Question 1

What does it mean that God has “commanded the morning” in this passage?

Accepted Answer

When God asks Job if he has commanded the morning, He is showing that Job has no control over the start of each day. The rising of the sun and the spread of dawn are not random. God is the one who calls the light to shine and tells the daybreak where to go. Morning drives away the darkness where many evil deeds are done, so this picture also shows God’s power to expose and limit wickedness. It reminds Job that even something as common as sunrise is under God’s wise command, not human control.

Question 2

Why does God talk about light and darkness with Job here?

Accepted Answer

God’s questions about where light lives and where darkness has its place show how little Job knows about even basic parts of creation. Light and darkness move in fixed ways that only God fully understands and controls. Light is pictured as something that changes the earth like a seal pressed into clay, bringing out shapes and details. Darkness hides things and is linked with the hiding of the wicked. By asking Job about these things, God is teaching that He alone orders both the natural world and the moral world, exposing evil at the right time.

Question 3

What are the “springs of the sea” and “gates of death” talking about?

Accepted Answer

The “springs of the sea” picture the hidden sources and depths of the oceans, places no human has fully explored. The “gates of death” and “doors of the shadow of death” point to the unseen world beyond this life. God’s questions show that Job has never walked in these places and cannot fully know them. Sea depths and death are both mysteries to people, but not to God. He rules over them, knows their reach, and sets their limits. This underlines that life and death are in God’s hand, not ours.

Question 4

What are the “treasures of the snow and hail” that God mentions?

Accepted Answer

When God speaks of “treasures of the snow” and “treasures of the hail,” He is talking about storehouses or reserves of these things under His control. He says He has kept them for “the time of trouble” and “the day of battle and war.” This means God can use weather as an instrument of judgment or rescue when He chooses. Snow and hail are not just pretty or harsh weather; they are in God’s hand to use for His purposes. This shows His power over nature and His right to bring justice in His own way and time.

Question 5

Why does God mention constellations like Pleiades, Orion, and Arcturus?

Accepted Answer

God names Pleiades, Orion, Mazzaroth, and Arcturus to point to the stars and their ordered patterns in the sky. People can see these constellations come and go with the seasons, but they cannot control them. By asking if Job can bind or loose them, or guide them in their seasons, God is showing that He alone rules the heavens. The “ordinances of heaven” are the fixed rules by which the sky bodies move. Job cannot set their dominion on earth, but God can. This teaches that God governs both the vast heavens and the earth below.

Question 6

What does this passage teach about God’s control of weather?

Accepted Answer

In this passage, God speaks of rain, dew, ice, frost, clouds, and lightning. He asks who has parted the way for lightning, who has a voice that clouds would obey, or who can number and hold back the “bottles of heaven,” meaning the clouds full of water. The answer is that only God can. He sends rain on empty wilderness where no people live, simply to satisfy the dry ground and make plants grow. This shows that weather is not random but under God’s wise rule, and that He cares for places and things people never even see.

Question 7

Why does God talk about lions and ravens at the end of this section?

Accepted Answer

After speaking of the stars and weather, God turns to animals like lions and ravens. He asks if Job hunts prey for lions or feeds ravens when their young cry out. The point is that God Himself provides food for wild animals that people do not feed or even notice. Young ravens are pictured as crying to God when they are hungry. This reminds Job that God’s care reaches down to the smallest and neediest creatures. If God feeds lions and ravens, Job can be sure that God also sees and cares for human needs, even in suffering.

Question 8

What does this passage show about human limitations before God?

Accepted Answer

The long list of questions is meant to show Job that he is a creature with very limited knowledge and power. He cannot command dawn, measure the earth, walk the sea depths, open death’s gates, direct light and darkness, manage snow, hail, rain, and lightning, move the stars, or feed wild animals. Yet God does all these things. This does not belittle Job’s pain, but it corrects his thoughts about God’s rule. It invites him to trust that the God who wisely manages the whole universe is also wise in the hidden reasons for his suffering.

Job 38:12

Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place;

The LORD Challenges Job

God’s Mighty Power

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Job 38:12

Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place;

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The LORD Challenges Job

God’s Mighty Power

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