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The Book of Job - Lesson 31

The Powers Above Nature (Job 40 and 41)

The societies of the Ancient Near East had a high concept of justice. It was the duty of the rulers to uphold justice and protect the powerless. If you are a man who leads, you need to make sure that evil is held in check. Listen to people who come to you with a grievance. God is asking Job if he comprehends what it means to bring justice to the world. It involves both power and wisdom.

Duane Garrett
The Book of Job
Lesson 31
Watching Now
The Powers Above Nature (Job 40 and 41)

I. God Has Shown That He Controls the Chaotic Powers of the Cosmos

II. The Duty of the Kings to Uphold Justice

A. Teachings in Egypt by Ptahhotep

B. Teaching in Egypt of the, "Eloquent Peasant" [Egyptian gods “Ra” “Hapi” “Thoth” (god of scribes)]

C. Teachings in Mesopotamia [Ashurbanipal, Shamash]

D. Kingship ideal of Psalm 101

E. Genesis 18

III. Job Expects God to Act Justly

IV. God Addresses the Issue of Injustice in the World


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Transcript
  • When you see what you would describe as evil and injustice in the world, how does that affect your view of God? When someone is suffering, do you assume that it’s because they are getting what they deserve? This lecture gives you an overview of book of Job by describing his situation, how he interacts with his friends and God, and what we can learn about how God is managing the world.

  • Because there is nothing specific in the text that tells you when the book of Job was written, the sections in Job that allude to other passages of scripture give you some helpful clues. The structure of the book of Job focuses your attention on the main subject of the book which is God’s wisdom.

  • Other cultures in the ancient near east created literature with themes that are similar to the book of Job. The book of Job is unique because of his character and the answer that the book provides for the situation he is in.

  • Job is one of the wisdom books of the Old Testament. It covers more “advanced” topics than Proverbs and uses a variety of literary genres and allusions to other Biblical passages to explain and illustrate profound truths about God’s nature and his involvement in the world.

  • There is limited information in the book of Job about its geographical and historical background. However, it can be helpful to understand general information about the geography and history of the area to give you a context for reading and studying the book of Job. The author of the book of Job was a Hebrew poet who had an extensive vocabulary. Being uncertain about history and geography is good because the message is timeless.

  • Job contains literary elements that are similar to what you find in other Biblical books that are Apocalyptic. These elements include depictions of events in heaven and on earth, the emphasis on specific numbers and persevering in your faith in God, the references to mythological animals and God’s supernatural control of all events. 

  • Satan appears before God with an accusation against Job. Even though Job is described as, “upright and blameless,” Satan accuses Job of serving God only because Job is prosperous. God allows Satan to take away Job’s possessions, children and health. The remainder of the book is the dialogue of Job and his friends attempting to determine why this is happening.

  • Job curses the day he was born. When you carefully examine what he is saying, you realize that it is more intense than just saying that he wished he had never lived.

  • Eliphaz begins tactfully in his remarks to Job. He did not intend to do harm. However, he thinks God is causing Job to suffer because of a sin Job committed. He speaks accurately of the justice of God, but in Job’s case he misapplies it. He also gives a message he received from the, “night spirit.”

  • Eliphaz considers the message of the, “night spirit” a revelation from God. However, at it’s core, this message is inconsistent with God’s attitude toward Job, and creation in general.

  • Job’s theological worldview has fallen apart because he knows he doesn’t deserve to suffer. Eliphaz calls Job to repent. Job responds questioning why he is suffering, because according to his worldview, he hasn’t done anything to deserve it.   

  • Bildad is direct is his rebuke and admonition of Job. He uses metaphors to get his point across.

  • When Job’s friends describe God as all powerful in an attempt to comfort Job, he becomes terrified because he sees God as causing his suffering and there is nothing that can stop it.

  • Zophar assumes that Job is being punished because he sinned and accuses him of mocking God. Job's three friends move from tactful suggestions to open hostility. As Job is searching for answers, he becomes disappointed in his friends.

  • Job agrees with his friends that God is causing his suffering, but disagrees with them about why it’s happening. Job believes that God will eventually vindicate him.

  • Eliphaz appeals to the night spirit and the tradition of the elders to tell Job that he is a babbling and blaspheming fool.

  • Job begins by criticizing what his friends are saying to him and then professes his faith in God. Bildad responds harshly to Job.

