Job 38:1-41
The LORD Speaks of Creation and Nature
1 Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:
2 “Who is this that obscures my plans
with words without knowledge?
3 Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone—
7 while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy?
8 “Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,
9 when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,
10 when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,
11 when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt’?
12 “Have you ever given orders to the morning,
or shown the dawn its place,
13 that it might take the earth by the edges
and shake the wicked out of it?
14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;
its features stand out like those of a garment.
15 The wicked are denied their light,
and their upraised arm is broken.
16 “Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death been shown to you?
Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?
18 Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?
Tell me, if you know all this.
19 “What is the way to the abode of light?
And where does darkness reside?
20 Can you take them to their places?
Do you know the paths to their dwellings?
21 Surely you know, for you were already born!
You have lived so many years!
22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow
or seen the storehouses of the hail,
23 which I reserve for times of trouble,
for days of war and battle?
24 What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,
or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?
25 Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,
26 to water a land where no one lives,
an uninhabited desert,
27 to satisfy a desolate wasteland
and make it sprout with grass?
28 Does the rain have a father?
Who fathers the drops of dew?
29 From whose womb comes the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens
30 when the waters become hard as stone,
when the surface of the deep is frozen?
31 “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades?
Can you loosen Orion’s belt?
32 Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons
or lead out the Bear with its cubs?
33 Do you know the laws of the heavens?
Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth?
34 “Can you raise your voice to the clouds
and cover yourself with a flood of water?
35 Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?
Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
36 Who gives the ibis wisdom
or gives the rooster understanding?
37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?
Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens
38 when the dust becomes hard
and the clods of earth stick together?
39 “Do you hunt the prey for the lioness
and satisfy the hunger of the lions
40 when they crouch in their dens
or lie in wait in a thicket?
41 Who provides food for the raven
when its young cry out to God
and wander about for lack of food?
Some say that God has written two books, the Bible and the Book of Nature...And if that is the case, then the Father both of Creation and of Nature has His Fingerprint on both the Bible and on Nature and they intersect with His Touch and His Spirit...We must examine both books with our hearts, our minds, and our souls—and the mind to find a way to embrace both Books...
God laid the earth’s foundation when He created the Heavens and Earth...But it is hard to understand this...He, is the One, who marked off the universe dimensions...Surely everyone knows this!...He is the One who stretched the measuring line across all the stars and heavens...On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone—while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?...Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, when God made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, when God fixed limits for all time and space and matter He set its doors and bars in place, when He said, ‘This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt’?...Has any man ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place, that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it?...The earth takes its shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment...The wicked are denied the Light, and their upraised arm is broken...Have you ever journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?...Have the gates of death ever been shown to you?...Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?...Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?...Tell Me, if you know all this...What is the way to the abode of Light?...And where does darkness reside?...Can you take them to their places?...Do you know the paths to their dwellings?...Surely you know, for you were already born!...You have lived so many years!...Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail, which God has reserved for times of trouble, for days of war and battle?...What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are scattered all over the earth?...Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm, so water can land where no one lives, in an uninhabited desert, to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass?...Does the rain have a Father?...Who Fathers the drops of dew?...From whose womb comes the ice?...Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens when the waters become hard as stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen?...Can man bind the chains of the Pleiades?...Can we loosen Orion’s belt?...Can man bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs?...Do you know the laws of the heavens?...Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth?...Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water?...Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?...Do they report to you or to any man, ‘Here we are’?...Who gives the ibis wisdom or gives the rooster understanding?...Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?...Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens when the dust becomes hard and the clods of earth stick together?...Does man hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket?...Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food...
Physician-geneticist and scientist Francis Collins believes that in mapping the Human Genome we have found a small part of God's text...Collins said this about sequencing man's DNA and how God was involved in the making of man's DNA...“As the leader of the international Human Genome Project, which had labored mightily over more than a decade to reveal this DNA sequence, I stood beside President Bill Clinton in the East Room of the White House...Clinton's speech began by comparing this human sequence map to the map that Meriwether Lewis had unfolded in front of President Thomas Jefferson in that very room nearly two hundred years earlier...Clinton said, "Without a doubt, this is the most important, most wondrous map ever produced by humankind."...But the part of his speech that most attracted public attention jumped from the scientific perspective to the spiritual..."Today," he said, "we are learning the language in which God created life...We are gaining ever more awe for the complexity, the beauty, and the wonder of God's most divine and sacred gift."...Was I, a rigorously trained scientist, taken aback at such a blatantly religious reference by the leader of the free world at a moment such as this?...Was I tempted to scowl or look at the floor in embarrassment?...No, not at all...In fact I had worked closely with the president's speechwriter in the frantic days just prior to this announcement, and had strongly endorsed the inclusion of this paragraph...When it came time for me to add a few words of my own, I echoed this sentiment: "It's a happy day for the world...It is humbling for me, and awe-inspiring, to realize that we have caught the first glimpse of our own instruction book, previously known only to God."...What was going on here?...Why would a president and a scientist, charged with announcing a milestone in biology and medicine, feel compelled to invoke a connection with God?...Aren't the scientific and spiritual worldviews antithetical, or shouldn't they at least avoid appearing in the East Room together?...What were the reasons for invoking God in these two speeches?...Was this poetry?...Hypocrisy?...A cynical attempt to curry favor from believers, or to disarm those who might criticize this study of the human genome as reducing humankind to machinery?...No...Not for me...Quite the contrary, for me the experience of sequencing the human genome, and uncovering this most remarkable of all texts, was both a stunning scientific achievement and an occasion of worship.”...
Collins adds, “In this modern era of cosmology, evolution, and the human genome, is there still the possibility of a richly satisfying harmony between the scientific and spiritual worldviews?...I answer with a resounding yes!...In my view, there is no conflict in being a rigorous scientist and a person who believes in a God who takes a personal interest in each one of us...Science’s domain is to explore nature...God’s domain is in the spiritual world, a realm not possible to explore with the tools and language of science...It must be examined with the heart, the mind, and the soul—and the mind must find a way to embrace both realms.”...