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Matthew Henry’s Commentary – Job, Chapter XL

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Matthew Henry
Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)




J O B

CHAP. XL.



     

Many humbling confounding questions God had put to Job, in the

foregoing chapter; now, in this chapter,

I. He demands an answer to them,

ver. 1, 2.

II. Job submits in a humble silence,

ver. 3-5.

III. God proceeds to reason with him, for his conviction, concerning

the infinite distance and disproportion between him and God, showing

that he was by no means an equal match for God. He challenges him

(ver. 6, 7)

to vie with him, if he durst, for justice

(ver. 8),

power

(ver. 9),

majesty

(ver. 10),

and dominion over the proud

(ver. 11-14),

and he gives an instance of his power in one particular animal, here

called “Behemoth,”

ver. 15-24.







Job’s Humble Submission. B. C. 1520.

     

1 Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said,

  2 Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he

that reproveth God, let him answer it.

  3 Then Job answered the LORD, and said,

  4 Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine

hand upon my mouth.

  5 Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I

will proceed no further.

     

Here is,

I. A humbling challenge which God gave to Job. After he had heaped up

many hard questions upon him, to show him, by his manifest ignorance in

the works of nature, what an incompetent judge he was of the methods

and designs of Providence, he clenches the nail with one demand more,

which stands by itself here as the application of the whole. It should

seem, God paused awhile, as Elihu had done, to give Job time to say

what he had to say, or to think of what God had said; but Job was in

such confusion that he remained silent, and therefore God here put him

upon replying,

v. 1, 2.

This is not said to be spoken out of the whirlwind, as before;

and therefore some think God said it in a still small voice, which

wrought more upon Job than the whirlwind did, as upon Elijah,

1 Kings xix. 12, 13.

My doctrine shall drop as the rain, and then it does wonders.

Though Job had not spoken any thing, yet God is said to answer him; for

he knows men’s thoughts, and can return a suitable answer to their

silence. Here,

1. God puts a convincing question to him: “Shall he that contendeth

with the Almighty instruct him? Shall he pretend to dictate to

God’s wisdom or prescribe to his will? Shall God receive instruction

from every peevish complainer, and change the measures he has taken to

please him?” It is a question with disdain. Shall any teach God

knowledge?
ch. xxi. 22.

It is intimated that those who quarrel with God do, in effect, go about

to teach him how to mend his work. For if we contend with men like

ourselves, as not having done well, we ought to instruct them how to do

better; but is it a thing to be suffered that any man should teach his

Maker? He that contends with God is justly looked upon as his enemy;

and shall he pretend so far to have prevailed in the contest as to

prescribe to him? We are ignorant and short-sighted, but before him all

things are naked and open; we are depending creatures, but he is the

sovereign Creator; and shall we pretend to instruct him? Some read it,

Is it any wisdom to contend with the Almighty? The answer is

easy. No; it is the greatest folly in the world. Is it wisdom to

contend with him whom it will certainly be our ruin to oppose and

unspeakably our interest to submit to?

2. He demands a speedy reply to it: “He that reproaches God let him

answer this question to his own conscience, and answer it thus,

Far be it from me to contend with the Almighty or to instruct

him. Let him answer all those questions which I have put, if he

can. Let him answer for his presumption and insolence, answer it at

God’s bar, to his confusion.” Those have high thoughts of themselves,

and mean thoughts of God, who reprove any thing he says or does.

     

II. Job’s humble submission thereupon. Now Job came to himself, and

began to melt into godly sorrow. When his friends reasoned with him he

did not yield; but the voice of the Lord is powerful. When the

Spirit of truth shall come, he shall convince. They had condemned

him for a wicked man; Elihu himself had been very sharp upon him

(ch. xxxiv. 7, 8, 37);

but God had not given him such hard words. We may sometimes have reason

to expect better treatment from God, and a more candid construction of

what we do, than we meet with from our friends. This the good man is

here overcome by, and yields himself a conquered captive to the grace

of God.

