What is the meaning of Job 26:14? Indeed, these are but the fringes of His ways • Job has just listed God’s visible works—stilling the seas, hanging the earth “on nothing,” ordering the clouds (Job 26:7-13). He now calls those wonders “fringes,” like the hem of a vast garment, reminding us we see only the outer edge of His activity. • Psalm 8:3-4 similarly marvels that the Maker of moon and stars pays mind to man—creation is only the edge of what He can do. • Romans 1:20 teaches that “His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen” through what is made, yet creation is still only a partial disclosure. • The point: If the edges of God’s works leave us speechless, what must the fullness be like? Our knowledge is real but limited; humility is the proper response. How faint is the whisper we hear of Him • A “whisper” suggests God purposefully reveals Himself in ways suited to human capacity. Elijah in 1 Kings 19:12 heard the Lord in a “gentle whisper,” not the earthquake or fire. • 1 Corinthians 13:9-10 says “we know in part” until perfection comes. Even the prophets received only what Deuteronomy 29:29 calls “the things revealed,” while “the secret things belong to the LORD.” • We should treasure every whisper—Scripture, the Spirit’s prompting, the witness of conscience—yet recognize it is not exhaustive revelation. That perspective guards against pride and fuels longing for the day when “we shall see face to face” (1 Corinthians 13:12). Who then can understand the thunder of His power • “Thunder” contrasts with “whisper.” Psalm 29 depicts the LORD’s voice like thunder that shatters cedars and shakes deserts, underscoring sovereign might. • Exodus 19:16-19 records thunder at Sinai; the people trembled and kept their distance. If mere thunderoverwhelms, who can fathom its Source? • Job’s rhetorical question expects the answer “no one.” Isaiah 40:25-26 poses a similar challenge: “To whom will you compare Me?” The only fitting response is worshipful awe, not speculation that reduces God to manageable size. • Yet, through Christ “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom” (Colossians 2:3), believers will one day grasp what is now beyond us (Ephesians 2:7). Until then we rest in His power rather than our comprehension. summary Job 26:14 drives home the vast gap between human perception and divine reality. Creation shows only the garment’s fringe; Scripture and personal experience convey but a whisper; God’s unmediated power would thunder beyond our understanding. Such truth calls us to humility, trust, and adoration, confident that the same Almighty who overwhelms us also invites us to know Him through His revealed Word and, ultimately, through His Son. |
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