Chapter 40
God is still talking in verses 1,2, Job answers in 3-5.
Job answers that he won't answer.
God talks again, out of the whirlwind. It said that the first time He spoke also. Out of the whirlwind. I note that both times God has spoken he has spoken out of the whirlwind. Not sure if this is literal or symbolic, but there is a location the voice comes from. Job is not "hearing voices".
Also, for the second time, God tells Job to gird up his loins, like a man. To get ready for action.
2024 - Look at this verse in NASB95:
8 "Will you really annul My judgment? Will you condemn Me that you may be justified? [Job 40:8 NASB95]. Surely this says that never are we ever to question God's ways, even when we suffer for no sin that we can discern. Even when there was no sin. Even when our pain is not punishment or retribution. Our suffering may have nothing to do with us, though it serves God's higher purpose.
2025 - This is vital to embrace. NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS TO US, we have no right to question it until we can look God in the eye as an equal. And that will never happen. It is not a pinnacle we can ever conquer. So that whole idea that it isn't really God that causes bad things to happen is, I believe, still 100% true. And yet they could not happen without his knowledge, without his leave. So EVEN IF YOU SAY that God is ultimately responsible for all the good AND all the bad, you have no standing to enter his court for debate until you can do what he can do.
God challenges Job to "adorn himself with majesty". Also to abase the proud in his anger, and to tread down the wicked. God is saying that it is He who is judge and jury and executioner in the world, and that unless Job sets himself up as an equal in these matters, then on what basis does he question the Almighty.
Next God describes Behemoth, created by God as was Job. This is some large herbivore but we don't know exactly which one. In vs 19 God says this:
19 "He is the first of the works of God; let him who made him bring near his sword! [Job 40:19 ESV] Interesting that this giant land animal is called the first of the works of God. The mightiest land animal that ever was in all of creation is how I would read this phrase. Yet as impressive as this beast is, God provides food, water, and shade for it. It depends on God alone for its life. This beast is beyond any power of man, yet God feeds and waters it like a pet. Can Job claim such ability?
2024 - Look at these other translations:
19 It is a prime example of God's handiwork, and only its Creator can threaten it. [Job 40:19 NLT].
19 He is the foremost of God's works; only his Maker can draw the sword against him. [Job 40:19 CSB]. This creature, whatever it was, still extant in Job's time, was unassailable by man. Behemoth. What could it be? He lives in watery marsh, and sleeps nearby. His food comes down from the mountains. He is too powerful to be captured.