What is the meaning of Job 38:35? Can you send the lightning bolts on their way? God speaks directly to Job, asking whether Job can command lightning as He does. This question isn’t about meteorology; it’s about authority. • The Creator alone directs lightning: “He unleashes His lightning beneath the whole heaven” (Job 37:3). • Psalm 135:7 reminds us that God “brings the wind out of His storehouses,” placing every storm under His rule. • Jeremiah 10:13 says, “When He thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth… He makes lightning for the rain.” • Jesus later proved the same divine dominion when He calmed the sea with a word (Matthew 8:26-27). These passages underscore that lightning is not random; it is an instrument in God’s hand. By asking, “Can you send…?” the Lord highlights Job’s powerlessness and our own. Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’? Here God paints lightning as obedient messengers, ready to answer His summons. The point is relational as well as functional: all creation listens for the Lord’s command, but it does not answer to Job—or to us. • Job 36:32 says, “He covers His hands with lightning and commands it to strike its mark,” portraying deliberate aim. • Psalm 97:4 declares, “His lightning illuminates the world; the earth sees and trembles,” showing that God’s signals are both heard and heeded. • Proverbs 30:4 asks, “Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is the name of His Son—surely you know!”; the implied answer points back to the One before whom even lightning stands at attention. God’s rhetorical question exposes the vast gap between divine sovereignty and human limitation. Lightning never submits a report to Job; it only answers the Lord. summary Job 38:35 reveals God’s unmatched authority. He alone dispatches lightning and receives its instant obedience. The verse calls us to recognize our dependence, humble ourselves, and trust the One who commands both storms in the sky and storms in our lives. |
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