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Job 38:31 Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?
Job 38:32 Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?
Job 38:33 Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?
Job 38:34 Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?
Job 38:35 Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are?

Introduction

Truly God has given mankind an experience of evil for the purpose of humbling us, so He can make us “another vessel”.

Ecc 1:13 I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it.
Jer 18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
Jer 18:5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Jer 18:6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

God has given us this book of Job, and He has given us Job’s experience to demonstrate how He is doing this in the life of every man. Every man, “all… men” will first be proud and conceited. We will all first reprove, contend with, and condemn our own God, before we will then be humbled.

Ecc 9:2 All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

When we are told “All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous and the wicked… as is the good so is the sinner”, what that really means is that we will all bear the earthy before we will all bear the heavenly.

1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

“Earthy” is Biblical language for “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life”.

1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

Paul tells us that “all in Adam” will “every man in his own order” be “made alive… in Christ”.

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

So those who are given to be “in Christ”, get to be “in Christ” in the same way we all came to be “in Adam”. ” For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. “
But, as we have seen, being “made alive… in Christ” comes only through the death and destruction of our old man.

Mat 10:39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

To bring about the death of our “old man” in type and shadow, God sends Satan to destroy all of that is so valuable to us in this world, right down to our very families, including our parents, and our children.

Mat 10:37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

Then he sends our closest friends to add to our affliction. They are nothing more than self- righteous Pharisees accusing us of sins we have not committed. But in doing this God is answering us “according to the multitude of [ our] heart’s… idol”. We become defensive of our reputation among other men, and we become self righteous.
Afterward God sends us an Elihu, the type of His two witnesses, to tell us through our own ‘Job’ experience, what are “the manifold wisdom of God [ and of] His judgements”.

Rom 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
Eph 3:10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

God’s “ways past finding out” are His judgments upon, and the utter destruction of our “earthy… proud… first man Adam”. Now, in this story of Job’s experience, God Himself is judging our self- righteous, carnal mind and in type is humbling and destroying the old ‘Job’ within us. God hates sin, and we are all first sin:

Psa 11:5 The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.

Job is not wrong when he declares that God is the enemy of his old self- righteous self:

Job 16:9 He [ God] teareth me in his wrath, who hateth me: he gnasheth upon me with his teeth; mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me.

He is destroying our self- righteous, earthy, “old man”, by demonstrating just how insignificant we all are in and of ourselves. Until we come to understand this Truth, we don’t even know who God is or who His Son is or what God is doing as He is judging us according to His justice, to “make [ us] another vessel as it seems good to [ Him] to make it”.

Isa 26:9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
Isa 45:21 Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.
Jer 18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

To that end God continues to quiz Job, who is a type of each of us:

Job 38:31 Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?
Job 38:32 Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?

Job has already mentioned these constellations back in chapter nine, while speaking of God’s omnipotence. Mazzaroth, here, is believed to be the same as “the chambers of the south” which we have already covered in Job nine, and which cannot be seen by those who live in the northern hemisphere.

Job 9:4 He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?
Job 9:5 Which removeth the mountains, and they know not: which overturneth them in his anger.
Job 9:6 Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble.
Job 9:7 Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars.
Job 9:8 Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea.
Job 9:9 Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.
Job 9:10 Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number.

This is the only place in scripture where this word appears, though a word very close to it appears in this verse and is translated as “the planets:

2Ki 23:5 And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets [ Hebrew – mazzalah] and to all the host of heaven.

Both words are obviously connected in some way with “the host of heaven”, whose worship is specifically forbidden by our Lord.
Isaiah poses a similar question to Israel, and directs our worship to Him to whom it belongs:

Isa 40:25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.
Isa 40:26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.
Isa 40:27 Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?
Isa 40:28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.

“Not one fails” to be exactly where it belongs at all times simply because, “He is strong in power”, and sustains the Mazzaroth, and all the constellations of the host of the heavens.
God now asks us, through Job, if we can “bind the sweet influences of Pleiades”.

