Job 40:15 - Meaning and Application

God ends his speech by describing two huge and powerful animals, greater than human strength: behemoth and leviathan. In these verses, he describes behemoth. He is saying, in effect, “Look at behemoth and see whether you can fight with the One who made him and gave him his strength. It is wiser to submit to God and make peace with him.”

The word “behemoth” means beasts in general, but here it must mean one particular animal. Some think it is the bull. Others think it is the hippopotamus, a river animal known in Egypt that lives in the Nile and comes onto land to feed. But the older and more common view is that this is the elephant, a very strong and noble creature, larger than almost any other, and known for great intelligence. Since chapter 38 and 39 have already described many four-footed animals, it would be strange if this one were left out.

The description begins with the elephant’s body, which is very strong and well formed. His strength is in his loins, and his bones are like iron bars compared with other creatures (Job 40:16, 40:18). His back is so strong that, though his tail is not large, he moves it like a cedar with great force (Job 40:17). Some take this to mean his trunk, since the word can refer to an extreme part of the body, and in that part he has remarkable strength. An elephant’s back, loins, and thigh muscles are so strong that he can carry a large wooden tower and many fighting men. No other animal matches the elephant for bodily strength, and that is the main point here.

He also feeds on plants, not on other animals. He eats grass like an ox (Job 40:15), the mountains provide him food (Job 40:20), and the animals around him do not fear him as they would fear a lion. They can move about him in peace. This shows God’s goodness, because such a huge creature needs much food, yet he does not live by killing others. If he did, many animals would have to die to keep him alive.

It also supports the goodness of a plant-based diet, which was God’s first arrangement for human food (Genesis 1:29). Even an elephant, like a horse or ox, can be sustained without flesh, so why not a human being? God gives us liberty to eat meat, but we should not be greedy eaters of flesh (Proverbs 23:20). It also points us toward a quiet and peaceful life. Who would not rather be like the elephant, with calm neighbors around him, than like the lion, who makes everyone afraid?

The elephant also rests under the shade of trees (Job 40:21), which cover him with their shadow (Job 40:22). There he has open air to breathe. Lions, since they live by hunting, must hide in dark dens when they rest, and they live in caves and thickets (Job 38:40). Those who are a terror to others often live in fear themselves. But those who let others live in peace can be at ease too. Even a weak shelter, like reeds, marshes, or willows by a stream, is enough for those who mean no harm.

He is also a great and eager drinker, though not of wine or strong drink, which is a human sin when abused. He drinks plain water. His size is so great that he seems able to drink up a river, if given enough time and not rushed (Job 40:23). Or the meaning may be that he does not hurry when he drinks, as people do when they are afraid. He trusts his strength and safety, so he drinks calmly.

His eyes seem to want more than he can actually take, for when he is very thirsty he acts as if he could drink up Jordan, even taking it in by sight, as it were (Job 40:24). In the same way, a greedy person sets his eyes on wealth and longs for more. The beast is also so strong in his nose that he can push through snares or nets placed in the water to catch fish. He does not care about obstacles in his path, because his strength is so great and his appetite so strong.

The point of all this is not just to admire a large animal, as one might at a display, but to humble ourselves before the great God. He made this vast creature, wonderfully formed and fitted for life. It is the work of his hands, the product of his wisdom, and the display of his power. This is behemoth, which I made (Job 40:15). Whatever strength this animal has comes from God. So God must be acknowledged as having all power from himself, and no one should dare contend with his mighty arm.

Behemoth is called the chief of the ways of God, an outstanding example of the Creator’s power and wisdom (Job 40:19). If you read the accounts historians give of the elephant, you will see that its abilities come closer to reason than those of any other beast. For that reason, it is rightly called chief among the lower creatures. No animal below man is more remarkable.

God also made behemoth with man. He made both of them on the same day, and both were placed on the same earth and in the same world (Genesis 1:25, 1:26). That is why man and beast are both preserved by God’s providence as fellow members of the same household (Psalm 36:6). “I made that beast as well as you, and he does not argue with me,” God is saying. “Why then do you argue? Why should you demand special treatment because I made you (Job 10:9), when I made behemoth too?” God made both, and therefore he can govern both as he pleases.

“I made him along with you, so that you may look at him and learn.” We do not need to go far to find proofs of God’s almighty power and rule over all things. They are near us, with us, and always before our eyes wherever we are.

He who made behemoth, the great beast, can also bring his sword near to him (Job 40:19). The same hand that made him, despite his huge size and strength, can also unmake him whenever he chooses. God can kill an elephant as easily as a worm or a fly, without any trouble and without doing any wrong. God gave every creature its life, and he can take back the life he gave. Does he not have the right to do what he wants with what belongs to him?

And he is able to do it. The one who can create by a word can surely destroy by a word too. He can speak a creature into nothing just as easily as he first spoke it out of nothing. Behemoth may also stand here, as leviathan does later, for proud rulers and oppressors. God had just challenged Job to bring such people low, and they imagine themselves just as safe from God’s judgments as the elephant, with its bones like bronze and iron.

But the one who made the human soul knows every way into it. He can bring the sword of justice, his anger, near to it and strike the most sensitive place. The maker of a machine knows how to take it apart. So woe to anyone who fights against his Maker. The one who made him has power to make him miserable, and he will not make him happy unless he is willing to be ruled by him.