he who has eyes...

“Look at the behemoth…” [Job 40:15] No seriously.. look at it!

I’m not sure what a behemoth is. I don’t think anyone really knows, aside from the fine folks from Final Fantasy (how’s that for alliteration?). Footnotes often say that it is possibly the elephant or hippopotamus, but it’s one of those things that is lost in translation (much like it’s strange-creature-cousin the leviathan, which is often compared to the crocodile, though I’ve never seen a crocodile breath fire: “firebrands stream from his mouth; sparks of fire shoot out.” [Job 41:19]).

Along with mentioning this strange creature in His response to Job’s continual questioning of Him, God brings up several other classic and oft-pondered questions such as:

• “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?” [Job 39:1]

• “Will the wild ox consent to serve you?” [Job 39:9]

And of course:

• “Who let the wild donkey go free?” [Job 39:5]

a question to which Rob Bell gives us a brilliant answer — the same guy who let the dogs out.

So this passage is basically a series of questions designed to put Job in his place. Though Job is so wise and has lived so many years, he doesn’t even begin to understand God’s creation itself, let alone its Creator. To question his Creator to this extent is certainly a foolish move.

Here we have a very lengthy response by God (the longest God-speech this side of giving the law) describing the unknown and perhaps unknowability (yup, it’s a word!) of His creation. We certainly live in a place in which we are surrounded by the beauty of God, and God loves to show us this beauty. Yet this world is filled with such mystery and hidden intrigue. Very often we assume we know everything, for we are such a great culture in such a great civilization (you can almost hear the same sarcasm God uses toward Job in Job 38:21). But, personally, I don’t have a clue what a behemoth is. I don’t have a clue about so much in nature, even though I’ve studied it for most of my adult life. It’s not the behavior of the quarks and gluons within the nucleus of an atom or the production of very high energy cosmic rays from active galactic nuclei that intrigues me. It’s the things I come across in everyday life where I am filled with awe at His creation that really get to me. These are the things about nature that I cannot begin to understand and that point to something Greater in this world. These are the things that I desire to understand more.

And it should be our delight to seek to understand and appreciate these things (”It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.” [Proverbs 25:2]).

Of the questions God poses to Job, God is the only one who truly knows the answers. Indeed, God knows who let the wild donkey go free. He is the Creator. He is the Sustainer. He is at work in everything Job sees around him (and even in the things Job does not see).

All this points to one exciting facet of the world in which we live:

We can see the very nature of God everywhere around us.

Jesus Himself did this: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” [John 5:19] He saw God in the sinner. He saw God in the blind. He saw God in the outcast, the broken, the lost, the hurting, the sick. He knew God’s heart towards healing and restoring them all. And He did it.

And, as followers of Christ, we are called to be like Jesus. We are called to do as He did. We are called to heal the sick, to give sight to the blind, and so on. We have been placed on this earth to bring glory to God — whether it be by aiding Him in restoring His creation or simply by finding His beauty in the things He so gloriously concealed.

God still moves. He still creates. He still sustains. And, I desire to witness Him do these things and appreciate Him for it — through my life, the lives of others, and simply through His wonderful creation.

So, while you’re contemplating these things, consider also the behemoth. And while you’re doing that, I’ll be over here, looking through your stuff.