Daily Scripture Reading Job 41:25 - 42:17
Many people believe the purpose of the book of Job is to explain why bad things happen to good people. There is some truth to that. That is one of the lessons we can learn from this book.
However, there is another lesson which is more important. This lesson has to do with who we are as humans and our place in the universe.
When we stopped reading yesterday, we were in the middle of the 22nd section of Job. This section contains some of Yahweh’s pronouncements to Job. Yahweh reminded Job that Job humans cannot withstand an attack from the Behemoth or Leviathan; therefore, they cannot withstand God’s power either because Yahweh created the Behemoth and Leviathan.
Job 41:25 When it raises itself up, the mighty fear,
Because of the crashing they are bewildered.
The pronoun “it” refers to the Leviathan.
Job 41:26 The sword that reaches it cannot avail,
Nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin.
No man-made weapon of Job’s day could prevail against the Leviathan.
Job 41:27 It regards iron as straw,
Bronze as rotten wood.
Job 41:28 The arrow cannot make it flee;
Slingstones are turned into stubble for it.
Job 41:29 Clubs are regarded as stubble;
It laughs at the rattling of the javelin.
Job 41:30 Its underparts are like sharp potsherds;
It spreads out like a threshing sledge on the mire.
Job 41:31 It makes the depths boil like a pot;
It makes the sea like a jar of ointment.
Job 41:32 Behind it, it makes a wake to shine;
One would think the deep to be gray-haired.
Job 41:33 There is nothing upon the dust like it,
One made without terror.
Job 41:34 It looks on everything that is high;
It is king over all the sons of pride.”
Throughout the book of Job, Job made some statements in which he exalted himself and demanded the right to stand before God and state his case. Yahweh used the strength and power of the Leviathan to remind Job that Job was a small human who could not even control a sea creature, much less control and withstand Yahweh, the Creator of the universe.
Job 42:1 ¶ Then Job answered Yahweh and said,
Note the name “Job”. This begins the 23rd section of Job.
Job 42:2 “I know that You can do all things,
And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.
Job 42:3 ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand,
Things too marvelous for me, which I did not know.
Take note of the single quotation marks around the first line of verse 3. Biblical Hebrew did not have punctuation marks. The punctuation marks indicate the translators believe Job was quoting Yahweh. Yahweh said this in Job 38:2, which was the beginning of Yahweh’s first speech to Job.
Yahweh had asked Job, “Who is this who gives counsel without knowledge?” Jobs response was, “I declared that which I did not know”.
Ponder Job’s humility at this point.
Job 42:4 ‘Hear, now, and I will speak;
I will ask You, and You make me know.’
The translators also put single quotation marks around verse 4, indicating Job was quoting Yahweh in this verse also. This quotation is found in Job 40:7, which was the beginning of Yahweh’s second speech to Job.
Job 42:5 I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear;
But now my eye sees You;
Job 42:6 Therefore I reject myself,
And I repent in dust and ashes.”
Notice the words “reject myself” and “repent”. Job acknowledged that he was nothing compared to Yahweh, the Creator of the universe.
Many people believe the purpose of the book of Job is to explain why bad things happen to good people. There is some truth to that. That is one of the lessons we can learn from this book.
However, another lesson from the book of Job is that humans are inconsequential, insignificant, and powerless compared to Yahweh. When we consider the power and strength of Yahweh, we should respond as Job did and say, “I reject myself and I repent.”
Verse seven begins the last and concluding section of the book of Job.
Job 42:7 ¶ Now it happened after Yahweh had spoken these words to Job, that Yahweh said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My anger burns against you and against your two friends because you have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has.
Even though Yahweh’s anger and admonishment in chapters 38 thru 41 was directed at Job, Yahweh still held up Job as being correct. Perhaps that is because Job said to Yahweh, “No purpose of Yours can be thwarted; therefore, I repent in dust and ashes.” (see Job 42:2 and 42:6).
Job 42:8 So now, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves, and My servant Job will pray for you. For I will accept him so that I may not do with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.”
Job 42:9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as Yahweh told them; and Yahweh accepted Job.
Job 42:10 ¶ And Yahweh restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and Yahweh increased all that Job had twofold.
Job 42:11 Then all his brothers and all his sisters and all who had known him before came to him, and they ate bread with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him for all the calamity that Yahweh had brought on him. And each one gave him one qesitah, and each a ring of gold.
We know from the first two chapters of Job that all this calamity came upon Job because Yahweh was trying to prove a point to Satan. To the best of our knowledge, Job never knew that is why he suffered every thing he suffered. When Job asked Yahweh why this had happened, Yahweh simply said, “I am God. You are not. Do not question Me.”
Job 42:12 And Yahweh blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he had 14,000 sheep and 6,000 camels and 1,000 pairs of oxen and 1,000 female donkeys.
Job 42:13 He also had seven sons and three daughters.
Job 42:14 And he named the first Jemimah and the second Keziah and the third Keren-happuch.
Job 42:15 Now in all the land no women were found so beautiful as Job’s daughters; and their father gave them inheritance among their brothers.
Job 42:16 And after this, Job lived 140 years and saw his sons and his grandsons, four generations.
Notice the words “after this”. Job lived an additional 140 years after he was restored. When Job suffered his calamity, he had 10 adult children, so he had to have been at least 40-50 years old when Satan attacked him. 140 plus 40 or 50 means Job lived around 200 years at least.
This helps us date the book of Job. Before the flood, men lived 500 - 1,000 years. After the time period covered by the book of Genesis, there is no record of a man living more than 120 years. Therefore, Job probably lived after the flood, during the days of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Job 42:17 Then Job died, an old man and full of days.
Many people believe the purpose of the book of Job is to explain why bad things happen to good people. There is some truth to that. However, another lesson from the book of Job is that humans are inconsequential, insignificant, and powerless compared to Yahweh. When we consider the power and strength of Yahweh, we should respond as Job did and say, “I reject myself and I repent in dust and ashes.”
Do you have the humility of Job?
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”