The response

The astronomical regularity—which Job understands as an example of God’s manipulation of mere objects—reflects the knowledge of astronomical phenomena as regular and predictable and thus useful for calendrical matters. God’s response to Job acknowledges this chronological reliability but asserts that this is not a reflection of God’s pitiless handling of soulless entities. The stars, though they function chronologically, are not simply some sort of cosmic clock. On the contrary, their calendrical reliability is a willful and compliant response to God’s guiding constraints. These astral agents are members of God’s court and are divinities in their own right (Job 38:7), who understand and respond favorably to God’s overall plan.—Poetic Astronomy in the Ancient Near East, page 326