116. Chief of the Ways of God

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Hymns: RHC 80 The Day Thou Givest 82 This Day at Thy Creating Word 87 I Know Whom I Have Believed

Job 40:6-24

6 Then answered the LORD unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said, 7 Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. 8 Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous? 9 Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him? 10 Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty. 11 Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath: and behold every one that is proud, and abase him. 12 Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place. 13 Hide them in the dust together; and bind their faces in secret. 14 Then will I also confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee.

15 Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox. 16 Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly. 17 He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together. 18 His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron. 19 He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him. 20 Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play. 21 He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens. 22 The shady trees cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about. 23 Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth. 24 He taketh it with his eyes: his nose pierceth through snares.

Chief of the Ways of God

OUTLINE

  • His Holiness and Power Unchallenged (v6-14)
  • His Creature He subdues (v15-24)

INTRODUCTION

It was on the sixth day that God created the land creatures recorded in Genesis 1:24 (KJV) And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. Genesis 1:25 (KJV) And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

William MacDonald said well, “In God’s first speech, He displayed the panorama of nature including 12 animals, but here in His second speech, He will focus via a pair of zoom lens on only 2 animals.”

Here is unleashed the power of the spoken word, God created all creatures out of nothing on the 6th day. These creatures preceded the creation of man. Before man came into being, these creatures roamed the earth. They were what they are in their strength and might which God will bring to Job’s attention. The “behemoth” and next week we see the “leviathan”.

William MacDonald observed well, “The designation behemoth, taken as a plural intensive, “the beast par excellence,” would be an epithet like chief of the ways of God (v19a).

God presents the behemoth as the first of His ways, that is, as Exhibit A in the animal kingdom. Although we cannot identify it with certainty, we know that it is herbivorous, amphibian, and exceedingly powerful. It rests in shady, marshy areas and is not easily intimidated. The lesson is that if Job can’t even control this brute, how can he control the world?”

  • His Holiness and Power Unchallenged (v6-14)

6 Then answered the LORD unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said, 7 Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. 8 Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous? 9 Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him? 10 Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty. 11 Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath: and behold every one that is proud, and abase him. 12 Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place. 13 Hide them in the dust together; and bind their faces in secret. 14 Then will I also confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee.

God said to Job, “What have you to contend about? Who are you contending with? How can you be contending with your Maker?” 

Recall the Lord said to Job, “Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.” Stand up be ready for action and listen here and answer me, “Can you put to violate/break-up/frustrate/defeat My decree/word/ordinance/judgment?” Can you unmake what I have made?” Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? (v8a) Are you a man of holiness that you can judge the thrice holy God? Wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous? You have the audacity to challenge God by the rightness of your cause? God confronts Job on the basis of his moral character.

Have you the power to create and nourish like I do? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these (Matthew 6:28-29) – 9 Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him? 10 Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty. How could Job challenge God in power? Does Job have the omnipotent hand like God? 

Have you the power to punish like I do upon the proud and to abase him? Consider the case of Nebuchadnezzar – Daniel 4:30-37 (KJV) The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? 

While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee. And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall bewith the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws. And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?

At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellers and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.

11 Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath: and behold every one that is proud, and abase him. 12 Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place. 13 Hide them in the dust together; andbind their faces in secret. 

God can but can you, Job?

14 Then will I also confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee.

He sought for Job and all the readers of Job to humble themselves before God. The reality of the vast unbridagable chasm between the power of the Creator over His creature and the impossibility of the creature to challenge the Creator was brought to the fore before Job so that he will learn to subsist under God forever.

  • His Creature He subdues (v15-24)

15 Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox. 16 Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly. 17 He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together. 18 His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron. 19 He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him. 20 Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play. 21 He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens. 22 The shady trees cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about. 23 Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth. 24 He taketh it with his eyes: his nose pierceth through snares.

God described the behemoth as a grass eating creature like an ox whose strength is unsurpassed among the moving land creatures. Is this an elephant for the tail of the elephant is not like to strength of the trunk of the cedar tree? 

Matthew Poole analysed well, “The sinews of his stones: this may be noted, because the elephant’s testicles do not hang down below the belly, as they do in other beasts, but are contained within his belly, where they are fastened by ligaments of extraordinary strength. Or, the sinews of the terror thereof, to wit, of the trunk last mentioned, under the name of the tail, that is, its terrible sinews are strongly and strangely wrapped together, that he can move it as he listeth with wonderful dexterity and strength. Or, the sinews of his thighs, as the latter word oft signifies in the Arabic tongue, which is very near akin to the Hebrew. The thighs and feet of the hippopotamus are noted to be so sinewy and strong, that one of them is able to break or overturn a large boat.”

18 His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron.

His body is very strong and well built. His strength is in his loins (v16). His bones, compared with those of other creatures, are like bars of iron (v18). His back-bone is so strong that, though his tail be not large, yet he moves it like a cedar, with a commanding force (v17).

This creature has wonderful strength. So strong is the elephant (creature) in his back and loins, and the sinews of his thighs, that he will carry a large wooden tower, and a great number of fighting men in it. No animal whatsoever comes near the elephant for strength of body, which is the main thing insisted on in this description. [Matthew Henry]

His bones; under which title are comprehended his ribs and his teeth. As strong pieces of brass, exceeding hard and strong, as they are in both these creatures.

19 He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him.

He is the chief of the ways of God – The largest, strongest, and swiftest quadruped that God has formed.

He that made him – No power of man or beast can overcome him. God alone can overcome him, and God alone could make his sword (of extinction) approach to him. [Clarke]

He that made him can make his sword approach unto him – According to this translation, the sense is, that God had power over him, notwithstanding his great strength and size, and could take his life when he pleased. [Barnes]

He is one of the chief works of God among the beasts. Though man dare not come near him, yet God can kill him. [Geneva Bible Notes]

20 Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play. 21 He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens. 22 The shady trees cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about. 

He feeds on the productions of the earth and does not prey upon other animals: He eats grass as an ox (v15), the mountains bring him forth food (v20), and the beasts of the field do not tremble before him nor flee from him, as from a lion, but they play about him, knowing they are in no danger from him. [Matthew Henry]

Here God described how He fed them and how it finds rest and quiet under the shady trees under the cover of reeds and ferns. God’s care for His creatures.

CONCLUSION

Man can appreciate the wonders of God’s creation. Man, without the knowledge of God, will worship His creature rather than the Creator. Man with the knowledge of God and His place before God is indeed blessed. Amen.