  • Even though Job’s friends have criticized him, he has grown in his faith in God. Job is worn out and begs for compassion. When he gets nothing but contempt and hostility instead, he confesses his faith and hope in God. The messianic theology of Job is different from any other book of the Bible.  

  • Zophar uses metaphors that are found in other passages of scripture as well as Job’s own words to accuse Job of being wicked. However, Zophar made a serious error, which we need to avoid in our lives.

  • Job continues to wrestle with the presence of evil in the world and the apparent injustice of God. 

  • Eliphaz attacks Job as being wicked by twisting the meaning of what Job has said previously. The irony is that Job will be reconciled to God and will pray for Eliphaz.

  • Job wants to lay out his case before God by claiming his innocence. Job says that God is hidden and does as he chooses, but that God neither judges the guilty nor helps the righteous. Bildad responds by contrasting God’s holiness and human lowliness.

  • Job sarcastically thanks the friends for their wise words, which he doesn’t think were wise at all.

  • This is a poem about wisdom that divides the content of the book and points to a deep truth. It is inserted by the author of the book and is not attributed to Job or the friends.

  • The crisis that Job is experiencing is not just the material losses and physical suffering, but also his crisis of faith. He thought he understood what his relationship with God is all about but he feels that God has abandoned him for no apparent reason. Job laments the pain he feels from being disgraced and humiliated.

  • This is the last major statement that Job makes, other than his responses to God that come later. Job is taking a series of oaths that he has not committed any of the sins he mentions. The Bible is distinctive in declaring that all people are created equally, in the image of God. In ancient cultures, some people intrinsically have more value than others because of heritage, wealth, gender, race, etc. God looks on everyone impartially.  

  • Elihu is not mentioned either before or after his speech. He claims to be perfect in knowledge. Elihu thinks that the other three did not convince Job because they did not give a satisfactory answer, but Elihu ends up repeating what they have already said. He thinks that the doctrine of retribution is the answer to Job’s situation. Elihu is a warning to us that we don’t have all the answers.

  • The questions of the book of Job are, “How does God address the problem of evil and why do we serve God? God created a world that is stable and not chaotic. Where there was chaos, God brought in light, shape and beauty. Chaotic forces are necessary for life and God controls them.

  • People in ancient Mesopotamia lived in constant fear of the chaos, danger, ferocity of nature and they valued subduing, controlling and pushing back nature. Wilderness was something to be tamed and pushed back by civilization. In the Gilgamesh epic poem, Enkidu is transformed into a civilized man who protects the domestic animals from the wild animals. In Egypt, there were gods of the Black Land and gods of the Red Land. God sees everything in the world as entirely under his control.

  • God’s care for the animals and how this relates to the problem of Job. All of the things that we see as chaos, and out of control depend on God and thrive because he provides for them and things that he manages and glories in. God describes nature as good, unlike the night spirit that describes it with contempt and loathing. God knows how to manage the chaotic elements of creation.

  • The societies of the Ancient Near East had a high concept of justice. It was the duty of the rulers to uphold justice and protect the powerless. If you are a man who leads, you need to make sure that evil is held in check. Listen to people who come to you with a grievance. God is asking Job if he comprehends what it means to bring justice to the world. It involves both power and wisdom.

  • Behemoth is the plural form of a Hebrew word that refers to animals in general also specifically to wild animals. In Job, it’s also used as a metaphor representing the composite forces of the powers of the earth that are against God.

  • Behemoth is a dangerous power that God must reckon with. Some people think this is an allusion to animals that God created in Genesis 1:24. “Lady Wisdom” is the wisdom that God built into creation. Behemoth is dangerous and a force to be reckoned with, not the embodiment of good behavior. One aspect of principalities and powers is forces outside of the world we can see. In Revelation, God protects people from the fury and wrath of the beast, which is an oppressive power that seeks to take the place of God.  

  • Job 41 describes Leviathan. Leviathan is not a natural animal like a crocodile. Sometimes Leviathan refers to a large sea creature, and sometimes death, chaos and the embodiment of evil. Satan is present at the first of the book but he is never mentioned again. In order for God to deal with evil in the world, he must defeat Leviathan.

