“Yes, at this my heart trembles, and is moved out of its place.
Parallel Translations
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“Yes, at this my heart trembles, and is moved out of its place.
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At this also my heart trembleth, and is moved out of his place.
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At this also my heart trembleth, and is moved out of its place.
Cross-references (12)
Passages linked to Job 37:1 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Exodus 19:16 On the third day, when it was morning, there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain, and the sound of an exceedingly loud trumpet; and all the people who were in the camp trembled.
- Job 4:14 fear came on me, and trembling, which made all my bones shake.
- Job 21:6 When I remember, I am troubled. Horror takes hold of my flesh.
- Psalms 89:7 a very awesome God in the council of the holy ones, to be feared above all those who are around him?
- Psalms 119:120 My flesh trembles for fear of you. I am afraid of your judgments.
- Jeremiah 5:22 Don’t you fear me?’ says Yahweh ‘Won’t you tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it can’t pass it? Though its waves toss themselves, yet they can’t prevail. Though they roar, they still can’t pass over it.’
- Daniel 10:7-8 I, Daniel, alone saw the vision; for the men who were with me didn’t see the vision; but a great quaking fell on them, and they fled to hide themselves. So I was left alone, and saw this great vision. No strength remained in me; for my face grew deathly pale, and I retained no strength.
- Habakkuk 3:16 I heard, and my body trembled. My lips quivered at the voice. Rottenness enters into my bones, and I tremble in my place, because I must wait quietly for the day of trouble, for the coming up of the people who invade us.
- Matthew 28:2-4 Behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from the sky, and came and rolled away the stone from the door, and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him, the guards shook, and became like dead men.
- Acts 16:26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were loosened.
- Acts 16:29 He called for lights, sprang in, fell down trembling before Paul and Silas,
- Job 38:1 Then Yahweh answered Job out of the whirlwind,
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain At the marvelling of the thunder and lightnings: whereby…
At the marvelling of the thunder and lightnings: whereby he declareth that the faithful are lively touched with the majesty of God, when they behold his works.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Job 37:1 At this also my heart trembleth, and…
Job 37:1 At this also my heart trembleth, and is moved out of his place.
Ver. 1. At this also my heart trembleth] At this? At what? at the thunder, whereof he had spoken before, and more meant to speak; and which he heard at that instant (as it may seem by the next verse), and therefore no wonder that his heart trembled, and was moved out of its place by an extraordinary palpitation, or, as the Tigurines have it, luxation. Thunder is so terrible, that it hath forced from the greatest atheist an acknowledgment of a deity. Suetonius telleth us of Caligula (that monster, who dared his Jove to a duel), that if it thundered and lightened but a little, he would hoodwink himself; but if much, he would creep under a bed, and be ready to run into a mouse hole, as we say. Augustus Caesar also was so afraid of thunder and lightning, that always and everywhere he carried about him the skin of a sea calf, which those heathens fondly held to be a preservative in such cases, and if at any time there arose a great storm he ran into a dark vault. The Romans held it unlawful to keep court, Iove tonante, fulgurante, in a time of thunder and lightning, as Cicero telleth us (De Divin. l. 2). And Isidore deriveth tonitru a terrendo, thunder from its terror; and others from its tone, or rushing, crashing noise, frightening all creatures. At the voice of thy thunder they are afraid, Psa 104:7, which one, not unfitly, calls David’s medicine.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain At this also, of which I have already spoken,…
At this also, of which I have already spoken, and am now to speak further, to wit, the thunder, which hath ofttimes made even atheists and other wicked men to tremble with a fear of horror, and good men to tremble with a fear of reverence, and a due dread of God’s judgments.
Is moved out of his place; leaps and beats excessively, as if it would leap out of my body.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Thunder and lightning, which usually go together, are sensible…
Thunder and lightning, which usually go together, are sensible indications of the glory and majesty, the power and terror, of Almighty God, one to the ear and the other to the eye; in these God leaves not himself without witness of his greatness, as, in the rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, he leaves not himself without witness of his goodness (Act 14:17), even to the most stupid and unthinking. Though there are natural causes and useful effects of them, which the philosophers undertake to account for, yet they seem chiefly designed by the Creator to startle and awaken the slumbering world of mankind to the consideration of a God above them. The eye and the ear are the two learning senses; and therefore, though such a circumstance is possible, they say it was never known in fact that any one was born both blind and deaf. By the word of God divine instructions are conveyed to the mind through the ear, by his works through the eye; but, because those ordinary sights and sounds do not duly affect men, God is pleased sometimes to astonish men by the eye with his lightnings and by the ear with his thunder. It is very probable that at this time, when Elihu was speaking, it thundered and lightened, for he speaks of the phenomena as present; and, God being about to speak (Job 38:1), these were, as afterwards on Mount Sinai, the proper prefaces to command attention and awe. Observe here, 1. How Elihu was himself affected, and desired to affect Job, with the appearance of God's glory in the thunder and lightning (Job 37:1, Job 37:2): "For my part," says Elihu, "my heart trembles at it; though I have often heard it, often seen it, yet it is still terrible to me, and makes every joint of me tremble, and my heart beat as if it would move out of its place." Thunder and lightning have been dreadful to the wicked: the emperor Caligula would run into a corner, or under a bed, for fear of them. Those who are very much astonished, we say, are thunder-struck. Even good people think thunder and lightning very awful; and that which makes them the more terrible is the hurt often done by lightning, many having been killed by it. Sodom and Gomorrah were laid in ruins by it. It is a sensible indication of what God could do to this sinful world, and what he will do, at last, by the fire to which it is reserved. Our hearts, like Elihu's should tremble at it for fear of God's judgments, Psa 119:120. He also calls upon Job to attend to it (Job 37:2): Hear attentively the noise of his voice. Perhaps as yet it thundered at a distance, and could not be heard without listening: or rather, Though the thunder will be heard, and whatever we are doing we cannot help attending to it, yet, to apprehend and understand the instructions God thereby gives us, we have need to hear with great attention and application of mind. Thunder is called the voice of the Lord (Psa 29:3, etc.), because by it God speaks to the children of men to fear before him, and it should put us in mind of that mighty word by which the world was at first made, which is called thunder. Psa 104:7, At the voice of thy thunder they hasted away, namely, the waters, when God said, Let them be gathered into one place. Those that are themselves affected with God's greatness should labour to affect others. 2. How he describes them. (1.) Their original, not their second causes, but the first. God directs the thunder, and the lightning is his, Job 37:3. Their production and motion are not from chance, but from the counsel of God and under the direction and dominion of his providence, though to us they seem accidental and ungovernable. (2.) Their extent. The claps of thunder roll under the whole heaven, and are heard far and near; so are the lightnings darted to the ends of the earth; they come out of the one part under heaven and shine to the other, Luk 17:24. Though the same lightning and thunder do not reach to all places, yet they reach to very distant places in a moment, and there is no place but, some time or other, has these alarms from heaven. (3.) Their order. The lightning is first directed, and after it a voice roars, Job 37:4. The flash of fire, and the noise it makes in a watery cloud, are really at the same time; but, because the motion of light is much quicker than that of sound, we see the lightning some time before we hear the thunder, as we see the firing of a great gun at a distance before we hear the report of it. The thunder is here called the voice of God's excellency, because by it he proclaims his transcendent power and greatness. He sends forth his voice and that a mighty voice, Psa 68:33. (4.) Their violence. He will not stay them, that is, he does not need to check them, or hold them back, lest they should grow unruly and out of his power to restrain them, but lets them take their course, says to them, Go, and they go - Come, and they come - Do this, and they do it. He will not stay the rains and showers that usually follow upon the thunder (which he had spoken of, Job 36:27, Job 36:29), so some, but will pour them out upon the earth when his voice is heard. Thunder-showers are sweeping rains, and for them he makes the lightnings, Psa 135:7. (5.) The inference he draws from all this, Job 37:5. Does God thunder thus marvellously with his voice? We must then conclude that his other works are great, and such as we cannot comprehend. From this one instance we may argue to all, that, in the dispensations of his providence, there is that which is too great, too strong, for us to oppose or strive against, and too high, too deep, for us to arraign or quarrel with.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain At this also my heart trembleth,.... At the greatness…
At this also my heart trembleth,.... At the greatness and majesty of God, not only as displayed in those works of his before observed, but as displayed in those he was about to speak of: such terrible majesty is there with God, that all rational creatures tremble at it; the nations of the world, the kings and great men of the earth, and even the devils themselves, Isa 64:2. Good men tremble in the worship of God, and at the word of God; and even at the judgments of God on wicked men, and at the things that are coming on the churches of Christ. But Elihu has a particular respect to thunder and lightning, which are very terrible to many persons (s), both good and bad (t). At the giving of the law, there were such blazes of lightning and claps of thunder, that not only all the people of Israel in the camp trembled, but Moses himself also exceedingly feared and quaked, Exo 19:16. It is very probable, that at this time Elihu saw a storm gathering, and a tempest rising; some flashes of lightning were seen, and some murmurs (u) of thunders heard, which began to affect him; since quickly after we read that God spoke out of the whirlwind or tempest, Job 38:1;
and is moved out of his place; was ready to leap out of his body. Such an effect had this phenomenon of nature on him; as is sometimes the case with men at a sudden fright or unusual sound, and particularly thunder (w).
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(s) , &c. Homer. Il. 10. v. 94, 95. (t) As it was to Augustus Caesar, who always carried about with him the skin of a sea calf, as a preservative; and, on suspicion of a storm rising, would betake himself to some secret and covered place: and to Tiberius, who wore his laurel to secure him from it: and to Caligula, who, on hearing it, would get out of bed and hide himself under it. Sueton. Vit. August. c. 90. Tiber. c. 69. & Caligul. c. 51. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 15. c. 30. Vid. Virgil. Georgic. l. 1. v. 330, 331. (u) "Tonitruorum unum genus grave murmur----aliud genus est acre quod crepitum magis dixerint". Senecae Quaest. Nat. c. 2. c. 27. (w) "Attonitos, quorum mentes sonus ille coelestis loco pepulit". Ibid.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Elihu observes the hand of God, in thunder and…
Elihu observes the hand of God, in thunder and lighting, ver. 1-5. In frost and snow, rain and wind, ver. 6-13. Challenges Job to account for these, ver. 14-22. Concludes, that God is great and greatly to be feared, ver. 23,
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Elihu continues to set forth the wisdom and omnipotence…
CHAPTER XXXVII
Elihu continues to set forth the wisdom and omnipotence of God,
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as manifested in the thunder and lightning, 1-5;
in the snows and frosts, 6-8;
in various meteors; and shows the end for which they are sent,
9-13.