1. He owns himself an offender, and has nothing to say in his own

justification

(v. 4):

Behold, I am vile, not only mean and contemptible, but vile and

abominable, in my own eyes.” He is now sensible that he has sinned, and

therefore calls himself vile. Sin debases us, and penitents

abase themselves, reproach themselves, are ashamed, yea, even

confounded. “I have acted undutifully to my Father, ungratefully to my

benefactor, unwisely for myself; and therefore I am vile.” Job now

vilifies himself as much as ever he had justified and magnified

himself. Repentance changes men’s opinion of themselves. Job had been

too bold in demanding a conference with God, and thought he could make

his part good with him: but now he is convinced of his error, and owns

himself utterly unable to stand before God or to produce any thing

worth his notice, the veriest dunghill-worm that ever crawled upon

God’s ground. While his friends talked with him, he answered them, for

he thought himself as good as they; but, when God talked with him, he

had nothing to say, for, in comparison with him, he sees himself

nothing, less than nothing, worse than nothing, vanity and vileness

itself; and therefore, What shall I answer thee? God demanded an

answer,

v. 2.

Here he gives the reason of his silence; it was not because he was

sullen, but because he was convinced he had been in the wrong. Those

that are truly sensible of their own sinfulness and vileness dare not

justify themselves before God, but are ashamed that ever they

entertained such a thought, and, in token of their shame, lay their

hand upon their mouth.

2. He promises not to offend any more as he had done; for Elihu had

told him that this was meet to be said unto God. When we have spoken

amiss we must repent of it and not repeat it nor stand to it. He

enjoins himself silence

(v. 4):

I will lay my hand upon my mouth, will keep that as with a

bridle, to suppress all passionate thoughts which may arise in my mind,

and keep them from breaking out in intemperate speeches.” It is bad to

think amiss, but it is much worse to speak amiss, for that is an

allowance of the evil thought and gives it an imprimatur–a

sanction; it is publishing the seditious libel; and therefore,

if thou hast thought evil, lay thy hand upon thy mouth and let

it go no further

(Prov. xxx. 32)

and that will be an evidence for thee that that which thou thoughtest

thou allowest not. Job had suffered his evil thoughts to vent

themselves: “Once have I spoken amiss, yea, twice,” that

is, “divers times, in one discourse and in another; but I have done:

I will not answer; I will not stand to what I have said, nor say

it again; I will proceed no further.” Observe here what true

repentance is.

(1.) It is to rectify our errors, and the false principles we went upon

in doing as we did. What we have long, and often, and vigorously

maintained, once, yea, twice, we must retract as soon as we are

convinced that it is a mistake, not adhere to it any longer, but take

shame to ourselves for holding it so long.

(2.) It is to return from every by-path and to proceed not one step

further in it: “I will not add” (so the word is); “I will never

indulge my passion so much again, nor give myself such a liberty of

speech, will never say as I have said nor do as I have done.” Till it

comes to this, we come short of repentance. Further observe, Those who

dispute with God will be silenced at last. Job had been very bold and

forward in demanding a conference with God, and talked very boldly, how

plain he would make his case, and how sure he was that he should be

justified. As a prince he would go near unto him

(ch. xxxi. 37);

he would come even to his seat

(ch. xxiii. 3);

but he has soon enough of it; he lets fall his plea and will not

answer. “Lord, the wisdom and right are all on thy side, and I have

done foolishly and wickedly in questioning them.”










Divine Justice and Power; God’s Dominion over the Proud. B. C. 1520.

     

6 Then answered the LORD unto 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 also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me,

that thou mayest be righteous?

  9 Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice

like him?

  10 Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array

thyself with glory and beauty.

  11 Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath: and behold 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 in their place.

  13 Hide them in the dust together; and bind their faces in

secret.

  14 Then will I also confess unto thee that thine own right hand

can save thee.

     

Job was greatly humbled for what God had already said, but not

sufficiently; he was brought low, but not low enough; and therefore God

here proceeds to reason with him in the same manner and to the same

purport as before,

v. 6.

Observe,

1. Those who duly receive what they have heard from God, and profit by

it, shall hear more from him.

2. Those who are truly convinced of sin, and penitent for it, yet have

need to be more thoroughly convinced and to be made more deeply

penitent. Those who are under convictions, who have their sins set in

order before their eyes and their hearts broken for them, must learn

from this instance not to catch at comfort too soon; it will be

everlasting when it comes, and therefore it is necessary that we be

prepared for it by deep humiliation, that the wound be searched to the

bottom and not skinned over, and that we do not make more haste out of

our convictions than good speed. When our hearts begin to melt and

relent within us, let those considerations be dwelt upon and pursued

which will help to make a thorough effectual thaw of it.

