Nothing says we must read through the Bible beginning on January 1st. Therefore, whatever date you are now reading this page is fine.
I’m writing this on June 1st. We are almost half a year into our journey.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean took approximately a year in each direction.
If they had left St. Louis on January 1st, which would not be advisable, they would have only reached the Hidatsa villages near present-day Bismark, North Dakota.
They had planned to winter in Fort Mandan.
It’s fun to find adventure in life, but we must understand our limits.
Pride
Today, we finish the book of Job reading chapters 40-42.
Job questioned God throughout this book. He had determined in his heart that he was innocent. Even God said he was blameless. Not sinless, there was only one man who never sinned.
Now, God has been speaking to Job from a whirlwind and, as I imagine any mortal would do, Job is humbled.
He states in verse 40:4, “I am unworthy—how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth.” (NIV)
I can remember feeling this way. Having spent much of my life as an atheist. When God convicted me of my sinfulness, I wept.
My IQ is high, and knowledge was my source of pride.
At that moment, everything I had been standing on was crumbling beneath my feet.
Floods
In 1983 mix heavy snow melt, saturated soil from a good monsoon season and the influx of moisture from Tropical Storm Octave created a unique peril in Tucson, Arizona: floods!
The weather system stalled over the state and forced the governing bodies to release large amounts of water from the Coolidge dam on the Gila River.
I was living in Rock Springs, Wyoming, but watched on television as the dry river beds around Tucson overflowed their banks.
The pictures from that area fueled our anxieties about my brother’s new home. Fences, walls, porches and entire homes were crumbling into the torrents of water.
That was how I felt when I realized that the God I had mocked was very real.
As Matthew Henry wrote, “Communion with the Lord effectually convinces and humbles a saint.” (1).
God invites Job to debate with him. The Lord is holy and sovereign. He would have no fear of such a challenge.
Job had been debating his friends, but now God is asking him if he could humble the proud (v40:11), knowing he could not do so.
Another commentary, Gill’s Exposition, states, “No doubt God, and he only, has power to humble and bring down proud men; he has wisdom to know when and how to do it, and it is not for us to teach him how to govern the world.” (2)
Monsters
Then we get into a particularly intriguing discussion about Behemoth and Leviathan.
Behemoth was a land-based creature. We know it was tall and thick with something like armor around it’d body. Possibly a large sauropod like the Brachiosaurus.
Many scholars believe them to be mythical beasts, and many consider Job poetry, but I believe fossil evidence suggests such things were possible.
The men of that region knew the hippopotamus’s brutal nature, but this creature’s tail didn’t match.
Leviathan sounds more like a water-based dragon.
Some believe dragons were mythical, but they appear throughout the world. Records of encounters as recent as the middle ages make me trust in their existence.
Brian Sauve and Ben Garrett host a podcast called “Haunted Cosmos”. In their third season, their eighth episode was called On Dragons, and they make a strong case for this belief. (3)
Dragons, according to them, are demons, which align with what we read here in Job.
God can control even the demons. We need not worry about them when we are in Christ.
Men have found the outcome of such battles less than favorable.
This all teaches Job and his companions how Sovereign God is over all of creation.
He asks, “Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me.” (v41:1, NIV)
Barnes’ Notes on the Bible clarifies this, stating that this verse is “designed here to show to Job that over a Being, thus supreme man could exert no control. It is his duty, therefore, to submit to him without a complaint, and to receive with gratitude what he chooses to confer.” (4)
God doesn’t owe anyone anything; His blessings are grace, not obligation.
The terrifying descriptions of Leviathan’s power (Job 41:19-21), with “Flames stream from its mouth; sparks of fire shoot out,” are not just about raw power but also about the overwhelming, uncontainable nature of God’s creation, which points back to His supreme control.
Repentance
This theme all points to what I had experienced when I accepted Jesus as my Savior. The transformative power of repentance.
Matthew Henry’s commentary on Job 40:1-5 notes, “Repentance changes men’s opinion of themselves. Job is now convinced of his error.” This repentance isn’t just about saying sorry; it’s a fundamental shift in perspective and attitude.(5)
All of this leads to the Epilogue.
Because Job repents, God blesses him.
His friends did not behave similarly. God makes them give a sacrifice to God for their sins. He instructs them to ask Job to pray for them. (v42:8)
Coming to the Lord requires us to give up the things we are holding on to. Those idols which we have placed our hope in. Sacrificing them to Him.
Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, we don’t need to ask anyone else to pray for us. We can go boldly to the Lord and He will hear our petition.
Matthew Henry’s commentary states, “Peace with God is to be had only in his own way, and upon his own terms. These will never seem hard to those who know how to value this blessing.” (5)
Job’s willingness to pray for his friends (Job 42:10) demonstrates the fruit of his transformed heart—forgiveness and intercession.
Restoration
Because Job does this, we see the last piece of salvation.
After Job’s confession and prayer for his friends, the Lord “restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before” (Job 42:10).
Benson’s Commentary notes that a complete and instantaneous healing of all his bodily ailments occurred. (5)
The return of his family and friends (Job 42:11) further emphasizes this restoration.
The special mention of Job’s daughters receiving an inheritance with their brothers (Job 42:15) highlights God’s justice and blessing, extending even to the previously disinherited.
Gill’s Exposition says this reflects how “in Christ, … there is neither male nor female… but being all children, they are heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.” (7)
I apologize for the length today. My wife always encourages me to end my sermons short. “She will say, no one will complain if we get to leave early”.
There is so much more I could write about these three chapters, but I hope this encourages you to press on to Psalms, which we will read tomorrow.
We will look at the first seven Psalms 1-7.
Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, comment on Job 40:4.
John Gill, Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible, comment on Job 40:11.
Haunted Cosmos, “On Dragons,” The Haunted Cosmos, Season 3, Episode 8, 00:XX:XX (timestamp if you’re quoting or referencing a specific moment).
Albert Barnes, Barnes’ Notes on the Old and New Testaments, comment on Job 41:11.
Henry, comment on Job 40:1.
Joseph Benson, Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments, comment on Job 41:1.
Gill, comment on Job 41:14.