In your Bible, Genesis is the first of 66
books. However, if the books were placed
in chronological order, Job would be first; it is the oldest written record of
the Word of God. In Job we find the most
fertile references to Leviathan and Behemoth…the dinosaurs.
We are, perhaps,
all familiar with the story of Job; at least the part that is proverbial, the
patience, or troubles, of Job. Job was a
good guy, genuinely righteous before God.
He was a husband, father of a number of grown children, and a rich
landowner. As a respected member of his
community Job sat in on the governing council of the city.
Now, Satan, the opposer and accuser, caused the worst kinds of trials in Job’s life as a
temptation to Job’s faith in God. In the
space of an afternoon’s time Job lost everything but his life. All his children were killed, his riches
stolen, and even the respect of his wife and friends vanished. Hero to zero in nothing flat!
Well, that entire
calamity happened in chapter one. In the
aftermath, for the next 36 chapters, Job is sitting on the ash heap of his life
looking for answers. (You would be
too!) Job’s three friends come to
surround him with comfort in his misery.
But in short order the discussion turns ugly; there’s more confrontation
than comforting. Job’s friends keep
asking the kind of question that probes what kind of sin Job must have committed
to bring such awful punishment from God.
Job loudly defends his innocence for those 36 chapters, crying out for
God to speak up and give him some answers.
To those of us who
have suffered some life-changing tragedy, or just felt the advance of old age
and decline, Job’s hollering in the darkness – OK, so tell me, GOD, what did I
do wrong?” – is no strange thing.
What does this have to do with dinosaurs? Stay tuned!
Our text this
morning is God’s answer to Job. In that
answer are also many answers to life’s most taunting and mysterious
questions. There is an answer to why the
righteous suffer; there is an answer to where we come from and how our universe
works. And there is even an answer to
the questions about dinosaurs (although the primary reason God gives it isn’t
to satisfy our idle curiosity).
Hear God’s response
to chapter one of Job’s tragedy, followed by 36 chapters of Job’s whining; hear
the Word of the Lord:
Job 38:1 - 4
(TLB)
1Then
the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind: 2“Why are you using your ignorance to deny my
providence? 3Now get ready to fight, for I am going to demand some
answers from you, and you must reply. 4“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell me, if you know so much.
6Then
the Lord spoke to Job again from the whirlwind: 7“Stand
up like a man and brace yourself for battle. Let me ask you a question, and
give me the answer. 8Are you going to discredit my justice and condemn me so that
you can say you are right? 9Are you as strong as God, and can you shout as loudly as
he?
Job 40:15 -
24 (TLB)
15“Take
a look at the Behemoth[1]!
I made him, too, just as I made you! He eats grass like an ox. 16See his powerful loins and the muscles of his belly. 17His tail is as straight as a cedar. The sinews of his thighs
are tightly knit together. 18His
vertebrae lie straight as a tube of brass. His ribs are like iron bars. 19How ferocious he is among all of God’s creation, so let
whoever hopes to master him bring a sharp sword! 20The mountains offer their best food to him—the other wild
animals on which he preys. 21He
lies down under the lotus plants, hidden by the reeds, 22covered
by their shade among the willows there beside the stream. 23He is not disturbed by raging rivers, not even when the
swelling Jordan rushes down upon him. 24No one
can catch him off guard or put a ring in his nose and lead him away.
Job 41:1 -
34 (TLB)
1“Can you catch Leviathan with a hook and line? Or put a
noose around his tongue? 2Can
you tie him with a rope through the nose, or pierce his jaw with a spike? 3Will he beg you to desist or try to flatter you from your
intentions? 4Will
he agree to let you make him your slave for life? 5Can
you make a pet of him like a bird, or give him to your little girls to play
with? 6Do
fishing partners sell him to the fishmongers? 7Will his hide be hurt by darts, or his head with a harpoon? 8“If you lay your hands upon him, you will long remember the
battle that ensues and you will never try it again! 9No, it’s useless to try to capture him. It is frightening
even to think about it! 10No one dares to stir him up, let alone try to
conquer him. And if no one can stand before him, who can stand
before me? 11I owe no one anything. Everything under the heaven is mine. 12“I
should mention, too, the tremendous strength in his limbs and throughout his
enormous frame. 13Who can penetrate his hide, or who dares come within reach
of his jaws? 14For his teeth are terrible. 15-17His overlapping scales are his pride, making a tight seal so
no air can get between them, and nothing can penetrate. 18“When
he sneezes, the sunlight sparkles like lightning across the vapor droplets. His
eyes glow like sparks. 19Fire leaps from his mouth. 20Smoke
flows from his nostrils, like steam from a boiling pot that is fired by dry
rushes. 21Yes, his breath would kindle coals—flames leap from his
mouth. 22“The
tremendous strength in his neck strikes terror wherever he goes. 23His
flesh is hard and firm, not soft and fat. 24His heart is hard as rock, just like a millstone. 25When
he stands up, the strongest are afraid. Terror grips them. 26No
sword can stop him, nor spear nor dart nor pointed shaft. 27-28Iron is nothing but straw to him, and brass is rotten wood.
