Job 40:21-22 | KingComments | STEP | There is, of course, no response from Job to what God said to him in the previous verses. He can practice nothing, nothing at all, of what God has told him. God is the only One Who can do everything to which He has called Job. Job is not God. He is only a creature, while God is sovereign and omnipotent. God is going to demonstrate that sovereignty and omnipotence even further by presenting two of His greatest works of creation to Job: 1. Behemoth, a beast that lives mainly on the land, and 2. Leviathan, a beast that lives more in the sea. They show His power and majesty like no other of His works of creation. God reminds Job of the first beast: “Behold now, Behemoth”, that mighty beast ( ). It is not clear what kind of beast it was. It cannot be compared to any beast we know. It has been assumed that it was an elephant or a rhino. But if we read the description, it takes some imagination to recognize either beast in it. The most plausible explanation is that it concerns a certain kind of dinosaur, which we know were enormous beasts. We don’t know those beasts, but apparently Job does, because God can point them out to him. In any case, God made that beast, which in size and power far surpasses Job. That beast is a creature of Him, just like Job is: “Which I made as well as you.” That enormous beast and Job both emerged from His hand on the same day of creation, the sixth, and are constantly in His hand. God is their Lord, He is above them. Then God is going to describe the characteristics of this beast. He begins with the food. Behemoth is an herbivore, for “he eats grass like an ox”. The meaning of his name also points to this. The Hebrew word behemoth is the plural of behema and means ‘cattle’. The plural form is used here to emphasize size and importance. This indicates that ‘cattle’ should be understood as ‘giant cattle’. The fact that his vegetable food is mentioned as a special characteristic seems to mean that this would not be expected of such a giant monster. It does not mean that we have a sweet little beast in front of us, but that we see God’s creative wisdom in this. God created this beast in such a way that it eats grass “like an ox”, just like the cattle from which its name is derived. From the further description we can conclude that the power of that beast far surpasses that of man. Job should take a look at his loins ( ). What a strength they radiate. And then the muscles of his belly, what a power. The beast is also able to make his tail, that usually will drag over the ground, like a cedar, turning it into a kind of battering ram ( ). This characteristic also makes it clear that this cannot be a rhino, as some Bible translations suggest by translating the word ‘behemoth’ with rhino. Surely we cannot say that the short, blunt tail of a rhino looks like a cedar tree. The sinews of its thighs resemble braided cables. The sinews connect the muscles to the bones. His individual bones resemble tubes of bronze and the whole of his bones resemble a skeleton of bars of iron ( ). The beast has a metal frame. What God tells Job about this beast must make him deeply impressed by the Creator of it. God has given this beast this unparalleled massiveness, strength and size. What man can measure up to such a beast? Who is capable of subjugating such a beast? It was already impossible with almost all the beasts mentioned in the previous chapters. But here it is totally excluded. Only God has power over this beast. In the middle of the description of the beast the testimony sounds: “He is the first of the ways of God” ( ). Of all the beasts that God has made, Behemoth is the largest and most impressive. A comparison with two remarkable passages in the Bible may help to understand the meaning of “the first of the ways of God”. In Isaiah 14 the judgment is announced on the king of Babylon and in Ezekiel 28 on the city of Tyre ( ; ). In both cases, the message of judgment begins with the reference to real places and people, just like many other judgments in the chapters before and after. But then the description suddenly goes far beyond earthly relations ( ; ). Clearly, in both cases, God refers to the driving force behind the self-satisfied, proud, and ungodly systems and which this power uses. God refers directly to satan. We can assume, with due caution, that satan is the creature rightly titled “the first of the ways of God”. The invincibility of Behemoth by man is therefore a picture of the much stronger adversary satan, who can also use beasts for carrying out his intentions (cf. ). But the deadly power, the sword, God Himself has given to the beast, while He still has complete control over it. The first two chapters of Job clearly show that satan can go no further in his destructive acts than God allows him. When He made Behemoth, God also provided him with “his sword”. This means one of the fingers of his paw that looks like a sword. He finds his food on the mountains, where all the beasts of the field play ( ). That conjures up a lovely scene. There seems to be no threat emanating from this beast. On the contrary, the colossal beast radiates calmness. The colossus looks for a place where he finds protection from the burning sun and lies down to sleep under shady trees ( ). He looks for “the covert of the reeds and the marsh”, which is an area rich in water. When the weather turns and the river Jordan becomes wild, you will not see him tremble ( ). He is not impressed by rushing water, but remains calm. The mention of the river Jordan is interesting, because it is a further indication that the land of Uz where Job lived ( ) was in the area of the later Edom. Although there seems to be no direct threat from this giant beast, no one will dare attempt to capture it ( ). “Capture him when he is on watch” means to catch him while he is looking, not sleeping. Nobody can pierce his nose with barbs to take him away. His strength is so great that no one dares come near him. The overall impression of this mighty creature is that he is full of power and afraid of no one. The greatest violence of nature does not bother him. At the same time, he seems to mean no harm. This makes him a striking picture of satan as “an angel of light” ( ). Satan was created by God as the chief angel. He “had the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty” ( ). But he abused what God gave him for himself and became satan. Behind the kind face satan can show a devastating and destructive force is hidden. He is the “friendly” liar, who is out to murder, for he is also the murderer of men from the beginning ( ). His destructive power is presented in the next beast, Leviathan. None of mankind fathoms satan, and no one is able to tame him or bind him. Only God has complete authority over satan. Also the believers who live in fellowship with God and have His Word as a guideline for their life, see through him, because they are not ignorant of his schemes ( ). But they are no match for him either. The only safe place to be preserved from the deceptions of satan is Christ. Christ has bound satan, “the strong one”, in the wilderness ( ) and has overcome him on the cross ( ).