Job is exhorted to consider the wondrous works of God in the
light, in the clouds, in the winds, in heat and cold, in the
formation of the heavens, and in the changes of the atmosphere,
14-22.
The perfections of God, and how he should be reverenced by his
creatures, 23, 24.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXXVII
Verse 1. My heart trembleth] This is what the Septuagint has anticipated; see under Job 36:28. A proper consideration of God's majesty in the thunder and lightning is enough to appall the stoutest heart, confound the wisest mind, and fill all with humility and devotion. This, to the middle of Job 37:5, should be added to the preceding chapter, as it is a continuation of the account of the thunder and lightning given at the conclusion of that chapter. Our present division is as absurd as it is unfortunate.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Job 37:1. At this also my heart trembleth —…
Job 37:1. At this also my heart trembleth — These are a few of the works of God; and though there be innumerable more, yet this one single effect of his power strikes terror into me, and makes my heart tremble, as if it would leap out of my body and leave me dead. Elihu continues here his speech, which he had begun before, concerning the incomprehensible works of God; and limits himself chiefly, as he had in the foregoing chapter, to the wonders God doeth in the clouds. To which, at last, he subjoins the amazing extent and brightness of the sky; in which the sun shines with a lustre which we are not able to behold. And thence concludes, that the splendour of the Divine Majesty is infinitely more dazzling, and that we must not pretend to give an account of his counsels.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain At this also - That is, in view of…
At this also - That is, in view of the thunderstorm, for it is that which Elihu is describing. This description was commenced in Job 36:29, and is continued to Job 37:5, and should not have been separated by the division into chapters. Elihu sees a tempest rising. The clouds gather, the lightnings flash, the thunder rolls, and he is awed as with the conscious presence of God. There is nowhere to be found a more graphic and impressive description of a thunder-storm than this; compare Herder on Hebrew Poetry, vol. i., 85ff, by Marsh, Burlington, 1833.
My heart trembleth - With fear. He refers to the palpitation or increased action of the heart produced by alarm.
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And is moved out of his place - That is, by violent palpitation. The heart seems to leave its calm resting place, and to burst away because of fright. The increased action of the heart under the effects of fear, as described here by Elihu, has been experienced by all. The “cause” of this increased action is supposed to be this. The immediate effect of fear is on the extremities of the nerves of the system, which are diffused ever the whole body. The first effect is to prevent the circulation of the blood to the extremities, and to drive it back to the heart, and thus to produce paleness. The blood thus driven back on the heart produces an increased action there to propel it through the lungs and the arteries, thus causing at the same time the increased effort of the heart, and the rapid action of the lungs, and of course the quick breathing and the palpitation observed in fear. See Scheutzer, Physica. Sacra, in loc. An expression similar to that which occurs here, is used by Shakespeare, in Macbeth:
“Why do I yield to that suggestion,
Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair,
And make ray seated heart knock at my ribs
Against the use of nature.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain This thunder, the effects of which are so terrible,…
This thunder, the effects of which are so terrible, that it is often styled the voice of God. (Calmet) (Psalm xxviii.) (Menochius) --- The consideration of rewards (chap. xxxvi. 33.) stimulates the good, while thunder strikes the heart with terror. (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain Strophe d. The thunder storm — through its lightnings…
Strophe d. The thunder storm — through its lightnings gleaming even to the ends of the earth, while its thunders roll along the whole heaven — pre-eminently speaks of the all-embracing power of God. In declaring the awful greatness of God, it equally displays his goodness, which is the outgoing of his greatness, Job_37:1-5.
1. At this — Literally, Because of this, the terror of the approaching storm.
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Is moved — Literally, Starts up. The same Hebrew word is sometimes used in another form for the sudden leap of the locust.
Lev_11:21. The grandeur of the following description of a thunder storm is best seen by comparison with similar descriptions in the classics; for instance, a scene in the Iliad, 7:470-482, in which a storm broke in upon a scene of carousal: —
Humble they stood! pale horror seized them all,
While the deep thunder shook the aerial hall.
The reader may be referred to the celebrated but vastly interior description given in the Koran, (Sura 2:18,) the beauty of which is said to have made the poet Lebid a follower of the false prophet.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain Job_37:1. This verse reads,
Job_37:1. This verse reads,
Yea, at this my heart trembleth,
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And leapeth up out of its place.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (1) At this also my heart trembleth.—Elihu is discoursing…
XXXVII.
(1) At this also my heart trembleth.—Elihu is discoursing of the same matter. He says, “Not only are the cattle terrified, but at this also my heart trembleth and is moved out of its place. Hark! listen to the sound of His voice.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 1-24. It has been already remarked that there…
Vers. 1-24. It has been already remarked that there is no natural division between ch. 36 and ch. 37. the description of the thunderstorm and its effects runs on. From its effect on cattle, Elihu passes to its effect on man (vers. 1-5); and thence goes on to speak of other natural manifestations of God"s power and marvellousness snow, violent rain, whirlwind, frost, and the like (vers. 6-13). He then makes a final appeal to Job to acknowledge his own weakness and God"s perfection and unsearchableness, and to bow down in wonder and adoration before him (vers. 14-24). At this also; i.e. at the thunderstorm or at the particular crash mentioned in Job_36:33. My heart trembleth. A violent peal of thunder produces in almost all men a certain amount of nervous trepidation. Elihu seems to have been abnormally sensitive. His heart trembled so that it seemed to be moved out of his place.
Vers. 1-24. Elihu to Job: 5. The wonderful works of God.
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I WONDERFUL IN RESPECT OF THEIR VARIETY. Beginning with the thunderstorm (ver. 2), with its quickly spreading clouds, (Job_36:29) its sharp, gleaming bolts (ver. 3), its crashing and reverberating peals (ver. 4), Elihu passes on to descant upon other natural phenomena such as the falling of the snow and the rain upon the earth (ver. 6); the sweeping of the whirlwind, or hot simoom, from the remote regions of the southern desert, alternately with the rushing of the cold blasts from "the scatterers," or north winds (ver. 9); the congelation of the water-drops by the breath of winter, and the straitening of the rivers by thick blocks of ice (ver. 10); the replenishing of the emptied rain-cloud with fresh loads of water, and the distribution far and wide of the cloud of his light, i.e. of the cloud that is pregnant with lightning (ver. 11). And yet such phenomena are only an infinitesimally small portion of that endless variety which Nature in her movements and manifestations affords. This variety, too, besides being an eminent enhancement of nature"s beauty, contributes in a high degree to nature"s usefulness, and is a testimony by no means unimportant in favour of nature having been the production of an all-wise Artificer, since the suggestion is little short of inconceivable that a world so wondrously fair, so exquisitely diversified, so harmoniously adjusted in all its parts, could have been the work of blind, unintelligent force, directed in its operations by purposeless chance, or could have emanated from any other source than that of an infinite mind.
II WONDERFUL IN RESPECT OF THEIR ORIGIN. The presumption above created is explicitly confirmed by Elihu, who commends to Job"s attention the entire circle of nature"s interesting phenomena as "the wondrous works of God" (ver. 14), "the wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge" (ver. 16), and "his work" (ver. 7), i.e. as the productions of his almighty finger. Does the thunder cannonade along the sky? It is God who roareth with the voice of his excellency (ver. 4). Do the heavens shake their snowflakes, distil their gentle showers, or pour their copious floods upon the earth? It is God who saith to the snow and rain, "Be thou on the earth" (ver. 6). Does the frost arrest the flowing river, congeal the water-drop, lie like crisp white beads upon the ground, or trace its fairy pictures on the windowpane? It is God"s breath that sends the frost into the air (ver. 10). Do the rain-clouds fill and empty themselves upon the earth? It is God who loadeth them with liquid burdens (ver. 11). Does the lightning-shaft, leaping from the dark bosom of the storm-cloud, career through the murky sky? It is God who directeth it under the whole heaven (ver. 3). Nor is this simply superstition, like that which caused the untutored savage and the cultured Greek alike to transform every mountain and stream into the abode of a divinity. And just as little is it merely poetry which, personifying dead things, deals with them as beings endued with life and intelligence. It is piety which, with a keener and truer discernment than is sometimes evinced by modern scientists, overleaping every intermediate cause, takes its station with adoring wonder beside the throne of him who is the absolute and uncreated Author of this universal frame. The characteristic here ascribed to Elihu, the youthful prophet of Arabia, was one which in an eminent degree pertained to the Hebrew mind. The psalms of David, in particular, are distinguished by the boldness with which they recognize the hand of God in the ever-varying phenomena of this terrestrial sphere. (cf. Ps 8 Ps 19 Ps 29 Ps 65 Ps 68) Nor was this peculiarity awanting to the later poets of the period of the exile. (cf. Ps 104) Even New Testament writers (e.g. St. Paul, Act_14:17 Act_17:28) are not strangers to this devout practice. Above all, it was habitual with Christ. (Mat_6:30 Joh_5:17) It is much to be retied that modern scientists should so frequently overlook the fact that in investigating nature"s laws they are merely informing themselves as to the specific methods in which the supreme Creator has been pleased to work.
III WONDERFUL IN RESPECT OF THEIR EXECUTION. If the phenomena of nature are in themselves such as to demand an infinite mind for their conception, much more does their production call for a supreme Artificer of unlimited resources as to wisdom and power. Elihu declares them to be "doings" positively incomprehensible by the finite mind (ver. 5); and, notwithstanding all the results of scientific observation, it is still true that the chief secrets of nature continue to baffle man"s intelligence. Take the thunderstorm, for instance, to which Elihu alludes. Almost any scientific treatise touching on the subject will explain how the dark masses of cloud that pile themselves above the horizon and gradually spread along the sky are filled with water and charged with electricity, how the lightning is produced by the meeting of positive with negative electricity, and how the thunderclap results from the explosion of the overcharged clouds. But, after all, this does not impart a great deal of information to the mind. It leaves unresolved the deepest mysteries connected with the problem, such as the way in which the storm-cloud is formed, and the structure of the particles of which it is composed, the mode in which the earth and the air have been charged with different kinds or degrees of electricity, what electricity itself is, and what are the laws of its production and distribution. And even though all these matters were explored by the patient intellect of science, there would still remain the question how the phenomena themselves can be made, clearly showing that the utmost that is attainable by man is to understand the works of God (at least in part) when they are made, not to arrive at the wisdom by which they might be reproduced. The meteorologist can observe how God makes his thunder, but he cannot himself thunder with a voice like God"s. He can descant upon the cause of snow, can expatiate upon the beauty of the snowflakes, and can tell that their crystals assume five leading forms; but with all his learning and amid all his researches he has never laid his finger on the art of making snow, or of saying to a single flake, "Be thou on the earth.
