SCRIPTURE: JOB 41
God continued to ask Job these questions about Leviathan:
- Can you pull in the leviathan with a fishhook or tie down his tongue with a rope? (v. 1)
- Can you put a cord through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook? (v. 2)
- Will he keep begging you for mercy? Will he speak to you with gentle words? (v. 3)
- Will he make an agreement with you for you to take him as your slave for life? (v. 4)
- Can you make a pet of him like a bird or put him on a leash for your girls? (v. 5)
- Will traders barter for him? Will they divide him up among the merchants? (v. 6)
- Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears? (v. 7)
- Who can strip off his outer coat? Who would approach him with a bridle? (v. 13)
- Who dares open the doors of his mouth, ringed about with his fearsome teeth? (v. 14)
DESCRIPTION OF A LEVIATHAN:
- His back has tows of shields tightly sealed together; each is so close to the next that no air can pass between. They are joined fast to one another; they cling together and cannot be parted. (v. 15-17)
- His snorting throws out flashes of light; his eyes are like the rays of dawn. (v. 18)
- Firebrands stream from this mouth; sparks of fire shoot out. (v. 19)
- Smoke pours from his nostrils as from a boiling pot over a fire of reeds. (v. 20)
- His breath sets coats ablaze, and flames dart from his mouth. (v. 21)
- Strength resides in his neck; dismay goes before him. (v. 22)
- The folds of his flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable. (v. 23)
- His chest is hard as rock, hard as a lower millstone. (v. 24)
- When he rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before his thrashing. (v. 25)
- The sword that reaches him has no effect, nor does the spear of the dart or the javelin. (v. 26)
- Iron he treats like straw and bronze like rotten wood. (v. 27)
- Arrows do not make hm flee; slingstones are like chaff to him. (v. 28)
- A club seems to hm but a piece of straw; he laughs at the rattling of the lance. (v. 29)
- His undersides are jagged potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge. (v. 30)
- He makes the depths churn like a boiling caldron and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment. (v. 31)
- Behind him he leaves a glistening wake; one would think the deep had white hair. (v. 32)
- Nothing on earth is his equal – a creature without fear. (v. 33)
- He looks down on all that are haughty; he is king over all that are proud. (v. 34)
THOUGHTS:
The behemoth was probably the hippopotamus and the Leviathan the crocodile. Job certainly would be afraid to fight these two creatures but he was not afraid to challenge God. Job could not control them but he wanted to tell God what to do.
Satan tempted Eve to disobey God by saying that she can be like God. So be careful! Flee from Satan’s invitation and look at God’s creation. Remember that your are not God. No one can stand up against God because he is a powerful creator of the universe.