Job 38-42 - Sarcasm, Dragons and Blessings

Here are some things that came out as I was reading Job 38-42 today as part of our reading plan. First of all, I should recap the book for anyone that hasn't read it. Job takes place pretty early in Biblical history, before God has revealed himself to his chosen nation, Israel, meaning less may be known about his character at this point. The first couple chapters of the book introduce Job and his predicament. Chapters 3-37 are a dialogue of Job and his three friends discussing God and how these things could possibly of happened. At various times, Job questions why he was born, why God would allow these things, etc. He never curses God. His friends, however, encourage Job to turn his back on a God that has seemingly done nothing but bad things for him. After a brief set of speeches from a bystander, Elihu (32-37), we come to God's response in chapter 38. You should be up to speed.

Chapter 38-39
If anyone ever wondered where sarcasm came from, know that we were made in God's image! These two chapters are God's ancient way of saying, "Who do you think you are, little man?" The imagery in these chapters is AWESOME! It describes storehouses for hail and snow, setting the limits to the oceans, etc. God is using some pretty thick sarcasm (38:21 - "Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years!") to bring Job to a point where he understands his position compared to God. (40:4 - "I am unworthy, how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth.")

Chapters 40-41
Behemoth (40:15-24) - Is likely the Hippopotomus.
Leviathin (ch. 41) - Probably referring to the crocodile, but what is interesting to me here is all the language about breathing fire (vv. 18-21) and scales that are hard as rock and totally impenetrable (vv. 15-17, 22-30). Could this be Biblical evidence of the existence of dragons? Or perhaps this is just using imagery of mythical dragons? After all, we can write stories about dragons despite the fact that they don't exist. Just a thought.

Chapter 42
In the final chapter, two important things stick out to me.

1. God despises it when people speak incorrectly of his character and his name. 42:7 says, "After the Lord had said these things to Hob, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, 'I am angry with you and your two friends beause you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.'" This tells the modern reader that if we are going to pontificate on the character and will of God, we better take great care to make sure that we are not distorting his word.
2. God rewards a repentant heart. Job had no pretention of deserving any reward from God. He repented because that was the right response to God's greatness and his smallness. We don't voice these expectations out loud very often, but in our hearts it is not uncommon to bargain with God and expect certain things. "I will repent if I know you'll bless me my way in the end." The correct thing is to recognize our position and repent simply because God is God. He will reward that in a uniquely individual way every time.