IV WONDERFUL IN RESPECT OF THEIR CONTROL. If nature is not a vast machine from which God has departed, still less is it an engine which he has suffered to escape from his hand. Conceived by infinite wisdom and fashioned by almighty power, it has by the same combination of qualities been kept in complete subordination. Elihu instances the lightning-cloud as a work of God that is "turned round about by his counsels, and that doeth whatsoever he commandeth upon the face of the wide earth" (Ver. 12). But it is the same with the snow and the rain, the frost and the wind. These are as submissive to his command as the thunder when it roars, or the lightning when it gleams. So, according to the concurrent testimony of Scripture, are all his works in all places of his dominion. (Job_23:13 Psa_33:9 Psa_119:90, 91 Isa_40:26 Dan_4:35 Eph_1:11)
V WONDERFUL IN RESPECT OF THEIR IMPRESSIVENESS. More especially is this the case with the grandee and sublimer phenomena. The thunderstorm, with its ominous gloom, its lurid fires, its terrific detonations, carries a sense of awe to every sentient creature. At its first approach the cattle manifest their fear by herding together in the most sheltered spots that they can find. The birds, as they fly with sager haste to screen themselves among the boughs, give evidence that they are smitten with an unknown dread. Even the wild beasts that roam through the forest or scour the plain, the shaggy lion and the ferocious tiger, slink away to hide themselves within their dens Nay, man, whether civilized or barbarian, religious or unbelieving, cannot witness the dread commotion of the elements, cannot look upon "the sulphurous and thought-executing fires, vaunt couriers of oak-cleaving thunderbolts" as they flash across the murky vault of heaven, or listen to the "all-shaking thunder" as it crashes, rolls, and roars across the pavement of the skies, without instinctively holding his breath and feeling solemnized, as if he stood in presence of the supernatural. Even the heart of Elihu trembled and tottered from its place before the awe-inspiring manifestation of Divine power which was then taking place (ver. 1), very much as Moses did in the presence of Mount Sinai, when it shook beneath the feet of the God of Israel, (Psa_68:8) and he gave expression to his horror, saying," I exceedingly fear and quake". (Heb_12:21) But scarcely less impressive to a thoughtful and devout mind is Nature in her quieter moods. "The meanest floweret of the vale, The simplest note that swells the gale, The common sun. the air, the skies, To him are opening Paradise. Elihu speaks of God sealing up the hand of every man by the terrors of his thunder or the rigours of his winter (ver. 7); that is, arresting man"s customary occupations, and compelling man, by a period of enforced leisure, to meditate upon his work, so as to know and recognize it to be his. One reason why men fail to trace God"s presence in his own creation is the want of a religious contemplation of his works. The supreme Creator has so constructed every portion of nature that, if rightly interpreted, it will speak of him.
VI WONDERFUL IN RESPECT OF THEIR DESIGN. It is a fundamental article in biblical theology that the supreme Artificer never acts without a purpose. (Act_15:18 Eph_1:11) The universe was not summoned into existence without a specific end in view. (Rev_4:11) The earth was not created in vain, but formed to be inhabited. (Isa_45:18) So every single work of God has its particular aim. Elihu again recurs for an example to the thunder-cloud. When God causes a thunderstorm to burst upon a land, it is not an accident, or a haphazard operation, but an event with a well-defined object in contemplation. It is either as a punishment for sin, or as an act of mercy towards man, or as a means of fertilizing the land and thus conferring benefit on an entire population. That is to say, it is employed as an instrument in the execution of God"s prearranged design, whether that be specific in its destination or general, i.e. for the benefit of an individual or the good of a country, and whether it be punitive or merciful. And every other phenomenon of nature is in like manner connected with the silver line of God"s eternal purpose. Science may not be able to see how the two are linked together. But, if faith can, it is enough. It is not unscientific to affirm that God sends the thunderstorm and the whirlwind, the earthquake and the pestilence, since the hand of God confessedly is outside the cognizance of science; it is not required by religion to deny that all these phenomena are due to immediately preceding causes. Science traces back the links of the chain to the verge of its material domain. When science falters and becomes blind, faith, catching up the quest, penetrates the regions beyond, and discovers the last link of the chain to be the hand of God.
VII WONDERFUL IN RESPECT OF THEIR TEACHINGS. These may be summed up in one word, "ignorance." Whatever else they attest, they emphatically proclaim man to be destitute of true knowledge.
1. Concerning the phenomena of nature. Elihu asks Job with a touch of irony if he could explain what to men in general was incomprehensible-how God had imposed laws upon the cloud and the lightning, and by what means he caused "the light of his cloud" to shine if he knew so much about meteorology as to be able to comprehend "the balancings of clouds nay, if he could tell how the action of the south wind, or hot simoom, made him warm (vers. 15-17). Doubtless on every one of these points science has laid open to us much that was concealed from the mind of Job and even of Elihu; but still it is relatively true that in comparison with what remains to be explored man is as yet profoundly ignorant of the great secrets of nature.
2. Concerning the position of himself. Man, Elihu reminds Job, was not distinguished from nature"s phenomena as God was, being not the creator as God, but only himself a creature like nature. "Hast thou with him spread out the sky, strong and as a molten mirror?" (ver. 18). Consequently, it was sheer presumption to imagine that man was competent to enter into judgment or controversy with God. If Job knew how to address God, Elihu would be glad to be instructed; as for himself, he would as soon think of saying that he wanted to be swallowed up as that he wished to speak with God (vers. 19, 20). It is ever precisely in proportion as we understand the feebleness, insignificance, and sinfulness of our position before God that we are withheld from the offences of presumption and irreverence.
3. Concerning the administration of providence. Exactly as the clear firmament overhead with its shining sun is obscured from view by the storm-clouds that intervene, so the principles on which God governs the world, allotting suffering to one and happiness to another, cannot be distinctly perceived by man. By-and-by they will be made to shine forth with resplendent lustre, as soon the darkened heavens will be swept of clouds, and the bright light, beaming clown from the ethereal heights, will in all its radiant glory be disclosed. Meantime man stands beneath the clouds, where all is dark, though above, i.e. to the mind of God, everything is clear. (1Jn_1:5)
4. Concerning the character of God. Elihu means to say either that fair weather effulgent as gold (or disclosing the golden sun), cometh out of the northern quarters of the sky, or that men out of the northern regions of the earth extract gold; but that neither can the Divine Being, with whom is terrible majesty, be steadily looked upon by man, as man can contemplate the orb of day, nor can the nature of God be fathomed as men dig out gold from the mine. "Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out." Not that this implies an utter ignorance of the attributes pertaining to the Supreme. On the contrary, man may gather from his wondrous works in creation and providence that God is "excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice;" nay, that he is compassionate and merciful also, being indisposed to afflict either willingly or severely, and never except as a means to an end.
5. Concerning the rule of duty. "Men do therefore fear him." Such homage rests on the three pillars of God"s power, God"s justice, and God"s mercy. Yet man, like Job, is prone to forget the reverence due to God. Hence it is ever needful to enforce attention to duty by reminders of God"s supremacy and majesty. "He respecteth not any that are wise of heart." Self-righteousness and pride are wholly inconsistent with a right fulfilment of human duty towards the Supreme. "Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off". (Psa_138:6)
Learn:
1. That nature is the handiwork of God.
2. That nature contains revelations of beauty, power, wisdom, goodness, justice, to the soul of man.
3. That it is man"s duty to study that which God has revealed.
4. That the best preparation for a study of nature, as of any other revelation, is a deep conviction of personal ignorance.
5. That the more we learn of the works of God, the less shall we think of ourselves.
6. That rightly prosecuted, the study of nature leads to God.
7. That the glory of God is ever greater than the grandeur of his works, or of Nature in her sublimest moods.
8. That the sum of human duty, as expounded by nature, is to fear God and keep his commandments.
9. That the discoveries of nature have been eclipsed by the revelations of the gospel.
10. That if it behoves man to study God in nature, much more does it behove him to study God in Christ.
HOMILIES BY W.F. ADENEY Vers. 1-5. The voice of the thunder.
I A VOICE OF TERROR. The deep roar, the wide volume of sound, the mystery and the majesty of the thunder, combine to make it strike us with awe. Thunder accompanied the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai. (Exo_19:16) Men are naturally alarmed at any voice from heaven. God sometimes speaks to us in thunderous notes, i.e. through great calamities. Then we tremble as before an irresistible majesty.
II A VOICE OF NATURE. The thunder is part of the economy of nature as much a part of it as the whisper of the wind or the hum of the insect. It struck the ancient world with the greater alarm because it was wholly inexplicable. Now that we know its connection with time electric currents of the atmosphere, we do not think of it as so fearful. The artillery of the heavens is all obedient to fixed laws of nature. Yet it is not the less fired by the hand of God, who is the Spirit of nature as well as its Maker. The reduction of the thunder to a place among natural phenomena suggests a lesson in faith. We may be reassured when we see that what looks lawless is part of the Divine order. We often alarm ourselves with needless fears; but all must be well when God rules over all.
III A POWERLESS VOICE. The silent lightning is deadly. On the other hand, the, re are no thunderbolts; it was ignorance that attributed the effects of the electric flash to the thunder that followed it. But this was in accordance with a common way of thinking. We pay most attention to that which makes most noise. Yet when the noise is heard the power is past. Men are always undervaluing the lightning and overvaluing the thunder. Sin is ignored, its consequences are made much of. Goodness is forgotten, fame is worshipped. Fidelity is not seen, success makes the welkin ring with applause.
IV A VOICE OF MERCY. The thunder cannot do anything directly, with all its noise and fury. The deeds are done by the swift, subtle electricity; and the boasting thunder is nothing but noise. Still, there is a message in the thunder. The noise of the thunder tells us that the lightning has come and gone! The fearful flash has passed, and still we live untouched, unhurt. Moreover the storm, of which the thunder is one element, is a most refreshing influence, clearing the atmosphere, cooling the temperature, bringing rain to thirsty fields and gardens. Thus the voice that seems only to roar in rage is to be associated with grateful thoughts. The same may be said of other thunderous voices. Calamities burst over our heads like thunderstorms. At first they stun us; but by degrees we begin to see that they have brought showers of blessing, and that they have not crushed us as we expected. Here we stand, in spite of the storm, still living and still enjoying the loving-kindness of God. W.F.A.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Hear attentively the noise of His voice.
