Listening Points (Before Reading):
God speaks again! How does Job respond? What does God’s description of the behemoth and leviathan teach us about His power? How is Job restored, and what lessons can we take from the ending?
Narration/Handwriting (K-2nd):
God challenges Job, and shows His power over all creation. Job humbles himself, repents, and is restored by God.
Observations and Questions:
Job 40: God resumes His discourse by calling Job to answer for his earlier complaints. Job, humbled, acknowledges his smallness and refrains from arguing. God continues, asking if Job can match Him in justice or power, and illustrating His might through the behemoth, a creature of unparalleled strength and majesty that only God can control.
- What does God ask Job to do in response to His questions?
[God challenges Job to answer if he can and calls him to consider his position (v. 1-2).] - How does Job respond to God’s challenge?
[Job acknowledges his insignificance and remains silent (v. 3-5).] - What is the significance of the behemoth in God’s argument?
[The behemoth demonstrates God’s unparalleled power and Job’s inability to contend with Him (v. 15–24).]
Job 41: God shifts to describing the leviathan, a fearsome creature of the sea. Through vivid imagery of its strength, scales, and invincibility, God reminds Job of his inability to control even one of God’s creations. The leviathan underscores God’s omnipotence and man’s helplessness, leaving no room for Job to question His ways.
- What challenge does God present to Job regarding the leviathan?
[God asks if Job can catch, tame, or subdue the leviathan, which he cannot (v. 1-9).] - What attributes of the leviathan reveal its power?
[Its scales are impenetrable, its breath sparks fire, and it causes chaos in the water (v. 15–21, 31–32).] - How does God use the leviathan to reveal His majesty?
[By showing that even this terrifying creature is under God’s control and design (v. 33, 34).]
Job 42: Job repents for his rash words, acknowledging God’s wisdom and sovereignty. God rebukes Job’s friends for their incorrect counsel, requiring them to seek Job’s intercession for forgiveness. Finally, God restores Job’s fortunes, doubling his former blessings and granting him a long, full life. This resolution affirms the ultimate purpose of God’s trials: to humble and bless His faithful servants.
- What lessons can we learn from the conclusion of Job’s story?
[God’s trials refine us, His justice prevails, and restoration follows humility and trust in Him.] - What does Job confess in his repentance?
[Job admits God’s omnipotence and his own limited understanding (v. 1-6).] - What does God require of Job’s friends?
[They must offer sacrifices and have Job pray for them to be forgiven (v. 7-9).] - How is Job’s life restored?
[God gives him twice as much as he had before and blesses him with family and long life (v. 10–17).]