Job 40-42

Job 40

1 The LORD said to Job: 2 “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!”

3 Then Job answered the LORD: 4 “I am unworthy—how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. 5 I spoke once, but I have no answer— twice, but I will say no more.”

6 Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm: 7 “Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.

8 “Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself? 9 Do you have an arm like God's, and can your voice thunder like his? 10 Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor, and clothe yourself in honor and majesty. 11 Unleash the fury of your wrath, look at all who are proud and bring them low, 12 look at all who are proud and humble them, crush the wicked where they stand. 13 Bury them all in the dust together; shroud their faces in the grave. 14 Then I myself will admit to you that your own right hand can save you.

15 “Look at Behemoth, which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox. 16 What strength it has in its loins, what power in the muscles of its belly! 17 Its tail sways like a cedar; the sinews of its thighs are close-knit. 18 Its bones are tubes of bronze, its limbs like rods of iron. 19 It ranks first among the works of God, yet its Maker can approach it with his sword.

20 “The hills bring it their produce, and all the wild animals play nearby. 21 Under the lotus plants it lies, hidden among the reeds in the marsh. 22 The lotuses conceal it in their shadow; the poplars by the stream surround it. 23 A raging river does not alarm it; it is secure, though the Jordan should surge against its mouth. 24 Can anyone capture it by the eyes, or trap it and pierce its nose?

Job 41

1 “Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook or tie down its tongue with a rope? 2 Can you put a cord through its nose or pierce its jaw with a hook? 3 Will it keep begging you for mercy? Will it speak to you with gentle words? 4 Will it make an agreement with you for you to take it as your slave for life? 5 Can you make a pet of it like a bird or put it on a leash for the young women in your house? 6 Will traders barter for it? Will they divide it up among the merchants? 7 Can you fill its hide with harpoons or its head with fishing spears?

8 “If you lay a hand on it, you will remember the struggle and never do it again!  9 Any hope of subduing it is false; the mere sight of it is overpowering. 10 No one is fierce enough to rouse it. Who then is able to stand against me? 11 Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me.

12 “I will not fail to speak of Leviathan's limbs, its strength and its graceful form. 13 Who can strip off its outer coat? Who can penetrate its double coat of armor? 14 Who dares open the doors of its mouth, ringed about with fearsome teeth? 15 Its back has rows of shields tightly sealed together; 16 each is so close to the next that no air can pass between. 17 They are joined fast to one another; they cling together and cannot be parted.

18 Its snorting throws out flashes of light; its eyes are like the rays of dawn. 19 Flames stream from its mouth; sparks of fire shoot out. 20 Smoke pours from its nostrils as from a boiling pot over burning reeds. 21 Its breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from its mouth. 22 Strength resides in its neck; dismay goes before it.

23 The folds of its flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable. 24 Its chest is hard as rock, hard as a lower millstone.  25 When it rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before its thrashing.

26 “The sword that reaches it has no effect, nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin. 27 Iron it treats like straw and bronze like rotten wood. 28 Arrows do not make it flee; slingstones are like chaff to it.

29 A club seems to it but a piece of straw; it laughs at the rattling of the lance. 30 Its undersides are jagged potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge. 31 It makes the depths churn like a boiling caldron and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment. 32 It leaves a glistening wake behind it; one would think the deep had white hair.

33 Nothing on earth is its equal— a creature without fear. 34 It looks down on all that are haughty; it is king over all that are proud.”

Job 42

1 Then Job replied to the LORD: 2 “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 3 You asked, 'Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?' Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.

4 “You said, 'Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.' 5 My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. 6 Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”

7 After the LORD had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has. 8 So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.”

9 So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite did what the LORD told them; and the LORD accepted Job's prayer.

10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. 11 All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the LORD had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.

12 The LORD blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys.

13 And he also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. 15 Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job's daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.

16 After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. 17 And so Job died, an old man and full of years.

Snapshot 30 GOD IS GOD:  YOU ARE NOT

Job 40-42

God challenges Job:  Are you going to correct me?  Answer me.  

Job is unsure what to do.  He tells God he is going to just put his hand over his own mouth.   Smart man.  He does not have a good answer.  