Job 38:31 Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?

The first thing we need to establish is that the mere mention of the constellations is in no way a Biblical endorsement of the “science falsely so called” of astrology. Astrology contends that the stars of the heavens influence the affairs of mankind. The sovereignty of God in the affairs of mankind, through the false science of astrology, is replaced by the influences of the stars in the physical heavens. Nothing could be further from the Truth since our Lord has specifically forbidden such belief. While astronomy is the true factual study of the heavens, astrology is only a heathen worship of the creation rather than the Creator.

Deu 4:15 Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:
Deu 4:16 Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
Deu 4:17 The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air,
Deu 4:18 The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth:
Deu 4:19 And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.

God has given the nations over to worship the hosts of heaven, but He has forbidden this for His Israel, as He repeats this warning in this same book:

Deu 17:2 If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD thy God, in transgressing his covenant,
Deu 17:3 And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded;
Deu 17:4 And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and enquired diligently, and, behold, it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel:
Deu 17:5 Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die.
Jer 8:2 And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.

While scriptures do not tell us how the constellations got their names, they do let us know, by referring to them many times, that the constellations are of very ancient origin, and that mankind has, from very early in history, worshiped “the host of heaven”, instead of the invisible Creator of those hosts of heaven.
So what does God mean by “the sweet influences of Plieades”? Here is all that is meant by that question:

Gen 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

Each constellation appears in the heavens at its own appointed season. Pleiades happens to be the constellation which appears in the Springtime, and is therefore associated of old with all the “sweet influences” of that season of the year. The trees and the flowers begin to bloom, and the life that has been dormant all winter long comes forth at that time. It has absolutely nothing at all to do with any need to worship the host of the heavens because of any influence which the physical stars have upon the actions of mankind, which actions are all, along with the stars and constellations, within the hand of our Lord, who alone is worthy of our worship.

Psa 147:2 The LORD doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.
Psa 147:3 He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.
Psa 147:4 He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.

Jer 31:35 Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name:

As always we think that the ability to observe what God is doing is the same as doing those things with Him. It is like a child asking his father to drive a car before he can reach the brake pedal. Or asking if He can wield a 16 pound sledgehammer before he is even capable of picking up 16 pounds.
God continues to emphasize the vast differences between the creature and the Creator:

Job 38:33 Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?

We have no clue how God brings forth Mazzaroth in the southern hemisphere, nor do we have a clue how He sustains and maintains and brings forth Arcturus in the northern hemisphere. How then can we even suggest that we are in a position to counsel Him concerning how He is dealing with us via the spiritual stars, by which He rules His creation?
How can mere man know what is best for himself spiritually, when he cannot even understand the physical realm?
The movements of the heavenly bodies demonstrate that His time and His timing are perfect while ours is disastrous. That is the message God is delivering to us by pointing out our physical inadequacies, even as we are reproving Him for the way He is dealing with us. We know nothing of the ordinances of the physical heavens and we certainly cannot set the dominion of the spiritual heavens in the earth. Christ alone is Christ, and He alone can do that only if He is within us.

Mat 16:19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

This is what Christ said to Peter, but these are also words for us all (Mat 4:4). He repeats this statement when speaking to all His disciples in Mat 18:

Mat 18:15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
Mat 18:16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
Mat 18:17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.
Mat 18:18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

What God is telling Job, and through Job He is telling us, is that we can do nothing without Him:

Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Continuing to make this point God continues to quiz us:

Job 38:34 Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?

The answer is always the same. We of ourselves cannot lift up our voice to God’s clouds or cover ourselves or anyone else or anything with an “abundance of waters”. These clouds are the symbols of God’s servants in whom He has placed the nourishing waters of His word. We cannot bring the words of God to anyone if Christ is not within us. Christ alone can do that, and if and when He lives within us then, and only then, can we “do all things through [ Him]”.

Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

We cannot even sin, without God making us to err from His ways. We cannot be wicked without Him making us wicked for our own day of evil in our own lives. We must be made by God to see that these words are all spoken to us, and it is we who must live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God:

Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Isa 63:17 O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.
Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man [ Greek – anthropos, meaning mankind] shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Php 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

So the Lord continues to reason with us:

Job 38:35 Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are?

No, we cannot do that, but God can use us to do that, and He does use us as His ‘lightning’:

Eze 1:14 And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.

Who do these living creatures, who God sends “as the appearance of a flash of lightning, symbolize? It is “the[ se] living creatures” which the book of Revelation reveals to be the symbol of those who He has promised to make kings and priests on this earth. Notice this progressive revelation in the book that reveals the Christ:

Rev 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
Rev 1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Rev 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev 2:27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

So it is clearly the overcomers in this age, who Christ has loved and has “washed from [ their] sins in His own blood” who will “rule… the nations… with a rod of iron”. In other words, it is those in whom He dwells who are to receive this great blessing. What is one of the symbols in this book which reveals the Christ of this greatly blessed group of individuals then? Here it is, and we will notice that it is a symbol which we see in scripture from Genesis to Revelation:

Rev 5:8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
Rev 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Rev 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

Wow! There it is! It is “the four beasts and the four and twenty elders” who are “washed from their sins in His own blood [ and who will be] given power over the nations [ and who] will rule them with a rod of iron… [ as] kings and priests”.
Now notice how God uses these “four beasts [ who] have [ been] redeemed to God”:

Eze 1:4 And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.
Eze 1:5 Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.
Eze 1:6 And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings.
Eze 1:7 And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf’s foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass.
Eze 1:8 And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings.
Eze 1:9 Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward.
Eze 1:10 As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.
Eze 1:11 Thus were their faces: and their wings were stretched upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies.
Eze 1:12 And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went.
Eze 1:13 As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.
Eze 1:14 And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.

“The living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning”. So when God asks us…:

Job 38:35 Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are?

… we now know what and to whom He is actually referring, and we know that in our own time we will answer with the prophet:

Isa 6:8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

It is very instructive to note that this verse is in Isa 6 where these same beasts are crying “Holy, holy, holy”, the same words they say in Rev 4 and 5. They have the same “six wings” as the beasts of Revelation chapters 4 and 5, but the symbol used here in Isa 6 is that of seraphim. The beasts of Rev 4 and 5 remind us that we were all first beasts, and the seraphim, the fiery serpents, remind us that we were all first of our father, “the devil, that old serpent the dragon” (Rev 12:9), before we were made again another vessel as the Potter saw fit to make us.

Isa 6:1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
Isa 6:2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
Isa 6:3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
Isa 6:4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
Isa 6:5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
Isa 6:6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
Isa 6:7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Here is this same Isa 6:1-7 event as it is described for us in Revelation four:

Rev 4:6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.
Rev 4:7 And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.
Rev 4:8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

Both are describing the throne of God, which we know is within the hearts and minds of His elect:

Eze 1:26 And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.
1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
2Co 6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Our Lord knows that we know none of this unless He reveals it to us. That is why He tells us:

Mat 18:3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

In what way are we to “become as little children”? Are we to become naive or gullible? No, the greatest fault of our nature is “the pride of life”. That is the ‘wood, hay, and stubble’ which kept fueling the fire of God’s words in type to Job, and in spiritual reality to you and me. So Christ continues in the very next verse:

Mat 18:4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Our old ‘Job’ knows nothing of any of this, and in our next study we will hear the Lord as He continues making that perfectly clear to our old man, of whom Job is but the symbol:

Job 38:36 Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart?
Job 38:37 Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven,
Job 38:38 When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together?
Job 38:39 Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions,
Job 38:40 When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait?
Job 38:41 Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.

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