Mere Edges

Often in online quizzes, we are given the option of our dream home of a mountain cabin or a beach house. Choose one. I choose both, not because I’m greedy, but because both instill awe of God in me. Growing up in San Diego, both mountains and beach were easy driving distance. Living in Montana, I am in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. The mountains are beautiful, majestic. My husband and I have also been blessed to travel through the Bavarian and Swiss Alps. It was breathtaking. The mountains fill your view from almost every direction. The majesty of God is on display in the grandeur of the mountains – in their height, in the sheer rock near the tops, in the snowy peaks, and in the lush green grass and wildflowers lower down. We took trains and cable cars to the highest points of two of the Swiss Alps. From there, we could look across at other mountains. We could look down on the valleys, so, so far below. The air was crisp, and there was a quietness beyond what most of us ever experience. I can still feel that awe of God remembering it.

But there’s also the ocean. I have loved our trips to Hawaii where I could sit on our balcony above the beach and just listen to the waves. Sometimes they are soft and soothing as they gently lap against the sand. Other times, the waves are loud and powerful as they crash against the shore. As I look out across the ocean, it goes as far as my eye can see before disappearing into the horizon. Not only does the ocean stretch out horizontally, but beneath the surface is a vast world – depths beyond what I can ever see, colorful and creative fish and plants, whales larger than any animal walking the earth. Again, I am filled with awe of Creator God.

There are many passages of Scripture that describe God’s glory in creation, but recently one particular verse kept repeating in my mind: “Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways, and how small a whisper we hear of Him! But the thunder of His power who can understand?” (Job 26:14, NKJV). I typically read in the ESV which translates mere edges as outskirts, but a devotion I read on Job 26 quoted the NKJV. The NASB and Holman CSB translate it as fringes. All three translations convey the same idea – what Job has described barely scratches the surface of God’s greatness. The word mere magnifies that idea for me – we know only the smallest or slightest edge of God’s greatness. Like gazing at the ocean, we see only a tiny bit of its vastness.

Let’s take a look at Job 26.

26 Then Job answered and said:

2 “How you have helped him who has no power!

How you have saved the arm that has no strength!

3 How you have counseled him who has no wisdom,

and plentifully declared sound knowledge!

4 With whose help have you uttered words,

and whose breath has come out from you?

5 The dead tremble

under the waters and their inhabitants.

6 Sheol is naked before God,

and Abaddon has no covering.

7 He stretches out the north over the void

and hangs the earth on nothing.

8 He binds up the waters in His thick clouds,

and the cloud is not split open under them.

9 He covers the face of the full moon

and spreads over it His cloud.

10 He has inscribed a circle on the face of the waters

at the boundary between light and darkness.

11 The pillars of heaven tremble

and are astounded at His rebuke.

12 By His power He stilled the sea;

by His understanding He shattered Rahab.

13 By His wind the heavens were made fair;

His hand pierced the fleeing serpent.

14 Behold, these are but the outskirts of His ways,

and how small a whisper do we hear of Him!

But the thunder of His power who can understand?”[1]

Job 26

First, let’s consider the context for this chapter in Job. The book of Job began with Satan challenging God that Job was faithful only because God had blessed Job. God allows Satan to strike Job but within parameters (he could not take Job’s life). Job did not sin in response to the loss of his children and livestock or his own sores. As he mourned, three of his friends came to sit with him in silence for seven days. After the seven days, they began confronting Job. Although the friends spoke some truth about God, they boiled Job’s situation down to his own sin. In chapter 25, Bildad gave a short speech. Now, in Job 26, Job responds likely to Bildad specifically (the you in verses 2-4 is singular) although his response could be intended for all three of his friends.

Job’s response begins with what some commentaries suggest is a sarcastic tone (vs 2-4). He is calling out Bildad and perhaps all three friends. Job questions where the help and strength have been in their counsel. The friends have been more focused on proving their own point than in truly understanding or helping Job.

But in verse 5, Job shifts gears to God’s greatness. Job understood God’s greatness, wisdom, and power even better than his friends, and yet, as we will see, Job also acknowledged there was an abundance that he didn’t understand.

“The dead tremble under the waters and their inhabitants. Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering” (vs 5-6) – The exact meaning of these two verses is not known (great start to our study, right?). However, the idea is that there is no place that is concealed from God. God is omnipresent and omniscient.

“He stretches out the north over the void” (vs 7a) – Psalm 104:1-2 uses similar language: “Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, You are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering Yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent” (emphasis added). God is Creator of the heavens and earth.

