⁹ Significantly, as we read in Job chapter 38, Jehovah God himself took up a similar line of thought, as he put meaningful questions to Job. Though our Creator directed these questions to Job, they clearly have a bearing on our attitude, our existence, and our future. So let us see what God asked, and let us think about the implications, yes, let us do what Job 37:14 urges us to do.

10. Job chapter 38 should have what effect on us, and what questions does it bring up?

¹⁰ Chapter 38 opens: “Jehovah proceeded to answer Job out of the windstorm and say: ‘Who is this that is obscuring counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up your loins, please, like an able-bodied man, and let me question you, and you inform me.’” (Job 38:1-3) This set the tone. It helped Job to adjust his thinking to the reality that he was standing before the Creator of the universe and that he was accountable to him. That is also a good thing for us and our contemporaries to do. Then God touched on the sort of things that Elihu had mentioned. “Where did you happen to be when I founded the earth? Tell me, if you do know understanding. Who set its measurements, in case you know, or who stretched out upon it the measuring line? Into what have its socket pedestals been sunk down, or who laid its cornerstone?”​—Job 38:4-6.

11. What realizations should Job 38:4-6 bring home to us?

¹¹ Where was Job​—where were any of us—​when the earth came to be? Were we the architects who designed our earth and, from that design, laid out the dimensions as though with a ruler or straightedge? No, indeed! Humans were not even on the scene. As if our earth were a building, God asked: “Who laid its cornerstone?” We know that earth is at exactly the right distance from our sun for us to live and thrive. And it is the right size too. If earth were much larger, hydrogen gas would not escape our atmosphere and our planet would be inhospitable to life. Clearly, someone “laid its cornerstone” in the right place. Did Job deserve credit? Do we? Or does Jehovah God?​—Proverbs 3:19; Jeremiah 10:12.

What Man Has the Answers?

12. The question found at Job 38:6 leads us to think about what?

¹² God also asked: “Into what have its socket pedestals been sunk down?” Is that not a good question? We are probably familiar with a term that Job did not know​—gravity. Most of us understand that the force of gravity from the huge mass of the sun keeps our earth in place, its socket pedestals sunk down so to speak. Still, who fully understands gravity?

13, 14. (a) What must be admitted about gravity? (b) How should we react to the situation that Job 38:6 highlights?

¹³ A recently published book entitled The Universe Explained admits that ‘gravity is the most familiar, yet the least understood, of nature’s forces.’ It adds: “Gravitational force seems to travel across empty space instantly, without any obvious means of doing so. In recent years, however, physicists have begun to speculate that gravity might travel in waves made of particles called gravitons . . . But no one is quite certain of their existence.” Think about what that implies.

¹⁴ Science has advanced for 3,000 years since Jehovah posed those questions to Job. Still, neither we nor expert physicists can fully explain gravity, which keeps our earth in the right orbit, just the position it should have to allow us to enjoy life here. (Job 26:7; Isaiah 45:18) This is not to suggest that we all need to pursue an in-depth study of the mysteries of gravity. Rather, giving attention even to this one aspect of God’s wonderful works should influence our view of him. Do you stand in awe of his wisdom and knowledge, and do you sense why we need to learn more about his will?

15-17. (a) On what did Job 38:8-11 focus, leading to what questions? (b) What must be admitted regarding knowledge about the oceans and their distributions on the globe?

¹⁵ The Creator continued his questioning: “Who barricaded the sea with doors, which began to go forth as when it burst out from the womb; when I put the cloud as its garment and thick gloom as its swaddling band, and I proceeded to break up my regulation upon it and to set a bar and doors, and I went on to say, ‘This far you may come, and no farther; and here your proud waves are limited’?”​—Job 38:8-11.

¹⁶ Barricading the sea involves the continents, the oceans, and the tides. How long has man observed and studied these? For thousands of years​—and very intensively in the last century. You might imagine that most of what is to be known about them must be settled by now. Yet, in this year 2001, if you investigated that topic at huge libraries or used the vast research power of the Internet to locate the latest facts, what would you find?

¹⁷ In a widely accepted reference work, you could locate this admission: “The distribution of the continental platforms and ocean basins on the surface of the globe and the distribution of the major landform features have long been among the most intriguing problems for scientific investigation and theorizing.” After saying this, the encyclopedia just quoted offered four possible explanations but said that these are “among the many hypotheses.” As you may know, a hypothesis “implies insufficient evidence to provide more than a tentative explanation.”

18. To what conclusions does Job 38:8-11 lead you?

¹⁸ Does that not highlight the timeliness of the questions we read at Job 38:8-11? Surely we are not to be credited for arranging all these aspects of our planet. We did not place the moon so that its attractive power would help to produce tides that normally do not overwhelm our coasts or us personally. You know who did, the Doer of wonderful things.​—Psalm 33:7; 89:9; Proverbs 8:29; Acts 4:24; Revelation 14:7.

