and, in a spiritual sense, he restrains the floods of affliction from overflowing and overwhelming his people; and, when the temptations of Satan come in like a flood upon them, his Spirit sets up a standard against them, which keeps them from doing them any harm; and, when the wrath of persecutors rises up against them, and threatens them with destruction, he withholds those proud waters from going over their souls and overwhelming them: and so likewise it is he that bringeth hidden things to light, things in nature men had never seen or known before; things in providence, dark and intricate; things in grace, out of the sight of the most penetrating understanding: he reveals the secrets of his love and grace to them that fear him; the glorious scheme of salvation by Christ, which was hid in himself, in the thoughts, purposes, and counsels of his heart; the mysteries of his Gospel, hid from the wise and prudent, Mt 11:25; and life and immortality itself, or the way to it, which he has brought to light through the Gospel; yea, he brings to light all the hidden things of a man's heart, and sets them before him, and convinces him of them in a loving way; and if not now, he will hereafter "bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts", 1Co 4:5; but, as before observed, it is best to understand the whole paragraph of miners; of their sagacity in opening mines, and searching into the bowels of the earth, where none were ever before them; and of their indefatigableness, industry, and labour therein, and of the success that attends them; Job's design being to show, that things rich and valuable, and most remote from the sight of men, may, by diligent application, be investigated and obtained; yet such wisdom is not attainable as to understand the reason of the various dealings of God with the sons of men, both good and bad; and therefore, after all he had said on the above subject, still the question is as follows.
Bible Commentary
Job 38:8
Job 38:8
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible · John Gill (1697–1771) · Public Domain
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Job 38 — OverviewJob 38 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleIn most disputes the strife is who shall have the last word. Job's
friends had, in this controversy, tamely yielded it to Job, and then he
to Elihu. But, after all the wranglings of the counsel at bar, the…Job 38 — OverviewJob 38 · Treasury of Scripture KnowledgeJob 38:1, God challenges Job to answer; Job 38:4, God, by his mighty works, convinces Job of ignorance, Job 38:31, and of imbecility.Job 38 — OverviewJob 38 · John Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleIn this chapter the Lord takes up the controversy with Job; calls upon him to prepare to engage with him in it, and demands an answer to posing questions he puts to him, concerning the earth and the fabric of itJob 38:1-41Job 38:1-41 · The Pulpit CommentaryCLOSE OF THE CONTROVERSY BY THE INTERFERENCE OF THE ALMIGHTY.
EXPOSITION
The discourse, by which the Almighty answers Job and rebukes his "friends," occupies four chapters (ch. 38-41.). It is broken into two parts by…Job 38:4-11Job 38:4-11 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleFor the humbling of Job, God here shows him his ignorance even
concerning the earth and the sea. Though so near, though so bulky, yet
he could give no account of their origination, much less of heaven
above or…Job 38:4-15Job 38:4-15 · The Pulpit CommentaryJehovah to Job: the first answer-the examination: 1. Concerning the creation.
I. THE CREATION OF THE EARTH THE HANDIWORK OF GOD.
1. An exclusively Divine work. Jehovah claims not simply to have been the Framer of the…
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