IN the previous verses God had IL asked Job, “Hast thou commanded the morning... and caused the dawn to know its place?” We know it is God Himself the Creator who controls the movements of day and night, but science tells us that these things follow the fixed rules of nature. Nevertheless there have been times in God’s ways with men when He who ordained these fixed laws has also set them, aside, when it suited His purpose.
When the plague of darkness came upon the land of Egypt (Ex. 10), it was called a “thick darkness,” one that could be felt. They could not see one another for three days, but the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.
Then in the days of Joshua we read that “the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. And there was no day like that before or after it, that the LORD hearkened to the voice of a man: for the Lord fought for Israel.” Josh. 10:13, 1413And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. 14And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the Lord hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the Lord fought for Israel. (Joshua 10:13‑14). But the most outstanding instance that we have in the New Testament was when the Lord Jesus was hanging upon the cross, bearing the punishment for our sins, that is, the sins of all those who trust in Him. Then it was that God caused a darkness to cover the whole land for the space of three hours. Some would make out that this was an eclipse of the sun, but this was not so. We are told that an eclipse could not last more than seven and a half minutes and none have been known to last that long. God would not allow any one to see His beloved Son suffering at His hand for sin upon the cross. This should make us feel what a terrible thing sin is in the sight of God, and how solemn it will be in the day of judgment for those who refuse the Lord Jesus as the Saviour. They will have before thetn11 The awful prospect of suffering at God’s hand when cast into outer darkness, In Luke 22:5353When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness. (Luke 22:53) the Lord, when brought before the chief priests and elders, said to them, “This is your hour and tile power of darkness.” He spoke of what is called moral darkness, which conies upon those who have been the objects of so much grace but turn from Him to the power of darkness. In Colossians 1:12, 1312Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: 13Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: (Colossians 1:12‑13) it says, “Giving thanks unto the Father,... Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness"; that is, those who have been brought to the Lord.
In verse 16 of our chapter the Lord goes back to the sea again and looks at it in another way. “Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in search of the depth?"—that is, the abyss? Then He goes lower still and asks a more searching question. “Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or host thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?” Sheol, or Hades, was the place of departed spirits and God was bringing before Job that he knew nothing of the unseen world or what takes place after death.
From the depths of the sea the Lord comes back to the earth again and says to Job, “Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all.” Job did not know. Then the Lord passes on to speak of “the treasures of the snow” and of “the treasures of the hail, which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war.” And God, was pleased to use the elements in judgment upon men; for instance, when He rained down hailstones on the Amorites (Josh. 10:1111And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Beth-horon, that the Lord cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword. (Joshua 10:11)), and fire and brimstone on the cities of the plain (Gen. 19:24, 2524Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven; 25And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. (Genesis 19:24‑25)).
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