Job_37:1-13
Hear attentively the noise of His voice.
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What is Elihus message
What he really contributes to the main argument of the book is, that suffering may be medicinal, corrective, fructifying, as well as punitive. The friends had proceeded on the assumption, an assumption abundantly refuted by Job, that his calamities sprang, and only could spring from his transgressions. In their theology there was no room for any other conclusion. But, obviously, there is another interpretation of the function of adversity which needs to be discussed, if the discussion is to be complete; and this wider interpretation Elihu seeks to formulate. According to him, God may be moved to chastise men by love, as well as by anger; with a view to quicken their conscience, to instruct their thoughts, and give them a larger scope; in order to purge them, that they may bring forth more and better fruit; to rouse them from the lethargy into which, even when they are spiritually alive, they are apt to sink, and to save them from the corruption too often bred even by good customs, if these customs do not grow and change. His main contention has indeed, since his time, become the merest commonplace. But this pious commonplace was sufficiently new to Job and his friends to be startling. To them Elihu, when he contends that God often delivers the afflicted by and through their afflictions, must have seemed to be either uttering a dangerous heresy, or speaking as one who had received new light and inspiration from on high. (Samuel Cox, D. D.)
The phenomena of nature
Elihu regarded nature--
I. As the result of the Divine agency. He speaks of the thunder as the voice of God. The sound that goeth out of His voice, the voice of His Excellency. He speaks of the lightning as being directed under the whole heaven by Him, even unto the ends of the earth. Modern science spreads out theoretic schemes between nature and God. It speaks of laws and forces. This was not the science of Elihu; he regarded man as being brought face to face with God in nature.
II. As the revealer of the Divine character. He recognised--
(1) His majesty. In the thunder.
(2) His ubiquity. He saw Him everywhere, in the little as well as in the great.
(3) His inscrutableness,--he could not follow Him in all His movements.
III. As the instrument of the Divine purpose. And it is turned round about by His counsels; that they may do whatsoever He commandeth them upon the face of the world in the earth. He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for His land, or for mercy. (Homilist.)
For He saith to the anew.
The lessons of the snowflakes
I. We learn that what God gives is pure. The beautiful snow, in its purity, is a type of His gifts. To be pure is certainly a state to earnestly desire, and strenuously endeavour to attain. It requires the crucible of affliction and discipline to reach it, and God often, yea, indeed, constantly uses it.
II. That what God gives is beautiful. Nothing is so beautiful as a field of fresh-fallen snow. The snow grows more beautiful when you examine it closely. But think of the source from whence they come, and each little form will be to you a profitable teacher. God gave the snow, and it is thus beautiful; so beautiful are all His gifts. Beauty is a quality in objects not to be ignored. When God makes beauty, how infinitely superior it is in beauty to the beauty constructed by the hand of man.
III. That what God gives is good. Were it not for the kindly snow, in some countries, not one grain of wheat would live through the rigorous cold of the winter. But the very wheat is warmed into life by the protection of the snow.
IV. The snow teaches us to be impartial. In this it accords with the Word of God. It bestows its benefits upon a community, it neglects none.
V. We learn a lesson of caution. How easily soiled is the snow, because of its very whiteness and cleanness. Its susceptibility to soil and dirt is a constant pleading that one be careful not to soil it. The fairer, whiter, cleaner a thing is, the more easily is it soiled.
VI. One more lesson--the evanescence of all earthly things. The fields, now hidden from view by their snowy covering, will soon be seen again; and when the snow is gone, how brief will seem to have been the season of its sojourn! Out of this lesson comes another--the duty of readiness to meet the Bridegroom. (Wallace Thorp.)
The snowstorm
I. The snow in its interesting phenomenon. The snow falls in beautiful showers almost every year, and covers the face of nature. Multitudes admire its beauties, but few understand its singular formation, important uses, and varied design. These things ought not so to be. We should make ourselves acquainted with the works of God, especially such common gifts as the rain, and wind, and snow. This would lead our thoughts from nature to natures God; and then His wisdom, and power, and goodness as seen therein would excite our admiration. The snow, this wonderful creature of God, has been thus described--Snow is a moist vapour drawn up from the earth to, or near the middle region of the air, where it is condensed, or thickened into a cloud, and falls down again like carded wool, sometimes in greater and sometimes in lesser flakes. The snow and the rain are made of the same matter, and are produced in the same place, only they differ in their outward form, as is obvious to the eye, and in their season. Rain falls in the warmer seasons, the clouds being dissolved into rain by heat; snow falls in the sharper seasons, the clouds being thickened by the cold. The place where the snow is generated is in the air, from thence it receives a command to dispatch itself to the earth, and there to abide. Three things respecting the snow may just be noticed.
1. Its whiteness. The whiteness of snow, observe naturalists, is caused by the abundance of air and spirits that are in transparent bodies. The whiteness of snow, says Sturm, may be accounted for thus--it is extremely light, and thin, consequently full of pores, and these contain air. It is further composed of parts more or less thick and compact, and such a substance does not admit the suns rays to pass, neither does it absorb them: on the contrary, it reflects them very powerfully, and thus gives it that white appearance which we see in it (Isa_1:18).
2. Form. The little flakes, observes the pious author just named, generally resemble hexagonal stars; sometimes, however, they have eight angles, and at others ten, and some of them are of quite an irregular shape. The best way of observing them is to receive the snow upon white paper, but hitherto little has been said of the cause of these different figures.
3. Abundance. Hast thou, said God to Job, entered into the treasures of snow?
II. The snow in its efficient source. The philosopher may explain its secondary, or instrumental causes, but the Christian recognises and acknowledges its first and original cause. Elihu, in the text, and in other parts of this chapter, traces, or notices, the thunder and the lightning, the snow and the rain, the whirlwind and the cold, the frost and the clouds, to their Divine source. For He saith (i.e., He commands)
to the snow, Be thou on the earth. The source from whence the snow proceeds, illustrates--
1. Gods power. When the Almighty Maker wills a thing, He has only to speak, and it is done.
2. Gods sovereignty. The sovereignty of God means His power and right of dominion over His creatures, to dispose and determine them as seemeth Him good. The snow affords an instance of the exercise of this attribute--on Gods will depends the time, the quantity, and the place.
3. Gods justice. The text itself refers to this very attribute. For He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for His land, or for mercy. And Elihu, in the end of the chapter, where he closes his conversation with Job, on the attributes of God, as seen in His works, gives prominence to His justice. Touching the Almighty, we cannot find Him out: He is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice: men do therefore fear Him. And the Almighty Himself, in the next chapter, tells Job that He sometimes sends His snow and hail in justice, that sinners may be punished for their sins (Job_38:22-23).
4. Gods goodness.
5. Gods providence.
III. The snow in its varied purposes. He causeth it, i.e., the cloud, with whatever is its burden, to unladen and disburden itself--for correction, or for His land, or for mercy. We must here observe--
1. The Lord sometimes sends the snow in the way of correction. The Hebrew is, for a rod--so we put it in the margin. Thunder and rain is the rod (1Sa_12:17-19). And who can tell but God may send His snow, and wind, and cold, to punish us for our unmindfulness of His mercies, and opposition to His laws?
2. The snow may be sent for the benefit of Gods land. For His land (verse 13). The world is His, and the fulness thereof. The clouds, therefore, drop down their moisture for the benefit of Gods land, that the beasts may have pasture; plants, nourishment; and that there may be provision for all Gods offspring (Psa_104:10-14; Psa_104:27-28; Psa_65:9-13).
3. The design of God in sending the snow may be merciful.
IV. Our duty as implied in Elihus address to Job. Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God (verse 14). The works of God are wonderful--wonderful in their magnitude, variety, beauty, usefulness, and order--these are to be considered. Consider them, therefore; many see them, who never consider them. Consider them reverently. Patiently. Calmly. Closely. Gods works will bear inspection. Frequently. Devoutly. Not merely that your minds may be informed, but your heart drawn out towards God, in pious affections. We learn from this subject--
1. The generality of men pay little attention to the wondrous works of God, that such indifference is very criminal, and that it is the duty of ministers to awaken the attention of their people to the subject.
2. Special and particular providences demand special and particular attention. Hearken unto this.
3. The perfect ease with which God can punish the wicked, and hurl them to destruction.
4. The present time affords a fine opportunity for the exercise of Christian benevolence.
5. The precious privileges of those who are interested in the favour of God. (The Pulpit.)
The snow and its lessons
I. We may learn from the snow that it is possible to do a great deal of good without making very much noise. The snow is a great blessing. The Psalmist says, He giveth snow like wool (Psa_147:16). Wool, as we know, is very warm. Winter garments are made of wool, and so we keep out the cold. The snow is Gods winter garment for the earth. It covers up the tender roots and plants with its thick clothing, and protects them from the cutting frosts which would otherwise destroy them. Then the snow is useful for the watering of the earth (Isa_55:10-11). When we look upon the beauty of spring, and the many glories of the summer, we must not forget the part which the snow took in producing these things. And yet, while the snow is so useful to the earth, how silently it does its work (Mat_6:2).
II. Take care what footprints you leave behind you. The fresh snow is a very faithful record of our footsteps. It is in a more serious sense that we also leave our footprints behind us as we walk down the lane of life. I do not mean upon the snow, but upon the memories and characters of those who have known us.
III. Another lesson the snow has taught us is the power of little things. A snowflake is a little thing, but many snowflakes make a white world. Success in life consists very much in a constant attention to little things. We cannot always find opportunities of doing great deeds.
IV. The last of our lessons is that God loves holiness. Nothing is whiter than the snow. No sin can enter heaven. (R. Brewin.)
