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Job Chapter Forty

(Outline continues from yesterday)

4. The Lord immediately delivers a second rebuke out of the storm (Job 40:6).
   1. The Lord challenges Job to take up the power of God and be God (Job 40:8-13).
   2. The Lord admits that if Job could do such a thing, then he could be his own salvation, and have no need for God (Job 40:14).
5. The Lord concludes His rebuke by painting two terrible portraits of beings He created that Job is helpless before—Behemoth (Job 40:15-24), and Leviathan (Job 41:1-34).
   1. [KJV] behemoth (footnote: an extinct animal of some kind) & leviathan (footnote: an extinct animal of some kind).
   2. [NASB] Behemoth (footnote: Or the hippopotamus) & Leviathan (footnote: Or the crocodile).
   3. God uses natural animals to instruct Job in His first rebuke (Job 38:39-41; 39:1-30).  His second rebuke utilizes two dreadful creatures that are not a part of the animal realm.
6. Behemoth
   1. בְּהֵמֹות b^ehēmowth ^#930: behemoth, i.e. hippopotamus (Brown-Driver-Briggs); perhaps an extinct dinosaur, a Diplodocus or Brachiosaurus, exact meaning unknown (Strong’s).
   2. Plural form of בְּהֵמָה b^ehēmah ^#929: beast, cattle, animal.  Used 189x172vv. (Gen. 1:24,25,26; 2:20; 3:14).
   3. Used beyond question only once (Job 40:15).  Other possible uses (Isa. 30:6; Ps. 73:22).
   4. Trying to identify Behemoth as a natural animal, such as the hippopotamus, or the elephant requires alterations to the plain text.
      1. Lurking in the river, and under the water (vv.21-23) could be a hippo, but not the powerful tail (v.17).
      2. Changing tail to trunk and making Behemoth an elephant solves the tail problem, but doesn’t do well in putting the elephant in and under the water.
      3. Behemoth is impossible for any human to capture (v.24), and yet both hippopotami and elephants are subject to human capture.
      4. How can either the hippo, or the elephant, be considered the first of the ways of God? (v.19).
      5. Considering Behemoth to be a dinosaur solves four problems.
         1. the water habitation
         2. the mighty tail
         3. the time-frame, first of the works of God, possibly considering dinosaurs to be the fauna of the angelic earth prior to Gen. 1:2.
         4. the lack of other references in Scripture. Leviathan is developed elsewhere, as Satanic information is vital for present revelation, dinosaur information is not vital for present revelation, and therefore not a part of inspired Scripture.

Job Chapter Forty-One

1. Leviathan
   1. Leviathan, לִוְיָתָן livyāthān ^#3882_6x: serpent, sea monster, Leviathan (Job 3:8; 41:1; Ps. 74:14; 104:26; Isa. 27:1_x2).  Parallel terms include:
      1. Sea monster/dragon, תַּנִּין tanniyn ^#8577_14x: serpent, dragon, sea monster (Job 7:12; Ps. 74:13,14; Isa. 27:1; 51:9).
      2. Twisted/Fleeing Serpent, נָחָשׁ nāchāsh ^#5175_31x: serpent (Gen. 3:1,2,4,13,14; 49:17; Job 26:13; Isa. 27:1_x2).
         
         Note: Leviathan, tanniyn, nāchāsh are all rendered in the LXX by the Greek word δράκων drakōn ^#1404, the term for Dragon used 13x in Revelation (Rev. 12:3-20:2).
         
      3. Rahab, רַהַב rahab ^{#7293, #7294}: sea monster, Rahab (Job 9:13; 26:12; Ps. 89:10; Isa. 51:9).
      4. Satan, שָׂטָן sātān ^#7854: adversary (1st Chr. 21:1; Job 1:6,7,8,9,12; 2:1,2,3,4,6,7; Zech. 3:1&2).
         
         Note: The identification of Satan as the Dragon is proved conclusively by Rev. 12:9; & 20:2.
         
   2. The Lord challenges Job to consider how he would fare face-to-face with Leviathan (Job 42:1-8).
      1. Can you catch the Dragon like you would catch a fish? (vv.1,2,7).
      2. Can you bargain with the Dragon, or form a covenant? (vv.3&4).
      3. Will the Dragon be your toy, or your trophy? (vv.5&6).
      4. You will only battle this dragon one time (v.8).  There is a note of irony here, because Job is still unaware that he has been “battling” Leviathan/Satan since chapter one!
2. The Lord then soliloquizes in declaration of Leviathan’s might (Job 41:9-34).
   1. The might of Leviathan is without parallel in the created universe (Job 41:9,10a,33).  How then can anyone, including Leviathan challenge the Sovereignty of God? (Job 41:10b)
   2. Far from “poetic hyperbole,” this passage describes the armor (vv.13,15), teeth (v.14), and fire-breathing (vv.18-21) of the dragon.
   3. There is no other created being in the universe like the dragon (v.33).
   4. This dragon is a king—over the sons of pride (fallen angels) (v.34).

Job Chapter Forty-Two

1. Job’s response is one of total repentance and confession (Job 42:1-6).
   1. Job confesses Divine Sovereignty and Omnipotence (v.2a).
   2. Job confesses the perfection of the counsel of God’s will, and the execution of the eternal purpose (v.2b; cf. Eph. 1:11; 3:11).
   3. Job confesses that he is the ignorant counsel darkener (v.3 cp. 38:2).
   4. Job confesses the proper teacher-student orientation between God and man (v.4).
   5. Job confesses his incomplete understanding (v.5).
   6. Job repents in his humility before the Lord (v.6).
2. The Lord then has words against Eliphaz, Bildad, & Zophar, but not Elihu (Job 42:7-9).
   1. The wrathful message of the Lord’s should have also produced repentance on the part of Job’s three accusers (v.7).
   2. Since the 3 accusers did not confess volitionally, the Lord will only restrain His wrath if Job confesses for them ritually (v.8).
   3. Eliphaz, Bildad, & Zophar all submitted to the will of God, and allowed Job to mediate as a prophet/priest on their behalf (v.9).
3. Job’s intercessory prayer ministry on behalf of his three prosecutors is his final work-assignment in this book (Job 42:10).
4. Job then receives the human consolation and comfort that he was in need of in chapter 3 (Job 42:11).
5. The Lord rewarded Job with double-portion special blessings in time for Job’s enjoyment during the remainder of his time on earth (Job 42:12-17).
   1. His financial net-worth was doubled.
   2. His children were doubled with the addition of 7 more sons and 3 more daughters.
   3. We can assume that his lifespan was doubled, with an additional 140 years beyond the events of this book.