‏ Job 40:21-22

Behemoth

There is, of course, no response from Job to what God said to him in the previous verses. He can practice nothing, nothing at all, of what God has told him. God is the only One Who can do everything to which He has called Job. Job is not God. He is only a creature, while God is sovereign and omnipotent.

God is going to demonstrate that sovereignty and omnipotence even further by presenting two of His greatest works of creation to Job:

1. Behemoth, a beast that lives mainly on the land, and

2. Leviathan, a beast that lives more in the sea.

They show His power and majesty like no other of His works of creation.

God reminds Job of the first beast: “Behold now, Behemoth”, that mighty beast (Job 40:15). It is not clear what kind of beast it was. It cannot be compared to any beast we know. It has been assumed that it was an elephant or a rhino. But if we read the description, it takes some imagination to recognize either beast in it. The most plausible explanation is that it concerns a certain kind of dinosaur, which we know were enormous beasts. We don’t know those beasts, but apparently Job does, because God can point them out to him.

In any case, God made that beast, which in size and power far surpasses Job. That beast is a creature of Him, just like Job is: “Which I made as well as you.” That enormous beast and Job both emerged from His hand on the same day of creation, the sixth, and are constantly in His hand. God is their Lord, He is above them.

Then God is going to describe the characteristics of this beast. He begins with the food. Behemoth is an herbivore, for “he eats grass like an ox”. The meaning of his name also points to this. The Hebrew word behemoth is the plural of behema and means ‘cattle’. The plural form is used here to emphasize size and importance. This indicates that ‘cattle’ should be understood as ‘giant cattle’.

The fact that his vegetable food is mentioned as a special characteristic seems to mean that this would not be expected of such a giant monster. It does not mean that we have a sweet little beast in front of us, but that we see God’s creative wisdom in this. God created this beast in such a way that it eats grass “like an ox”, just like the cattle from which its name is derived.

From the further description we can conclude that the power of that beast far surpasses that of man. Job should take a look at his loins (Job 40:16). What a strength they radiate. And then the muscles of his belly, what a power. The beast is also able to make his tail, that usually will drag over the ground, like a cedar, turning it into a kind of battering ram (Job 40:17). This characteristic also makes it clear that this cannot be a rhino, as some Bible translations suggest by translating the word ‘behemoth’ with rhino. Surely we cannot say that the short, blunt tail of a rhino looks like a cedar tree.

