IN His discourse on behemoth — or the hippopotamus—the Lord speaks of having created him along with man — “which I made with thee.” He speaks of his immense strength and of how that “his bones are like bars of iron.” “He that made him gave him his sword"—or scythe, doubtless referring to his great tusks with which he cleaves the foliage, his food. “Surely the mountains bring him forth food;” he can go there if he wants to. He loves to lie “under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens...”
Then in chapter 41 The Lord gives a marvelous description of leviathan—or the crocodile — another of His great creatures. The crocodile is a formidable animal and even preys on human beings. “Canst thou draw out leviathan with a hook?” the Lord asks Job. If he could find fault with God, could he “put a hook into his nose?” “Will he make many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words unto thee? wilt thou play with him as with a bird? or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens?”
Not only is the crocodile possessed of immense strength, but also “his scales are his pride.” “Darts are counted as stubble: he laugheth at the shaking of a spear.” Ordinary weapons of the day, and even the musket ball cannot pierce his armor.
The Lord also takes up in figurative language some of the legends about the crocodile. “By his sneezings a light doth shine, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning. Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out. Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or cauldron.” It has been said that the sun shining upon the volumes of vapor that a crocodile sends forth out of his nostrils, have the appearance of fire. There was also a legend that he was able to kindle a fire by his breath. “He maketh the deep to boil like a pot: he maketh the sea like a pot of ointment.” Lastly God speaks of him as “king over all the proud beasts.” (J.N.D. Trans.)
In challenging Job (chapters 38-41) God had spoken only of earthly things, but this was sufficient to overwhelm Joh in his self-confidence. He was made to feel how great was his ignorance and weakness in the face of the wisdom and power of God in creation. He had been silent when Elihu finished speaking; he could not answer him. But now he has to confess to the Lord what he really was in His sight and who the Lord really was. So he says, “I know that Thou canst do everything, and that Thou canst be hindered in no thought of Thine.” How unlike this was to Job, who had been hindered in his thoughts and ways, in all that he had passed through.
Then Job goes back to the challenge the Lord had made when He first spoke in chapter 38. He is evidently referring to himself when he says, “Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.” It has been said that Job now confesses he had really been a fool in God’s sight. But now he had been brought into the presence of the Lord and he confesses: “I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth Thee: wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”
ML-09/25/1960