“and hangs the earth on nothing” (vs 7b) – What a great phrase: “hangs the earth on nothing.” Magicians use illusions to convince us that an object is suspended in air, but in reality, there is always something physical behind it. God alone can truly hang the earth on nothing, not just a small object but the whole earth. It is God’s power that upholds (Colossians 1:17). He does not need to use physical elements to hold the earth. God spoke it to be, and it was. God is omnipotent.

“He binds up the waters in His thick clouds, and the cloud is not split open under them.” – I love these different word pictures. Man cannot even accurately predict the rain, but God can bind the waters in the clouds. He can keep the clouds from splitting open to pour forth their water. If we flip back to 1 Kings 17:1, we read: “Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, ‘As the Lord the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.’” And God kept the rain from falling for three and a half years (James 5:17; Luke 4:25). God is sovereign over creation.

“He covers the face of the full moon and spreads over it His cloud” (vs 9) – moon can also be interpreted as throne. Matthew Henry understood this to mean that man could not bear the site of the glory of God’s throne, so He covers it. When Moses wanted to see God’s glory, God told Moses that Moses could not see His face, His full glory, and live. God allowed Moses to see His back as He passed by (Exodus 33:20-23). God is holy and glorious.

“He has inscribed a circle on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness” (vs 10) – This further speaks to God as Creator (Genesis 1:3-8). The circle on the face of the waters could refer to the curvature of the earth on the horizon. God made the boundary and keeps the boundary between earth and heaven.

“The pillars of heaven tremble and are astounded at His rebuke” (vs 11) – Mountains appear to “support” the skies like pillars with their height. We look at a mountain and see a mighty, enduring fortress, but the mountains tremble and are astounded before God. He created the mountains. He is sovereign and all-powerful over them.

“By His power He stilled the sea; by His understanding He shattered Rahab” (vs 12) – We think of man’s utter inability to control the weather or natural disasters like hurricanes, tornados, or earthquakes, but by His power, God stills the sea (Matthew 8:23-27). Even if you haven’t personally witnessed a raging storm on the sea, you have probably seen video of one. The raging storm is still before God’s omnipotence and sovereignty.

By His understanding, He shatters Rahab. Rahab was the name given for a sea monster (9:13) that the prostitute in Joshua 2 was probably named after. God shatters this mighty sea monster.

“By His wind the heavens were made fair” (vs 13a) – “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host” (Psalm 33:6, emphasis added). Creator God not only made the heavens, but He made them beautiful. God not only is Creator, but He creates with wisdom and creativity that is beautiful.

“His hand pierced the fleeing serpent” (vs 13b) – This serpent could be the leviathan in Isaiah 27:1, it could apply to Satan (Genesis 3), or it could be tied to Rahab (vs 12). Whatever or whoever it may refer to, the serpent is no match against Almighty God.

Behind Job’s words are attacks against the gods of the day similar to the ten plagues in Exodus. This adds emphasis to God’s greatness.

“Here the sea that God subdues is not the deity Yam. Job depersonalized Yam by using the definite article (the sea), thus expressing his innate monotheistic theology. Marduk employed seven winds to overthrow Tiamat; here God’s own breath clears the heavens. All the power of the wind is his breath. Further, by his own wisdom, skill, and power he ‘cut Rahab to pieces’ and ‘pierced the gliding serpent,’ unlike Marduk who depended on the enablement of the father-gods.… Job, then, demonstrated God’s authority over the domain of Mot (the god of death) in Job 26:5–6 and over the domain of Baal (the cosmic storm god in Job 26:7–10). And in Job 26:12–13 Job drew attention to God’s awe-inspiring power over the domain of Yam (the stormy sea-god).” (Smick)[2]

Job concludes with where we began: “Behold, these are but the outskirts (the mere edges) of His ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of Him! But the thunder of His power who can understand?”

Reflection

1. Are you humble before Almighty God? However much you understand about God, do you recognize that it is but the mere edges?

2. Are you awed by the greatness of God? Job covered only a few things in Job 26, but even in these few verses he brings out many of God’s attributes (“God is…” truths) and actions (“God does…” truths). What else would you add to Job’s list that leaves you in awe of the greatness of God?

3. Spend time humbly worshiping our great God.

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Job 26:1–14. [2] David Guzik, Job, David Guzik’s Commentaries on the Bible (Santa Barbara, CA: David Guzik, 2007), Job 26:5–13.