     

God begins with a challenge

(v. 7),

as before

(ch. xxxviii. 3):

Gird up thy loins now like a man; if thou hast the courage and

confidence thou hast pretended to, show them now; but thou wilt soon be

made to see and own thyself no match for me.” This is that which every

proud heart must be brought to at last, either by its repentance or by

its ruin; and thus low must every mountain and hill be, sooner or

later, brought. We must acknowledge,

     

I. That we cannot vie with God for justice, that the Lord is righteous

and holy in his dealings with us, but that we are unrighteous and

unholy in our conduct towards him; we have a great deal to blame

ourselves for, but nothing to blame him for

(v. 8):

Wilt thou disannul my judgment? Wilt thou take exceptions to

what I say and do, and bring a writ of error, to reverse the judgment I

have given as erroneous and unjust?” Many of Job’s complaints had too

much of a tendency this way: I cry out of wrong, says he, but

I am not heard; but such language as this is by no means to be

suffered. God’s judgment cannot, must not, be disannulled, for we are

sure it is according to truth, and therefore it is a great piece of

impudence and iniquity in us to call in question. “Wilt thou,

says God, “condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous? Must my

honour suffer for the support of thy reputation? Must I be charged as

dealing unjustly with thee because thou canst not otherwise clear

thyself from the censures thou liest under?” Our duty is to condemn

ourselves, that God may be righteous. David is therefore ready

to own the evil he has done in God’s sight, that God may be

justified when he speaks and clear when he judges,
Ps. li. 4.

See

Neh. ix. 33; Dan. ix. 7.

But those are very proud, and very ignorant both of God and themselves,

who, to clear themselves, will condemn God; and the day is coming when,

if the mistake be not rectified in time by repentance, the eternal

judgment will be both the confutation of the plea and the confusion of

the prisoner, for the heavens shall declare God’s righteousness and all

the world shall become guilty before him.

     

II. That we cannot vie with God for power; and therefore, as it is

great impiety, so it is great impudence to contest with him, and is as

much against our interest as it is against reason and justice

(v. 9):

Hast thou an arm like God, equal to his in length and strength?

Or canst thou thunder with a voice like him, as he did

(ch. xxxvii. 1, 2),

or does now out of the whirlwind?” To convince Job that he was not so

able as he thought himself to contest with God, he shows him,

1. That he could never fight it out with him, nor carry his cause by

force of arms. Sometimes, among men, controversies have been decided by

battle, and the victorious champion is adjudged to have justice on his

side; but, if the controversy were put upon that issue between God and

man, man would certainly go by the worse, for all the forces he could

raise against the Almighty would be but like briers and thorns before a

consuming fire,

Isa. xxvii. 4.

“Hast thou, a poor weak worm of the earth, an arm comparable to his who

upholds all things?” The power of creatures, even of angels themselves,

is derived from God, limited by him, and dependent on him; but the

power of God is original, independent, and unlimited. He can do every

thing without us; we can do nothing without him; and therefore we have

not an arm like God.

2. That he could never talk it out with him, nor carry his cause by

noise and big words, which sometimes among men go a great way towards

the gaining of a point: “Canst thou thunder with a voice like

him? No; his voice will soon drown thine and one of his thunders

will overpower and overrule all thy whispers.” Man cannot speak so

convincingly, so powerfully, nor with such a commanding conquering

force as God can, who speaks, and it is done. his creating voice

is called his thunder

(Ps. civ. 7),

so is that voice of his with which he terrifies and discomfits his

enemies,

1 Sam. ii. 10.

The wrath of a king may sometimes be like the roaring of a lion, but

can never pretend to imitate God’s thunder.

     

III. That we cannot vie with God for beauty and majesty,

v. 10.

“If thou wilt enter into a comparison with him, and appear more

amiable, put on thy best attire: Deck thyself now with majesty and

excellency. Appear in all the martial pomp, in all the royal

pageantry that thou hast; make the best of every thing that will set

thee off: Array thyself with glory and beauty, such as may awe

thy enemies and charm thy friends; but what is it all to the divine

majesty and beauty? No more than the light of a glow-worm to that of

the sun when he goes forth in his strength.” God decks himself with

such majesty and glory as are the terror of devils and all the powers

of darkness and make them tremble; he arrays himself with such glory

and beauty as are the wonder of angels and all the saints in light and

make them rejoice. David could dwell all his days in God’s house, to

behold the beauty of the Lord. But, in comparison with this, what is

all the majesty and excellency by which princes think to make

themselves feared, and all the glory and beauty by which lovers think

to make themselves beloved? If Job think, in contending with God, to

carry the day by looking great and making a figure, he is quite

mistaken. The sun shall be ashamed, and the moon confounded, when

God shines forth.

