Gilbert House Fellowship #254: Job 39-42

Courtesy Brian Godawa (Godawa.com)

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.


NOTE: New dates for our tour of Israel! We will lead our next tour through the Holy Land March 25–April 3, 2025, with an optional three-day extension to Jordan featuring visits to Mount Nebo, Wadi Rum, and Petra. Our special guests are Dr. Judd Burton and Doug Van Dorn!

For more information, log on to www.GilbertsInIsrael.com.

Click here for the complete archive of our New Testament Bible studies to date, and click here for the Old Testament studies to date. Or go to www.spreaker.com/show/gilbert-house-fellowship for all of the audio.

11 Comments

  1. Thank you for your beautiful teaching ! ! I have never heard of the book of Esdras before. Want to get a copy.

  2. Wow! Wow! I have gone through Job twice with you and learned so much. You are doing a great work. You truly are. What you said at the end of this weeks study blessed me so much. It gave me hope in the midst of my own personal struggles. God has a reason for my life and what I go through. The reward at the end will be worth it all. Thank you so much. God bless you.
    I can picture Sam running thru the green grass on the hills of heaven having a great time.


  3. Unicorn is the uni-horn or rhinocerous. There was also a rhinocerous with two horns in the region.

    1. Author

      That was the understanding of the King James translators, which was good for the information they had to work with. Translators are pretty sure know that rĕ’em means aurochs, the ancient strain of giant cattle we talked about during the study.

  4. I joined the study and few weeks ago, and have been blessed by you and your wife’s teaching on the book of Job.

    I hope to meet you both at the prophecy conference in Colorado Springs this year.

  5. I joined the study of the book of Job a few weeks ago, and I am blessed by you and your wife’s teaching.

    I hope to meet you all at the prophecy conference in Colorado Springs this year.

  6. Thank you, Derek and Sharon! I love going through the Bible each verse at a time with you both — I learn so much! God bless you both!

  7. Gods timing is perfect for such a time as this for Skywatchers and the blessings of it. I’m so excited for the soon return of Christ Jesus, HALLELUJAH!🙏✝️🔥

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.