Historical Relations loj 



especially the more dramatic events, the thunder and the whirlwind, 

 drought, plague and famine are the result of God's immediate 

 action. " The voice of the Lord is upon the waters, the God of 

 Glory thundereth " (Psalm xxix. 3). Even in a less anthropo- 

 morphic atmosphere there is still no element intervening between 

 God and natural phenomena. All are the result of His direct 

 action. 



" Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand. 

 And meted out heaven with the span 

 And comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure. 

 And weighed the mountains in scales 

 And the hills in a balance. 



It is He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, 

 And the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers, 

 That stretched out the heavens as a curtain. 

 And spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in. 



I am the Lord, and there is none else, 

 There is no God beside me. 



I form the light and create darkness ; 

 I make peace and create evil ; 

 I, the Lord, do all these things." 



(Isaiah xl. 12, 22 ; xlv. 5, 7.) 



Such a work as Job reveals a new development. Critics would 

 place this book at least as late as 400 B.C. and therefore after " The 

 Sacred Disease." The author of Job has attained to a definite 

 recognition of natural law. The argument of the book is, indeed, 

 based on the wonder and majesty of the laws by which God rules 

 His world. If Job does not comprehend those laws how can he 

 hope to comprehend the purpose that is behind them ? It is with 

 irony that the Almighty demands : 



" Dost thou bind the cluster of the Pleiades 

 Or loose the bands of Orion ? 



Dost thou lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season ? 

 Or canst thou guide the Bear with her train ? 

 Dost thou make the heavens to know the laws ? 

 Dost thou establish the dominion thereof in the earth ? " 



(Jobxxxviii. 31-33.) 



