Reflections on Job 40

 Job 40 (Contemporary English Version)

1. I am the LORD All-Powerful,
   
2. but you have argued that I am wrong. Now you must answer me.
   
3. Job said to the LORD:
   
4. Who am I to answer you?
   
5. I did speak once or twice, but never again.
   
6. Then out of the storm the LORD said to Job:
   
7. Face me and answer the questions I ask!
   
8. Are you trying to prove that you are innocent by accusing me of injustice?
   
9. Do you have a powerful arm and a thundering voice that compare with mine?
   
10. If so, then surround yourself with glory and majesty.
    
11. Show your furious anger! Throw down and crush
    
12. all who are proud and evil.
    
13. Wrap them in grave clothes and bury them together in the dusty soil.
    
14. Do this, and I will agree that you have won this argument.
    
15. I created both you and the hippopotamus. It eats only grass like an ox,
    
16. but look at the mighty muscles in its body
    
17. and legs. Its tail is like a cedar tree, and its thighs are thick.
    
18. The bones in its legs are like bronze or iron.
    
19. I made it more powerful than any other creature, yet I am stronger still.
    
20. Undisturbed, it eats grass while the other animals play nearby.
    
21. It rests in the shade of trees along the riverbank
    
22. or hides among reeds in the swamp.
    
23. It remains calm and unafraid with the Jordan River rushing and splashing in its face.
    
24. There is no way to capture a hippopotamus-- not even by hooking its nose or blinding its eyes.

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God concluded His first speech to Job with the challenge: "Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him?" Yes, Job had attempted to do that, so now "Let him who argues with God give an answer." (40:2) But Job had no answers and recognized there was nothing he could say to God. So he said, "How can I answer You? I place my hand over my mouth." (40:4) God had bombarded Job with a lengthy list of questions that dealt with Job's understanding of or participation in creation. The result was zero. Job had no understanding nor had any part in creation. He was humbled by this comparison with God's greatness and wisely kept quiet.

Then, in verse 6, God began another round with Job speaking to him from the whirlwind as before. Job, God asked, "Would you really challenge My justice? Would you declare Me guilty to justify yourself?" (40:8) Yes, Job had dared to do just that, persistently proclaiming his innocence and God's guilt of injustice. If Job was to challenge God he needed to be qualified. Did he have an arm like God's? Could he thunder with a voice like His? Could he humiliate the proud and trample the wicked? If Job could do all these things, then he was capable of delivering himself. He didn't need God nor did he have the need to accuse God. But, of course, Job was not capable of any of these things so he was dependent on God and in no position to question His governance of the universe.

Having compared Job to Himself, God then went back to nature and Job's ability to control a beast such as the Behemoth that God considered to be the "foremost" of His works. Could Job so much as capture this beast or tame it let alone create it? Obviously not. And God was not through with him.