  • Leviathan is a ferocious creature that no human can subdue. God is saying that he is willing to oppose Leviathan and  is not frightened of Leviathan or intimidated by his boasting. God is the one who will defeat this enemy who seems unbeatable to humans. God tells Job that he will deal with Leviathan but God doesn’t tell him how he will do it. Job embraced God’s answer even though Job didn’t know how God would deal with evil.

  • Job announces that he has changed his outlook on evil, God’s governance of the world and his own suffering. Job knew that God is all-powerful. Now Job knows something more about how God uses his power. Should God be merciful to people who will still be evil? Eschatological is an event that can only happen by a work of God. Emergence of divine power within the historical context. Job admits that he didn’t understand the complexity that is involved in God conquering evil. God forgives Job’s three friends because Job interceded for them. God is showing his approval with job by publicly restoring him.

  • Job’s suffering brought him to a new understanding of who God is and what God is doing in the world. Job’s hope, and our hope, is in a heavenly redeemer that rose from the dead. Legalism comes about often when people hold to essential teachings but they don’t know God. They substitute the rules for relationship.

  • Job mentions composite animals similar to those described in other apocalyptic passages. Job had faith that God would do a work of salvation but didn’t understand everything that Jesus would do. There is a hidden plan of God to redeem people and conquer evil that is a major theme in apocryphal books and also in Job.

  • Job tells us about the heavenly mediator. Prior to his afflictions, Job’s life was almost god-like because he was relatively free of suffering. Job through his affliction, faces the problem of evil and the enormity of suffering in the human race. Even though some people commit evil and violent acts, Job describes them in pitiful terms.

  • Should virtue, or piety, be disinterested? If it’s not done for it’s own sake, is it real? Job’s love for God is not disinterested, but it is real.

If God is good and powerful, why do you see suffering in the world? Why do you serve God even when you experience suffering? How do you respond to others when they ask these questions? How have you answered them for yourself? These are such important questions that the entire book of Job is devoted discussing only these issues in the context of the perspective of the experiences of one person. 

The theme of the book of Job is timeless and singular. There are clues about its geographical and historical setting but nothing in the book itself that identifies the place or time of its writing. However, the setting is irrelevant because the questions that are addressed in the Book of Job are ones that people have asked in all cultures, throughout time. It would be distracting and even limiting to frame the dialogue in a specific time or culture. There are enough clues in the text to give you a general idea of the culture and time it was written in to help you understand the logic and metaphors used by the main characters in their dialogue. 

The complete book of Job is composed of the dialogue of Job, his friends and God regarding the issues of God's goodness, his power, and evil in the world. No historical events. No other personal, corporate or theological issues. Since these questions are central to your understanding of God's character and how he works in the world around us throughout history, the book of Job compels you to consider this question deeply and exhaustively. The point is that by the end of the book, you can understand and articulate who God is and how he works in your life and in the world. 

The value of this class is that Dr. Garrett helps you understand what the text means, the historical and theological implications, and how you apply it to your life. Dr. Garrett's knowledge of the Bible, understanding of the Hebrew language and background in Ancient Near Eastern history and culture inform his insights into the message of the book and what it means to you. He is skilled at explaining technical linguistic and theological issues in a way that helps you comprehend them and see how they apply to your life. Whether you are just beginning in your study of the Bible or you have had training at an advanced academic level, studying the Book of Job with Dr. Garrett has the potential change the way you understand God and also how you live each day. 

Recommended Books

The Book of Job: A Biblical Answer to Pain - Student Guide

The Book of Job: A Biblical Answer to Pain - Student Guide

This Student's Guide is for the class on The Book of Job in BiblicalTraining.org. It contains the outlines to the lectures, a summary of each point, and reflection...

The Book of Job: A Biblical Answer to Pain - Student Guide

 

We are now in the middle of the speeches of God. We have thus far seen how God has spoken of inanimate nature, the creation of the earth and the stars and the moon; and how God has spoken of animate nature, the animals. Through it all God showed that he knows how to handle chaos. God is the one who sets a boundary for the sea, so that it should not overflow and flood the earth and lead to destruction and end of life. God is the one who controls and cares for the wild animals. He cares for the predators and he cares for the prey.

I. God Has Shown That He Controls the Chaotic Powers of the Cosmos.

All the forces that the Ancient Near Eastern people thought of as chaotic, as forces of wilderness, as forces of death, God watches over, God handles and
controls. God knows how to deal with chaos.

