Job 38:32 | KingComments | STEP | God directs Job’s gaze to the starry sky ( ). He places Job face to face with the vast universe. No one has ever been able to fathom the universe. With ever stronger telescopes one can look deeper and deeper into the universe. The numbers mentioned about the distances and sizes of stars and planets and the space of the universe are dizzying. We can’t comprehend it. And new galaxies are constantly being discovered. All those stars He created with His fingers and gave them a place in the universe. It determines man by the indescribable greatness of God and his own absolute nullity ( ). In his unbridled curiosity, man wonders where the boundary of the universe is. Many galaxies have already been mapped out, but, it is said, it is only a millionth part of the universe, at least of what they think the universe or cosmos is. And a boundary has never been discovered. For faith, it is again simple. God created heaven and earth, the universe. He has covered the heavens with countless stars. He knows the name of every star ( ; ). He mentions to Job the names of “the Pleiades” and “Orion” (cf. ). To this He connects the question of whether Job can bind the chains of the one and loose the cords of the other. Can Job bind these celestial bodies so that they are stopped in their movement through the universe, or can he loose them so that they follow a path other than that prescribed to them by God? Can Job cause “a constellation” to appear at the time appointed for him ( )? Possibly it is southern stars who, when they appear, announce the summer. Or is he so powerful that he can “guide the Bear with her satellites”? That is a northern constellation of which the Bear is the brightest star and “her satellites” the less bright stars. God has placed the constellations as “ordinances of the heavens” in the universe ( ). The ordinances are the laws He has instituted, the fixed location of the stars in relation to each other, and the fixed regularity with which the celestial bodies move in the universe ( ; ). Does Job know these ordinances? Does he have insight into how they work? When God created the stars, He said that they would be, among other things, “for seasons” ( ). We can think of the seasons mentioned in Genesis 8 ( ). This means that God determines His policy on earth through the ordinances of heaven. The appearance and disappearance (no longer being visible) of stars is also connected with the changing of the seasons. Can Job contribute to the execution of that policy established by God? Here, too, asking the question at the same time is the answer.

‏ Job 38:32

The Celestial Bodies

God directs Job’s gaze to the starry sky (Job 38:31). He places Job face to face with the vast universe. No one has ever been able to fathom the universe. With ever stronger telescopes one can look deeper and deeper into the universe. The numbers mentioned about the distances and sizes of stars and planets and the space of the universe are dizzying. We can’t comprehend it. And new galaxies are constantly being discovered. All those stars He created with His fingers and gave them a place in the universe. It determines man by the indescribable greatness of God and his own absolute nullity (Psa 8:3-4).

In his unbridled curiosity, man wonders where the boundary of the universe is. Many galaxies have already been mapped out, but, it is said, it is only a millionth part of the universe, at least of what they think the universe or cosmos is. And a boundary has never been discovered.

For faith, it is again simple. God created heaven and earth, the universe. He has covered the heavens with countless stars. He knows the name of every star (Psa 147:4-5; Isa 40:26). He mentions to Job the names of “the Pleiades” and “Orion” (cf. Job 9:9). To this He connects the question of whether Job can bind the chains of the one and loose the cords of the other. Can Job bind these celestial bodies so that they are stopped in their movement through the universe, or can he loose them so that they follow a path other than that prescribed to them by God?

Can Job cause “a constellation” to appear at the time appointed for him (Job 38:32)? Possibly it is southern stars who, when they appear, announce the summer. Or is he so powerful that he can “guide the Bear with her satellites”? That is a northern constellation of which the Bear is the brightest star and “her satellites” the less bright stars.

God has placed the constellations as “ordinances of the heavens” in the universe (Job 38:33). The ordinances are the laws He has instituted, the fixed location of the stars in relation to each other, and the fixed regularity with which the celestial bodies move in the universe (Psa 148:6; Jer 31:35-36). Does Job know these ordinances? Does he have insight into how they work?

When God created the stars, He said that they would be, among other things, “for seasons” (Gen 1:14). We can think of the seasons mentioned in Genesis 8 (Gen 8:22). This means that God determines His policy on earth through the ordinances of heaven. The appearance and disappearance (no longer being visible) of stars is also connected with the changing of the seasons. Can Job contribute to the execution of that policy established by God? Here, too, asking the question at the same time is the answer.