Job CCCXXXVII

 Man didn’t save me; Jesus did. He didn’t save me from slipping on a banana peel or touching poison ivy; He saved me from hell, from the eternal darkness, and from the fire that is never quenched. My salvation and redemption, just like yours, came at a cost that wasn’t paltry or insignificant, but one that was astronomical: a life for a life. Not the life of another, but His life; not the pain of another but His pain. He did not delegate the responsibility of redemption or reconciliation to God because there was no one He could delegate it to. It is to Jesus that I owe my undying fealty, loyalty, devotion, and love, because He did what no other could on my behalf.

Anyone attempting to supplant or replace Jesus in your life, insisting that they, rather than Him, should be followed and obeyed, didn’t die for you! Remember that the next time you entertain the idea that following after a man is an option because it’s more convenient, less time-consuming, or because they demand less of you than Jesus would.

Jesus warned, but it seems His warning fell on deaf ears. He spoke of a time when men would come in His name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and would deceive many. That time is here. That time is now, and it’s only going to get worse going forward.     

Job 40:15-24, “Look now at the behemoth, which I made along with you; he eats grass like an ox. See now, his strength is in his hips, and his power is in his stomach muscles. He moves his tail like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are tightly knit. His bones are like beams of bronze, his ribs like bars of iron. He is the first of the ways of God; only He who made him can bring near His sword. Surely the mountains yield food for him, and all the beasts of the field play there. He lies under the lotus trees, in a covert of reeds and marsh. The lotus trees cover him with their shade; the willows by the brook surround him. Indeed the river may rage, yet he is not disturbed; he is confident, though the Jordan gushes into his mouth, though he takes it in his eyes, or one pierces his nose with a snare.”

There are those among us who desire to know God and understand the mysteries thereof; then there are those whose only reason for desiring discourse with Him is to prove how wise they are in their own eyes and tell Him how they would have done it differently. Likewise, there are those who approach God in humility and reverence, submitting to His will, deferring to His wisdom, and obeying His commands, and those whose pride will not allow them to bow before His majesty, and if ever they approach Him it is with a combative spirit, challenging His authority, and insisting that they are on equal footing even though they are His creation, and He their creator.

God is patient with those with sincere hearts. If we ask for bread, He will not give us a stone, and if we ask for understanding, He will not be vague or ambiguous. We can neither plead ignorance of God’s will nor His commands, because the Word is clear on both accounts, and only those whose desire isn’t to serve Him, but to find ways of bypassing what He has commanded, pretend as though He wasn’t clear.

God does not withhold pertinent, necessary information, nor does He play coy when we desire more of Him. He doesn’t require that we enter a credit card number to get behind a paywall where all the good information is, but freely reveals His will to us because He is motivated by love, and love alone.

God so loved the world! That sentence alone can readily be contemplated for an entire lifetime, and we would still only grasp the edges of the depth of what it means, and what all it implies. Is it because we are so lovable? Is it because we deserved redemption at the cost of the life of God’s only begotten Son? Or is it because God loved His creation, unworthy and undeserving as it was?

God could have been short with Job; He could have answered in a handful of words, but He took the time to explain His authority so thoroughly that Job was left speechless, in awe of the God he served and all the detail that went into everything He created.

As far as the behemoth goes, and what it is, the learned men of our day as well as those who came before them, have concluded that it’s a catchall term for large, four-legged, ponderous animals, whether the hippopotamus or the elephant; many are inclined to believe that God was referring to a hippo when addressing Job because of the description He proffers of the behemoth opening its mouth and the Jordan gushing therein.

Some, however, insist that God was speaking of dinosaurs when referring to the behemoth, although more often than not it’s wishful thinking rather than any substantive evidence that Job lived during the time of the dinosaurs. Between the two, I would err on the side of caution and say God was speaking of a hippopotamus rather than a dinosaur; then again, I’m not often given to flights of fancy and unsubstantiated claims. Whatever it was God was referring to as far as the behemoth is concerned, the purpose of the example He used is more relevant than what the animal itself was. God was attempting to highlight the clear purpose and design of His creation, including for something as cumbersome, slow, and indomitable as the behemoth.

Even for something like the behemoth, God made sure the mountains yielded food, the lotus trees provided shade, and the Jordan satisfied its thirst. It is neither troubled nor worried about what it will eat or what it will drink, and the raging river does not disturb it. The behemoth is confident not because it has the wherewithal to provide for itself, but because it knows it has been provided for. Even the behemoth can teach us lessons on how we should approach life, only if we are willing to learn.   

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.