     

IV. That we cannot vie with God for dominion over the proud,

v. 11-14.

here the cause is put upon this short issue: if Job can humble and

abase proud tyrants and oppressors as easily and effectually as God

can, it shall be acknowledged that he has some colour to compete with

God. Observe here,

     

1. The justice Job is here challenged to do, and that is to bring the

proud low with a look. If Job will pretend to be a rival with God,

especially if he pretend to be a judge of his actions, he must be able

to do this.

     

(1.) It is here supposed that God can do it and will do it himself,

else he would not have put it thus upon Job. By this God proves himself

to be God, that he resists the proud, sits Judge upon them, and is able

to bring them to ruin. Observe here,

[1.] That proud people are wicked people, and pride is at the bottom of

a great deal of the wickedness that is in this world both towards God

and man.

[2.] Proud people will certainly be abased and brought low; for

pride goes before destruction. If they bend not, they will

break; if they humble not themselves by true repentance, God will

humble them, to their everlasting confusion. The wicked will be

trodden down in their place, that is, Wherever they are found,

though they pretend to have a place of their own, and to have taken

root in it, yet even there they shall be trodden down, and all the

wealth, and power, and interest, to which their place entitles them,

will not be their security.

[3.] The wrath of God, scattered among the proud, will humble them, and

break them, and bring them down. If he casts abroad the rage of his

wrath, as he will do at the great day and sometimes does in this life,

the stoutest heart cannot hold out against him. Who knows the power

of his anger?

[4.] God can and does easily abase proud tyrants; he can look upon

them, and bring them low, can overwhelm them with shame, and fear,

and utter ruin, by one angry look, as he can, by a gracious look,

revive the hearts of the contrite ones.

[5.] He can and will at last do it effectually

(v. 13),

not only bring them to the dust, from which they might hope to arise,

but hide them in the dust, like the proud Egyptian whom Moses

slew and hid in the sand

(Exod. ii. 12),

that is, they shall be brought not only to death, but to the grave,

that pit out of which there is no return. They were proud of the figure

they made, but they shall be buried in oblivion and be no more

remembered than those that are hidden in the dust, out of sight and out

of mind. They were linked in leagues and confederacies to do mischief,

and are now bound in bundles. They are hidden together; not

their rest, but their shame together is in the dust,
ch. xvii. 16.

Nay, they are treated as malefactors (who, when condemned, had their

faces covered, as Haman’s was: He binds their faces in secret)

or as dead men: Lazarus, in the grave, had his face bound about. Thus

complete will be the victory that God will gain, at last, over proud

sinners that set themselves in opposition to him. Now by this he proves

himself to be God. Does he thus hate proud men? Then he is holy. Will

he thus punish them? Then he is the just Judge of the world. Can he

thus humble them? Then he is the Lord Almighty. When he had abased

proud Pharaoh, and hidden him in the sand of the Red Sea, Jethro thence

inferred that doubtless the Lord is greater than all gods, for

wherein the proud enemies of his Israel dealt proudly he was

above them, he was too hard for them,

Exod. xviii. 11.

See

Rev. xix. 1, 2.

     

(2.) It is here proposed to Job to do it. He had been passionately

quarrelling with God and his providence, casting abroad the rage of his

wrath towards heaven, as if he thought thereby to bring God himself to

his mind. “Come,” says God, “try thy hand first upon proud men, and

thou wilt soon see how little they value the rage of thy wrath; and

shall I then regard it, or be moved by it?” Job had complained of the

prosperity and power of tyrants and oppressors, and was ready to charge

God with mal-administration for suffering it; but he ought not to find

fault, except he could mend. If God, and he only, has power enough to

humble and bring down proud men, no doubt he has wisdom enough to know

when and how to do it, and it is not for us to prescribe to him or to

teach him how to prescribe to him or to teach him how to govern the

world. Unless we had an arm like God we must not think to take his work

out of his hands.