We now get into God’s handling of powers that are above nature, things that are not of this world, but are greater than this world, outside this world, things that human beings cannot control at all. This will take up the next two major portions of God’s speech – his discussion of Behemoth and his discussion of Leviathan.

II. The Duty of the Kings to Uphold Justice

Before we do that we need to get a sense of what all this would mean to an Ancient Near Eastern person. In the Ancient Near East, in addition to having very clear sense of the nature of civilization and city and king, over against wilderness, they had a very clear sense of the duties of those who were in authority, especially kings. Throughout the Ancient Near East they had a very high concept of justice and that it was the absolute duty of those who had power to uphold justice, to protect those who were weak and powerless and to curb evil wherever they found it. That is not to say that all of the kings lived up to this, by no means. But it was the ideal that they held to and it was a fairly universal concept.

A. Teachings in Egypt by Ptahhotep

We can look at this by seeing certain teachings from the Egyptians. We will begin with a wisdom text from Ancient Egypt. This is from very, very early in Egypt, what we call the old kingdom; and it is a wisdom text known as “The Teaching of Ptahhotep.” This is a series of lessons, very similar to Proverbs, in which the teacher gives all kinds of instructions on how people should live and how they should deal with others and how they should function within their status in society; how they should fulfill the role that is allotted to them.

Here is what he says about people with power: “If you are a man who leads, whose authority reaches wide, you should do outstanding things. Remember the day that comes after. No strife will occur in the midst of honors; but where the crocodile enters, hatred arises.” Of course, he is being more or less metaphorical again; but he is saying, “You need to be sure that evil is held in check.” He goes on: “If you are a man who leads, listen calmly to the speech of one who pleads. Don’t stop him from emptying his body of that which he planned to tell. A man in distress wants to pour out his heart more than that his case be won.”

Here he makes the point that if you are in leadership, if you have power and someone comes to you and they are in distress, someone has been afflicting
them, you need to hear them out. You need to listen to them. You may not in the end feel that their case is right, but it is very important as a person in authority, that you listen to what they have to say.

B. Teachings in Egypt of the “Eloquent Peasant”

There is yet more that we can look at from Ancient Egypt. There is a text known as the “Eloquent Peasant.” The “Eloquent Peasant” concerns a peasant who is minding his own business, on a journey, and an aristocrat basically takes advantage of him, takes his goods, pushes him off the road, abuses him; and this peasant has had everything taken from him.

So he goes to a magistrate to plead for justice and this peasant turns out to be very eloquent. He gives very learned discourses on justice; and the magistrate is so taken that he has the peasant come back again and again and give one speech after another because he just wants to listen to him. Finally, at the end of the story the magistrate does grant the peasant’s wish and gives him justice.

We can take a few excerpts from the speech of the “Eloquent Peasant” to get a sense of how they felt about leadership and rulership in the Ancient World. The Peasant says: “Let me make your name in this land according to all good rules, a leader free of greed, great man free of baseness, destroyer of falsehood, creator of rightness, who comes at the voice of the caller. When I speak, may you hear.

Do justice, Oh praised one, who is praised by the praised. Remove my grief, I am burdened. Examine me, I am in need.”

Here is this peasant speaking to this magistrate and he gives him all of these high titles and says, “If you will just do what is right, you will be a great man, you will be a destroyer of falsehood.” And he says, “Be a person who listens when people are abused, when people are oppressed, and come to their rescue. Use your authority for good.”

We can see some other excerpts from the speech of the “Eloquent Peasant.” He goes on in his third discourse: “High steward, my lord, you are Ra, Lord of Sky, with your courtiers. Men’s sustenance is from you as from the flood. You are Hapi who makes green the fields.” I should say here, first he calls him “Ra.” Ra is the high god of the Egyptians, so he is really praising the magistrate, saying “you are like the high god.” When he says “you are Hapi,” that is the name of the Egyptian god of inundation, the god who causes the Nile to flood and it was the flood waters that then allowed the land to sprout and to feed the people. So when he says “you are Hapi,” he says “you are the god who gives abundance to all the people.” Again, he is flattering this magistrate because he wants the magistrate to take up his case.

He says then, “Punish the robbers, save the sufferer. Be not a flood against the pleader. Heed eternity’s coming. Desire to last. As it is said, ‘Doing justice is
breath for the nose.’ Punish him who should be punished and none will be equal to your rectitude. Does the hand balance deflect? Does the stand balance tilt?”

