Chapter 26

Job replies to Bildads interruption

v1 Job answered. He said: v2 I am weak! Say something that will help me! Try to rescue me! v3 I need wisdom! So advise me well! Show your great knowledge! v4 But you have spoken. And I do not suppose that God helped you to speak such words. I do not think that you spoke by the power of the Holy Spirit. Chapter 26 Verses 1-4 Bildads interruption did not impress Job. Such words would not help Job, who was still suffering. And Job thought that Bildads description of God was very poor. Job had studied wisdom (chapter 28). So Job believed that words about God should not merely come from the human mind. Rather, such words should come from Gods Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21). Bildads words about God were not accurate. Instead, Bildad was confusing the facts to make his own ideas seem correct. This is a terrible thing to do (2 Peter 3:16; Revelation 22:18-19). People who explain about God to other people must be very careful (James 3:1). Job then showed Bildad what Bildad should have said. And we think that Job spoke the words in Job 26:5-14 by the power of the Holy Spirit. In chapter 25, Bildads speech seemed to describe vast spaces. He spoke about heaven. He spoke about the moon and stars. He spoke about the soil. And he referred to graves. But Jobs reply seems to describe even more vast spaces. Job spoke about hell as well as heaven. He spoke about the sky and the clouds. He spoke about mysteries, for example the horizon and the rain. (Although we understand these things today, they seemed to be strange mysteries then.) Job also spoke about some events in verses 12-13. We do not know much about these events. We may not even be sure whether these are past or future events. But the Bible seems to mention the same events elsewhere. Some people think that Job was referring to stories from other ancient societies. For example, stories from the region called Mesopotamia. We do not agree. There were many ancient societies and they all had stories about their false gods. Job did not believe in these false gods. So he would refuse to listen to such stories.

God is powerful
v5 Dead people tremble painfully in a place that is deeper than even the sea. v6 But God sees that place. God even sees hell. v7 Beyond the north, there is an empty space. God balances the earth on nothing. v8 God puts the water in the clouds. The clouds do not burst, even when there is a great weight of water. v9 God covers his throne (royal seat in heaven). He places clouds in front of his throne (so that men cannot see him). v10 God placed the horizon on the sea. He separates light and darkness. v11 When God is angry, the heavens tremble. v12 God is powerful! He makes the sea calm.

 God is wise! He kills his proud enemy. v13 Gods Spirit is wonderful! He clears the skies. A sword is in Gods hand! He kills his enemy as it tries to slide away. v14 These are just a few things that God has done. We hear just a whisper from him. But his power is great, like the thunder. (Thunder is the loud noise that follows lightning.) Nobody realises how great God is. Verses 5-6 Job described hell. Elsewhere, Job was not sure whether hell exists (Job 3:13-14; Job 21:2226). But in these verses, Job was not explaining his own ideas. Instead, he was speaking by the power of the Holy Spirit. Verse 7 Many ancient people thought that the earth was on poles. Even Job mentions these poles elsewhere. But Jobs words here are correct. Scientists have proved that an empty space surrounds the world. God balances the world on nothing. Verse 8 Gods design of this world is wonderful. We need the rain for our crops. Nothing holds the rain in the sky. But the water in the clouds is often very heavy. Verse 9 Gods royal seat is in heaven. We cannot see him. But he is still ruling. He is greater than any human king. And his rule will continue always. Verse 10 God designed the day and the night. God designed the shape of the world. Wherever the sun shines, it is day. And in the shadow, it is night. This is Gods plan. He shares the daylight over the whole world in each period of 24 hours. Verse 11 God is very powerful. He created the world by his words (Genesis 1:3-26). So Gods emotions are also powerful (Psalm 2:4-6). Nobody can successfully oppose God. Verses 12-13 Verses 11-13 seem to describe a particular event. The original language of the Book of Job is called Hebrew. To understand these verses we need to look at the Hebrew words. The proud enemy in verse 12 is called RAHAB in Hebrew. This word is also in Isaiah 51:9. Isaiah seems to be describing a terrible sea animal. But he uses the animal as a description of the army from Egypt. Or, as a description of the sea. When the army from Egypt attacked Gods people, they could not escape because of the sea. But God made the sea dry. So Gods people escaped (Isaiah 51:10). But the army from Egypt drowned (Exodus chapter 14). The enemy in verse 13 is called NACHASH in Hebrew. This word usually means a snake. In the garden called Eden, the devil appeared as a NACHASH (snake). And he told Eve not to obey God (Genesis 3:1-4). This word is also in Isaiah 27:1. Isaiah described the same event as Job 26:13. But in Isaiah, the NACHASH has another name too. This name is LEVIATHAN. The word LEVIATHAN is in Job 3:8 and Job chapter 41. We have translated LEVIATHAN as crocodile. A crocodile is a dangerous animal that lives in rivers. The crocodile seems to be the animal that God described in Job chapter 41. But in both Isaiah and Job, LEVIATHAN really seems to mean the devil.

So, in the end, God will punish the devil (Revelation 20:10). This is the event that Isaiah described in Isaiah 27:1. But the words in Isaiah 27:1 are similar to Isaiah 51:9. So we think that Job was describing the devils final punishment in verses 11-13. Verse 14 God has done great things. But we do not hear about all his great deeds. God is much greater than we can ever imagine (John 21:25).