1gird up your loins like a man,And bI will ask you, and you instruct Me!A phrase often found in the Bible that is an urgent call to get ready for immediate action, or it may be a call to prepare for a coming action or event. The phrase is related to the type of clothing worn in ancient times. To keep from impeding the wearer during any vigorous activity, e.g. battle, exercise, strenuous work, etc., the loose ends of garments (tunics, cloaks, mantles, etc.) had to be gathered up and tucked into the girdle. The girdle was a band about six inches wide that had fasteners in front. It was worn around the loins (the midsection of the body between the lower ribs and the hips). Gird up your mind or gird up your heart are examples of variants of this phrase and call for mental or spiritual preparation for a coming challenge.Job 40:7Job 42:44 “Where were you awhen I laid the foundation of the earth?Tell Me, if you know and have understanding.Job 15:7; Ps 104:5; Prov 8:29; 30:45 “Who determined the ameasurements of the earth, if you know?Or who stretched the measuring line on it?Prov 8:29; Is 40:126 “On what awere its foundations fastened?Or who laid its cornerstone,Job 26:77 When the morning stars sang togetherAnd all the asons of God shouted for joy?Job 1:6
8 “Or who aenclosed the sea with doorsWhen it burst forth and went out of the womb;Gen 1:9; Ps 104:6-9; Prov 8:29; Jer 5:229 When I made the clouds its garmentAnd thick darkness its swaddling band,10 And amarked for it My appointed boundaryAnd set bars and doors defining the shorelines, Jer 5:22Gen 1:9; Ps 33:7; 104:9; Prov 8:29; Jer 5:2211 And said, ‘This far you shall come, but no farther;And here your proud waves shall stop’? Ps 89:9; 93:4
God’s Mighty Power
12 “Since your days began, have you ever commanded the morning,And caused the dawn to know its place,13 So that light may take hold of athe corners of the earthAnd shake bthe wickedness out of it?Job 28:24; 37:3Job 34:25, 26; 36:614 “The earth is changed like clay into which a seal is pressed;And the things of the earth stand out like a multi-colored garment.15 “aTheir light is withheld from the wicked,And the buplifted arm is broken.Job 5:14Num 15:30; Ps 10:15; 37:17
16 “Have you entered and explored athe springs of the seaOr have you walked in the recesses of the deep?Gen 7:11; 8:2; Prov 8:24, 2817 “Have the gates of death been revealed to you,Or have you seen the gates of adeep darkness?Job 10:21; 26:6; 34:2218 “Have you understood the expanse of athe earth?Tell Me, if you know all this.Job 28:24
19 “Where is the 1way where light dwells?And as for darkness, where is its place,Light travels on a path or “way” through empty space at 299,792,458 meters per second (approximately 186,282 miles per second).20 That you may take it to aits territoryAnd that you may know the paths to its house?Job 26:1021 “You must know, since ayou were born then,And 1because you are so extremely old!Lit the number of your days is great.Job 15:722 “Have you entered the storehouses aof the snow,Or have you seen the storehouses of the bhail,Job 37:6Ex 9:18; Josh 10:11; Is 30:30; Ezek 13:11, 13; Rev 16:2123 Which I have reserved for the time of trouble,For the day of battle and war? Ex 9:18; Josh 10:11; Is 30:30; Rev 16:2124 “Where is the way that athe light is distributed,Or the east wind scattered over the earth?Job 26:10
25 “Who has prepared a channel for the torrents of rain and for the flood,Or a path for the thunderbolt,26 To bring arain on the uninhabited land,And on the desert where no man lives,Job 36:2727 To asatisfy the barren and desolate groundAnd to make the seeds of grass to sprout?Ps 104:13, 14; 107:3528 “Has athe rain a father?Or who has begotten the drops of dew?Job 36:27, 28; Ps 147:8; Jer 14:2229 “Out of whose womb has come the aice?And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth?Job 37:10; Ps 147:1730 “Water becomes like stone and hides itself,And the surface of the deep is frozen and imprisoned.
31 “Can you bind the chains of the cluster of stars called aPleiades,Or loose the cords of the constellation Orion?Job 9:9; Amos 5:832 “Can you lead forth a 1constellation in its season,And guide the stars of the Bear with her 2sons?Heb Mazzaroth.Or satellites.33 “Do you know the aordinances of the heavens,Or can you establish their rule over the earth?Ps 148:6; Jer 31:35, 36
34 “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,So that an aabundance of water will cover you?Job 22:11; 36:27, 28; 38:3735 “Can you asend forth lightnings that they may goAnd say to you, ‘Here we are’?Job 36:32; 37:336 “Who has aput wisdom in the innermost being of man, or in the layers of cloudsOr given bunderstanding to the mind of man, or to the heavenly display?Job 9:4; Ps 51:6; Eccl 2:26Job 32:837 “Who can count the clouds by earthly wisdom,Or apour out the water jars of the heavens,Job 38:3438 When the dust hardens into a massAnd the clods stick together because of the heat?