Job Chapter 38 [YLT]

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1 And Jehovah answereth Job out of the whirlwind, and saith:
2 Who [is] this darkening counsel, By words without knowledge Darkeneth ... by words – "Except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken?" (1 Cor. 14:9) R1481:4*

3 Gird, I pray thee, as a man, thy loins, And I ask thee, and cause thou Me to know.
4 Where wast thou when I founded earth Declare, if thou hast known understanding. The foundations – Illustrated by the rock on which the Great Pyramid is built. C318; R1813:5

Of the earth – "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." (Gen. 1:1) F17


5 Who placed its measures if thou knowest Or who hath stretched out upon it a line Laid the measures – The Great Pyramid abounds in significant measurements. C318

The line upon it – The perfection and exactness of the Great Pyramid show it was constructed by a master architect. C318


6 On what have its sockets been sunk Or who hath cast its corner-stone The foundations – The socket stones (margin). R1813:5; C329

Fastened – Or, made to sink. The Great Pyramid has four corner socket-stones sunk into solid rock. C318

The corner stone – "The chief corner stone" (Eph. 2:20); The top stone; "The stone which the builders rejected" (Matt. 21:42); "He shall bring forth the head stone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it." (Zech. 4:7) C318, C329

A pyramid has five cornerstones, but the reference here is to one particular cornerstone, the top stone. It is a perfect pyramid in itself, to which the lines of the entire structure conform. C318


7 In the singing together of stars of morning, And all sons of God shout for joy, The morning stars – Early bright ones. R1005:1

All the sons of God – The angelic sons, to whom he was the life-giver. F51; E105; R816:5, R1005:1, R2843:5, R5290:3

Shouted for joy – At the creation of this earth. R1005:1; F17, F18

In the dawn of earth's creative week of 49,000 years. F51

Their interest in the human race was manifested in singing over the works of creation. A220


8 And He shutteth up with doors the sea, In its coming forth, from the womb it goeth out.
9 In My making a cloud its clothing, And thick darkness its swaddling band, Swaddlingband – Heavy rings enveloping the earth. F31, F23-26

10 And I measure over it My statute, And place bar and doors,
11 And say, 'Hitherto come thou, and add not, And a command is placed On the pride of thy billows.' But no further – For 6,000 years the Lord has been letting mankind learn their own lessons, except as their course of sin might interfere with the outworking of God's great plan. R5771:3

God's providence has often interfered in the past, but now we have apparently reached the time when the Lord is saying, "Let loose the winds of strife." R5825:4

God can harness even every opposing element, animate or inanimate, and make them all work together for the accomplishment of his grand designs. R1560:2

That which would work no good, serve no purpose or teach no lesson, he restrains. A250

God has not given present rulers unlimited power, but only so far as it does not interfere with his plans--there it must stop. R799:1

Even the wrath of men and devils shall be controlled by God's providence and made to praise him; and the remainder, which would in any way thwart his ultimate purpose, he will restrain. R1778:4


12 Hast thou commanded morning since thy days Causest thou the dawn to know its place
13 To take hold on the skirts of the earth, And the wicked are shaken out of it,
14 It turneth itself as clay of a seal And they station themselves as clothed.
15 And withheld from the wicked is their light, And the arm lifted up is broken.
16 Hast thou come in to springs of the sea And in searching the deep Hast thou walked up and down
17 Revealed to thee were the gates of death And the gates of death-shade dost thou see
18 Thou hast understanding, Even unto the broad places of earth! Declare if thou hast known it all.
19 Where [is] this the way light dwelleth And darkness, where [is] this its place
20 That thou dost take it unto its boundary, And that thou dost understand The paths of its house.
21 Thou hast known for then thou art born And the number of thy days [are] many!
22 Hast thou come in unto the treasure of snow Yea, the treasures of hail dost thou see Hast thou – Verses 22 and 23 seem to be figurative language, not prophetic. R1762:4[R1762:4]

Hail – Stones of congellation, hail of frozen water. R3344:3*


23 That I have kept back for a time of distress, For a day of conflict and battle.
24 Where [is] this, the way light is apportioned It scattereth an east wind over the earth.
25 Who hath divided for the flood a conduit And a way for the lightning of the voices
26 To cause [it] to rain on a land no man, A wilderness no man in it.
27 To satisfy a desolate and waste place, And to cause to shoot up The produce of the tender grass
28 Hath the rain a father Or who hath begotten the drops of dew
29 From whose belly came forth the ice And the hoar-frost of the heavens, Who hath begotten it
30 As a stone waters are hidden, And the face of the deep is captured.
31 Dost thou bind sweet influences of Kimah Or the attractions of Kesil dost thou open Canst thou bind – By their numberless multitude, orderly grouping, continual yet never conflicting movements, perfect harmony, magnitude and mutual benign influence, do the shining host of heaven declare the glory of God. R1391:1

The Lord desired to reassure Job of his superior power and grace. R1390:6, R3424:4

Of Pleiades – While the planets of our solar system revolve around our sun, there is a far mightier center around which countless millions of suns revolve, seemingly associated with the Pleiades, particularly with Alcyone, its central star--thus possibly representing the residence of Jehovah. R5710:2

The probable seat of divine empire. D653; C327; Q813:2


Bind – Knit together, keep from separating and moving apart.

The sweet influences – The cluster (AV, RV, RVIC).

Of Pleiades – The Pleiades is special in this regard: As seen from earth most star groupings are an illusion, i.e., they are not really a grouping of stars moving together through space. The apparent grouping only works for one standing on the earth. The stars that make up the various constellations are actually hundreds and often thousands of light years apart, often moving in different directions. - Not so with the Pleiades. This is actually a genuine star group, one that is indeed bound together (in a cluster) by gravity and the laws of motion.

The above information does not change the thought that the Pleiades may very well be the symbol of God's throne.

Loose the bands of Orion – This is a most fascinating phrase which could not have been fully understood by the ancients, nor even by those living at the time of our Lord's return. It is only through modern science with the aid of the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes that astronomers have given us the information which lets us know just how remarkable is this statement which God uttered to Job over three thousand years ago.

First let us examine the the Hebrew word that is here translated 'bands.' According to professor Strong (#4189) it is: "Active participle feminine of H4900; something drawing, that is, (figuratively) a cord: - band." In other words it is a 'feminine chord.' This suggests (the only natural feminine chord we can think of), an umbilical chord.

This is most appropriate as it turns out that the Orion nebula is now being referred to by scientists as 'a stellar nursery,' the birthplace of new stars.
32 Dost thou bring out Mazzaroth in its season And Aysh for her sons dost thou comfort
33 Hast thou known the statutes of heaven Or dost thou appoint Its dominion in the earth
34 Dost thou lift up to the cloud thy voice, And abundance of water doth cover thee
35 Dost thou send out lightnings, and they go And say unto thee, 'Behold us '
36 Who hath put in the inward parts wisdom Or who hath given To the covered part understanding
37 Who doth number the clouds by wisdom And the bottles of the heavens, Who doth cause to lie down,
38 In the hardening of dust into hardness, And clods cleave together
39 Dost thou hunt for a lion prey And the desire of young lions fulfil
40 When they bow down in dens Abide in a thicket for a covert
41 Who doth prepare for a raven his provision, When his young ones cry unto God They wander without food.
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