Job 38:27

. To cause it to rain on the earth, [where] no man [is]; [on] the wilderness, wherein [there is] no man. Which is uninhabited by men, being so dry and barren; where there is no man to cultivate and water it, as gardens are; and where is no man to receive any advantage by the rain that comes upon it; and yet the Lord sends it for the use of animals that dwell there; which shows his care and providence with respect even to the wild beasts of the earth. This may be an emblem of the rain of the Gospel upon the Gentile world, comparable to a wilderness; see Isaiah 35:1. Job 38:27 Ver. 27. To satisfy the desolate and waste [ground],.... Which is exceeding desolate, and therefore two such words are used to express it; which is so dry and thirsty that it is one of the four things that say not it is enough, Proverbs 30:16; and yet God can and does give it rain to its full satisfaction, Psalms 104:13; so the Lord satisfies souls, comparable to dry and thirsty ground, by his word and ordinances, with the goodness and fatness of his house; see Psalms 63:1; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth? grass for the cattle, and herb for the service of men, Psalms 104:14; of like use is the word in a spiritual sense for the budding and increase of the graces of the Spirit in the Lord's people; see Deuteronomy 32:2. Job 38:28 Ver. 28. Hath the rain a father?....

38:25-41 Hitherto God had put questions to Job to show him his ignorance; now God shows his weakness. As it is but little that he knows, he ought not to arraign the Divine counsels; it is but little he can do, therefore he ought not to oppose the ways of Providence. See the all-sufficiency of the Divine Providence; it has wherewithal to satisfy the desire of every living thing. And he that takes care of the young ravens, certainly will not be wanting to his people. This being but one instance of the Divine compassion out of many, gives us occasion to think how much good our God does, every day, beyond what we are aware of. Every view we take of his infinite perfections, should remind us of his right to our love, the evil of sinning against him, and our need of his mercy and salvation.

To satisfy the desolate and waste ground,.... Which is exceeding desolate, and therefore two such words are used to express it; which is so dry and thirsty that it is one of the four things that say not it is enough, Proverbs 30:16 ; and yet God can and does give it rain to its full satisfaction, Psalm 104:13 ; so the Lord satisfies souls, comparable to dry and thirsty ground, by his word and ordinances, with the goodness and fatness of his house; see Psalm 63:1 ; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth? grass for the cattle, and herb for the service of men, Psalm 104:14; of like use is the word in a spiritual sense for the budding and increase of the graces of the Spirit in the Lord's people; see Deuteronomy 32:2.

Verse 27. - To satisfy the desolate and waste ground . Parched ground seems to cry aloud for water, and so to make a piteous appeal to Heaven. Perhaps rain is not wholly wasted, even on the bare sands of the Sahara, or the rugged rocks of Tierra del Fuego. It may have uses which are beyond our cognizance. And to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth . Where the rain produces herbage, it is certainly of use, for wherever there is herbage there are always insects, whose enjoyment of life has every appearance of being intense. Job 38:27

To satisfy the desolate and waste ground - As if it lifted an imploring voice to God, and he sent down the rain to satisfy it. The desert is thus like a thirsty pilgrim. It is parched, and thirsty, and sad, and it appeals to God, and he meets its needs, and satisfies it. Or to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth - In the desert. There God works alone. No man is there to cultivate the extended wilds, and yet an unseen agency is going forward. The grass springs up; the bud opens; the leaf expands; the flowers breathe forth their fragrance as if they were under the most careful cultivation. All this must be the work of God, since it cannot even be pretended that man is there to produce these effects. Perhaps one would be more deeply impressed with a sense of the presence of God in the pathless desert, or on the boundless prairie, where no man is, than in the most splendid park, or the most tastefully cultivated garden which man could make. In the one case, the hand of God alone is seen; in the other, we are constantly admiring the skill of man.

