Readings for today: Job 40:6-42:17, Psalms 29
I have two dogs. One named Dusty. One named Dusty Junior. It’s kind of a quirky thing about my family that we all name our dogs “Dusty.” My mom has a Dusty. My brother has a Dusty. I’ve had seven Dusty’s in my life. My dad had like seventeen Dusty’s in his lifetime. My wife and I are already planning for the day when our older dog passes away and we need to adopt a new puppy. Yes, his name will be Dusty. I not only own dogs, I love dogs. I love playing with them. I love wrestling with them. I love walking with them. I love exploring the open space behind our house with them. My dogs also love me. They greet me every morning with excitement and energy. They follow me around when I am home. They always want to be in the same room with me. In fact, they always make sure to lay down beside me. It’s just part of our dynamic.
This is the picture I have in mind when I read about God’s interactions with Behemoth and Leviathan. I love how God describes His relationship with them. “Can you play with Leviathan, like a bird, or tie it on a leash for your girls?” (Job 41:5 NET) For my part, the image of God playing with His creation is one of the most powerful descriptions of His sovereignty. He not only rules over all He has made. He not only judges all He has made. But He is so comfortable and in such control that He relates to even the most powerful creatures on the planet like I relate to my dogs. He plays with them. He ties them on a leash. He leads them around by the nose. He hooks them like a fish. It’s a beautiful, delightful picture.
It’s also a picture that confronts us just like it confronted Job with the vast and unbridgeable distance that exists between us and God. God is wholly other. He is not like us. He is not the best version of us. He is not the ideal projection of us. He is unique. He stands alone and apart. He has no rival and no equal. He is not part of His creation but stands above it and beyond it. He is not answerable to us. He is not responsible to us. He is not accountable to us. Just like my dogs have no right to demand anything from me, I have no right to demand anything from God. This is the lesson Job learned and it’s the lesson we need to learn as well.
Readings for tomorrow: Exodus 1-4