Job 40:6-14

C. NOW UNDERSTANDING (Job 40:6 to Job 41:34)

1. Job is not qualified to answer. (Job 40:6-14)

TEXT 40:6-14

6 Then Jehovah answered 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 even annul my judgment?

Wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be justified?

9 Or hast thou an arm like God?

And canst thou thunder with a voice like him?

10 Deck thyself now with excellency and dignity;

And array thyself with honor and majesty.

11 Pour forth the overflowings of thine anger;

And look upon 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 where they stand.

13 Hide them in the dust together;

Bind their faces in the hidden place.

14 Then will I also confess of thee

That thine own right hand can save thee.

COMMENT 40:6-14

Job 40:6Then out of the violent whirlwind comes the victorious word which assures Job that the source of the cosmos has vindicated him. Neither Satan nor his friends have captured Yahweh's servant Job. Job is pious because His God is righteous, and thus answers Satan's original queries.

Job 40:7After Job's submissive confession, Yahweh's second speech is delivered. This final word divides into three parts:

(1) Job is invited to stand in God's presenceJob 40:7-14;

(2) Yahweh's description of BehemothJob 40:15-24; and

(3) The description of LeviathanJob 41:1-34. Compare Job 40:6-7 and Job 38:1; Job 38:3, which are here repeated except for the conjunction waw, for. Yahweh challenges Job to assume control over the universe. If his criticism is valid, then he ought to know how to govern the creation. The great invitation, which is also extended to contemporary technological man, is do you have the power, wisdom, knowledge, and moral integrity to be in charge of the universe? Modern man, do you who have violated the dominion mandate in your personal lives, cities, and have raped the earth, have the audacity to claim that you could express a superior providential control over all the systems of creation? Can you, Job, our contemporary, administer divine justice? Job has accused Yahweh of twisting justiceJob 9:24; Job 19:6; and Job 27:6. Job has brought a lawsuit against God. Is God, or Job guilty? One must be just, the other unjust, if Job's assumptions about a lawsuit are correct. Job's lethal error is that no such relationship can exist between creator and creature.

Job 40:8Job had denied divine justice in his own case and the world at largeJob 9:22. Job has rendered ineffectual God's judgment in defending his own integrity. The prologue makes clear that Job would have been wholly justified in defending his own integrity, except that in so doing he impugned the justice of Yahweh. Thus, Job had confronted God as to His moral right to govern creation.

Job 40:9Even if Job has the integrity and wisdom, does he have the power to rule the world? Such dominion requires not only skill but resources of inexhaustible power. His criticism is idle chatter, until he can show that he possesses these attributes. The arm is symbol of power, both human and divineJob 22:8; Exodus 15:16; Psalms 77:15; Isaiah 40:10; Isaiah 51:5; and Isaiah 59:16. Elihu had utilized similar logicJob 37:2-5. Only if man has God's power does he have a moral right to question God's justiceJob 33:12; Job 36:22-23. Job's rhetorical criticism requires no power to hold the universe in aweJob 37:2 ff. Universal rule requires the power to implement that control. Do you have this necessary sway over the kingdoms of this world, Job? If not, be silent until you know whereof you speak.

Job 40:10Adorn yourself with the symbols of powerPsalms 104:1. Clothe yourself in glory and splendor. These symbols recur in Psalms 21:5; Psalms 96:6 as attributes of God. Show us your credentials, if you are God!

Job 40:11Make your power visible, not merely verbal. Pour forth is the word used in Job 37:11 of scattering the lightning. If moral government requires swift retaliation on the wicked, retaliate, Job. He declines the invitation for the obvious reason.

Job 40:12Line one is identical with verse lib, except that the verb bring him low, i.e., humble, is a synonym of abase him. Pride is broken after God has spoken. Judge the wicked immediately, Job, if you have the power.

Job 40:13Obliterate the wicked. Remove them from the sight of menJob 10:9; Job 34:15; Isaiah 2:10; Isaiah 29:4; and Psalms 22:29. The A. V.'S rendering of the second line is unnecessarily ambiguous, Bind their faces in the hidden places means to hide the wicked persons in literally the hidden place or the graves. The hidden is a circumlocution for the burial.[391]

[391] For analysis of the grammatical possibilities, see M. Dahood, Biblica, 1968, pp. 509-510; also his Psalms III, p. xxix, note 15.

Job 40:14When you can obliterate the unrighteous in the grave, then you can govern the universe. Job, you must have power commensurate with the purpose or design of creation, if you are to rule. Do you possess the credentials?Psalms 98:1; Isaiah 59:16; Isaiah 63:5. Yahweh grants that if Job can govern the vast complex creation he has the right to criticize, but only under the above conditions. If he can do what he has charged that Yahweh has neglected to do, then he could save himself from suffering and death.