We should pause right there. Of course he is talking about a pair of scales and he is saying, “Don’t be like an unbalanced pair of scales that is unfair, be balanced, be fair, give justice.” He says, “Does Thoth show favor, so that you may do wrong?” Thoth is another one of the Egyptian gods. He is the Egyptian god of scribes, who would record everything. So of course that too would have a place in the courts and in justice. “Does Thoth show favor so that you may do wrong? Be equal to these three. If the three show favor, then may you show favor.” In other words, if these gods, Ra, Hapi and Thoth are unjust, well I guess you can be unjust. Of course his point is, that is not the case. “Answer not good with evil. Put not one thing in place of another.” He is pleading for the magistrate to do what a magistrate ought to do, enact justice, protect the poor, protect the oppressed and take care of them in their need.

We can look at one more short excerpt from The “Eloquent Peasant” from his eighth discourse. He simply says: “Speak justice, do justice, for it is mighty, it is great, it endures, its worth is tried. It leads one to reverence.” It is a very straightforward appeal. He simply tells the magistrate, “Your duty is very simple,
to execute justice. When people do wrong and when they oppress others, when they rob from others, you need to make it right.”

C. Teachings in Mesopotamia

The “Eloquent Peasant” is perhaps one of the most beautiful and powerful statements on justice in The Ancient World, but it is by no means the only one.
We also have from Mesopotamia from the area of the Assyrians, a prayer by the King Ashurbanipal. He makes a prayer to the god Shamash, who is the god of the sun. He is asking Shamash, first of all to enable him to be just and then secondly for the god himself to be just.

Here is what Ashurbanipal prays in his prayer to Shamash: “Judge his case, make decisions for him for wellbeing. May it be appointed for him that he may walk safely in the light of your rising. May he constantly shepherd over your peoples whom you gave him, in justice and the temple which he set up and in which he caused you to dwell, in joyousness. May his heart be elated, his spirit rejoice, be sated with life.”

Ashurbanipal the King is calling on Shamash the god to protect him, to hold him up in the face of all his adversities, etc; but he specifically says that he, the king, “will shepherd your people with justice.” He is in effect vowing to the god that he will behave with justice.

We have pretty well throughout the Ancient Near East, both from Mesopotamia and from Egypt, this strong notion that it is the duty of kings to execute justice and also that it is the way of gods to execute justice.

D. Kingship ideal of Psalm 101

We have pretty much the same thing in the Bible. Psalm 101 is a psalm of David. It appears to be a psalm composed for his successor, Solomon, and it is a prayer for Solomon’s wellbeing as he assumes kingship. It is kind of similar to the prayer of Ashurbanipal. Here is what the psalm says, Psalm 101: “I will sing of your love and justice. To you, Lord, I will sing praise. I will be careful to lead a blameless life. When will you come to me? I will conduct the affairs of my house with a blameless heart. I will not look with approval on anything that is vile. I hate what faithless people do, I will have no part in it. The perverse of heart shall be far from me. I will have nothing to do with what is evil. Whoever slanders their neighbor in secret, I will put to silence. Whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, I will not tolerate. My eyes will be on the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me. The one whose walk is blameless will minister to me. No one who practices deceit will dwell in my house. No one who speaks falsely will stand in my presence. Every morning I will put to silence all the wicked in the land. I will cut off every evildoer from the city of the Lord.”

Here in this prayer of David he makes a vow to God and many of the things are things that pretty much any devout person could do, in which he is promising to try to lead a blameless life, to conduct the affairs of his household with integrity. But many of the things he promises are things that only a king or a high magistrate could do. He will watch over, he says, the faithful in the land. He says that no one who practices deceit will have a place in his administration, which he calls his “house.” He says he will cut off every evildoer from the city. Again, that is only someone who has a high level of authority could do. So it seems that David makes this promise to God and then in effect, leaves it as a vow for the Kings of Israel to take before God, that they will execute justice in the land, that they will be fair, that they will be just in how they treat people.

Again, the main point here is, throughout the Ancient Near East it is the understanding that those who have power are supposed to take care of the weak and they are supposed to punish evildoers.

