Job 4:9

By the breath of God,

            They perish,

                        By a snort from Him, 

                                    They are consumed.

Hurricane Nicholas came this way last night. My favorite tree got damaged again. After lightning stuck it that one time when I was outside, it has now been damaged by two separate hurricanes. After I cut the damage out this time it will be the third time to trim out enough to be another tree.

When I read this verse, my first thoughts go to a fire breathing dragon. The dragon in the latest Marvel movie is a bit different from the dragon in the Hobbit, but both are much more reptilian than the image I held in my mind as a young child. I never really thought God would look like a dragon, but I never really looked at this verse, and ones like it in the Bible, for inspiration on how God looks.

Several versions had “blast” in place of “breath” and make the image even more dragon like. I used “breath” for the inferences to life that it holds. “Destroyed” and “died” were options for “perish”, but “destroyed” seemed over kill and “died” seemed too plain.

“By a snort from Him” seems underwhelming considering the options of “By the blast of His anger”, “by the breath of His nostrils”, and “by the blast of His wrath”. The idea that they die from Him breathing on them seems sufficient that “anger” or “wrath” are redundant. “Snort” seemed equal to and simpler than “the breath of His nostrils”. “Are gone”, “perish”, and “vanish” were options for “consumed”, but “perish” was used in the first stitch and “vanish” seems too temporary for the application. “Are gone” is a very close second, but I felt “consumed” carried the necessary finality of the image.

The concept that rings true from this verse by itself is that God gives us breath and life and that He can take them away at any time He chooses. Job lost his wealth and children and then his health, but God could have just as easily taken his life for as unknowable a reason as what He allowed Satan to actually do to Job.

I take away from this the need to be thankful for each day that we awake here on earth. Not that waking up in heaven is not infinitely better, but each day is an opportunity to grow closer to God and to love those around us.

Eliphaz has said those who plow iniquity and sow trouble will perish, but not immediately and certainly not in response to others asking for God to step in at a particular point in time. The following verses make the randomness of life seem overwhelming and indeed it gets a little weird the further the chapter goes. Love God and be thankful for the opportunity to continue to show it.