We were looking at the seasons and the time for laughter in Ecclesiastes and I wanted to share something that I was reading with my daughter that we found to have been humorous.
What was really surprising to us was that it was God who was telling the joke this time!
We first saw it beginning in verse one of chapter forty-one when God was speaking to Job. Job had questioned God about his condition. If you are not familiar with this; Job had been through every type of suffering a person could experience and he had asked God why this could happen to him. It was after that statement by Job that God proceeded to ask all kinds of things. Let's look at some of those questions in chapter forty-one of Job,
Job 41:1 Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?
Job 41:2 Canst thou put an hook into his nose? or bore his jaw through with a thorn?
Leviathan was a huge sea creature that some believe met the modern day descriptions of a dragon and I would agree with that. If you can, picture a dragon in the sea and a man trying to catch it with a fishing hook or a piece of twine with some food tied to it. What do you think would happen if Job could catch a dragon this way? In my imagination I envisioned that dragon yanking Job right into the sea and eating the hook, food and Job!
So what do you think Job was thinking when God asked him this? Job was one of the wisest men that ever lived!
Verse two is a continuation of the teasing of Job by God. Then it gets even funnier as we read verse three and four,
Job 41:3 Will he make many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words unto thee?
Job 41:4 Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant for ever?
God asks Job if the big burly dragon will ask over and over again to let him go or if it will speak kind words to him when he catches it on his hook. I just couldn't help but laugh at this picture that God was painting for Job. Then God asks Job if the dragon would make a covenant! Can you just see this sea creature promising Job that he would do anything if he would just set him free!
Next, God asks Job if he would take the dragon to be his servant and to have it work for him for ever. I think God may have used the term "for ever" just in case Job was picturing a young dragon and perhaps he thought it would be possible. But the thought of keeping it after it had grown into a huge beast was impossible!
The next verses were full of humor,
Job 41:5 Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? (make him a pet) or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens?(put him on a leash for the young ladies to enjoy)
Obviously the dragon didn't make a good pet! I know that there is a cartoon that my girl has watched with a pet dragon that flies them all over the place on it's back, but it is just a cartoon! It isn't going to happen! You know it; I know it and Job knew it too! Do you think Job may have been grinning by now at Gods questions?
Job 41:6 Shall the companions make a banquet of him?(cut him up and cook him for dinner) shall they part him among the merchants? (cut up and sell his parts)
Would they eat him for dinner? Yuck! First of all, a barb or knife wouldn't even penetrate his skin so how would you cut him up and secondly, how would you eat something this tough? I know we men have tried to eat anything that didn't eat us first but I believe Job probably would have turned his nose up at this dish!
Job 41:7 Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish spears?
Job 41:8 Lay thine hand upon him, remember the battle, do no more.
Again God asks if Job has thought of a way to capture this creature and God says that you better remember in times past how anyone that laid their hand on him didn't live, so don't even try it!
Job 41:9 Behold, the hope of him is in vain: shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him?
Job 41:10 None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me?
Any of mans hope of conquering this creature is useless, as people fainted at just the sight of this ferocious creature! I don't believe it was talking about a crocodile here as some would say but rather something more like the Loch nest monster we have all heard stories about.
God goes on and on describing this creature to Job! Maybe Job had been so busy running his huge estate and helping solve the problems of the world that he had never seen one of these creatures or known of it's great strength, so God goes on describing it in great detail .
I found the humor of God when I saw how Job must have felt being asked all of these obvious questions! We were all created in the image and likeness of God and we must admit, we love to hear jokes! In this rare passage of the scriptures I see that God enjoyed the teasing of Job with His pop quiz on "How to catch and tame a sea monster" (a leviathan).
Let's learn two things from this.
I want to be able to teach my child without being so serious all the time. I can learn from the example of our Creator here about how to approach her when she feels she knows it all and bring her to a more teachable frame of mind.
Second, I have learned that God is our mighty Creator that has dominion over all creatures, great and small so we might as well accept what He wants to do in our lives and stop fighting against his powerful hand. He created the leviathan and that creature is unstoppable! Need I say more?
I have learned like Job did, not to question the things that God has planned for my life. God wants what is best for me if I will just be patient and trust in Him.
Let's pray,
My Jehovah Rophe, I come to your throne today, thanking you for your understanding that we have need of humor in order to heal emotionally, spiritually and physically. I thank you for showing us the humor in our mistakes and misunderstandings and at the same time showing us the power with which you have created all that we see around us in the world. Help us to remember to laugh when it is the season for laughing! Keep your hand of protection about me, my family and all who are joining me in this prayer today. Keep me from evil so that I will not be grieved but rather be happy and be able to partake in your laughter and the joy only you can give today!
Names of God
JEHOVAH-ROPHE: "The Lord Who Heals" Ex. 15:22-26. From "rophe" ("to heal"); implies spiritual, emotional as well as physical healing. (Jer. 30:17, 3:22; Isa. 61:1) God heals body, soul and spirit; all levels of man's being.
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