As we consider yet more of God’s questions in this post, I truly pray that you are overwhelmed with the awesomeness of our Creator as you meditate on the associated truths.
Job 38:25–30 ““Who created a channel for the torrents of rain? Who laid out the path for the lightning? Who makes the rain fall on barren land, in a desert where no one lives? Who sends the rain that satisfies the parched ground and makes the tender grass spring up? “Does the rain have a father? Where does dew come from? Who is the mother of the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens? For the water turns to ice as hard as rock, and the surface of the water freezes.”
God’s questions in this section make reference to the fact that rain falls in designated areas and lightning follows its own path. A lightning bolt is a powerful discharge of electrical energy. It can travel at speeds of 60,000 miles per second and reach a temperature of around 50,000 degrees Farenheit. Research also reveals that the extreme heat generated by lightning heats the air so quickly that it expands and causes a shock wave that produces the sound of thunder. What does this tell you about its Creator?
Then God asks Job to consider the fact that He even sends rain to fall on the deserts where no one lives. The implied question—Why? The implied answer—He is sovereign over His creation; it’s His choice according to His good pleasure.
Can Job explain where the rain, dew, ice and frost come from? How they are formed? Can he explain how the water turns to ice that is as hard as a rock? I think the reference here is to glaciers that are frozen like rock on the surface, yet the water remains fluid beneath them. It would also apply to seas and lakes that freeze over in the winter.
Job 38:31–33 ““Can you hold back the movements of the stars? Are you able to restrain the Pleiades or Orion? Can you ensure the proper sequence of the seasons or guide the constellation of the Bear with her cubs across the heavens? Do you know the laws of the universe and how God rules the earth?”
God now directs His questioning of Job to the subject of the stars in the heavens. I love to study the skies, and it has always awed me to think that the Old Testament saints were witness to the same stars and constellations that I see. Both the Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters, and Orion are among the most easily identifiable constellations in the night sky. God asks if Job knows how to keep the stars in these constellations together and ensure the orderly appearance of the different constellations throughout the year according to their appointed season. Does He have the power and authority to loose the force that holds them together? The Bear constellation, also known as Ursa Major and Arcturus, contains the Big Dipper and Polaris, the North Star that has long been an important navigational guide to those traversing the Northern Hemisphere of the globe.
The last question is so broad and covers so much that I am sure that Job again had no clue to all that it encompassed. The laws of the universe pertaining to just the Milky Way Galaxy involve the precise distances, order, rotation and orbits of the planets around the sun and how they are maintained. They pertain to the precise amounts and combinations of gases that are needed to support life on earth and how the supply of these gases is continually replenished. They relate to the makeup of atoms and their parts and how they interact with one another; they include defining gravity and how it functions; and the list could go on and on. Scripture gives us the simple answer.
Colossians 1:17 “And He [Jesus] is before all things, and by Him all things consist.”
The LORD may continue to allow the scientists to discover more about the creation, but there comes a point when the only explanation for the wonders they discover will be that it is the handiwork of God and He alone sustains it.
Job 38:34–35 ““Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, That an abundance of water may cover you? Can you send out lightnings, that they may go, And say to you, “Here we are!’?”
The LORD reverts back to more questions regarding the control of rain and lightning. He is basically saying—Job, Can you cause the clouds to release the rain at the command of your voice? Can you direct the lightning to strike where and when you want it to?
Again, the implication—I can and do.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment