BEFORE WE pick up the story of Abraham, some context: When God divided the nations after the Tower of Babel incident, He placed them under the supervision of “sons of God,” angelic beings who were charged with carrying out His will while supervising His creation.

We explain why understanding what happened at and after Babel is crucial to understanding the long supernatural war depicted in the Bible, not to mention the state of our fallen world today.

LEVIATHAN AND BEHEMOTH are featured this week as God uses them to illustrate the difference between Him and Job. While these creatures are described as possessing almost unimaginable power, they are as pets to our Lord, who made them just as He made us.

We discuss the nature of Leviathan and Behemoth (and no, we do not believe they were a whale, giant squid, hippo, elephant, crocodile, or dinosaurs) and their parallels in pagan religions such as Tiamat, the Canaanite sea-god Yam, the Sumerian Bull of Heaven, and the “calf of El.” We cite a couple of extrabiblical texts, specifically 1 Enoch 60:7-10, 24 and 2 Esdras 6:49-52, which describe the ultimate fate of Leviathan and Behemoth, which is to serve as food for the pious (compare to the feast after the war of Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 39:17-20; also Revelation 19:17-18). These help to understand what Jewish religious scholars thought about Leviathan and Behemoth before the arrival of Jesus.

Finally, we note that Job’s repentance at the end of the book is not the kind his friends encouraged; they wanted him to admit some unconfessed sin, whereas God accepted Job’s repentance for demanding an answer for his suffering.

GOD ARRIVES on the scene to respond to Job’s complaints, and boy, does He bring the thunder. Literally.

Speaking from a whirlwind, which is an image that had been co-opted by the fallen elohim to represent the Mesopotamian storm-god called Addu or Hadad (i.e., Baal).

In fact, there are multiple references to the spirit realm and its rebellion in Job 38. God establishes His unequaled status in all Creation by reminding Job that he wasn’t there when God “laid the foundations of the earth” and “determined its measurements” while “all the sons of God [angels] shouted for joy”.

God also mentions the chaoskampf (“struggle against chaos”) in verses 8-11, which are more than a description of God separating the land from the sea; this is a reference to a well-known story in the ancient Near East in which a warrior god subdues the forces of chaos represented by the sea or a sea-dragon (called Leviathan and Rahab in the Bible). We’ve encountered this already in Job 7:12, 9:13, and especially 26:5-13. (Go back to GHF #250 for a deeper dive into the chaoskampf).

ELIHU CONTINUES his rebuke of Job, refuting the older man’s arguments and then encouraging him to repent. As Elihu concludes his discourse by describing the thunder of God’s voice and the “golden splendor” of His “awesome majesty”—a hint of what’s to come when God arrives in a whirlwind in chapter 38.

JOB DELIVERS what is essentially his closing argument, recalling the days when his life was blessed, a respected member of the community, contrasting it with his current situation as one who’s mocked and despised. He asserts his innocence again, and issues another plea for a hearing.
And then chapter 32 opens with a new character entering the scene: Elihu, a young man who’d been listening silently to his elders, unloads on Job and his friends. He’s angry at Job for justifying himself before God, and angry at his friends for accusing Job of sin without being able to answer him.

A DRAGON in the Bible? Yes! And we see it here in the Book of Job. What’s more, we see a connection between this primordial enemy of God and the spirits of the Nephilim.

Even before God created the heavens and the earth, He subdued Chaos—variously called Leviathan, “the deep” (the abyss; Hebrew tehom), the sea (the Canaanite sea-god Yam), or, as here in Job 26:12, Rahab, “the fleeing serpent.”

We also discuss the creation account of Job 26, which tells the story of the original chaoskampf, the struggle against Chaos (see Job 26:12-13).We also talk about the true meaning of “the north,” the personification of Sheol and Abaddon, and why “the dead” of Job 26:5 does not refer to deceased humans. (It’s another reference to the Rephaim, the spirits of the Nephilim.)

Other biblical references to God’s victory over Chaos:
Genesis 1:2 (Tehom [“the deep”])
Job 7:12 (“sea monster” or “dragon”)
Isaiah 27:1 (Leviathan, “fleeing serpent,” “twisting serpent,” “dragon”)
Isaiah 51:9 (Rahab, “dragon” or “sea monster”)
Psalm 74:12-14 (Leviathan, “sea monsters” or “dragons”)
Psalm 89:9-10 (Yam [“the sea”], Rahab)
Proverbs 8:27-29 (Yam [“the sea”], Tehom [“the deep”])

Note that Hebrew tehom is essentially a cognate (same word, different language) for Tiamat, the Sumerian name for the primordial chaos-dragon.

JOB’S FRIENDS grow increasingly accusatory as we go through the book. This week, we hear the final speeches of Zophar and Eliphaz, who have gone from gently reminding Job that God punishes the wicked to accusing their miserable, suffering friend of mistreating the poor, widowed, and homeless!
We speculate on the role of the accuser (“the satan”) in provoking their aggressive responses to Job, discuss the title of God in these chapters, the Almighty, and again contrast English Bible translations based on the Masoretic Hebrew text with the Septuagint version produced by Jewish religious scholars a thousand years earlier.

JOB’S UNDERSTANDING of the afterlife was a reflection of the culture around him, which was dominated by the Amorites who controlled the ancient Near East from about 2000 BC to 1400 BC. They believed that the dead depended on the living to feed them to sustain them after death.

But even with that, Job knew that his Redeemer lived, “and at the last he will stand upon the earth”—and that Job would see that day with his own eyes, a clear prophecy of the resurrection of the dead described by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:35-55.

We discuss the ancient Near Eastern view of life after death, the significance of sacred mountains and tells, dolmens, and the Rephaim in the context of Job’s complaint.

JOB CONTINUES his lament this week, openly wishing that he could hide in Sheol until God’s anger was past. In response, Eliphaz the Temanite accuses Job of guilt, asserting that God only punishes the wicked.

We know that’s true, but judgment doesn’t always happen when we want it—right now, in the physical realm, where we can see it. Furthermore, we can see with our own eyes, as Job did, that bad things happen to good people.

We also discuss a messianic prophecy, a reference to the divine council (Job 15:17—the “holy ones” are probably the Watchers; see Daniel 4:13, 17) and what may be a reference to the dolmens of the Jordan River valley (the “heaps of ruins” in Job 15:28).

JOB FINALLY vents, declaring that he must speak freely since his effort to forget his complaint has failed. In chapter 10, Job addresses God in forceful language, accusing Him of being unjust and demanding answers for his suffering.

Then Job’s second friend, Zophar the Naamathite, responds and offers little comfort. Zophar asserts that Job is guilty and deserving of God’s punishment—in fact, probably deserving of worse than he’s already suffered.

Job replies that everyone knows God is sovereign and accuses his friends of speaking falsely for God. Contenting to assert his innocence, Job addresses God directly, pleading with God to hear his case.