Job 38:1-7 - Where Were You Job?

Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:

2 “Who is this that obscures my plans

    with words without knowledge?

3 Brace yourself like a man;

    I will question you,

    and you shall answer me.

4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?

    Tell me, if you understand.

5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!

    Who stretched a measuring line across it?

6 On what were its footings set,

    or who laid its cornerstone—

7 while the morning stars sang together

    and all the angels shouted for joy?

Job 38:1-7

Surely chapters 38-41 are the climax of this great book of Job. Here the voice of Jehovah Himself is heard, speaking out of the whirlwind.

Jehovah challenges Job, "Gird up your loins like a man and let me ask you some questions. You have claimed that you want a trial before me. Let me examine your competence to see if you can answer some simple questions first." In the account that follows, Jehovah's voice subjects Job to a series of very penetrating questions.

First: "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundations?" Where were humans? They were not even in existence yet. That is why in all the centuries since this question was asked of Job, humans have never been able to settle the question of origin. Where did the universe come from? How did it originate? Who brought it into being? What process was followed? The whole world is debating that question today, but humans have never been able to answer the question of the origin of the earth because they were not there to observe it.

Then 38:6 addresses the question of procedure. How did God hang the earth upon nothing, as Job himself asked earlier in this account? Back in the days when the Scriptures were written down, the scientific world believed that the earth was flat. There were strange, legendary accounts of how the earth came into being, that it floated on elephants' backs or rested on turtles swimming in the sea. But in the book of Job is the clear statement that God has hung the earth upon nothing.

Now God asks Job, "How did that happen?" The only answer that science can give today is gravity, but nobody knows what gravity is. It is just a word we use, but it does not tell us what it is. Here again is a question that we still cannot answer today. How is the earth suspended between the various heavenly bodies in such a way that it moves in orderly procession through the illimitable reaches of space? How can it be? We still do not know. Finally, God says, "Were you there when it happened?" and He links it with a tremendous event when the whole creation seemed to break into harmony and melody, when "the morning stars sang together, and all the angels shouted for joy" (Job 38:7).

Prayer: Like Job, Father, I bow in silence before You. Who am I to accuse the Almighty? Who am I to complain about my lot in life and say it is wrong? Lord, I have been silenced but I pray that You will take me deeper and in graciousness show me more of how great You really are. In Jesus' name, Amen. 

Life Application: Do we waste valuable time and energy arguing with God, when surrender to His sovereignty opens His treasures of forgiveness, cleansing, and loving fellowship?

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