Job 38:13Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Concurrently, as He established the ends of the earth, He removed the wicked, for while He fortifies the feeble believers, He rebukes the strong unbelievers. The term ‘shook off’ carries significant weight, for through His arrival, He stirred even the hearts of the wayward with overwhelming dread, as they were truly shaken, proclaiming, "…do you see that you have no time for anything? the whole world is following Him!" John 12:19. However, what is shaken diminishes as it is tugged in various directions. Thus, Judaea was indeed shaken, as some remarked, "He is a good man," while others opposed, declaring, "No; He deceives the people" John 7:12. Some asserted, "If He were not of God, He could do nothing" John 9:33. Ultimately, others charged, "If He had not been a wicked man, we would not have delivered Him to you" John 18:30. The rejected were undoubtedly shaken but did not topple; they marveled at the miracles, while others derided the humility of His suffering. Those who proclaimed, "How long wilt Thou keep our souls perplexed? If Thou art the Christ, tell us plainly!" were also astounded John 10:24. Indeed, He did hold and shake the ends of the earth, for as He instilled righteous fear in the hearts of the humble, He did not abandon them to harsh judgment. Many believers have risen with greater strength when they have humbled themselves. God firmly holds the person He shakes, and as the prophet states, "For my hand hath done all these things, and all these things have been, saith the Lord. But this is the man on whom I will look: on him who is humble and contrite in spirit, and who trembles before My word" Isaiah 66:2. That God holds those He shakes is evident in Solomon's declaration that "Blessed is the man who is always in awe, but he who hardens his heart will fall into trouble" Proverbs 28:14. Since the Lord upheld the ends of Judah in the Apostles, and rejected the Scribes, Pharisees, and High Priests while demanding an accounting for their sins, let us hear further what was added to their condemnation. The next thought is... Verse 13. "Hast thou held and shaken the ends of the earth, and shaken off all the wicked from it?" Job 38:13.

The earth represents the man engrossed in earthly pleasures, of whom it was said regarding his sin, "For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return" Genesis 3:19. The gracious Creator does not abandon His creation; He patiently tolerates human sins through His wisdom, ultimately allowing them to go. Yet, when He encounters cruel and unfeeling hearts, He frightens them with warnings, strikes them with tribulations, and reveals truths at other times, so that those who have become self-assured may be softened by a healthy fear, leading them to return as if they had long anticipated it. Just as the Lord judges us more rigorously at the conclusion of our lives, He purifies His chosen ones more thoroughly at the end. Thus, it is said, "The Lord will judge the ends of the earth" 1 Samuel 2:10. Therefore, He scrutinizes our actions with greater intensity as we approach the end of our lives, knowing that our future existence hinges upon them. Because He does this out of mercy—displaying His goodness by absolving even those sinners who repent at the last moment—He instructs blessed Job in righteousness, stating, "Thou hast held and shaken the ends of the earth, and shaken off all the wicked from it?" You understand, as I do, that He often calls sinners, urging them in their final moments, grasping and swiftly releasing them, and extracting evil thoughts from their hearts. The Lord rightly teaches blessed Job how He transforms sinners in their twilight, as if conveying openly, "Behold the power of My mercy, and humble your pride before virtue." Furthermore, the discipline accompanying the repenting sinner in those final hours is experienced through the death of the flesh, even when he finds redemption, a lesson He quickly imparts.

The Lord addressed Job, who had boldly presumed to tackle these inquiries, drawing his attention with a series of questions that pertained to the natural world. Through illustrating the impossibility of understanding even the simplest aspects of the physical realm, God emphasized the far greater impossibility of resolving moral questions (38: 1-3). Initially, the Lord inquires of Job about the formation and foundational state of the earth, seemingly to highlight the limitations of human understanding and the vast unknown surrounding him, considering he cannot even answer this singular inquiry (4-6). In contrast, God created the earth with the same ease a person has when constructing an ordinary building; the creation emanated such grandeur and splendor that the heavenly hosts extolled Him with resounding praise (7).

Equally admirable is the Creator's might and wisdom in confining the waters of the deep (8-11) and in distinguishing between light and darkness (12-15). Yet these depths, along with the boundaries of light and dark, remain within the view of human perception (16-20). Even the most common phenomena on earth, such as snow, hail, rain, and frost, lie beyond human mastery (21-30), let alone the movements of the stars and the myriad changes in weather (31-38).

Shifting to the astonishing marvels of the world, which are subtly intertwined with human existence, the Lord illustrates to Job that it is solely due to His paternal care that carnivorous animals and birds are nourished (39-41).