Suggestions of the snow
The Old Testament far more than the New employs the phenomena of nature to symbolise truth. The birth of snow, far up upon soft clouds, or yet more tenuous ether, gives rise to pleasant suggestions of the ways of God in nature. To a child, snow descending is like feathers, as if the great globe were a bird coming to its moulting and shedding all its old plumes. Or, if snow be likened to flowers, then the raindrops in the upper air are buds, and snow is the blossoming or budding raindrops. Or, if the poet renders his thought, the snow is the great husbandman, and plants the moisture borrowed from lake and sea, and in due time shakes down upon the earth the plumy grains that have been reared in the heaven above. Or yet again, as an emblem, Quarles might have noticed the rare beauty of the snow. Each flake of snow is more exquisite in structure than anything mortal hands can make. Why should not the raindrops come pelting down rounded like shot--as they do in summer? The earth, then, it might be thought, had all the beauty of form and flower that it needed; but in winter, cold and barren, the sky is the gelid garden and sends down exquisite bloom, fairer than the lily of the valley. Not only is each flake beautiful, but so are all its weird and witching ways. If undisturbed the snow falls with wondrous levity, as if in a dream or reverie; as if it hardly knew the way, and wavered in the search of the road. It touches the ground with airy grace, as if like a sky bird it touched the bough or the twig only to fly again. But when once embodied, it hangs upon bush and tree, ruffling the black branch with lace, or cushioning the evergreen branch with the rarest and daintiest white velvet. Or, when winds drive it or send it in swirls around and above all obstructions, drifting it into banks with rim and curvature, like which no pencil or tool can match, it still, out of all its agitation, works lines of grace and beauty that have been the admiration of the world from the beginning. This child of the storm is itself beautiful, and the artist of beauty. Consider the weakness and the power of the snow. Can anything be gentler and more powerless? It comes not as a ball from the rifle, or an arrow from the bow, or a swooping hawk descending from the sky for its prey. A childs hand catches and subdues it; and ere he can see it, it is gone. A baby can master that which masters mankind. Boys gather it, and it is submissive; it resists nothing. All things seem stronger than the snow new born. Yet, one nights weaving, and it covers the earth through wide latitudes and longitudes with a garment that all the looms of the earth could not have furnished. One day more and it sinks fences underneath it, obliterates all roads, and levels the whole land as spade and plough, and ten thousand times ten thousand engineers and workmen could not do it. It lays its hand upon the roaring engine, blocks its wheels and stops its motion. It stands before the harbour, and lets down a white darkness which baffles the pilot and checks the home-returning ship. It takes the hills and mountains, and gathering its army until the day comes, without sound of drum or trumpet, it charges down; and who can withstand its coming in battle array? What power is thus in the hosts of weakness! So the thoughts of good men, small, silent, gathering slowly, at length are masters of time and of the ages. If such be the power of Gods weakness, what must be the Almightiness of God, the thunder of His power? Consider, also, that the descending snow has relations not alone thus to fancy, but is a worker too. We send abroad to the islands of South America, and to the coast quays, to bring hither the stimulant that shall kindle new life in the wasted soils and bring forth new harvests. Yet from the unsullied air the snow brings down fertility in the endless wastes that are going on,--exhaled gases, from towns and from cities, multiplied forms that are vandals, wanderers in the sky. Caught in the meshes of the snow, the ammoniacal gases and various others are brought down by it and laid upon the soil; and it has become a proverb that the snow, fresh and new-fallen, is the poor mans manure. It gathers again, then, the waste material of the earth, whose levity carries it above, and lays with equal distribution over all the lands that which brings back to them their needed fertility. (Henry Ward Beecher.)
Winter
What are its mute lessons to us?
1. Winter presents us with a special study, of the richness, wisdom, and greatness of the Divine order of the world. The religion of winter worship is preeminently the religion of the supernatural--the religion of Christ. It is the impulse of a religious spirit to recognise the beauty, the wisdom, the grandeur of these manifestations of the Creator. Power, beauty, and goodness are revealed.
2. Winter may be made the text of an important social study. It has potent influences upon character, and upon the duties and sympathies of life. What a lesson it is in the distribution of Gods gifts. Everywhere nature--Gods order--rebukes selfishness. Winter is potent as a social civiliser. Home is fully realised only in winter climes. Winter appeals to human charities and sympathies.
3. Winter is a fine moral study, full of spiritual lessons and analogies, such as Christ would have elicited. It is something that there is a break upon mere acquisition--a season when accumulation is arrested, when even God does not seem to be lavishing gifts. Winter brings a due recognition of the beauty and glory of the earth that God has made, its wondrous forms and forces. It brings a sense of obligation to the marvellous providence of the earths economy--the relation of seed time to sowing, of winter to summer; and all the while the uniform wants of life supplied, one season providing for another which produces no supplies. How transient all earthly conditions and forms of beauty and strength! How unresting, how unhasting the law of change. The supreme analogy of winter is death. To this winter of human life we all must come. (Henry Allon, D. D.)
Lessons of the snow
I. Consider its beauty. Its shape and colour have always charmed the naturalists and the poets. Its beauty is its own, unique, artistic, Divine. This beauty suggests a higher beauty, as articulated in thought, in character, and life. The beauty of any life consists in that circlet of excellences called the fruit of the Spirit. That life is beautiful whose touch is healing, whose words are comforting, and whose influence is ennobling. Delicacy and sweetness belong to the highest music. The purer the soul, the more of delicacy and sweetness will be in it. A beautiful life carries the Christ heart. Not only is each snow crystal a thing of beauty, but its ways are ways of pleasantness. How graceful the curves and beautiful the lines of falling snowflakes! How gently they touch the earth! With feathery softness they weave about the trees and bushes the rarest lace work, defying all the looms of the modern world. The snow is an artist unequalled in all the world. Its ways are full of grace and beauty. And beauty in the soul expresses itself in comely ways and winsome deeds. Spirituality will not only transfigure the countenance, but clothe the hands and feet with tenderness and grace.
II. Consider the purity of the snow. It is clean, white, and bright. But when it comes in contact with soot, its purity is defiled and its comeliness destroyed. What a pitiable sight is a soul defiled by the soot of sin! Snow undefiled is bewitchingly beautiful, but when tainted it is repulsive. The sight of doves and snow made David yearn for a pure heart.
III. Consider the variety of the snowflakes. The snowflake has been examined by the microscope, and its revelations disclosed. Revelations of crowns studded with brilliants, of stars with expanding rays, of bridges with their abutments, and temples with their aisles and columns. Scientific men have observed no less than a thousand different forms and shapes in snow crystals. While they shoot out stars like chiselled diamonds, they reveal endless variety. O what a God is ours! Everywhere in nature we see diversity. We stand amazed before the various types of mind. When we say the snow crystal is a picture of Gods thought, we also are forced to believe it is expressed in a thousand different ways.
IV. Consider the usefulness of the snow. It is a stimulant and fertiliser. Exhausted soils are enlivened and strengthened by the snow. Gases are captured by it, and they descend in showers to enrich and beautify the fields. Utility is a widespread law. Waste material is caught up and made to serve another purpose. See how the snow covers with its woollen mantle uncomely objects, and simultaneously protects those hidden potencies which under the vernal equinox unfold into bud and leaf, blossom, fruit. Beneath that white shroud the forces of spring are allying and marshalling, like soldiers on the field. Snow is a source of irrigation. In countries of great elevation, where the rains are only periodical, the inhabitants depend wholly on the snow to enrich and fertilise their fields. Viewing human life in the light of a Divine philosophy, we are forced to the conclusion that the winter of our trials is essential to soul-fruitage. Lowell saw in the first fall of snow the picture of a great sorrow, but a sorrow sweetened by the elements of hope. Reposing in the thought of a universal Father, and having assurances that winter will give place to spring and the melodies of birds, let us see in our trials and afflictions the means ordained for our entrance into glory. In Haydns Creation the opening passage abounds in dissonances, a fit representation of chaos; but they soon give way to harmonies, choral and symphonic, that fill the soul with dreams of immeasurable glory and unearthly peace. And as in music, so in life, discords will end in harmonies, and sweet strains fill earth and sky. Death may seem to silence the harp of life, yet it is only as a pause in music that is preparatory to richer, sweeter, and fuller tones. (J. B. Whitford.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Elihu continues his discourse, apparently in the midst of…
ELIHU’S FOURTH SPEECH CONTINUED
Elihu continues his discourse, apparently in the midst of loud thunder-claps, suddenly issuing from the storm-cloud out of which the Almighty was about to speak, and which had already been seen gathering. The scene sublime and terrific. Elihu sensibly affected by it. (Job_37:1)—“At this (the thunder he had just spoken of, ch. 36, 33), and which was now heard) my heart trembleth (beats with awe) and is moved (or leaps) out of his place”. Awe, a natural effect of loud reverberating thunder, even when its cause is better understood than it was in the days of Elihu. Pealing thunder intended as a display of God’s solemn majesty as Ruler and Judge of mankind. Hence, accompanied the giving of the law on Mount Sinai (Exo_19:19). Only a consciousness of having the Almighty for our Father and friend through Jesus Christ, can or ought to give assurance and composure amid the cracking thunder and flashing of the storm.
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I. Elihu calls Job’s attention to the thunder-storm. Job_37:2-5.—“Hear attentively the noise of His voice (in the thunder), and the sound that goeth out of His mouth. He directeth it (the thunder, or the flash that precedes it) under the whole heaven (or, ‘under the whole heaven is its darting), and His lightning unto the ends of the earth. After it (i.e., the flash) a voice goeth; He thundereth with the voice of His excellency, and He will not stay (or delay) them (the lightning, or other accompaniments of the thunder) when his voice is heard (or, “one cannot track them, though His voice hath been heard”). God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth He which we cannot comprehend”. The magnificence and terror of a thunder-storm similarly described by the Psalmist: “The voice of the Lord is upon the waters,” &c. (Psa_29:3; Psa_29:10). Also, but with less sublimity, by the Poet of the Seasons:—
“ ’Tis listening fear, and dumb amazement all,
When to the startled eye, the sudden flame
Appears far South, eruptive through the cloud;
And following slower, in explosion vast,
The thunder raises his tremendous voice.
At first heard solemn, o’er the verge of Heaven,
The tempest growls; but as it nearer comes,
And rolls its awful burden on the world,
The lightnings flash a larger curve, and more
The noise astounds: till overhead a sheet
Of lurid flame discloses wide; then shuts
And opens wider; shuts, and opens still
Expansive, wrapping ether in a blaze.
Follows the loosened aggravated roar,
Enlarging, deepening, mingling; peal on peal
Crush’d horrible, convulsing heaven and earth.”
Observe—
1. The terrors of a thunder-storm to be viewed as manifestations of the Almighty. The thunder, however caused, truth and piety regard as “the noise of His voice.” “God thundereth marvellously”. The teaching of universal consciousness as well as of the Bible. No reason why the Almighty should not have witnesses, in His own universe, to His terribleness as well as to His tenderness. God no less in the thunder-storm, because we are allowed to understand a little of the way in which, and the laws by which, He is pleased, ordinarily, to produce it.
