The book of Job is such a fascinating book. It deals with the Lord allowing Satan to tempt Job with adversity. Job 1:1 tells us that Job “…was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.” Satan accused God of protecting Job and that he only loved the Lord because of that. We read in Job 1:11-12, “But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.” To prove Job’s faithfulness, the Lord allowed Satan to do anything to Job except to take his life.

Almost immediately, Job received news that all his cattle, his sheep, his farm animals, his servants, and even his children had all been killed. How terrible! Yet we read in Job 1:20-22, “Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.”

After this, Satan attacked Job with ‘sore boils’ all over his body. He was in great agony. He received terrible advice from his wife as we read in Job 2:9, “Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.” She encouraged her husband to just get it over with. Curse God, die, and be free from your suffering. Her advice may have been because she did not want him to suffer any longer, but to curse God would be against all the Job held dearly. From Job chapter 3 to chapter 31, we have the communication of Job with his three friends. Job 2:11 says, “Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him.” He looked so terrible to them that they sat for seven days before they began talking with him. The words of Job’s friends to him largely consisted of telling Job that he must be guilty before God since he is suffering so much. They think that all suffering is a direct result of sin in Job’s life. As each one rebukes Job, he continues to defend his lifestyle to them. I encourage you to read this book. There are so many lessons in it for us today.

In chapter 26, Job is responding to the latest round of rebuke from Bildad. Even though saying that Bildad’s advice has not helped him, Job acknowledged his own powerlessness in verses 1-4, and then goes on to speak of the greatness of God in verses 5-14. In verses 5-6 we learn that dead people tremble in a place that is deeper than the deepest sea. Yet the Lord sees them, even in Hell. In verse 7, he tells his friends that the Lord “hangeth the earth upon nothing.” This knowledge would not be accepted by science for generations! The earth just hangs there in space without anything holding it up? What a revelation of the power of God. In verse 8, he speaks of how the Lord gathers water in the ‘thick clouds’, and how that all the weight of the waters in the clouds would not break them up. How many years would it take for man to understand the cycle of precipitation, condensation, and evaporation? Yet, we find the truth of it here in Job, which is the oldest book in the Bible.

Now, let’s consider your question by reading Job 26:10 from the NASB. It says, “He has inscribed a circle on the surface of the waters at the boundary of light and darkness.” After speaking of the waters above, which are held in a ‘thick cloud’, Job now speaks of the waters on the earth, those that are in the seas. He considers the waters beneath, and the horizon, where darkness meets light. The waters of the earth cannot pass their appointed bounds. We read in Psalm 104:9, “Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth.” The word ‘circle’ here seems to refer to the horizon, which appears to be circular in shape. The boundary is far distant, marked only where light merges with darkness. It’s where light and darkness begin and end when the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. God placed the horizon on the sea. He separates light and darkness.

Job finishes his words concerning the greatness of God in verse 14. That says “Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?” We must just marvel at God’s wisdom and design of His creation. Of the greatness of His power, who can comprehend it? (228.6)