I AM UNWORTHY -- HOW CAN I REPLY TO YOU?: But it was
only when the sinner knew himself to be unworthy, with no extenuating
circumstances to plead, that God could begin the process of instruction that
leads to repentance, which in turn brings forgiveness and renewal!
Job 40:10
"If you are righteous, then put on my 'clothes'!"
Job 40:11
What method could Job devise to accomplish these
things?
Job 40:12
PROUD: That is, behemoth (vv 15-24).
WICKED: That is, leviathan (Job 41).
Job 40:13
The proud, like Job, are abased for their own sake.
Job 40:15
Job 40:15.
BEHEMOTH: "Behema" = beast. Plural, prob intensive
plural, sig "great beast". Water buffalo (LB 250)? Or hippopotamus (ISBE, NIV
mg, RV mg, RSV mg). Or elephant (NIV mg also). Poss also an oblique ref to the
great Bull-god, or Ba'al -- who in Canaanite mythology fought epic battles with
Yamm, the god of the ocean, also called Leviathan (cp Job 41:1): see Lesson,
Leviathan ("Conflict in Nature").
WHICH I MADE ALONG WITH YOU: By impl, "which I made to
be like you". Job is invited to see his own proud self through God's eyes.
WHICH FEEDS ON GRASS: The people are grass, esp the
wicked: Psa 37:2; 90:5; Isa 40:6-8. True also of the great Babylonian king
Nebuchadnezzar, who became like a beast under the hand of God (Dan
4:25).
Job 40:16
MUSCLES: Heb "shariyr" = cord; umbilical cord, or
"navel" (AV). Sym source of strength, nourishment.
BELLY: "Their destiny is destruction, their god is
their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly
things" (Phi 3:19).
Job 40:18
And thus his "heart" is unapproachable!
Job 40:19
Similar language is used of the kings of Babylon/Assyria (Isa
14) and Tyre (Eze 28).
Job 40:21
The sow that was washed, and yet still wallows in the mire
(Pro 26:11; 2Pe 2:22).
Job 40:23
Not even the flooding of Jordan can disturb him. As to a
beastly kingdom, see Isa 8:7, re Assyria.
Job 40:24
PIERCE HIS NOSE: Cp Eze 38:4, "hooks in jaws": re
Gog/Magog...