The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 606

therefore, Gotl has power to hide, he must likewise know what be hides. 3. The'!J are all of his directing, It ie God who bide the fountains of the ocoan spring, who sa)s to tbo light, "Bo distributed across the face of the earth," who charges the snow to fall upon tho ground, who causes it to rain upon the wilderness where no man is. Hence the entire secret of their working must be known to him. Lenrn : 1. In the presence of nature's mysteries, a lesson concerning our own ignorance. 2. In presence of our ignorance, a lesson of humility. 3. In presence of the God of nature, lessons of reverence, trust, and submiHion. Vere. 31-41.-Jehovali to Job: the first answer-the ea;amination: 5. Concerning four worlds. I. 'l'HE wonLD OF STARS, Jehovah invites Job to reflect upon his own impotence, and therefore also inferentially upon his (i.e. Jehovah's) omnipotence, as regards the phenomena of the heavens, over which the power of God is exhibited in 11 fourfold degree. 1. Jn creating the orbs of heaven. Tbe constellations (Orion, Arcturus, the Pleiades, Mazzaroth) and the planets that adorn the nocturnal sky, the nebulm that fill the depths of space, the wandering comets that flash along their eccen- tric paths, are all the work of his almighty fingers; cf. eh. ix. 9, homiletics; and consult Exposition for the import of the names Orion ("Giant" or" Fool"), the Pleiades (" A Heap" or "Group"), Arcturus (the Great Dear). Mazzaroth is commonly understood to signify the twelve signs of the zodiac (Geseniu~, Umbreit, Delitzsch, Carey), though its introduction between Orion and Arcturus, conjoined with its obvious con- nection with the root zahar, "to shine," seems to point to a constellation or star of peculiar brightness (Canon Cook), as e.g. Jupiter or Venus (LXX., Lucifer). 2. In i11,Stituting the ordinances of heaven. The laws in accordaooe with which the celestial luminaries have been formed and established in their respective places in the sky, and in obedience to which they move through the depths of space and shine upon the face of earth, have been patiently investigateu, and are now in some degree understood by man ; but in the sense of comprehending how they have been ordained, the wisest astronomer, no less than ~he dullest peasant, is completely ignorant. Kepler ascer- tained that planets move in elliptical orbits, but why, was beyond bis power to telL Newton discovered the law of gravitation; but what gravitation itself was, the philo- sopher could no more explain than a schoolboy. 3. In regulating tha movements of heaven. Whether the image is that of a chariot to which its snorting steeds are fastened by means of bands (Carey), or of a bouquet of jewels bound or twisted together (Delitzsch), the binding of the sweet influences of the Pleiades refers to God's power in bringing that constellation above the horizon at certain seasons of the year, and in calling it forth every night during the season upon the dark vault of heaven. So the loosening of the bands of Orion may point to the disappearance of that con- stellation from the firmament, the bringing forth of Mazzaroth and the guiding of Arcturus to the directing of their movements in the sky. 4. In determi-ning tha influences of heaven. That the stellar world exercised an influence upon the earth, the course of its events and the fortunes of its inhabitants, was a dream of astrological superstition, and cannot be admitted as the subject to which Jehovah here alludes. 'fhe explanation must be sought, and with sufficient fulness will be found, by recur- ring to the words of Moses in connection with the work of the fourth creative day (Gen. i. 14--19). II. THE WORLD OF METEORS. Descending from the upper circle of the stars, Jehovah pauses at the next beneath it, the circle of the aerial tirmament, directing Job to two phenomena that lie beyond the range of his ability, but quite within the sphere of God's, thereby demonstrating on the one hand the feebleness of man, and on the other hand the omnipotence of God. 1. The bringing of rain. " Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee? " God speaks to the clouds when his voice thunders through the sky, and immediately the clouus reply by deluging the earth with a flood. But man may shout himself hoarse in the vain endeavour to make the clouds obedient to his will. Yet the power of faith wielded by a weak man has accomplished what is here denied to man in himself (1 Kings xviii. 42; Jas. v. 17). 2. The sending of lightning. "Canst thou send forth lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are? " No! It is a special mercy tbai. no Job can thus exercise unlimited control over the powers of nature.  822 nm BOOK OF JOD. [oR, XXXVIU, 1--41,