40:1 Then the Lord answered Job: 40:2 “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let the person who accuses God give him an answer!”

 

God rebuked Job for accusing him of being unrighteous in his decisions.

 

40:3 Then Job answered the Lord: 40:4 “Indeed, I am completely unworthy—how could I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth to silence myself. 40:5 I have spoken once, but I cannot answer; twice, but I will say no more.”

 

God challenged Job to answer His questions, but Job wisely declined. Job humbled himself and confessed his sin. He would say no more about this matter.

 

40:6 Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind: 40:7 “Get ready for a difficult task like a man. I will question you and you will inform me! 40:8 Would you indeed annul my justice? Would you declare me guilty so that you might be right?

 

Job was humbled but not yet repentant, so God asked him some more questions. God asked Job if he was accusing Him of being unjust. God asked Job if he was declaring Him guilty of unrighteousness.

 

40:9 Do you have an arm as powerful as God’s, and can you thunder with a voice like his? 

 

God asked Job if his arm was powerful and his voice was strong enough to execute divine justice.

 

40:10 Adorn yourself, then, with majesty and excellency, and clothe yourself with glory and honor! 

 

If Job could judge God, then he could take the place of God. All Job had to do was to clothe himself with the Shechinah Glory.

 

40:11 Scatter abroad the abundance of your anger. Look at every proud man and bring him low; 

 

God commanded Job to use his divine powers to spread his wrath among the evil people. God commanded Job to look at every proud man and bring them low to the ground.

 

40:12 Look at every proud man and abase him; crush the wicked on the spot! 

 

God commanded Job to use his divine powers to humble the proud men and crush the wicked on the spot.

 

40:13 Hide them in the dust together, imprison them in the grave. 

 

God asked Job to use his divine powers to send evil men to their graves.

 

40:14 Then I myself will acknowledge to you that your own right hand can save you.

 

If Job can perform all of these acts of deity, then God will treat Job as an equal. If Job can perform all of the acts of deity, then Job can save himself from his own sins.

 

When Job criticized God’s ways, he was in effect trying to usurp God’s authority as the Creator, King, and Savior of the world. God used irony to drive into Job’s soul the difference between God and man.

 

40:15 “Look now at Behemoth, which I made as I made you; it eats grass like the ox.

 

The Hebrew word for “behemoth” means huge beast. Who is the behemoth? Some say it is a mythological creature.  This cannot be, because if taken literally, God created this creature. It is a living creature. Some say it is a hippopotamus or an elephant. Further text will show that it cannot be a hippopotamus or an elephant. Some say it is a dinosaur. This seems to be the best answer. The first clue was that the behemoth was created by God. It eats grass like an ox.

 

40:16 Look at its strength in its loins, and its power in the muscles of its belly. 

 

Both the hippopotamus and the dinosaur contain great strength in their loins and belly muscles.

 

40:17 It makes its tail stiff like a cedar, the sinews of its thighs are tightly wound. 

 

A hippopotamus contains a small tail. A brontosaurus contains a tail like a cedar. Therefore, the hippopotamus can be eliminated. There are some commentators who say that the hippopotamus makes its tail “stiff like a cedar” when it gets angry.

 

40:18 Its bones are tubes of bronze, its limbs like bars of iron. 

 

The brontosaurus has strong bones and limbs.

 

40:19 It ranks first among the works of God, the One who made it has furnished it with a sword. 

 

The brontosaurus was one of God’s largest creatures. He was the “chief” of all created land animals. The dinosaurs were created on the fifth and sixth days of the creation week. Young, baby dinosaurs were placed on Noah’s ark. Many of them survived beyond Job’s day. Many of the dragon legends from all ancient cultures came from these dinosaurs who survived the flood. No mere man could overcome the brontosaurus with just a sword.

 

40:20 For the hills bring it food, where all the wild animals play. 

 

40:21 Under the lotus trees it lies, in the secrecy of the reeds and the marsh.

 

The brontosaurus lies in the reeds of the marsh.

 

40:22 The lotus trees conceal it in their shadow; the poplars by the stream conceal it. 

 

The brontosaurus is concealed among the poplar trees of the stream.

 

40:23 If the river rages, it is not disturbed, it is secure, though the Jordan should surge up to its mouth. 

 

The river rages cannot disturb the brontosaurus.

 

40:24 Can anyone catch it by its eyes, or pierce its nose with a snare?

 

A brontosaurus cannot be captured. Many hippopotamus have been captured and placed in zoos, but this would not have been possible with the brontosaurus.

 

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41:1 “Can you pull in Leviathan with a hook, and tie down its tongue with a rope? 

 

Who is leviathan? Most commentators will identify leviathan as either a crocodile, a dinosaur, or Satan himself. If taken literally, then further text will show that the leviathan was a dinosaur. Isaiah recorded that the leviathan was “the dragon that is in the sea” (Isaiah 27:1). The psalmist recorded that leviathan “played” in the “great and wide sea” (Psalm 104:25,26). Job cannot capture leviathan with a hook and rope. 

 

41:2 Can you put a cord through its nose, or pierce its jaw with a hook?

 

If this was a crocodile, then the answer is yes. Many crocodiles have been captured and placed in zoos. Many men have killed crocodiles with only a knife. If this was a dinosaur, then no. 

 

41:3 Will it make numerous supplications to you, will it speak to you with tender words?

 

One cannot sweet talk a dinosaur into not devouring him.

