Job 41 The Lord’s Challenge Continues
“Can you catch Leviathan with a hook or put a noose around its jaw? Can you tie it with a rope through the nose or pierce its jaw with a spike? Will it beg you for mercy or implore you for pity? Will it agree to work for you, to be your slave for life? Can you make it a pet like a bird, or give it to your little girls to play with? Will merchants try to buy it to sell it in their shops? Will its hide be hurt by spears or its head by a harpoon?”
“If you lay a hand on it, you will certainly remember the battle that follows. You won’t try that again! No, it is useless to try to capture it. The hunter who attempts it will be knocked down.
And since no one dares to disturb it, who then can stand up to me? Who has given me anything that I need to pay back? Everything under heaven is mine.”
“I want to emphasize Leviathan’s limbs and its enormous strength and graceful form. Who can strip off its hide, and who can penetrate its double layer of armor? Who could pry open its jaws? For its teeth are terrible! The scales on its back are like rows of shields tightly sealed together. They are so close together that no air can get between them. Each scale sticks tight to the next. They interlock and cannot be penetrated.”
“When it sneezes, it flashes light! Its eyes are like the red of dawn. Lightning leaps from its mouth; flames of fire flash out. Smoke streams from its nostrils like steam from a pot heated over burning rushes. Its breath would kindle coals, for flames shoot from its mouth.”
“The tremendous strength in Leviathan’s neck strikes terror wherever it goes. Its flesh is hard and firm and cannot be penetrated. Its heart is hard as rock, hard as a millstone. When it rises, the mighty are afraid, gripped by terror. No sword can stop it, no spear, dart, or javelin.
Iron is nothing but straw to that creature, and bronze is like rotten wood. Arrows cannot make it flee. Stones shot from a sling are like bits of grass. Clubs are like a blade of grass, and it laughs at the swish of javelins. Its belly is covered with scales as sharp as glass. It plows up the ground as it drags through the mud.
“Leviathan makes the water boil with its commotion. It stirs the depths like a pot of ointment.
The water glistens in its wake, making the sea look white. Nothing on earth is its equal, no other creature so fearless. Of all the creatures, it is the proudest. It is the king of beasts.”
What is Leviathan? The name “leviathan” means “twisted one” and may refer to some ancient dragon-type creature, perhaps a hold-over from the dinosaurs. Such a meaning precludes Leviathan being a whale, although there are some people who have argued that Leviathan might be an enormous crocodile. But consider the references to the ocean, Leviathan has to be some kind of gigantic snake-like creature. Although some people choose to believe that this passage refers to whales, whales do not fit the “twisted one” description.
From time to time, there are reports of fantastic snake-like creatures that wash up on remote beaches. It is presumed that these creatures live at great depths and are therefore rarely seen. Throughout history, there have been reports of sea monsters, and although many of these reports might be exaggerated, there might be truth behind some of them.
While God is referring to Behemoth and Leviathan as creatures, they also represent Satan and his evil minions. Here God is querying Job: If Job has no power over these enormous evil beasts, how can he possibly have any power over Satan? Obviously, Job is powerless before Satan; yet, God is all powerful and has already defeated Satan. God’s most notable victory over Satan occurred at Calvary when Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for the sins of the whole world. Satan did everything He could to stop Jesus and to frustrate God’s plans, but God triumphed and Jesus defeated sin and death by dying and then rising from the dead.
It is a mistake to become so obsessed with identifying these mythical creatures that we fail to learn the spiritual lesson embodied here. God is sovereign. God has absolute control over His creation, even though He allows men to make bad choices and to turn away from Him. But in the end, God will triumph and Satan, Behemoth, and Leviathan will go into the pits of hell and remain there.
May God help us, so that we worship Him in His infinite glory!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, we praise You for Your greatness, Your power, Your might, Your Wisdom, and Your love. Protect us from Satan and all his tools. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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