Arrows cannot make him flee. Sling stones are as ineffective as straw. 27-28Iron
is nothing but straw to him, and brass is rotten wood. Arrows cannot make him
flee. Sling stones are as ineffective as straw. 29Clubs
do no good, and he laughs at the javelins hurled at him. 30His
belly is covered with scales as sharp as shards; they tear up the ground as he
drags through the mud. 31-32“He
makes the water boil with his commotion. He churns the depths. He leaves a
shining wake of froth behind him. One would think the sea was made of
frost! 31-32“He makes the water boil with his commotion. He churns the
depths. He leaves a shining wake of froth behind him. One would think the sea
was made of frost! 33There is nothing else so fearless anywhere on earth. 34Of all
the beasts, he is the proudest—monarch of all that he sees.”
one quick disclaimer
Although the Bible
contains history and scientific information, the purpose of God’s Word is not
textbook or reference volume. The Bible
is Theo-logical, revealing of God to humankind and helping us understand our
Creator. The Bible’s purpose is not to
satisfy our curiosity, it is given to help us know and have relationship with
the One who loves us, and is Sovereign of the universe.
The
Simple answer
From whence cometh
the dinosaurs? God made them. Just like he made us, God created Behemoth,
the land monster, and Leviathan, creature of the seas. That he made them a long, long time ago is
hardly debatable, or even necessarily debatable. We have the fossil records that show they
existed, validating what Job indicated, they were huge, ferocious, hideous and
ruthless monster-like creatures, which no longer exist (unless you count the IRS).
Perhaps a greater
question associated with the dinosaurs than “where” is “why”. Why, indeed, would a loving God create such
mean critters to roam around devouring other beings? One key verse in understanding God’s “why” is
Job 41:10. In pointing to the dreaded
Leviathan God says:
No one dares to stir him
up, let alone try to conquer him. And if
no one can stand before him, who can stand before me?
God helps us
understand his sovereignty over everything by pointing to a mere created being
– fierce as it is – too much for a mortal to handle. He says…Look at that beast; you wouldn’t pick a
fight with him for all the wealth of Solomon’s kingdom. I created that beast without breaking a sweat,
and yet you think you might have the stuff to take me on?
The dinosaurs,
including the biggest and meanest of them, Behemoth and Leviathan, serve as a
metaphor for everything that’s wrong in this fallen world. Satan, himself is personified in Leviathan[2] as
being the chief engineer of evil and sin.
Isaiah 27:1
(TLB)
In that day the Lord will
take his terrible, swift sword and punish leviathan, the swiftly moving
serpent, the coiling, writhing serpent, the dragon of the sea.
In Biblical thought
every sort of woe and evil that has come upon humankind traces to the tempter –
Satan. But, in God’s kindness, we also
see the demise of Leviathan.
Just like the
ferocity and terror of Behemoth and Leviathan mirror the effects of sin – such
as terrorism, war and injustice at every level – so the extinction of the
dinosaurs give us a tight glimpse of what is going to be the fate of Satan and
his trade. Revelation 19 teaches us that
Behemoth and Leviathan that old dragon are cast into the lake of fire for
eternity. Sin and death shall be no
more!
The dinosaurs
controlled planet earth for a season, just like Satan is the prince of darkness
here and now. But his rule is limited,
because God’s design included his eventual defeat and destruction. We humans could not do this for ourselves;
hence the cross:
Hebrews 2:14
- 15 (TLB)
Since we, God’s children, are human beings—made of flesh and
blood—he became flesh and blood too by being born in human form; for only as a
human being could he die and in dying break the power of the devil who had the
power of death. 15Only in that way could he
deliver those who through fear of death have been living all their lives as
slaves to constant dread.
what
do we do with that?
God had a purpose
for creating Behemoth and Leviathan – to show us how far out of reach our eternity
is without him. But his far greater
purpose is to show us how close his hand is extending towards us to offer that
eternity by the cross of Christ.
What we do with
that knowledge is to respond to Christ’s offer by accepting Him as Savior,
making Him Lord over our lives, and trusting our future to His loving care and
kindness.
Romans 15:4 (TLB)
4These
things that were written in the Scriptures so long ago are to teach us patience
and to encourage us so that we will look forward expectantly to the time when
God will conquer sin and death.
John 20:31 (TLB)
31but these are recorded so that you will believe that he is
the Messiah, the Son of God, and that believing in him you will have life.
The demise of sin,
sickness, sadness and death is on its way as certainly as the extinction of
Behemoth and Leviathan. It’s like we say
in the graveyard at every funeral when we quote Paul:
…in
a moment, in the twinkling of an eye….
And we quote John Donne…
…death
be not proud….death, thou shalt die!
No comments:
Post a Comment