Chapter 40 contains God’s strongest rebuke to Job.
In verse 2, God asks Job if he, though he has found fault in the others, if he is going to argue with God and seek to find fault with Him as well!
In verses 3-5, Job replies by essentially saying he has already said too much. He recognises his place before God and his place is not one to question God and His ways. He will keep silent.
In verses 6-13 though God continues to challenge Job. Essentially God drives home His point by challenging Job to put forth his best effort, even to the better of everyone else he knows. Yet the result will be the same, Job is still small and on his own merit he is still incapable of standing justified before God.
Then in verses 15-24, God describes one of the two most interesting creatures in the Bible – the Behemoth.
(As an aside, I have no problem with the idea that Behemoth is some kind of dinosaur based on its description and since God seemed to think Job would know what he was talking about, it would seem apparent this dinosaur type creature and Job lived on Earth at the same time.)
Clearly on one level the description of Behemoth and God’s provision for this creature further demonstrates the power and majesty of God. God is so big, absolutely nothing in His creation can exist without His care and provision.
Yet within the context of God’s rebuke of Job, these details further illustrate the smallness of Job (and all of mankind) and our absolute dependence on God.
We humans have a natural tendency to think ourselves quite big and important. We foolishly compare ourselves with others and either conclude we are doing pretty well or we think God has done something wrong because our lives aren’t what we hoped they would be. We do not naturally see ourselves accurately.
A Biblically informed self-image will, on one hand reveal to us just how small we are and how, on our own merits we are not at all worthy of anything good. While, on the other hand, as we look to Christ with the eyes of faith we see that God has loved us with an everlasting love and made us, in Christ, what we could never be in ourselves. In Christ, we are children of God, righteous and justified.
It is actually marvellously good news that we are so small and God is so big!
Soli Deo Gloria
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