Job 40

The Explanation

The wind howls. Sand whips through the air. Out of that roaring storm a voice speaks, and the voice belongs to God.

Job is sitting on the ground. He has lost almost everything: his children, his animals, his health. For a long time he has been asking one question, over and over. "God, why? Why me? This isn't fair."

And now God answers. But not the way Job expected.

"Shall he who argues contend with the Almighty?" God says. In our words: Do you really want to fight a case against Me? Then go ahead. Answer.

Job opens his mouth. And then he closes it again. He says something you almost never hear a grown man say: "Behold, I am of small account. What will I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth."

Can you see it? A man with his hand over his own mouth. Not because someone is forcing him. Because he suddenly sees Who he is talking to.

But God is not finished. "Now brace yourself like a man," He says. Stand up straight. I have questions for you.

"Do you have an arm like God? Can you thunder with a voice like him?"

Then God says something almost funny. All right, Job. You want to run the world? Then put on a royal robe. Take glory and honour and wear them like a king's cloak. And now look around at everyone who is proud and stubborn and mean, and bring them down. Every single one. Squash the wicked where they stand.

"Then I will also admit to you that your own right hand can save you."

In other words: if you can do that, Job, then you never needed Me.

And then God does something surprising. He does not talk about kings or armies. He talks about an animal.

"See now, behemoth, which I made as well as you."

Behemoth is huge. He chews grass like a cow, but his legs are packed with muscle. His tail swings like a cedar tree. His bones are like pipes of bronze, his ribs like iron bars. He lies in the mud under shady lotus trees, half hidden in the tall reeds.

And here is the best part. When the river floods, when the water rises and rises up to his mouth, behemoth does not shake. He is not scared. He just stands there, calm, in the roaring water.

Would you have dared to walk up to him with a rope? Nobody can catch him. Nobody can hook his nose. And God says: I made him. Just like I made you.

What Does This Mean?

God never tells Job why all those terrible things happened. That is honest, and it is hard.

Instead God shows Job something bigger. He says: look at the world I made. Look at that enormous animal standing calm in the flood. I know every muscle in his body. I know where he sleeps and what he eats.

And God is saying: Job, if I hold behemoth, do you think I have dropped you?

Job does not get an answer. Job gets God. And that turns out to be enough.

The Common Thread

God asked Job: can your own right hand save you? And Job had to say no. No man can save himself.

So God sent Someone whose hands could. Jesus stretched out His hands on the cross and saved us. Job put his hand over his mouth, small and quiet before God. Jesus opened His mouth on the cross and prayed for the people who hurt Him.

The God who thunders in the whirlwind is the same God who came as a baby. That is how much He wanted to be close to us.

For You

You are not big enough to fix everything. That is allowed. God never asked you to be God.

So this week, when something is too big for you, say it out loud to Him. "God, I can't do this. You are stronger." Then go and do one small thing you can do: help your brother find his shoe, or sit next to the child nobody sits with.

Talk About It

Why do you think Job put his hand over his mouth instead of answering God?

What is something that feels too big for you right now?

Praying Together

God, You made the storm and the huge animals and me. Sometimes I feel very small. Thank You that You are strong and You do not let go of me. Amen.