Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said:
Who is this who darkens counsel
By words without knowledge?
Now prepare yourself like a man;
I will question you, and you shall answer Me.
Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell Me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements?
Surely you know!
We do know a lot more about the natural world these days compared to when Job was written down.
Here is something from KidsGeo.com about how big the earth is.
Or who stretched the line upon it?
To what were its foundations fastened?
Or who laid its cornerstone,
When the morning stars sang together,
And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
Or who shut in the sea with doors,
When it burst forth and issued from the womb;
When I made the clouds its garment,
And thick darkness its swaddling band;
When I fixed My limit for it,
And set bars and doors;
When I said,
‘This far you may come, but no farther,
And here your proud waves must stop!’
Have you commanded the morning since your days began,
And caused the dawn to know its place,
That it might take hold of the ends of the earth,
And the wicked be shaken out of it?
It takes on form like clay under a seal,
And stands out like a garment.
From the wicked their light is withheld,
And the upraised arm is broken.
Have you entered the springs of the sea?
Or have you walked in search of the depths?
With modern technology, humans have found the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean: 10,924 meters (35,840 feet) deep in the Challenger Deep of the Mariana Trench.
Have the gates of death been revealed to you?
Or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death?
Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth?
Tell Me, if you know all this.
Where is the way to the dwelling of light?
And darkness, where is its place,
That you may take it to its territory,
That you may know the paths to its home?
Do you know it, because you were born then,
Or because the number of your days is great?
Have you entered the treasury of snow,
Or have you seen the treasury of hail,
Which I have reserved for the time of trouble,
For the day of battle and war?
By what way is light diffused,
Or the east wind scattered over the earth?
Who has divided a channel for the overflowing water,
Or a path for the thunderbolt,
To cause it to rain on a land where there is no one,
A wilderness in which there is no man;
To satisfy the desolate waste,
And cause to spring forth the growth of tender grass?
Has the rain a father?
Or who has begotten the drops of dew?
From whose womb comes the ice?
And the frost of heaven, who gives it birth?
The waters harden like stone,
And the surface of the deep is frozen.
I would imagine in Job's day they did see small bodies of water freeze over. They would know of snow capped mountains. I wonder if they had seen or had heard of from other peoples from other parts of the known world of icebergs?
image source: http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/02arctic/logs/sep6/media/icebergs.html
Have you seen icebergs calving into the water? Its pretty impressive!
Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades,
Or loose the belt of Orion?
Image source: http://www.pleiade.org/hubble_m45-large.html
Can you bring out Mazzaroth in its season?
Or can you guide the Great Bear with its cubs?
Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?
Can you set their dominion over the earth?
Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
That an abundance of water may cover you?
Can you send out lightnings, that they may go,
And say to you, ‘Here we are!’?
Who has put wisdom in the mind?
Or who has given understanding to the heart?
Who can number the clouds by wisdom?
Or who can pour out the bottles of heaven,
When the dust hardens in clumps,
And the clods cling together?
Can you hunt the prey for the lion,
Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
When they crouch in their dens,
Or lurk in their lairs to lie in wait?
Who provides food for the raven,
When its young ones cry to God,
And wander about for lack of food?
image source: http://www.zazzle.com/hungry_birds_poster-228272826118380415
We do know a lot more about the natural world than Job did. And so have we in our knowledge gotten so full of ourselves that we think that that knowledge has killed God?
Or do we ponder still ... that there might (must) be something far greater than ourselves?
In the sermon at church yesterday, the speaker spoke of how humans fall into several categories: those of us stumbling in the dark looking for God, those stumbling in the dark looking for something but not quite ready to call that something God and those who don't even know they are in the dark in need of anything.
His take home message was that God was found in the place people least expected: Jesus on the Cross.
Lord, the wonders of the natural world are marvelous and grand and beautiful and wonderful. They stir in me a sense that there is something far beyond myself out there. Thank you that you came to us in the Cross to bring us back to yourself. Amen.