E. Genesis 18

We will look at one more text very briefly that relates this to God. We have in the Book of Genesis, chapter 18, where God has come down and is speaking to Abraham. He informs Abraham that Sarah is about to have a son. But then he goes on and he informs him about his plans to go down and visit Sodom. Genesis 18:22 says: “The men turned from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham remained standing before The Lord. And Abraham stepped forward and said, ‘Will you really sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away instead of sparing the place for the sake of fifty righteous people who are in it? You could not possibly do such a thing – to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike, you could not possibly do that. Won’t the judge of the whole earth do what is just?’”

Notice he pleads to God to behave with justice, to not take away the righteous with the wicked. The last line of his plea is the most powerful statement of all: “Will not the judge of all the earth do right?” He expects God to behave with justice, just as people would expect a king to behave with justice.

III. Job Expects God to Act Justly

Why do we explore all of that? We explore it all because this is what is in Job’s mind as he speaks to God, or speaks about God. Job has protested at great length and very eloquently about the suffering of people. He has spoken of the poor and the destitute, how they have their cloaks taken away from them and they sleep in the cold and the rain. He has spoken of the rich people who oppress them, who just seem to get away with it, who never seem to suffer punishment, who live to an old age, who have children, whose children thrive and who have a good life. He says, “Where is God? Where is justice?”

That is the point where we are in the text now. Remember, in the previous speech of God, the previous part of his speech, where God was speaking of the natural world, both inanimate nature and the animals, God was speaking of how he controls the forces of chaos and how God can handle it when everything seems to be in upheaval and there doesn’t seem to be any righteousness, any wisdom, any order, anywhere. God knows what he is doing. But in that part of the speech he is really talking about how he can manage chaos.

IV. God Addresses the Issue of Injustice in the World

Now we come to the specific issue of what to do about justice in the world, what to do about the fact that there is so much injustice? There are so many examples of people who are oppressed, who are afflicted, who suffer through no fault of their own; and evil people who thrive.

God steps up and he confronts Job at the very beginning of this speech in chapter 40:7-14. Here is how I would translate it: “Gird up your loins like a warrior. I will question you and you instruct me. Can it be that you will dismantle my governance of the world? Will you make me out to be wrong so that you can be right? Or do you possess an arm like God’s? Or can you thunder with a voice like his? Adorn yourself with power and height. Dress yourself in splendor and majesty. Spread abroad your furious wrath. Look on everyone who is proud and bring him down. Look on everyone who is proud and humble him and tear down the wicked right where they are. Hide every one of them in the dust. Wrap their faces for the hidden chamber of death. Then I will praise you, that your right hand could bring about your salvation.”

This is of course a very sarcastic statement by God. He is challenging Job and he is saying things like, “Are you so powerful? Are you so strong? Do you have splendor that can shine forth? Can you thunder in majesty?” Of course, the answer is “No.” Job is just a mortal, he is just a physical human being. He can’t do anything like that.

Again, we misread the text if we think God is just browbeating Job, like God is saying, “Hey, I’m big, you’re not. I’m God, you’re not.” That is not really the point. This is really an introduction to the question of God’s justice in the world; and when God challenges Job in this way and asks him, “Can you do this? Can you do that?” he is not really making fun of Job for being a weak mortal. He is saying, “Do you comprehend what it is to execute justice for the whole world? Do you comprehend what would be involved in the decisions you would make? Can you imagine what it would be to have such power? Would you know how to execute it?”

I want you to see that clearly he is speaking of the administration of justice in the world in this passage. He says in verse 8: “Can it be that you will dismantle my governance of the world?” He then says in verse 11: “Spread abroad your furious wrath. Look on everyone who is proud and bring him down.” In verse 12: “Tear down the wicked right where they are.” Clearly we are entering the question of God’s justice and the question of, will God ever deal with all the wickedness and with all the evil that is in the earth?

Again, this is not a case of God browbeating Job, of hitting him over the head with the fact that he is weak and mortal. This is God getting Job to think about all that is involved in this process and what can one do? For example, certainly God could just wipe out all the wicked immediately. But of course, that would be like just killing Sodom with fifty righteous men in it. It would do so much damage, do so much destruction, that life on earth would essentially end. Then, where would we all be?

Taking care of injustice in the world is a complicated matter. It involves power, which God has described; but it also involves wisdom. So this will lead us into God’s secret wisdom and how God must wrestle with these powers of evil that are even above the world.

That is what we will take up next time when we look at God talking about the identity of Behemoth.