22 Hast thou reached the treasures of the snow, And didst thou see the treasures of the hail, 23 Which I have reserved for a time of trouble, For the day of battle and war? 24 Which is the way where the light is divided, Where the east wind is scattered over the earth? 25 Who divideth a course for the rain-flood And the way of the lightning of thunder, 26 That it raineth on the land where no one dwelleth, On the tenantless steppe, 27 To satisfy the desolate and the waste, And to cause the tender shoot of the grass to spring forth? The idea in Job 38:22 is not that - as for instance the peasants of Menn, four hours' journey from Damascus, garner up the winter snow in a cleft of the rock, in order to convey it to Damascus and the towns of the coast in the hot months - God treasures up the snow and hail above to cause it to descend according to opportunity. אצרות (comp. Psalm 135:7) are the final causes of these phenomena which God has created - the form of the question, the design of which (which must not be forgotten) is ethical, not scientific, is regulated according to the infancy of the perception of natural phenomena among the ancients; but at the same time in accordance with the poet's task, and even, as here, in the choice of the agents of destruction, not merely hail, but also snow, according to the scene of the incident.

Wetzstein has in his possession a writing of Muhammed el-Chatb el-Bosrwi, in which he describes a fearful fall of snow in Hauran, by which, in February 1860, innumerable herds of sheep, goats, and camels, and also many human beings perished. (Note: Since the Hauranites say of snow as of fire: jahrik, it burns (brlant in French is also used of extreme cold), Job 1:16 might also be understood of a fall of snow; but the tenor of the words there requires it to be understood of actual fire.) continued...

But in Job’s time God’s people were not in Canaan, but in Egypt, where little or no rain fell. Or, ## 2. The uninhabited or desert parts of the world, which may be called God’s land peculiarly, because it is immediately and only under God’s care, as being not regarded nor possessed by any man. For it is noted as a special act of God’s providence, that he causeth rain to fall upon such places, #Job 38:26,27 . Or, ## 3. His earth , as it may be rendered, to wit, the whole earth, which is said to be the Lord’s , #Psalms 24:50:12 , and which may be here opposed to a tribe , or little part of the earth. And so this may note a general judgment by excessive rains inflicted upon the whole earth, and all its inhabitants, even the universal deluge, which then was in a manner of fresh memory, which came in a great measure out of the clouds. And thus these two first members speak of correction, and the last of mercy. ## For mercy; for the comfort and benefit of mankind, by cooling and cleansing the air, and refreshing and improving all the fruits of the earth, and other ways. Ver. 14. If there be so much matter of wonder and adoration in the most obvious and sensible works of God, how wonderful must his deep and secret counsels and judgments be! And therefore it would better become thee humbly to admire, and quietly to submit to them, than to murmur or quarrel with them. ## Ver. 15.

These (rain and lightnings) are marvellous and not to be understood (Job 36:29), yet necessary. " For by them He judgeth (chastiseth on the one hand), &c. (and on the other, by them) He giveth meat" (food), &c. (Job 37:13; 38:23, 27; Acts 14:17). 32. Rather, "He covereth (both) His hands with light ( lightning, Job 37:3, Margin ), and giveth it a command against his adversary " (literally, the one "assailing" Him, Psalms 8:2; 139:20; Job 21:19). Thus, as in Job 36:31, the twofold effects of His waters are set forth, so here, of His light; in the one hand, destructive lightning against the wicked; in the other, the genial light for good to His friends, &c. (Job 36:33) [U MBREIT ]. 33. noise —rather, He revealeth it (literally, "announceth concerning it") to His friend (antithesis to adversary, Job 36:32, so the Hebrew is translated, Job 2:11); also to cattle and plants (literally, "that which shooteth up"; Genesis 40:10; 41:22). As the genial effect of "water" in the growth of food, is mentioned, Job 36:31, so here that of "light" in cherishing cattle and plants [U MBREIT ]. If English Version, "noise" be retained, translate, "His noise (thunder) announces concerning Him (His coming in the tempest), the cattle (to announce) concerning Him when He is in the act of rising up " (in the storm). Some animals give various intimations that they are sensible of the approach of a storm [V IRGIL , Georgics, I.373, &c.]. ## CHAPTER 37 Job 37:1-24. 1.