Page 142 - Reading Job to Know God

His three friends could not get Job to put his hand on his mouth. But God
has done it and He is not quite ready to quit. The Lord Almighty has
illustrated His greatness from the inanimate creation. He has illustrated
His greatness from the animate creation. Now He is going to bring His
speech to a climactic close. An ending, which has puzzled commentators
for centuries. They have no idea what is being talked about, and yet, it is
the climax of the whole thing. Let me read verse 6, chapter 40. He is
ready to argue again.
“Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm and said, ‘Now gird
up your loins like a man; I will ask you, and you instruct Me. Will
you really annul My judgment? Will you condemn Me that you may
be justified? Or do you have an arm like God, and can you thunder
with a voice like His?
Adorn yourself with eminence and dignity, and clothe yourself with
honor and majesty. Pour out the overflowings of your anger, and
look on everyone who is proud, and humble him, and tread down the
wicked where they stand.
Hide them in the dust together; Bind them in the hidden place. Then
says God to Job, I will also confess to you, that your own right hand
can save you.’ ”

“When you can handle the pride of man, then I will confess.” And then,
God does something very strange. Like I said, commentators have been
puzzling over this for years. He gives two more descriptions. Chapter 40,
verse 15. Behemoth. You are familiar with that animal, right? They roam
around all the time. Behemoths. They are all over the place. Chapter 41:1
“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook?” He says, I want to show
you two more things, Job, and then we are done. I want you to see
Behemoth and I want you to see Leviathan. So, what is Behemoth?

Well, it is a Hebrew word that means beasts. Plural. Not beast, but beasts.
There are as many suggestions as there are commentators on the meaning
of this word. Some say it is a water ox or an elephant, perhaps a
hippopotamus. Some a river horse or some extinct animal like a
mastodon. Or maybe a mammoth, which is a hairy elephant that used to
exist. What is a Behemoth? Nobody knows. The descriptions, the details,
do not fit any of those animals.

And then chapter 41:1-34, Leviathan. What is it? Commentators do not
know. They say, well, if you read the description it looks like a crocodile.
Most of your commentators call it a crocodile. Others will say crocodiles
142