The sinews of its thighs resemble braided cables. The sinews connect the muscles to the bones. His individual bones resemble tubes of bronze and the whole of his bones resemble a skeleton of bars of iron (Job 40:18). The beast has a metal frame.

What God tells Job about this beast must make him deeply impressed by the Creator of it. God has given this beast this unparalleled massiveness, strength and size. What man can measure up to such a beast? Who is capable of subjugating such a beast? It was already impossible with almost all the beasts mentioned in the previous chapters. But here it is totally excluded. Only God has power over this beast.

In the middle of the description of the beast the testimony sounds: “He is the first of the ways of God” (Job 40:19). Of all the beasts that God has made, Behemoth is the largest and most impressive. A comparison with two remarkable passages in the Bible may help to understand the meaning of “the first of the ways of God”. In Isaiah 14 the judgment is announced on the king of Babylon and in Ezekiel 28 on the city of Tyre (Isa 14:1-12; Eze 28:1-10). In both cases, the message of judgment begins with the reference to real places and people, just like many other judgments in the chapters before and after.

But then the description suddenly goes far beyond earthly relations (Isa 14:12-15; Eze 28:11-19). Clearly, in both cases, God refers to the driving force behind the self-satisfied, proud, and ungodly systems and which this power uses. God refers directly to satan.

We can assume, with due caution, that satan is the creature rightly titled “the first of the ways of God”. The invincibility of Behemoth by man is therefore a picture of the much stronger adversary satan, who can also use beasts for carrying out his intentions (cf. Gen 3:1-5).

But the deadly power, the sword, God Himself has given to the beast, while He still has complete control over it. The first two chapters of Job clearly show that satan can go no further in his destructive acts than God allows him.

When He made Behemoth, God also provided him with “his sword”. This means one of the fingers of his paw that looks like a sword. He finds his food on the mountains, where all the beasts of the field play (Job 40:20). That conjures up a lovely scene. There seems to be no threat emanating from this beast.

On the contrary, the colossal beast radiates calmness. The colossus looks for a place where he finds protection from the burning sun and lies down to sleep under shady trees (Job 40:21-22). He looks for “the covert of the reeds and the marsh”, which is an area rich in water. When the weather turns and the river Jordan becomes wild, you will not see him tremble (Job 40:23). He is not impressed by rushing water, but remains calm. The mention of the river Jordan is interesting, because it is a further indication that the land of Uz where Job lived (Job 1:1) was in the area of the later Edom.

Although there seems to be no direct threat from this giant beast, no one will dare attempt to capture it (Job 40:24). “Capture him when he is on watch” means to catch him while he is looking, not sleeping. Nobody can pierce his nose with barbs to take him away. His strength is so great that no one dares come near him.

The overall impression of this mighty creature is that he is full of power and afraid of no one. The greatest violence of nature does not bother him. At the same time, he seems to mean no harm. This makes him a striking picture of satan as “an angel of light” (2Cor 11:14). Satan was created by God as the chief angel. He “had the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty” (Eze 28:12b). But he abused what God gave him for himself and became satan.

Behind the kind face satan can show a devastating and destructive force is hidden. He is the “friendly” liar, who is out to murder, for he is also the murderer of men from the beginning (Jn 8:44). His destructive power is presented in the next beast, Leviathan. None of mankind fathoms satan, and no one is able to tame him or bind him. Only God has complete authority over satan.

Also the believers who live in fellowship with God and have His Word as a guideline for their life, see through him, because they are not ignorant of his schemes (2Cor 2:11). But they are no match for him either. The only safe place to be preserved from the deceptions of satan is Christ. Christ has bound satan, “the strong one”, in the wilderness (Mt 4:1-11 ; Mt 12:29) and has overcome him on the cross (Heb 2:14-15).