     

2. The justice which is here promised to be done him if he can perform

such mighty works as these

(v. 14):

They will I also confess unto thee that thy right hand is

sufficient to save thee, though, after all, it would be too weak to

contend with me.” It is the innate pride and ambition of man that he

would be his own saviour (would have his own hands sufficient for him

and be independent), but it is presumption to pretend that he is. Our

own hands cannot save us by recommending us to God’s grace, much less

by rescuing us from his justice. Unless we could by our own power

humble our enemies, we cannot pretend by our own power to save

ourselves; but, if we could, God himself would confess it. He never did

nor ever will defraud any man of his just praise, nor deny him the

honour he has merited. But, since we cannot do this, we must confess

unto him that our own hands cannot save us, and therefore into his hand

we must commit ourselves.











Description of Behemoth. B. C. 1520.

     

15 Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass

as an ox.

  16 Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is

in the navel of his belly.

  17 He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones

are wrapped together.

  18 His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are

like bars of iron.

  19 He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can

make his sword to approach unto him.

  20 Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the

beasts of the field play.

  21 He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed,

and fens.

  22 The shady trees cover him with their shadow; the willows

of the brook compass him about.

  23 Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he

trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth.

  24 He taketh it with his eyes: his nose pierceth through

snares.

     

God, for the further proving of his own power and disproving of Job’s

pretensions, concludes his discourse with the description of two vast

and mighty animals, far exceeding man in bulk and strength, one he

calls behemoth, the other leviathan. In these verses we

have the former described. “Behold now behemoth, and consider

whether thou art able to contend with him who made that beast and gave

him all the power he has, and whether it is not thy wisdom rather to

submit to him and make thy peace with him.” Behemoth signifies

beasts in general, but must here be meant of some one particular

species. Some understand it of the bull; others of an amphibious

animal, well known (they say) in Egypt, called the river-horse

(hippopotamus), living among the fish in the river Nile, but coming

out to feed upon the earth. But I confess I see no reason to depart

from the ancient and most generally received opinion, that it is the

elephant that is here described, which is a very strong stately

creature, of very large stature above any other, of wonderful sagacity,

and of so great a reputation in the animal kingdom that among so many

four-footed beasts as we have had the natural history of

(ch. xxxviii. and xxxix.)

we can scarcely suppose this should be omitted. Observe,

     

I. The description here given of the behemoth.

     

1. His body is very strong and well built. His strength is in his

loins,
v. 16.

His bones, compared with those of other creatures, are like

bars of iron,
v. 18.

His back-bone is so strong that, though his tail be not large, yet he

moves it like a cedar, with a commanding force,

v. 17.

Some understand it of the trunk of the elephant, for the word signifies

any extreme part, and in that there is indeed a wonderful strength. So

strong is the elephant in his back and loins, and the sinews of his

thighs, that he will carry a large wooden tower, and a great number of

fighting men in it. No animal whatsoever comes near the elephant for

strength of body, which is the main thing insisted on in this

description.

     

2. He feeds on the productions of the earth and does not prey upon

other animals: He eats grass as an ox

(v. 15),

the mountains bring him forth food

(v. 20),

and the beasts of the field do not tremble before him nor flee from

him, as from a lion, but they play about him, knowing they are in no

danger from him. This may give us occasion,

(1.) To acknowledge the goodness of God in ordering it so that a

creature of such bulk, which requires so much food, should not feed

upon flesh (for then multitudes must die to keep him alive), but should

be content with the grass of the field, to prevent such destruction of

lives as otherwise must have ensued.

(2.) To commend living upon herbs and fruits without flesh, according

to the original appointment of man’s food,

Gen. i. 29.

Even the strength of an elephant, as of a horse and an ox, may be

supported without flesh; and why not that of a man? Though therefore

we use the liberty God has allowed us, yet be not among riotous

eaters of flesh,
Prov. xxiii. 20.

(3.) To commend a quiet and peaceable life. Who would not rather, like

the elephant, have his neighbours easy and pleasant about him, than,

like the lion, have them all afraid of him?

     

3. He lodges under the shady trees

(v. 21),

which cover him with their shadow

(v. 22),

where he has a free and open air to breathe in, while lions, which live

by prey, when they would repose themselves, are obliged to retire into

a close and dark den, to live therein, and to abide in the covert of

that,

ch. xxxviii. 40.

