THE Lord had been seeking to make Job sensible of his own nothingness and now He appeals to him again: “Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct (Him)? he that reproved’ God, let him answer it.” Job had been upright, but his mistake was in making this his righteousness. Now for the first time he finds himself in the presence of God and he realizes practically that it is impossible for man to stand before God in his own person. No matter how upright and blameless outwardly one’s past life might have been, it is not until he gets into God’s presence that he learns what he really is. When Peter, after the great catch of fish (Luke 5), found he was in the presence of the Lord, it says, “He fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”
So it was with Job. In the presence of God, his own righteousness, that which he had found his greatest satisfaction in, vanished, and he says to the Lord, “Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer Thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.” This reminds us of the parable in Matthew 22, where the king made a marriage for his son. When the king came in to see the guests he saw there a man without a wedding garment, and when he asked him why he came in without one, it says, “he was speechless.” So it will be in the day of reckoning! those who neglect God’s offer of salvation in this day, who do not have Christ, will be speechless.
God then speaks to Job again out of the whirlwind and says: “Wilt thou disannul my judgment? Wilt thou condemn Me, that thou mayest be righteous?” And this is what Job had really done. Then the Lord goes on: "Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like Him?” which of course was impossible for poor Job who was but a creature entirely dependent upon God, “Deck now thyself with majesty and excellency ... Look on every one that is proud and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place.” If he could do so, then the Lord says, “Then will I also confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee.” The Lord was not fully satisfied with Job’s confession (vv. 4, 5) and so he has to bring before hilt more evidence of his own weakness and nothingness.
In the latter part of His discourse, the Lord speaks of two great animals—both possessed of immense strength. They were very formidable to encounter and have not been tamed and trained by man for any useful work. The first is called in the Authorized Version, “behemoth” and is believed to be the hippopotamus. The other called “leviathan” is thought to be the crocodile. Neither of these were native to the desert country where Job dwelt but lived along the Nile River in Egypt. Both were amphibious, that is they adapted themselves to either land or water. Job and his three friends had a remarkable knowledge of things far off; they had said some wonderful things about the sea, and now the Lord speaks of these creatures as if they were well acquainted with them.
ML-09/18/1960