Imagine that! Man’s mighty war machines rendered useless by the Lord’s little flakes of snow!
The Lord continues to prod Job. This isn’t just a lesson about science; it’s about his soul. Even a cursory look at creation should remind us that God knows what He’s doing, and when we can’t track His ways we should still trust His will. Thus the query, “Do you know it, because you were born then, or because the number of your days is great?” (Job 38:21). Were you looking over My shoulder when I made everything, or have you lived so long that you’ve uncovered all its secrets? The point is obvious. No one should act the know-it-all around God. Apart from a little excerpt on the stars (vv 31-33), this next section (vv 22-38) is about water in its many forms: snow, hail, rain, dew, frost, and ice. And the next test question? “Have you entered the treasury of snow, or have you seen the treasury of hail, which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war?” (vv 22-23). It’s common for children in northern climes to stick out their tongues to capture a snowflake, or watch one melt on their palm. In accumulation, however, flakes defeat foes. God calls snow an armory stocked with His weaponry. The death knell of both Napoleon’s Grand Armée and Hitler’s Nazis was the brutal Russian winter. On Easter Monday in 1360, during the Hundred Years’ War, a freak hail storm at Chartres, France, caused more English casualties than any previous battle of the war. As the storm raged, King Edward fell to his knees and prayed. Three weeks later, a treaty ended hostilities. And Spain’s so-called Invincible Armada with 130 ships was defeated by a northern gale. Their intent was to invade England and enforce Catholicism on the people. These storms, “reserved for the time of trouble,” changed the course of history.