2. Those sublimities in nature to be attentively regarded by us. “Heat attentively the noise of His voice”. The thunder-peal to be listened to as proclaiming—
(1) The presence of God in the Universe;
(2) His power and majesty;
(3) The terribleness of His displeasure;
(4) The vengeance awaiting the impenitent. Fitted and intended, among other things, to arouse the sinner to a sense of his guilt and danger. God’s voice calling him to secure, in time, a place of refuge for his soul in Christ—“the covert from the tempest” (Isa_32:2). “This voice came for your sakes” (Joh_12:30).
3. The elements of nature all under God’s control. “He directeth it under the whole heaven”.
4. The omnipresence of God suggested by the velocity and reach of the lightning-flash. “His lightning [is] to the ends of the earth”. The passage of the electric fluid over thousands of miles instantaneous. Hence its wonderful and now extensive employment in telegraphy.
5. God’s operations in the atmosphere, as elsewhere, marvellous, and even still full of mystery. “God thundereth marvellously: great things doeth He which we cannot comprehend”. The thunder marvellous—
(1) In its production;
(2) In its terribleness;
(3) In its effects. The nature of that which produces the thunder, and to which we give the name “electricity,” still a mystery. Philosophers uncertain as to whether it is a fluid or a force, matter or a mere affection in matter. The latter now regarded as the more probable opinion, though for convenience, electricity is still spoken of as a fluid. Like heat, it appears to pervade all material substances, existing in each in a certain ordinary proportion, then imperceptible to the senses. Bodies capable of being overcharged with it, or made to have more than their ordinary proportion, and then of discharging the excess into some neighbouring body, so as thus to regain their usual condition. Its discharge or passage from one body to another, accompanied with a shock and a spark, or flash of light. The shock produced by electricity, artificially collected, able to throw down the strongest ox; and the heat produced by the spark or flash, able to melt the hardest metals. Lightning, the flash accompanying the passage of the fluid from a surcharged cloud either to another cloud or to the ground, its general reservoir. The excess of electricity collected in a cloud during the heat of Summer, sometimes immense. Hence the terrible effects often attending its discharge. Thunder the sound produced by the explosion. Such explosions ordinarily made to serve a beneficent purpose, by restoring the air to a healthy condition. Capable, however, under the Divine direction, of serving other ends. All nature but the Almighty’s instrument—
“A capacious reservoir of means,
Framed for His use and ready at His will.”
Man acquainted, in some measure, with what are the forces operating in natural phenomenon, and what are the effects they produce; but the nature of the forces themselves a mystery. How they come to exist, and how they act and produce their effects, a greater mystery still.
II. Describes other Divine operations in nature. Job_37:6-13.—“For He saith to the snow, be (or fall) thou on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of His strength (Marg., ‘and to the shower of rain, and to the showers of rain of His strength;’ or, ‘to the heavy shower of rain, and to the heavy shower of His violent rains’). He sealeth up (by these vehementrains or by the cold of winter about to be described) the hand of every man (stopping his labour in the field (Psa_20:4); or ‘He putteth His seal on the hand of every man,’ as a door or bag is sealed so as not to be opened but by the authority of Him who sealed it); that all men may know His work (or agency; or, ‘that all men whom he hath made may know’—that is, the effect of His power as operating in nature, and their dependence upon Him). Then (at the time of these rains and cold of winter) the beasts go into dens and remain in their places. Out of the South cometh the whirlwind (from the sandy desert of Arabia, such as overthrew the house of Job’s eldest son, ch. Job_1:19; Zec_9:14; Isa_21:1); and cold out of the north (or “from the scatterers;’ Marg., ‘the scattering wind,’ the north wind, which disperses the clouds and driveth away rain, Pro_25:23). By the breath of God is frost given (or, ‘ice congealeth’), and the breadth of the waters is straitened (or, ‘the expanded waters are made solid,’ namely, by being congealed). Also by watering (or ‘in irrigating,’ i.e., the earth), He wearieth the thick cloud (by causing it to move from place to place; or ‘He burdeneth’ it, i.e., with moisture; or, ‘He presseth it,’ in order to yield its contents, like a water-skin, which is pressed in order to empty it; otherwise, ‘the brightness dispelleth the thick cloud’): He scattereth His bright cloud (Marg. “the cloud of His light,” the cloud on which He causes the light of His sun to shine; or, ‘His light [or sun] scattereth the cloud’—’ cumulous or stack clouds being usually dispersed at noon; otherwise, ‘the cloud of His lightning’—that from which the lightning issues). And it is turned round about by His counsel (or, ‘it moves round in circuits by His guidance’—literally, ‘by His steerings’): that they may do whatsoever He commandeth them upon the face of the world in the earth (over the whole habitable giobe). He causeth it (i.e., the cloud with its watery contents) to come (Heb., ‘to find,’ i.e., its place or object), whether for correction, or for His land, or for mercy” (or, “whether it be for a rod or tribe, or for His land or earth, viz., to fructify it,—verily [it is] for mercy;” or, “whether for correction to His land, or for mercy”). The last verse, as the text stands at present, obscure in the connection of its different clauses, while the general sense is sufficiently obvious. On the whole section, observe—
1. All nature, with its various operations and phenomena, under God’s direction and subject to His will.
(1) Snow. “He saith to the snow, be thou, and snow and vapour as well as stormy wind fulfil His word (Psa_148:1). “He giveth snow like wool” (Psa_147:16). Snow and hail reserved by Him against the time of trouble (ch. Job_28:22-23). The snow no less the Almighty’s servant, because we happen to know that when the condensed moisture in the atmosphere is congealed by the temperature being reduced below the freezing point, its particles descend in the form of snow. Serves a beneficial purpose in regard to the earth, in contributing to its irrigation, and especially in keeping it at a moderate degree of cold, and so protecting the germs of vegetation from the effects of frost. Made to serve other purposes of a providential, and sometimes of a judicial nature. Snow remarkable for the beautiful and variously-shaped crystals of which it is composed.
(2) Rain—“Likewise to the small rain,” &c. The rain-cloud parts with its contents only when God commands it, and as He commands, whether in the soft gentle shower or in the drenching down-pour that floods the fields and obstructs the labours of the husbandman. Every cloud does not necessarily descend in rain. If the cloud happens to be made warmer, either by the sun or by a current of dry warm air mixing with it, the watery particles are again dissolved into invisible vapour. Although we can explain the circumstances under which clouds are formed, ‘there is a difficulty in understanding how the minute particles of water, of which they are composed, are upheld so long in the air as we often see them, without any tendency, apparently, to descend. It is only, as would appear, when some unknown cause brings several of the particles together, so as to form drops of some size, that they begin to fall; and then, in their descent, they meet more and more particles, and thus become larger as they approach the ground.—Chambers’ Introduction to the Sciences.
(3) Heat and Cold. “Out of the south cometh the whirlwind, and cold out of the North”. The waters poetically said to be congealed by the breath of His mouth. Heat and cold continued to the earth according to His promise made after the flood. Their degree in any particular part of the earth’s surface dependent on the situation of that part in relation to the sun, so as to receive its rays more or less directly or obliquely. The cold most intense and continued at the poles, as from the obliquity of the earth’s axis they receive so little of the solar rays. The heat greatest about the equator, for the opposite reason. The air there, becoming rarefied by the heat, ascends, from its greater lightness, to occupy higher regions, while the cold air from about the poles rushes in to fill its place. Intermediate places rendered colder by the cold air thus passing over them. Frost and ice no less from God, that we know that when the heat of the atmospheric air falls below a certain point, hence called the freezing point, water begins to freeze and is changed into ice.
(4) Clouds.—Here said to be “turned round, or in circuits, by His counsels,” or literally, His steerings.’ God the almighty and omniscient pilot of the universe, whose hand is ever on the helm, and who steers those mighty vessels with their watery contents, according to His will. Every motion of the clouds directed by Him and made to serve the purpose which He designs. Each little speck of light fleecy cloud, as well as the huge heavy leaden stack, observed by His omniscient eye, and guided by His almighty hand. The clouds among the most important ministers of Divine providence in nature. No less so because we know that they are formed by a portion of air, saturated with vapour, having its temperature by any cause reduced, and so having its invisible changed into visible vapour.
2. The purposes for which God employs the agencies of nature such as to serve His moral government of the world. “Whether for correction,” &c. These purposes always beneficent, or “for mercy,” in the end, but sometimes in the way of correction, or a “rod.” God’s procedure towards mankind both judgment and mercy. Judgment His strange act; mercy His delight. “Mercy rejoiceth against judgment” (Jas_2:13). Yet judgment and correction necessary in a world of sin. The clouds ordinarily discharge their contents for the irrigation of the earth; but occasionally also for the destruction of person and property, man and beast. The ancient deluge, and inundations not unfrequent in our own time, examples of what ordinarily serves a beneficent purpose being employed also in a way entailing serious suffering and loss. Such corrections necessary and important—
(1) As a testimony to Divine justice;
(2) As proofs of the power of God to punish transgression;
(3) As warnings against a course of sin. Punishment and its instruments no less necessary and proper in the Divine than in a human government. Yet, even in such cases, mercy remembered in wrath, and good to mankind educed. As in earthly governments, the inflicting; of punishment one means of promoting the general good. Yet, in the Divine administration such corrections not always indicative of special demerit on the part of the sufferer. Sent for the trial and purification of the good, as well as for the chastisement and punishment of the bad.
III. Elihu calls Job’s special attention to the works of God as seen in creation and providence. Job_37:14.—“Hearken unto this, O Job; stand still and consider the wondrous works of God.” The object of this summons, Job’s humiliation and the silencing of his murmurs against God’s procedure, from the consideration both of his ignorance and impotence. Job_37:15-18.—“Dost thou know when God disposed them (or ‘put His hand to them;’ or, ‘gave command concerning them,’ in allusion to Gen_1:3, &c.; or, ‘imposed laws upon them,’ in order to their preservation and the accomplishment of the end for which He created them), and caused the light of His cloud (the light that should illuminate His cloud, referring to the original command: ‘Let there be light;’ or, ‘made the lightning of His cloud to shine,’ as it was probably now flashing from the storm-cloud in their view). Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds (the manner in which they are poised and suspended in the air—probably another allusion to the creation, in reference to the waters above and below the firmament, Gen_1:7), the wondrous works of Him Who is perfect in knowledge? How thy garments are warm (felt to be too warm by the greatly increased temperature of summer), when He quieteth the earth by the south wind (tranquillizing the atmosphere, and causing the piercing north winds to cease)? Hast thou with Him (as His associate and companion in the work of creation—like the Divine Person designated Wisdom in Pro_8:22-31) spread out the sky (or firmament, Gen_1:7) which is strong (as supporting in it the heavenly bodies) and as a molten looking-glass” (or mirror—those in the East being usually of polished metal, either brass or steel—the sky at different times resembling the one or the other, as the yellow or blue predominates). Observe—
1. Serious attention to be given to the works of God around us. “Hearken unto this, O Job,” &c. Those works in themselves marvellous displays of power and wisdom. Every department of creation teems with evidences of Divine skill and Almighty power. The works of God in nature, both on the earth and above it, a study as interesting as it is profitable. Such study, according to opportunities afforded, a duty we owe to God as well as to ourselves.