Those who are a terror to others cannot but be sometimes a terror to

themselves too; but those will be easy who will let others be easy

about them; and the reed and fens, and the willows of the brook, though

a very weak and slender fortification, yet are sufficient for the

defence and security of those who therefore dread no harm,

because they design none.

     

4. That he is a very great and greedy drinker, not of wine or strong

drink (to be greedy of that is peculiar to man, who by his drunkenness

makes a beast of himself), but of fair water.

(1.) His size is prodigious, and therefore he must have supply

accordingly,

v. 23.

He drinks so much that one would think he could drink up a river, if

you would give him time, and not hasten him. Or, when he drinks, he

hasteth not, as those do that drink in fear; he is confident of his

own strength and safety, and therefore makes no haste when he drinks,

no more haste than good speed.

(2.) His eye anticipates more than he can take; for, when he is very

thirsty, having been long kept without water, he trusts that he can

drink up Jordan in his mouth, and even takes it with his

eyes,
v. 24.

As a covetous man causes his eyes to fly upon the wealth of this world,

which he is greedy of, so this great beast is said to snatch, or draw

up, even a river with his eyes.

(3.) His nose has in it strength enough for both; for, when he goes

greedily to drink with it, he pierces through snares or nets,

which perhaps are laid in the waters to catch fish. He makes nothing of

the difficulties that lie in his way, so great is his strength and so

eager his appetite.

     

II. The use that is to be made of this description. We have taken a

view of this mountain of a beast, this over-grown animal, which is here

set before us, not merely as a show (as sometimes it is in our country)

to satisfy our curiosity and to amuse us, but as an argument with us to

humble ourselves before the great God; for,

1. He made this vast animal, which is so fearfully and wonderfully

made; it is the work of his hands, the contrivance of his wisdom, the

production of his power; it is behemoth which I made,
v. 15.

Whatever strength this, or any other creature, has, it is derived from

God, who therefore must be acknowledged to have all power originally

and infinitely in himself, and such an arm as it is not for us to

contest with. This beast is here called the chief, in its kind,

of the ways of God

(v. 19),

an eminent instance of the Creator’s power and wisdom. Those that will

peruse the accounts given by historians of the elephant will find that

his capacities approach nearer to those of reason than the capacities

of any other brute-creature whatsoever, and therefore he is fitly

called the chief of the ways of God, in the inferior part of the

creation, no creature below man being preferable to him.

2. He made him with man, as he made other four-footed beasts, on the

same day with man

(Gen. i. 25, 26),

whereas the fish and fowl were made the day before; he made him to live

and move on the same earth, in the same element, and therefore man and

beast are said to be jointly preserved by divine Providence as

fellow-commoners,

Ps. xxxvi. 6.

“It is behemoth, which I made with thee; I made that beast as

well as thee, and he does not quarrel with me; why then dost thou? Why

shouldst thou demand peculiar favours because I made thee

(ch. x. 9),

when I made the behemoth likewise with thee? I made thee as well

as that beast, and therefore can as easily manage thee at pleasure as

that beast, and will do it whether thou refuse or whether thou choose.

I made him with thee, that thou mayest look upon him and receive

instruction.” We need not go far for proofs and instances of God’s

almighty power and sovereign dominion; they are near us, they are with

us, they are under our eye wherever we are.

3. He that made him can make his sword to approach to him

(v. 19),

that is, the same hand that made him, notwithstanding his great bulk

and strength, can unmake him again at pleasure and kill an elephant as

easily as a worm or a fly, without any difficulty, and without the

imputation either of waste or wrong. God that gave to all the creatures

their being may take away the being he gave; for may he not do what he

will with his own? And he can do it; he that has power to create

with a word no doubt has power to destroy with a word, and can as

easily speak the creature into nothing as at first he spoke it out of

nothing. The behemoth perhaps is here intended (as well as the

leviathan afterwards) to represent those proud tyrants and

oppressors whom God had just now challenged Job to abase and bring

down. They think themselves as well fortified against the judgments of

God as the elephant with his bones of brass and iron; but he that made

the soul of man knows all the avenues to it, and can make the sword of

justice, his wrath, to approach to it, and touch it in the most tender

and sensible part. He that framed the engine, and put the parts of it

together, knows how to take it in pieces. Woe to him therefore that

strives with his Maker, for he that made him has therefore power to

make him miserable, and will not make him happy unless he will be ruled

by him.


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Matthew Henry
Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)


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