Give Jehovah Due Credit

19. The poetic expressions at Job 38:12-14 direct our attention to what physical realities?

¹⁹ Humans cannot take credit for the earth’s rotation, alluded to at Job 38:12-14. This rotation causes the morning dawn, often stunningly beautiful. As the sun rises, features of our globe become clearer, like clay being transformed under a seal. Giving even slight attention to the earth’s motion, we must marvel that earth does not spin too rapidly, which would be disastrous, as we can easily realize. Neither does it rotate so slowly that days and nights, being much longer, would bring extremes of heat and cold that would make human life impossible. Frankly, we should be happy that God, not any group of humans, set the speed of rotation.​—Psalm 148:1-5.

20. How would you respond to the questions posed at Job 38:16, 18?

²⁰ Now, imagine that God asked you these further questions: “Have you come to the sources of the sea, or in search of the watery deep have you walked about?” Not even an oceanographer could give a complete answer! “Have you intelligently considered the broad spaces of the earth? Tell, if you have come to know it all.” (Job 38:16, 18) Have you visited and explored all regions of earth, or even most of them? Giving attention to the beautiful locations and wonders of our earth could occupy how many lifetimes? And what marvelous times those would be!

21. (a) The questions at Job 38:19 might bring up what scientific views? (b) The realities about light should move us to do what?

²¹ Look, too, at the profound questions at Job 38:19: “Where, now, is the way to where light resides? As for darkness, where, now, is its place?” You may be aware that for a long time, the view prevailed that light travels like a wave, like the ripples we can watch in a pond. Then in 1905, Albert Einstein explained that light acts like packets, or particles, of energy. Did that settle matters? Well, a recent encyclopedia asks: “Is light a wave or a particle?” It answers: “Seemingly, [light] cannot be both because the two models [waves and particles] are so different. The best answer is that light is strictly neither.” Still, we keep on being warmed (directly and indirectly) by sunlight, even if no man is yet able to explain fully God’s works in this regard. We enjoy food and oxygen produced as plants respond to light. We can read, see the faces of our loved ones, gaze at sunsets, and on and on. As we do that, should we not acknowledge the wonderful works of God?​—Psalm 104:1, 2; 145:5; Isaiah 45:7; Jeremiah 31:35.

² Many today ignore or reject such clear evidence of the Creator’s activities. (Romans 1:20) We, however, do well to reflect on them and to draw conclusions relative to our position before and duty toward our Maker. Job chapters 38 to 41 are excellent aids in this, for Jehovah there called to Job’s attention certain aspects of His wonderful works. Consider some valid issues that God raised.

Works Powerful and Wonderful

3. As recorded at Job 38:22, 23, 25-29, God asked about what things?

³ At one point, God inquired of Job: “Have you entered into the storehouses of the snow, or do you see even the storehouses of the hail, which I have kept back for the time of distress, for the day of fight and war?” In many parts of our earth, snow and hail are part of life. God went on: “Who has divided a channel for the flood and a way for the thunderous storm cloud, to make it rain upon the land where there is no man, upon the wilderness in which there is no earthling man, to satisfy storm-stricken and desolate places and to cause the growth of grass to sprout? Does there exist a father for the rain, or who gave birth to the dewdrops? Out of whose belly does the ice actually come forth, and as for the hoarfrost of heaven, who indeed brings it to birth?”​—Job 38:22, 23, 25-29.

4-6. In what sense is man’s knowledge of snow incomplete?

⁴ Some who live in a fast-paced society and who must travel may view snow merely as an obstacle. Yet, countless others view snow as a delight, producing a winter wonderland that opens up opportunities for special activities. With God’s question in mind, do you have an intimate knowledge of snow, even of what it looks like? Oh, we know what a lot of it looks like, perhaps from photos of snowbanks or because we have actually seen plenty of snow. But what of individual snowflakes? Do you know what they look like, maybe having examined them at their source?

⁵ Some men have spent decades studying and photographing snowflakes. A snowflake may be composed of a hundred delicate ice crystals in a variety of beautiful designs. The book Atmosphere says: “The endless variety of snowflakes is legendary, and although scientists insist that no law of nature forbids their duplication, two identical flakes have never been found. One search of epic proportions was conducted by . . . Wilson A. Bentley, who spent more than 40 years examining and photographing snowflakes through a microscope without ever finding two that were exactly alike.” And even if, in a rare case, two appeared to be twins, would that really alter the wonder of the staggering variety of snowflakes?

⁶ Recall God’s question: “Have you entered into the storehouses of the snow?” Many think of clouds as the storehouses of snow. Can you imagine going to these storehouses to inventory snowflakes in their infinite variety and to study how they came to be? A science encyclopedia says: “The nature and origin of the ice nuclei, which are necessary to induce freezing of cloud droplets at temperatures about -40°F (-40°C), are still not clear.”​—Psalm 147:16, 17; Isaiah 55:9, 10.

