Job 40 Summary & Study Guide

The Lord pauses His questioning to see if the critic will answer the Almighty, challenging the man who corrects God to speak. Job is finally silenced by the Awe, responding that he is unworthy and will put his hand over his mouth. He admits that he has spoken once and twice, but will say no more. Yet God is not finished; He commands Job again to brace himself and asks if he will discredit His justice or condemn Him to justify himself. He challenges Job to clothe himself in glory and splendor and to unleash the fury of his wrath to humble the proud and crush the wicked where they stand. If Job can save himself by his own right hand, then God will concede to his power.

To demonstrate the limits of the human strength, God directs Job’s attention to the Behemoth, which He made along with Job. This colossal creature eats grass like an ox but possesses strength in its loins and power in the muscles of its belly. Its tail sways like a cedar and its bones are like tubes of bronze. It is first among the works of God, yet only its Maker can approach it with a sword. It lies under the lotus plants and is unmoved by the Raging Jordan, even if the river surges against its mouth. God is presenting a monument of the Primeval Power that dwarfs the human frame and scorns the human control.

This chapter shows the restoration of the proportion, where the Individual’s Complaint is realigned with the Creator’s Greatness. Job’s Hand over the Mouth is the beginning of the true wisdom, a surrender of the legal protest to the Direct Encounter. It reveals that Righteousness is not the same as Sovereignty, and having a case does not mean having the capacity to manage the Chaos. The Behemoth under the Lotus is an image of the Peace that comes from unshakable power, a creature that functions perfectly amid the surge. Job is being shown that Safety is not found in the argument, but in the Hand of the Maker.

The Power that tames the Behemoth and humbles the proud is perfectly embodied in Jesus Christ, the one who emptied Himself of his glory to crush the power of the Sin (Hebrews 2:14). While God asked if Job could save himself, the Gospel declares that salvation is found in no one else but the Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Acts 4:12). This chapter teaches us that true strength begins in the silence of the unworthy, making the Awe of the Lord our clothing of the splendor. We are invited to lie peaceably during the Raging Jordan, trusting that the Maker of the Behemoth is our High Tower. Our Right Hand cannot save us, but the Pierced Hand of the King has secured our peace (Isaiah 41:10). We are people who cover the mouth and open the heart.