Tag: The Awesomeness of God - Job 37

Job 37:21-22

“And now no one looks on the light

when it is bright in the skies,

when the wind has passed and cleared them.

Out of the north comes golden splendor;

God is clothed with awesome majesty.

Tag:  The Awesomeness of God

Elihu (the speaker) is confronting Job and his three friends about how awesome God is.  During Job's ordeal, the three friends (and Job himself) have been focused almost entirely on the judgment of God and the nature of Job.   Elihu has attempted to focus the men on the greatness of God.  Throughout this chapter he is using several metaphors and examples from meteorological happenings.   In the above passage Elihu may be referring to the sun, or, possibly to an eclipse of the sun.   He is stating to those three men that all of mankind stands in awe of the natural light of the earth (the sun) and does not stare in the light.  He seems to be commenting on the beauty of it.   He quickly makes his metaphor by stated that God is like a bright light out of the north and is awesome in majesty.   Note what one commentator stated about his word picture:

Certainly, there is a lot of evidence in the OT that the north was viewed as the dwelling place of God. The chariot in Ezekiel's vision came out of the north (1:4). The "mount of assembly" of God and the heavenly beings is, according to Isa 14:13, "in the recesses of the North." The same phrase is used in Ps 48:2 (3) where Zion, as the city of the Great King, is said to be "in the far north"-which can only be true by mythological, not geographical, standards.

But there is not necessarily any reference here to the dwelling of God; the "north" may mean no more than "the highest heavens," as it apparently does in 26:7 (q.v.), the "golden glow" being nothing more mysterious than the sun itself. (Understanding the Bible Commentary)

The north lights could be the Northern Lights.   What Elihu is trying to say is that in the midst of our pain and suffering, God is still awesome.  He is shinning brighter every day and as we gaze into His personhood we should see His glory.  We might want to focus on our circumstances, but it would be far better to focus on the miracles of God and His awesomeness.