2. Much in the commonest phenomena of nature we are unable even still to understand. Among these is heal. “Knowest thou how thy garments are warm when He quieteth the earth by the south wind?” Heat both a sensation and the cause producing it. As a cause of the sensation, its exact nature not known. Like electricity, pervades all the material world; but whether a thin and subtle fluid, or only a property or affection of matter—motion of some kind among the component atoms of bodies, philosophers not agreed, though now generally inclining to the latter opinion. Mystery still connected with its operation as well as its nature. Sometimes a great deal of it enters a body and disappears, or produces no apparent effect, the body feeling no hotter to the touch, nor shown to be any hotter by the thermometer. Thus a great deal of heat required to melt a piece of ice, yet the water from the ice feels as cold as the ice itself and affects the thermometer in the same way, the heat not having warmed the ice, but only changed it into a liquid state. The alternation of heat and cold, summer and winter, now known to be occasioned by a remarkable provision on the part of the Creator—the obliquity of the earth’s axis in its revolution round the sun, that axis being twenty-three and a half degrees out of the perpendicular.
3. Creation intended as a school for man’s instruction. “Stand still and consider the wondrous works of God”. Some of man’s most useful lessons to be learned in the school of nature. These lessons both in reference to God and ourselves. God’s greatness and our own littleness never more realized than in the intelligent contemplation of the arrangements in nature in relation to the earth, and of the mechanism of the heavens, of which the earth forms a part. Of God’s work in creation we understand but little: still less of His secret purposes and providential procedure; least of all, of Himself. The origin of the universe, except as God reveals it, entirely hidden from our knowledge. Science, of itself, able to teach nothing as to the fact of creation, or of the first great cause, except that there is one—an intelligence infinite in power and wisdom. The distance of the time when God first “disposed,” or put His Almighty hand to the work, far beyond man’s conception, millions of years being revealed in the earth’s strata as antecedent to man’s existence.
IV. Elihu ironically reproves Job’s presumption. Job_37:19.—“Teach us what we shall say unto Him (as you are so much wiser than we are, and are able to enter into controversy with the Almighty); for we [for our part] cannot order speech (so as to argue with Him) by reason of darkness (in ourselves generally, and in relation to God’s purposes and procedure in particular). Shall it be told Him that I speak (—be declared as by a messenger sent to Him that I will speak and debate the matter with Him)? if a man speak (attempt so to debate with the Almighty), surely he shall be swallowed up (confounded and overwhelmed by the Divine Majesty). And now (at the very time Elihu was speaking—either the storm-cloud then hiding the sun from view, and obscuring the sky, or a rising wind having cleared away the clouds and revealed the sun in his effulgence; or speaking figuratively—now in this present life, or in this present time of trouble in which Job then was,) men sec not the bright light (or the sun shining brightly) which is in the clouds (or, men cannot look upon the light, or the sun, as it shines brightly in the sky); but the wind passeth and cleanseth them” (i.e., the clouds, thus revealing the sun which before had been hidden by them; or, “after the wind has passed and cleansed it,” i.e., the sky). Observe—
1. Man’s duty to cherish becoming views of his creature-unworthiness, and to cultivate reverence in speaking of and to the Almighty. “Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth; therefore let thy words be few” (Ecc_5:4). The Lord’s Prayer an example of the mode in which to address the Almighty. Teaches us to go to God as our Father, yet with deep reverence and humility. Contains only seven petitions, the three first having relation to God Himself, and each of them, with one exception, expressed in about half a dozen words. In the New Testament, God especially revealed as our Father through Christ; while through Him, as our Advocate with and our way to the Father, we enjoy the privilege of a free access to and filial fellowship with God not generally known to the patriarchs and Old Testament saints (Eph_3:12; Heb_4:16; Heb_11:40).
2. External nature to be viewed as a symbol of spiritual and Divine things.
(1) In reference to God Himself. The brightness of the unclouded sun apparently intended by Elihu to be viewed as a symbol of the majesty and glory of God. God’s dwelling in that light which no man can approach to (1Ti_6:16). If men are unable to contemplate the material sun without being blinded by its dazzling effulgence, how much less the glory of the Almighty Himself! Yet our happiness to see God—in a manner even here, and more fully hereafter. For this end God reveals Himself in Christ. The splendour of the Divine glory softened in the Son of God by the veil of humanity. Christ’s name, “Emmanuel—God with us.” In Christ, who is also our Brother, we see the Father (Joh_14:9). His glory beheld even here, as that of the only begotten of the Father (Joh_1:14). Purity of heart, given us in Christ, necessary in order to see God (Mat_5:8; 1Co_1:2).
(2) In reference to our own experience. Elihn’s language in Job_37:21 suggestive of the
Life of Faith
1. The believer’s experience on earth often resembling a clouded sky. “Now men see not the bright light.” The face of the sun often hidden by a thick cloud. Times when even believers cannot see the light of God’s countenance, and when His dealings with them are dark and mysterious. At best, while here, we know but in part, and see through a glass darkly. God’s face often apparently hidden from believers in time of trouble. “In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment” (Isa_54:8). David’s complaint: “Why hidest Thou Thyself in times of trouble (Psa_10:1). Job’s case at present. A dark and cloudy day with Abraham on his way to Mount Moriah; with Jacob, on the apparent loss of his three sons; with Joseph in the prison; with Moses in Midian; with David at Ziklag; with Jeremiah in the dungeon; with Jesus on the cross. Believers, as well as men in general, find themselves while on earth hedged in by mystery on every side. Clouds and darkness contingent to us as creatures—still more as sinful ones. “What I do thou knowest not now.”
2. To the believer there is bright light behind the clouds. “Now men see not the bright light which is in the clouds.” The bright light there, though men see it not. The sun still in the heavens, though a cloud hide him from our view. Whatever clouds hide God from his sight or rest upon his path, a threefold light still shining to the believer.
(1) God’s unchanging love in Christ (Jer_31:3; Joh_13:1; Rom_8:38-39);
(2) God’s everlasting covenant made with him in Christ, ordered in all things and sure (2Sa_23:5; Isa_54:10; Isa_55:3);
(3) God’s gracious purpose in Christ, to save him, and to make all things work together for his good (Rom_8:28-32; Eph_1:3-14). The wheels of Divine Providence ever going straightforward to a believer’s full salvation, however things may at times appear to himself. “Behind a frowning Providence He hides a smiling face,”—one of the truths intended to be taught by this very book.
3. The time comes when the clouds are chased away. “The wind passeth and cleanseth them.” The light of God’s countenance not always to be hidden to the believer. Cloud and mystery not always to rest upon his path. David’s comfort in a time of darkness: “I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance;” “the Lord will command His loving-kindness in the daytime” (Psa_42:5; Psa_42:8). Micah’s confidence: “When I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me” (Mic_7:8). He will not always chide. “For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee” (Isa_54:7). “I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice.” “What I do, thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter” (Joh_13:7; Joh_16:22). The cloud passed away from Abraham on Mount Moriah, and he rejoiced in the renewed assurance of God’s gracious purposes concerning his seed; from Joseph, and he saw himself next to Pharaoh on the throne of Egypt, preserving much people, and among them his own father and brothers, alive; from Moses, and he found himself at the head of all Israel, leading them out of Egypt, and worshipping with them at the mount where God had appeared to him; from David, and he saw himself occupying the throne of Saul and made a blessing to the people. So the cloud ultimately passed away from Job, and he saw himself richer than ever, not only in possessions, but in the affection of his friends and esteem of all his neighbours. A day coming which shall clear away all obscurity, and solve every enigma both in the Book of Revelation and Providence. Hence the lesson—
(1) of humility and modesty in judging both of God’s word and works;
(2) of patience and resignation to the Divine will:
(3) of faith, so as to walk in comfort and hope even in the darkest dispensations.
V. Winding up of Elihu’s speech. Job_37:22-24.—“Fair weather (Marg.: ‘gold;’ i.e. golden splendour or effulgence—a bright or golden sky) cometh out of the north (or from the north wind which disperses the clouds, Pro_25:23); with God is terrible majesty (of which that visible splendour is bat a shadow). Touching the Almighty, we cannot find Him out (neither in His being nor His procedure); He is excellent in power and in judgment, and in plenty of justice (whatever men may at any time think of His dealings): He will not afflict (or ‘oppress,’ though Job was ready at times to think so in reference to himself, or ‘He will not answer’ or ‘give account’ of His procedure to any of His creatures). Men do therefore fear Him (or ‘let men therefore fear Him’—the conclusion of the whole matter, Ecc_12:13); he respecteth (or ‘feareth’) not any that are wise of heart” (as Job thinks himself to be; or “let each,” or “shall not each” of the wise-hearted fear Him; otherwise,—“none of the wise-hearted seeth or comprehendeth Him”). Observe—
1. The end of all true teaching, at of all revelation, that men may fear God. Elihu concludes his speeches as the Royal Preacher his discourses: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter,—Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecc_12:13). All consideration of God and His works, whether of creation or Providence, to conduct to the same conclusion. Everything in God and His works fitted to lead men to fear Him. That fear a holy reverence,—the fear of a loving child in reference to a worthy father; not that of a trembling slave in reference to a severe master. God’s being and perfections,—His wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth,—such as to render Him the object at once of fear and love. A loving fear required by God from His intelligent creatures. The rational creature’s whole duty summed up in such fear. Forgiving mercy intended to produce it (Psa_130:4). Such fear not the growth of fallen nature, but the production of Divine grace (Jer_32:39-40). The object of Christ’s redemption to deliver us from slavish fear and implant the filial (Luk_1:74; Rom_8:15; 1Jn_4:18; 1Pe_1:17-20).