 

41:4 Will it make a pact with you, so you could take it as your slave for life?

 

A dinosaur does what it wants. It will not compromise with anyone.

 

41:5 Can you play with it, like a bird, or tie it on a leash for your girls?

 

Dinosaurs would not make good pets, because they would devour their masters.

 

41:6 Will partners bargain for it? Will they divide it up among the merchants?

 

Dinosaurs will not be placed upon the meat market where merchants can bargain for their portions. Crocodile meat is sold in many Cajun restaurants.

 

41:7 Can you fill its hide with harpoons or its head with fishing spears?

 

Normal fishing equipment will not capture a dinosaur. Men have used harpoons and fishing spears to kill crocodiles all through history.

 

41:8 If you lay your hand on it, you will remember the fight, and you will never do it again!

 

If one attempts to pet a dinosaur, he will have a fight on his hand that he will never forget. He will never make this same mistake again.

 

41:9 See, his expectation is wrong, he is laid low even at the sight of it.

 

When a person sees a dinosaur, they immediately hide.

 

41:10 Is it not fierce when it is awakened? Who is he, then, who can stand before it?

 

It is best not to wake up a sleeping dinosaur. No man can stand against a dinosaur. Only God can defeat the dinosaur.

 

41:11 (Who has confronted me that I should repay? Everything under heaven belongs to me!)

 

If Job cannot stand in front of a dinosaur, then how can he stand and accuse God of unrighteousness?

 

41:12 I will not keep silent about its limbs, and the extent of its might, and the grace of its arrangement.

 

The limbs of the dinosaur were very powerful.

 

41:13 Who can uncover its outer covering? Who can penetrate to the inside of its armor?

 

The hide of the dinosaur was like armor which could not be penetrated. The hide of the crocodile can be penetrated.

 

41:14 Who can open the doors of its mouth? Its teeth all around are fearsome.

 

No one possesses the physical strength to pry open the mouth of the dinosaur. The teeth of the dinosaur were very sharp and fearsome.

 

41:15 Its back has rows of shields, shut up closely together as with a seal; 41:16 each one is so close to the next that no air can come between them. 41:17 They lock tightly together, one to the next; they cling together and cannot be separated.

 

The back of the dinosaur possessed rows of shields which could not be penetrated. This was not true of the crocodile.

 

41:18 Its snorting throws out flashes of light; its eyes are like the red glow of dawn. 

 

If taken literally, then a crocodile’s snorts do not throw out flashes of light. The eyes of the crocodile are not red. Again, this must be a dinosaur.

 

41:19 Out of its mouth go flames, sparks of fire shoot forth! 

 

Crocodiles do not shoot flames of fire out of their mouth. Many ancient fire-breathing dragon legends were actually dinosaurs who had the capability to breathe fire from their mouths.

 

41:20 Smoke streams from its nostrils as from a boiling pot over burning rushes. 

 

Crocodiles do not shoot smoke streams from their nostrils. Dragon legends recorded that dinosaurs did have this capability.

 

41:21 Its breath sets coals ablaze and a flame shoots from its mouth.

 

The breath of a crocodile cannot set coals ablaze. Nor can a crocodile shoot flames from its mouth. Ancient legends from all over the world spoke of dragons who could breathe fire. There are indications that some dinosaurs may have been able to produce and expel combustible gases which could have ignited when they came into contact with oxygen.

 

41:22 Strength lodges in its neck, and despair runs before it. 

 

The great neck strength of the dinosaur caused people great fear.

 

41:23 The folds of its flesh are tightly joined; they are firm on it, immovable. 

 

The flesh of the dinosaur was tightly joined, giving it a strong body armor.

 

41:24 Its heart is hard as rock, hard as a lower millstone.

 

The chest of the dinosaur was made of rock-solid muscle.

 

41:25 When it rises up, the mighty are terrified, at its thrashing about they withdraw.

 

When the dinosaur rose up, it terrified people.

 

41:26 Whoever strikes it with a sword will have no effect, nor with the spear, arrow, or dart. 

 

Swords, spears, arrows, and darts will kill a crocodile, but not a dinosaur.

 

41:27 It regards iron as straw and bronze as rotten wood. 

 

A crocodile does not have the strength to crush iron or bronze, but the dinosaur does.

 

41:28 Arrows do not make it flee; slingstones become like chaff to it. 

 

Arrows and slingshots can kill a crocodile, but not a dinosaur.

 

41:29 A club is counted as a piece of straw; it laughs at the rattling of the lance. 

 

Clubs and lances can kill a crocodile, but not a dinosaur.

 

41:30 Its underparts are the sharp points of potsherds, it leaves its mark in the mud like a threshing sledge. 

 

The stomach of the crocodile is smooth, but the stomach of the dinosaur was sharp and hard.

 

41:31 It makes the deep boil like a cauldron and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment, 

 

A crocodile cannot stir up the seas, but a dinosaur can.

 

41:32 It leaves a glistening wake behind it; one would think the deep had a head of white hair. 

 

The dinosaur swims through the waters with great speed.

 

41:33 The likes of it is not on earth, a creature without fear. 

 

There is no creature on earth like the dinosaur. It is a creature who fears nothing.

 

41:34 It looks on every haughty being; it is king over all that are proud.”

 

The dinosaur looks down on anyone who thinks that they are haughty. The dinosaur was the king over all of those who are proud and arrogant.