Job 40-42
Day 17: Job 40-42 Notes & Takeaways
Notes from my Bible Day 17, @myrenewedfaith
We start the reading today in the book of Job with God telling him he’s not quite finished yet (Job 40:6-7). He tells Job that salvation belongs to the Lord and no man can save his own soul (Job 40:14). Which reminds us that we need Jesus to make us righteous before the Lord (Romans 5:1).
He shows his greatness through the great beasts that he made, such as the behemoth and Leviathan. Behemoth is thought to be like a modern day hippo of sorts and Leviathan, although people see it as a mythical sea creature that terrorized sailors, God doesn’t seem to consider it mythical at all. He talks about how he looked, and how no one is fierce enough to rouse it or subdue it (Job 41:10). By the sounds of it, Leviathan seems more like a dragon who streams fire and sparks from its mouth (Job 41:18-21).
“The name Leviathan means “twisting one” and is also used in other interesting places in Scripture.
· Psalm 74:12-14 refers to Leviathan as a sea serpent, and that God broke the head of the Leviathan long ago, perhaps at the creation.
· Psalm 104:26 also refers to Leviathan as a sea creature.
· Isaiah 27:1 speaks of the future defeat of Leviathan, also associating it with a twisted serpent that lives in the sea.
· Isaiah 51:9 and Psalm 89-8-10 also speak of a serpent associated with the sea that God defeated as a demonstration of His great strength, and identifies this serpent with the name Rahab, meaning proud one.
· Job 26:12-13 also refers to God’s piercing defeat of a fleeing serpent associated with the sea.”
In this last extended description of Leviathan, God spoke in terms that more closely connected the concept of Leviathan with Satan. It could be said of Satan as well as Leviathan (if not more so of Satan):
· They are strong (Strength dwells in his neck).
· They are cruel and entertained by sorrow (sorrow dances before him).
· They strongly defended (the folds of his flesh are joined together; they are firm on him and cannot be moved).
· They are unsympathetic and hard of heart (His heart is as hard as stone).
· They cause the mighty to fear (When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid).
· They cannot be successfully attacked (Though the sword reaches him, it cannot avail… he laughs at the threat of javelins).
· They have few vulnerable spots (His undersides are like sharp potsherds).
· They have no worthy adversaries on earth (On earth there is nothing like him).
· They are filled with pride (He is king over all the children of pride).
i. This also means that the description of Behemoth in the previous chapter may also be a representation of the strength and seeming confidence that the apparently unassailable Adversary has. “The use of the two names Behemoth and Leviathan is a poetic repetition, just as Psalm 74 refers to the breaking of the heads of the monster (tanninim) and the heads of Leviathan.” (Smick)
ii. “While it is true that Satan is never named outside the Prologue, this does not mean that the Lord never deals with him. He deals with him here in the form of Leviathan, describing him to Job with the same sort of symbolic picture-language He uses in Revelation.” (Mason)” (Enduring Word Commentary)
We finish the book of Job with Job repenting for his sins. What did Job repent of?
In his sermon, Job Among the Ashes, Charles Spurgeon suggested several things:
· Job repented of the terrible curse he had pronounced upon the day of his birth.
· Job repented of his desire to die.
· Job repented of his complaints against and challenges to God.
· Job repented of his despair.
· Job repented that his statements had been a “darkening of wisdom by words without knowledge”; that he spoke beyond his knowledge and ability to know.
We finish the chapter with the Lord rebuking Job’s friends for not speaking the truth, “as my servant Job has” (Job 42:8). Job is finally vindicated and his prayer will bring forgiveness for his friends. This shows us that not only are we supposed to be praying as intercessors for our friends but also for those that do us harm. Jesus himself tells us to love for our enemies and pray for those that persecute us. Job was an intercessor for them just as Jesus Christ himself is an intercessor for us (Hebrews 7:25).
The Lord blessed Job more than he had in the former part of his life, He “gave him twice as much as he had before” (Job 42:10). He blessed him with seven sons and three beautiful daughters. The meanings of their names were interesting to me as they all meant something happy and wonderful, which was a wonderful imagery of Job’s new life.
Jemimah- means ‘turtle dove’ or ‘day-bright’.
Keziah means ‘cinnamon’ or ‘ a fragrant scent’
Keren-Happuch means “a jar of eye paint’ or ‘Horn of beauty’, the idea that she was so beautiful she needed no makeup
One may wonder why God never told Job the reason why he suffered and went through the trials, but I believe it was because Job was a great example to those who suffer without reason or explanation themselves. He gives us a great picture of what a godly person is to be like in times of great trials and shows us that we need to stand strong even when we don’t hear God, because we know that He is always there. So anytime you go through a tough time just think to yourself, WWJD (What Would Job Do)?
SOURCE LINKS:
https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/job-40/
https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/job-41/
https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/job-42/
I hope you’re learning a lot and enjoying it all at the same time. I know I am! Make sure to follow RF on Instagram, and join our FB Group to stay up to date for our upcoming weekly zoom sessions!