7. How exhaustive is human knowledge about rain?

⁷ Or what about rain? God asked Job: “Does there exist a father for the rain, or who gave birth to the dewdrops?” The same science encyclopedia says: “Because of the complexity of atmospheric motions and the enormous variability in vapor and particle content of the air, it seems impossible to construct a detailed, general theory of the manner in which clouds and precipitation develop.” In simpler terms, scientists have offered detailed theories, but they really cannot fully explain rain. Yet, you know that the vital rain falls, watering the earth, sustaining plants, making life possible and pleasant.

8. Why are Paul’s words recorded at Acts 14:17 appropriate?

⁸ Would you not agree with the conclusion the apostle Paul came to? He urged others to see in these wonderful works testimony about the One behind them. Paul said of Jehovah God: “He did not leave himself without witness in that he did good, giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts to the full with food and good cheer.”​—Acts 14:17; Psalm 147:8.

9. How do God’s wonderful works manifest his great power?

⁹ There can be no question that the Doer of such wonderful and beneficial works has infinite wisdom and enormous power. As to his power, think of this: It is said that there are some 45,000 thunderstorms every day, more than 16 million a year. This means that about 2,000 are occurring at this very moment. The complex clouds of a single thunderstorm churn with energy equal to ten or more of the nuclear bombs dropped in World War II. You see some of that energy as lightning. Besides being awesome, lightning actually helps to produce forms of nitrogen that reach the soil, where plants absorb them as natural fertilizer. So lightning is displayed energy, but it also brings real benefits.​—Psalm 104:14, 15.

What Effect on You?

10. How would you answer the questions found at Job 38:33-38?

¹⁰ Imagine yourself in Job’s place, being questioned by Almighty God. You will likely agree that most people give little attention to God’s wonderful works. Jehovah asks us the questions we read at Job 38:33-38. “Have you come to know the statutes of the heavens, or could you put its authority in the earth? Can you raise your voice even to the cloud, so that a heaving mass of water itself may cover you? Can you send forth lightnings that they may go and say to you, ‘Here we are!’? Who put wisdom in the cloud layers, or who gave understanding to the sky phenomenon? Who can exactly number the clouds in wisdom, or the water jars of heaven​—who can tip them over, when the dust pours out as into a molten mass, and the clods of earth themselves get stuck together?”

11, 12. What are some things that prove that God is the Doer of wonderful works?

¹¹ We have touched on only a few of the points that Elihu raised with Job, and we have noted some questions that Jehovah called on Job to answer “like an able-bodied man.” (Job 38:3) We say “some” because in chapters 38 and 39, God focused attention on other notable aspects of creation. For example, the constellations of the heavens. Who knows all their laws, or statutes? (Job 38:31-33) Jehovah directed Job’s attention to some of the animals​—the lion and the raven, the mountain goat and the zebra, the wild bull and the ostrich, the mighty horse and the eagle. In effect, God asked Job if he had given these varied animals their characteristics, allowing them to live and to thrive. You may enjoy studying these chapters, especially if you like horses or other animals.​—Psalm 50:10, 11.

God asked Job: “Have you entered into the storehouses of the snow, or do you see even the storehouses of the hail, which I have kept back for the time of distress, for the day of fight and war?” Snow, hail, rainstorms, wind, and lightning are all in his arsenal. And what staggeringly powerful natural forces they are!​—Job 38:22, 23.

16, 17. What illustrates the awesome power that God has, and how has he used such power in the past?

¹⁶ Probably you recall some local catastrophe caused by one of these​—a hurricane, typhoon, cyclone, hailstorm, or flash flood. To illustrate, toward the end of the year 1999, a vast storm struck southwestern Europe. It surprised even weather experts. Gale winds reached 125 miles per hour [200 km/​hr], ripping off thousands of roofs, toppling electric-line pylons, and overturning trucks. Try to visualize this: That storm period uprooted or broke in half some 270 million trees, 10,000 in just the park of Versailles, outside Paris. Millions of households lost electricity. The death toll was near 100. All of that in one brief period. What force!

¹⁷ One might call storms freak, undirected, uncontrolled occurrences. What, though, could happen if the all-powerful One performs wondrous works by using such forces in a controlled, directed way? He did something like that back in the days of Abraham, who learned that the Judge of all the earth had weighed the wickedness of two cities, Sodom and Gomorrah. They were so corrupt that cries over them ascended to God, who helped all righteous ones to escape the condemned cities. History reports: “Then Jehovah made it rain sulphur and fire from Jehovah, from the heavens,” upon those cities. That was a wondrous work, preserving righteous ones and destroying the hopelessly wicked.​—Genesis 19:24.