2. God too glorious to be contemplated by fallen, and too great to be comprehended by finite, man. A terrible majesty with God, only pictured by the dazzling brightness of the unclouded sun. Seraphims veil their faces with their wings as they stand before Him. Fallen men conscious of being unable to look on Him and live (Gen_32:30); Jdg_13:22). Declared by God Himself (Exo_33:20). Hence Peter’s exclamation on beholding the traces of Christ’s divinity (Luk_5:8). In Christ, however, God contemplated even by sinful men. Heaven in beholding the glory of God. Stephen’s vision. Christ’s prayer for His people. The glorified see God’s face (Rev_22:4). God not more to be comprehended than contemplated. His thoughts a great deep. Only the smallest portion of His works at all understood by men. The greatest among scientific men compared himself to a child gathering bubbles on the seashore, while the ocean of knowledge lay unexplored before him. The attempt to comprehend God compared by Augustine to that of a child scooping a hole in the sand, and attempting with its tiny shell to empty the sea into it. God to be apprehended for our own comfort and His glory by the humblest peasant that sits at the feet of Jesus, who reveals the Father; not to be comprehended by the highest seraph that folds his wings before the throne. Heaven filled with adoring wonder (Rev_15:3-4).
3. The interests of His creatures safe in the hands of the Almighty. “He is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice”. In God is power to execute all His will, and defend all who trust in Him; judgment and justice, to make only a right use of that power. Justice His nature, and judgment His administration. “He will not afflict”. In another sense He afflicts, but even then not willingly (Lam_3:33). He afflicts as a chastening; does not afflict as an oppression. “To crush under His feet all the prisoners of the earth, the Lord approveth not” (Lam_3:34). God may punish but not oppress. Has no pleasure in the sinner’s death. Judgment His strange act, mercy His delight. Binds up the bruised reed instead of breaking it (Isa_42:3).
4. Comfort to Job and every tried believer in Elihu’s last words: “He will not afflict,” or oppress. How much less any of His own children! “Fair weather cometh out of the north.” The tempest may howl, and the clouds lower, and the thunders roll; but after the storm comes a calm and serene sky. The wind shall chase away the clouds—albeit a north wind with its piercing cold. Troubles are to a believer but a passing storm. Weeping may endure for a night; joy cometh in the morning. We sow in tears; but in a little while we shall reap with joy.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain I. We live under a cloud, and see God’s…
Job 37:21
I. We live under a cloud, and see God’s way only by a dim light. As beings of intelligence, we find ourselves hedged in by mystery on every side. All our seeming knowledge is skirted, close at hand, by dark confines of ignorance. What then does it mean? Is God jealous of intelligence in us? Exactly contrary to this. He is a Being who dwelleth in light, and calls us to walk in the light with Him. (1) The true account appears to be that the cloud under which we are shut down is not heavier than it must be. How can a Being infinite be understood or comprehended by a being finite? Besides, we have only just begun to be; and a begun existence is one that has just begun to know, and has everything to learn. (2) There is not only a necessary, but a guilty, limitation upon us. And therefore we are not only obliged to learn, but, as being under sin, are also in a temper that forbids learning, having our mind disordered and clouded by evil. The cloud rests (a) upon God Himself; (b) upon revelation; (c) upon the creative works of God; (d) upon the person of man.
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II. There is abundance of light upon the other side of the cloud and above it. This we might readily infer from the fact that so much light shines through. (1) The experience of every soul that turns to God is a convincing proof that there it light somewhere, and that which is bright and clear. (2) Things which at some time appeared to be dark are very apt afterwards to change colour and become visitations of mercy.
III. The cloud we are under will finally break away and be cleared. On this point we have many distinct indications. (1) It coincides with the general analogy of God’s works to look for obscurity first and light afterward. (2) Our desire of knowledge and the manner in which God inflames that desire show that knowledge will be given. (3) The Scriptures also notify us of a grand assize or judgment when the merit of all God’s doings with us, as of our doings towards Him, will be revised. This will require Him to take away the cloud in regard to all that is darkest in our earthly state. (a) From the review of this subject let us receive a lesson of modesty. (b) There is no place for complaint or repining under the sorrows and trials of life. (c) The inscrutability of God should never suppress, but rather sharpen, our desire of knowledge. For the more there is that is hidden, the more there is to be discovered and known—if not today, then to-morrow; if not to-morrow, when the time God sets for it is come.
H. Bushnell, The New Life, p. 134.
References: Job 37:21.—Old Testament Outlines, p. 99; G. Matheson, Moments on the Mount, p. 4; W. T. Bull, Christian World Pulpit, vol. ii., p. 213; T. L. Cuyler, Ibid., vol. xx., p. 65; W. G. Beardmore, Ibid., vol. xxix., p. 392. Job 37:23.—J. Budgen, Parochial Sermons, vol. i., p. 133. Job 38:1.—T. T. Shore, Some Difficulties of Belief, p. 153. Job 38:2, Job 38:3.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. x., p. 22. Job 38:4.—G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 288.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain The Speeches of Elihu (concluded)
The Speeches of Elihu (concluded)
2. The thunder is frequently called the voice of God: cp. Psalms 29. Sound] RM 'muttering.'
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4. Them] the flashes and thunderclaps.
6c. RV 'And to the showers of his mighty rain.'
7b. RV 'That all men whom he hath made may know it.'The suspension of work by storms shows men that they are subject to a higher Power.
9. Render, 'The whirlwind comes from its chamber, and cold from the scatterers,' i.e. from the winds (so RM), which scatter the clouds. But we should probably read, 'from its storehouses,' with a trifling change.
10. Straitened] RM 'congealed.'
11. RV 'Yea, he ladeth the thick cloud with moisture: he spreadeth abroad the cloud of his lightning.'
12. The lightning flashes and falls in obedience to the behest of God.
13. Probably the first line should run, 'Whether it be for correction for his land.' The word translated 'or' has been repeated by mistake.
14-24. A series of questions to Job, intended, to produce submission and belief in God's providence.
15. Dost thou know?] can you explain?
16. The balancing of the clouds] the way in which they are poised.
17. Render, 'When thy clothes are hot, and the earth still by reason of the south wind.' Job_37:17-18 refer to the sultry weather and sky of brass before the storm breaks.
18. Looking glass] RV 'mirror' (of metal).
19-20. Elihu shrinks from the presumptuous thought of contending with the Almighty, such as Job had uttered.
20b. RV 'Or should a man wish that he were swallowed up.'
21. RM 'And now men cannot look on the light when it is bright in the skies, when the wind hath passed and chased them.'
22. Fair weather is literally 'gold.' The author probably intended 'brightness,' for which he may have used a different word. The reference may be to the Northern Lights.
23, 24. Elihu concludes by summing up the character of God as He manifests Himself to man. Though His dealings may be beyond man's comprehension, yet He is just as well as mighty, and will not afflict unjustly. But He expects humility, not presumption from His creatures.
24. Respecteth] RV 'regardeth.' Wise of heart] i.e. confident in their own wisdom, as Job was in Elihu's opinion.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The Last Word on the Miracles in NatuRev. 1.…
The Last Word on the Miracles in NatuRev. 1. At this, namely, the powerful exhibition of God’s majesty, as just described, also my heart trembleth and is moved out of his place, springing up, giving a bound, as the awe of the spectacle took hold upon it. It seems also that the storm of which the next chapter speaks had gathered and was about to break at this point.
v. 2. Hear attentively the noise of His voice, the roar of the Lord’s voice in the thunder which was now to be heard plainly, and the sound that goeth out of His mouth, the great rumbling as the distant storm rolled forward.
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v. 3. He directeth it under the whole heaven, sending forth the roaring and rumbling, and His lightning unto the ends of the earth, for the entire earth is lit up by each flash.
v. 4. After it a voice roareth, the thunder-clap following after the flash; He thundereth with the voice of His excellency, in token of His great majesty; and He will not stay them, not restrain the lightnings, when His voice is heard, for as the storm approaches, the flash of the lightning and the roar of thunder follow in quick succession, there being an almost uninterrupted crashing.
v. 5. God thundereth marvelously with His voice, this remark closing the description of the coming storm; great things doeth He, which we cannot comprehend, this statement leading the way to a description of other wonderful phenomena in nature.
v. 6. For He saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth, His command being, Fall to the earth, and the snow doing His behest; likewise to the small rain, the showers of rain, and to the great rain of His strength, torrents,. which fall at His command.
v. 7. He sealeth up the hand of every man, keeping him from doing his ordinary work at the time of such rains, that all men may know His work, come to the knowledge of His almighty power and realize their absolute dependence upon Him.
v. 8. Then the beasts go into dens, creeping into their coverts at the approach of winter or of the rainy season, and remain in their places, hibernating in their lairs while the fields are desolate.
v. 9. Out of the south cometh the whirlwind, rushing forth as from an enclosure in which it had been confined, and cold out of the north, literally, "from the cloud-scatterers," for frost usually follows clearing skies.
v. 10. By the breath of God frost is given, the cold blast, sent from God, sweeps over the face of the water and forms ice; and the breadth of the waters is straitened, arrested, bound in the icy fetters of winter.
v. 11. Also by watering He wearieth the thick cloud, loading it, weighting it down with a burden of moisture; He scattereth His bright cloud, spreading out far and wide the clouds of His light, those which contain His lightning;
v. 12. and it is turned round about by His counsels, that is, the cloud twists and turns and revolves as the storm approaches, piloted by the will of God, that they may do whatever He commandeth them upon the face of the world in the earth, that is, over the wide expanse, the habitable land of the earth. Cf Psa 148:7-8.
v. 13. He causeth it to come, steering the storm, causing the clouds to unload their burdens, whether for correction, namely, when a devastating storm proves a scourge, or for His land, or for mercy, when He knows it to be necessary for the earth, when He wants to dispense His blessings in a gentle rain. Thus the majesty of God, as apparent in nature, vindicates all His actions, showing that it is His privilege, His right, to deal with men as He sees fit.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 my heart trembles ... it is moved out of…
my heart trembles ... it is moved out of its place
These two phrases mean basically the same thing and emphasize the intensity of his fear. (See: Parallelism)
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my heart trembles at this
The word "this" refers to the storm in Job 36:33.
it is moved out of its place
Elihu speaks of his heart beating violently as if it were to jump out of his chest. AT: "it moves out of its place" or "it beats violently" (See: Metaphor and Active or Passive)
the noise of his voice, the sound that goes out from his mouth
These two phrases mean basically the same thing. Elihu speaks of the thunder as if it is God's voice. (See: Metaphor and Parallelism)
to the edges of the earth
Elihu speaks of the farthest places on the earth as if they were the earth's borders. AT: "everywhere in the world" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
heart
tremble
voice
send
heaven
earth
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.