God speaks again out of the storm.  Do you question My justice?  Do you discredit Me to justify yourself? Are you like Me?  Then dress up in glory and bring your own justice.  Save yourself.  Yikes!

This section makes me think of the Garden of Eden where mankind is trying to make themselves into God.  When we question God like this, we are assuming we can understand.  We cannot.  

As a side riddle, what is a behemoth?  Clues:  eats grass, it is strong, big strong tummy, tail and legs, metal-like bones.  I cannot think of a single living animal that meets all of this description.  Maybe a dino?  Let's see what others think.  Some say a chaos monster from Genesis.  Some agree it is a dino of some sort.  Interesting.  But God is saying that he can handle even the most fierce things that man cannot.  

We move over to the leviathan – a giant sea creature.  Can you catch it with a hook-like God can?  Can you make it a pet?  

God is God, you are not.  Things that scare you do not scare God.

Job is repentant after remembering who God is.  He said that hearing was one thing, but seeing is another.  

God next turns to Terminix and the two other friends.  I imagine Terminix heard what God said to Job and was feeling pretty good.  But God tells Terminix that he has lied about God, unlike Job.  Pause.  God does not think Job understands who God is, but he also thinks Job was honest about the situation.  God tells the friends to go do an offering and then ask Job to pray for them.  I will accept his prayers, but not yours.  So humbling!  

To their credit, they did humble themselves and did as they were told.  Not bad men, just wrong-headed.  The younger man Elihu was not addressed.   Maybe it was because he was more correct – or maybe he was already gone to change his underpants.  We are not told.    

After the prayer for his friends, God gave Job twice what he had before. Careful here.  Restitution was not owed to Job and is not a promise to all in times of suffering. But this offers hope that things will improve if you trust God.

Once he was rich again, his siblings showed up for dinner.  Yep.  Where were they in the ashes?  At least the friends showed up.  The sibs seem apologetic because they lamented the trouble and give him presents.  That would have ticked me off, but Job was nice about it.  

About the kids. To my thinking, once health was restored, the only thing of true loss was the kids since they cannot be replaced. Oddly, Job does not talk much about his kids in all of the eloquent speeches he made. I watched for that as I went through. In 4:21 He says that when people are in pain they do not worry about the legacy of whether their children are honored or insignificant. That is not what I would be saying if my kids were all taken. Not sure what to make of that.  

But keep in mind that in this time period, children were your legacy. Job does mention that. Legacy and heritage were very important (we will see more of this when we return to Genesis). So the idea of having a legacy may be the focus here.  

WHAT THE BIBLE MENTIONS ABOUT THE FIRST SET OF KIDS:

-they are grown (may even have grandchildren by them)

-they have big parties (the kind you invite sisters to but not dad)

-they were not devoted to God like Job since Job had to do sacrifices for them after the parties

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE SECOND SET OF KIDS

We know they grew up with a changed man as a father. I am sure that they heard all about Job's suffering and the first family.  

Then we get to some touching verses about his daughters. Usually, the sons are the only ones noted, so it was unusual to even mention them. We are even told their names (I looked up the meanings: peace, fragrance, and beauty). They were true beauties. We are also told that they are given an inheritance alongside their brothers. The brothers are not named.  That is outrageous for that time. Job had a new outlook on himself and the world. He had a new legacy.

So, what do we get from Job?  I suppose that depends on where you are in your life:

Are you walking beside someone in times of pain?  Do not kick the person while they are down.  Make sure your advice is from God and not based on your understanding.  Bring snacks.  

Are you a good man blessed and walking in sunlight?  Know that God is in control and seek His wisdom and growth.  Know that God does not owe you prosperity.  You do not earn prosperity through good deeds.  

Are you going through intense pain?  Know that God is God.  You will not understand all that he knows.  You may never understand His reasons.  Trust him when you do not understand.  Include God in your pain and He will speak to you through the storm.  

TJ:  I have gone through this material more than once and each time, I have been in a different season.  My last season has been a time of intense pain after losing a child.  I found the most comfort in Job during this season.  God is God, I am not.