If you have grandkids, chances are you will get to see some of the greatest movies of all time. Among the ones I’ve seen are “Toy Story,” “Despicable Me,” “SpyKids,” “Speed Racer,” “Wreck It Ralph,” “Despicable Me II,” and “The Incredibles.”
One that should have been up for several Academy Awards is
“Monsters vs. Aliens.” And I love the
following dialogue between Dr. Cockroach and Missing Link and B.O.B. on the one
side and the newly captured 49ft 11inch monster called “Susan” (later named
“Ginormica” by her fellow monster team) on the other side:
Missing Link (bottom right): Well, at least I'm talking! First new
monster in years, and we couldn't get, like, a wolfman or a mummy? You know,
someone I can play cards with.
Dr. Cockroach: Might we ask for your name, madam?
Susan (the voice of Reese Witherspoon; top left): Susan.
B.O.B (which is an acronym for “Benzoate Ostylezene Bicarbonate,”
a more or less indestructible gelatinous blob, bottom left): No, no, no, we
mean your monster name. What do people scream when they see you
coming? You know, like "Look out! Here comes..."?
[Silence]
Susan: Susan.
Dr. Cockroach: Really?
B.O.B.: [spookily] "Suuuusaaan!" Ooh, I just
scared myself! That is scary!
Our granddaughter Natalie does a wonderful impression of that last
line. It’s humorous to see her wave her
little arms as she mimics B.O.B. by saying, “Suuuusannn!”
Job, still in his pitiful state, is presented with the portraits
of two of earth’s greatest monsters – Behemoth (here in chapter 40) and
Leviathan (chapter 41). They instilled
quite a bit more fear in the hearts of people than did the bride-to-be turned
monster “Suuuusannnnnnnnnn.”
40:15 "Behold now, Behemoth, which I made as well as you; He
eats grass like an ox. 16 Behold now,
his strength in his loins and his power in the muscles of his belly. 17 He bends his tail like a cedar; the sinews
of his thighs are knit together. 18 His
bones are tubes of bronze; His limbs are like bars of iron. 19 He is the first of the ways of God; let
his maker bring near his sword. 20
Surely the mountains bring him food, and all the beasts of the field play
there. 21 Under the lotus plants he lies
down, in the covert of the reeds and the marsh.
22 The lotus plants cover him with shade; the willows of the brook
surround him. 23 If a river rages, he is
not alarmed; He is confident, though the Jordan
The word “Behemoth” literally means “beast,” but it is in the form
of what is called in Hebrew a “majestic plural.” So Behemoth could very well be translated as
“Colossal Beast.” And note that in verse
19 this creature is referred to as “…the first of the ways of God.” Thus Behemoth
is presented to us as the largest or most premier of God’s land animals.
While the interpretations of just what Behemoth was have
oscillated between the mythical and the real, most lean toward some sort of
enormous animal that actually did (or does) exit. Some refer to this monster as the wild ox,
some the elephant, some the rhinoceros, while most commentators seem to settle
on the hippopotamus. A number of the
rabbis supposed that a huge monster was referred to, that ate every day “the
grass of a thousand mountains.”
But a few seem to feel that this portrait refers to some
prehistoric creature such as the brontosaurus.
In his commentary, Barnes notes this about the phrase in verse 16
“the muscles of his belly”: “The reference is to the muscles and tendons of
this part of the body, and perhaps particularly to the fact that the
hippopotamus, by crawling so much on his belly among the stones of the stream
or on land, acquires a special hardness or strength in those parts of the body.
This clearly proves that the elephant is not intended. In that animal, this is
the most tender part of the body. Pliny and Solinus both remark that the
elephant has a thick, hard skin on the back, but that the skin of the belly is
soft and tender. Pliny says…that the rhinoceros, when about to attack an
elephant, “seeks his belly, as if he knew that that was the most tender part.”
But those that argue for the hippo based on verse 16 seem to
ignore the first part of verse 17, “He bends his tail like a cedar.” The arguments they make to fit this phrase
into their choice of the hippopotamus with its little curly-cue tail remind me
of the sign that hung over the old black smith’s shop, “All kinds of fancy twistings
and turnings done here!”
Nothing in this passage from Job contradicts the interpretation of
Behemoth as the brontosaurus; however there are elements in this passage that
contradict both the hippopotamus (the river horse) and the elephant.
Barnes writes, “The description of the movement of the “tail” here
given, would agree much better with some of the extinct orders of animals whose
remains have been recently discovered and arranged by Cuvier, than with that of
the hippopotamus. Particularly, it would agree with the account of the
ichthyosaurus…though the other parts of the animal here described would not
accord well with this.
And note this from “Answers in Genesis,” “In Job 40, the Lord is infallibly describing a real historical creature, called ‘Behemoth’. No known living animal, such as the elephant or hippopotamus, fits the passage adequately. A detailed analysis of the key clause Job 40:17a suggests that the most natural interpretation is that the tail of Behemoth is compared to a cedar for its great size. Consequently, the most reasonable interpretation is that Behemoth was a large animal, now extinct, which had a large tail. Thus some type of extinct dinosaur should still be considered…” (http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/tj/v15/n2/Behemoth)
To continue with the article from “Answers in Genesis, “It is not
surprising that before fossils of large extinct animals were found in great
numbers, older conservative commentators only tried to identify Behemoth with
some of the largest known living animals (even though none of these animals are
suitable). The possibility of very large extinct animals did not really occur
to them!”
This discourse on Monster Number One ends with this bit of advice
in verse 24 (from The Message): “But
you’d never want him for a pet—you’d never be able to housebreak him!”
Brontosaurus? Hippo? Elephant? Some other real or mythical
creature? Whatever this monster was, you
would never have him for a household pet!
We will get to the question of “Why a treatise on Monsters and
what that could possibly have to do with Job’s suffering?” at the end of
chapter 41.
Finally, did you catch the phrase in verse 15, “Behemoth, which I
made as well as you”? I get the feeling
that in the midst of this portrait of this massive land creature, God wanted
Job to know that He had intimately planned and fashioned Job’s physical frame
even before he was born, that He hadn’t given up on him, and that He was also working
behind the scenes in the current trial that he found himself engulfed in.
I like these lyrics from the song “Need You Now” by Plumb:
Well, everybody's got a story to tell
And everybody's got a wound to be healed
I want to believe there's beauty here
'Cause oh, I get so tired of holding on
I can't let go, I can't move on
I want to believe there's meaning here
“I want to believe there’s meaning here.” Job must have thought that. This first verse (and actually all of the
lyrics) seems to fit so well into what Job was going through…you can listen to
the song by clicking on this link: (Need You Now)
The chorus and the rest of the verses are as follows:
How many times have you heard me cry out
"God please take this"?
How many times have you given me strength to
Just keep breathing?
Oh I need you
God, I need you now.
Standing on a road I didn't plan
Wondering how I got to where I am
I'm trying to hear that still small voice
I'm trying to hear above the noise
How many times have you heard me cry out
"God please take this"?
How many times have you given me strength to
Just keep breathing?
Oh I need you
God, I need you now.
Though I walk,
Though I walk through the shadows
And I, I am so afraid
Please stay, please stay right beside me
With every single step I take
How many times have you heard me cry out?
And how many times have you given me strength?
How many times have you heard me cry out
"God please take this"?
How many times have you given me strength to
Just keep breathing?
Oh I need you
God, I need you now.
I need you now
Oh I need you
God, I need you now.
I need you now
I need you now
