Lenten Study Job Ch 41
In this chapter, legendary creatures are brought into a clear description to compare Job’s trespass against God. We may wonder what Leviathan was, but Job knew. We may not have actually seen the creature, but we have an imagination, and sometimes that’s all we need.
"There was a man in the land of Uz" by andrevanb is marked with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.Caption
1 “Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook? Or press down his tongue with a cord?
Job 41:1 (NASB)
Just as Behemoth was a massive land-based creature Man could not conquer, so is Leviathan, an ocean-going creature of the same size and scope. This creature cannot be caught on a hook and line nor even have its mouth closed with a rope. This is a massive creature that the people of the time were powerless to affect.
2 “Can you put a rope in his nose Or pierce his jaw with a hook?
3 “Will he make many supplications to you, Or will he speak to you soft words?
4 “Will he make a covenant with you? Will you take him for a servant forever?
5 “Will you play with him as with a bird, Or will you bind him for your maidens?
6 “Will the traders bargain over him? Will they divide him among the merchants?
7 “Can you fill his skin with harpoons, Or his head with fishing spears?
8 “Lay your hand on him; Remember the battle; you will not do it again!
Job 41:2-8 (NASB)
This is a creature that cannot be domesticated. It can’t even be captured. It is a purely free creature human beings have to deal with. It is a force of nature for all the effect humans have on changing any aspect of how it lives, moves, and breathes.
9 “Behold, your expectation is false; Will you be laid low even at the sight of him?
10 “No one is so fierce that he dares to arouse him; Who then is he that can stand before Me?
Job 41:9-10 (NASB)
Everyone knows there is nothing that can be done with this creature. Fear is the predominant emotion as people try to escape whatever Leviathan does if it comes around. God made Leviathan, so who then can stand before God? God uses the known creature to illicit the emotions He wants before making that last statement because He knows the listeners then take the next step and equate the seen with the unseen.
11 “Who has given to Me that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine.
Job 41:11 (NASB)
No one has loaned God anything to make all of creation. He did it Himself. God created everything that is. He owes nothing to anyone.
12 “I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, Or his mighty strength, or his orderly frame.
13 “Who can strip off his outer armor? Who can come within his double mail?
14 “Who can open the doors of his face? Around his teeth there is terror.
15 “His strong scales are his pride, Shut up as with a tight seal.
16 “One is so near to another That no air can come between them.
17 “They are joined one to another; They clasp each other and cannot be separated.
Job 41:12-17 (NASB)
This description of Leviathan is again conveying the awe and majesty this animal instills in anyone who looks at it. Every aspect of the thing inspires this feeling. The descriptions above and the ones that follow make me think of a modern-day submarine, but this was a creature God created and one that Job was familiar with, regardless of how fantastic it sounds.
18 “His sneezes flash forth light, And his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.
19 “Out of his mouth go burning torches; Sparks of fire leap forth.
20 “Out of his nostrils smoke goes forth As from a boiling pot and burning rushes.
21 “His breath kindles coals, And a flame goes forth from his mouth.
22 “In his neck lodges strength, And dismay leaps before him.
23 “The folds of his flesh are joined together, Firm on him and immovable.
Job 41:18-23 (NASB)
Legends tell us of fire-breathing dragons and other fantastic creatures. This description matches what we would consider to be a fire-breathing dragon. Do I believe actual dragons existed as depicted in modern films and stories? I don’t know. Do I believe the above-described creature called Leviathan existed that had smoke from its nostrils, flame from its mouth, and armor-like welded metal? Yes. Scripture tells us it lived. God Himself here says He made it, so it existed. Will we ever find any evidence beyond God’s Word that it existed? I have no idea, but I don’t need that evidence. I have a record of it that I trust.
24 “His heart is as hard as a stone, Even as hard as a lower millstone.
25 “When he raises himself up, the mighty fear; Because of the crashing they are bewildered.
26 “The sword that reaches him cannot avail, Nor the spear, the dart or the javelin.
27 “He regards iron as straw, Bronze as rotten wood.
Job 41:24-27 (NASB)
Imagine being strong enough to regard iron rebar or a wrought iron fence as nothing more than a blade of straw grass? Bronze was an alloy of copper and iron. Stronger than iron but still not as strong as steel, Leviathan considers this to be rotted wood. This creature had immense power.
28 “The arrow cannot make him flee; Slingstones are turned into stubble for him.
29 “Clubs are regarded as stubble; He laughs at the rattling of the javelin.
30 “His underparts are like sharp potsherds; He spreads out like a threshing sledge on the mire.
31 “He makes the depths boil like a pot; He makes the sea like a jar of ointment.
Job 41:28-31 (NASB)
These verses speak to the size of Leviathan. Everything about the creature talks about how big and armored it was. The final verse in this passage puts the beast in perspective. Consider that the sea is where the creature swims, but when you view it in the ocean, it makes the water look like a tiny jar of ointment compared to the scope and scale of the animal’s body swimming in the water.
32 “Behind him he makes a wake to shine; One would think the deep to be gray-haired.
33 “Nothing on earth is like him, One made without fear.
34 “He looks on everything that is high; He is king over all the sons of pride.”
Job 41:32-34 (NASB)
“He is king over all the sons of pride.” Man. We are the “sons of pride.” Leviathan is a warning to us to remember no matter how strong, powerful, or smart we get there is always something out there that can take us down. This is as true today as it was in Job’s day. Leviathan may have passed into legend at this point, but death still waits for every person. On the day we pass on, we are all brought to the same level before the judgment seat of Christ. On that day, we shall stand for what we did and did not do in this life, not how much money we had, people who reported to us, or material possessions we’d amassed. On that day, our heart will be put on the scale of the Lord, and it will be weighed against His measure. What will the outcome be?