Job 40: Taming Death

And the Lord said to Job:
2     “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty?
He who argues with God, let him answer it.”
Job Promises Silence
3 Then Job answered the Lord and said:
4     “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you?
I lay my hand on my mouth.
5     I have spoken once, and I will not answer;
twice, but I will proceed no further.”
The Lord Challenges Job
6 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
7     “Dress for action like a man;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.
8     Will you even put me in the wrong?
Will you condemn me that you may be in the right?
9     Have you an arm like God,
and can you thunder with a voice like his?
10    “Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity;
clothe yourself with glory and splendor.
11    Pour out the overflowings of your anger,
and look on everyone who is proud and abase him.
12    Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low
and tread down the wicked where they stand.
13    Hide them all in the dust together;
bind their faces in the world below.
14    Then will I also acknowledge to you
that your own right hand can save you.
15    “Behold, Behemoth,
which I made as I made you;
he eats grass like an ox.
16    Behold, his strength in his loins,
and his power in the muscles of his belly.
17    He makes his tail stiff like a cedar;
the sinews of his thighs are knit together.
18    His bones are tubes of bronze,
his limbs like bars of iron.
19    “He is the first of the works of God;
let him who made him bring near his sword!
20    For the mountains yield food for him
where all the wild beasts play.
21    Under the lotus plants he lies,
in the shelter of the reeds and in the marsh.
22    For his shade the lotus trees cover him;
the willows of the brook surround him.
23    Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened;
he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth.
24    Can one take him by his eyes,
or pierce his nose with a snare?
 
Meditation
The cross reinforces (at least) two truths: First, God is sovereign over suffering, transforming evil for His glory and the good of His people. Second, God is sovereign over death, creating gardens of glory from graves.
 
Job is familiar with death, losing his ten children, servants, and animals to the grave. Death is an invader into God’s good creation, a result of Adam’s rejection of God and His word (Genesis 3). Through the work of Jesus, there will be no more death (Revelation 21:4). Until the work of Jesus is fully applied, we join Job in the difficult digestion of the prevalence of death in the world.
 
The Behemoth is described as an untamable, powerful, hungry, super-beast. In actuality, the animal is the mythical embodiment of death. The Behemoth is described as being created by God and can only be tamed by God. God feeds the super-monster and only God has tamed the Behemoth.
 
God challenges Job- If you can bring low the proud and tread down the wicked, you can save yourself! But Job could not (12-14). Only God has death on a leash, using the darkest part of the fallen world for His salvific purposes.
 
How can a good God feed the monster of death? Somehow it is through feeding death that God destroys the power of death (Hebrews 2:14). Death was defeated through redemptive suffering. Jesus took sin, the sting of death (1 Corinthians 15:56), and Jesus conquered death to be a doorway of hope and life for all who trust Him and His promises.
 
Richly Dwelling
-What stands out to you from today’s reading, especially God’s description of His taming of Behemoth, that is, death?
 
-Why is it easy to put God on trial, demanding He justify Himself and His actions of allowing death?
 
-How does the work of Jesus strengthen your faith, knowing Jesus has defeated death!?
 
Key Verse
15    “Behold, Behemoth, which I made as I made you;  he eats grass like an ox.