Some things to keep in mind as we go through this final point of Job. We have covered the issue that God has raised about knowledge and now we are dealing with God’s power. Power branches out in two ways. One through the example of the behemoth which deals with what we call intrinsic strength, we talked about that last time. Even though Job and his friends have made fun of each other saying they are as stupid as the beasts of the field God says “A super cow owns you. You cannot overcome the might that is in a behemoth, he has greater strength than you. Therefore, you have no right to say that you could have done things better. ”. Remember, God has a standard called righteousness. The application of that standard to the world is called justice. The question is “Job, can you outdo what God has done in the world?”. The first counterargument against Job’s innate ability to do it better is that he doesn’t even have the power to actually transform how the world works. He doesn’t have any strength himself to overcome creation. On top of that, what we’re gonna talk about today with the leviathan, is what we might call effective strength. Job does not have the ability to exhort any power to change creation, at least to the level or degree that is required. Man thinks that he has the ability to manipulate creation to do things better. God’s point is if you can’t even overcome a leviathan what gives you the right to actually be able to say you have the power to do something better than God would have ever done?
Like I’ve said before, and I should put two things here. One is this, I was recently talking to someone who was suffering in a trial. Obviously, there is the issue of bringing Job into the situation and reminding them on one hand, you might say “this isn’t fair or right, I am confused about what God is doing.”, but you are not in God’s shoes. You have to remember God’s goodness, that He cares about birds you don’t care about, He cares about places where people don’t even live, He cares about a lot of things that you don’t even care about so there is a breath and a depth to God’s compassion and goodness that we have no comprehension of. On top of that, you go through the whole thing about we don’t have the power to live in God’s shoes so we can’t really make a judgment call about God, we need to trust that He has a better plan. However, the true dilemma is that when you’re in a trial it is a little too late to talk about these things because when you’re in a trial you’re already emotional, and that is not a wrong thing, but when someone is in a trial and you try to convince them of these things it is increasingly difficult because it is already made personal. People need to hear about these things before they ever hit a trial. People need to be prepared with how to understand life before life ever hits them. The point is never to be ashamed of equipping people before suffering, talk about it. Some say Christians always talk about suffering, and it's an endless subject, but it’s wise to prepare people because it’s a little late when you’re in suffering. It’s a little late to go to boot camp when you’re in the middle of the battle. The second thing I will mention is that context often can give perspective to the goodness or not goodness of an action. That is really what God is helping Job to see that he doesn’t see, which is that there is a context. Then the question really becomes, who makes up the definition of good or evil and that is really going back to if you have the power and knowledge to make up those kinds of definitions. Something that is good to us or bad to us is based on what we think, but what we think might not always be the truth.
With the leviathan, there is this question of whether or not Job can take the place of God, because does he have the effective power? The leviathan is an interesting choice of animal for a couple of reasons. Just like we talked about the behemoth being hard to view, the same deal is true with the leviathan. The leviathan is often equated with crocodiles. The whole point is they have red eyes, a strong neck, and really tough skin that people even wear nowadays. So people want to equate them with crocodiles but yes, there are massive obstacles once again. On top of that, just like there were ancient near eastern mythical/historical concerns with the behemoth in the same way there are equal concerns with posing this as a crocodile. For example, the Egyptians worship crocodiles, know crocodiles, and they call them “crocodiles”, which differentiate them from leviathans. In the ancient near eastern mindset, the leviathan was not related to a beast that was common in creation or that could be overcome. It was something that was absolutely phenomenal, the epitome of evil. With that, comes a connection even into the Old Testament, it is mentioned in Isaiah. You have this compounding picture of one on hand having an animal and on the other, it is associated with some kind of mythical/supernatural force that is all coming in the picture. Animal-wise, I don’t think it’s a crocodile. Could it be some dinosaur-like creature? Sure, it could be, but either way, there is one easy way to prove it's not a crocodile. When you look at how this thing swims, supposedly it causes the water to bubble up and there is a huge wake and it turns the water a different color and it remains like that for a long long time. Either God is speaking completely ridiculously in hyperbole, which in this case would destroy his won argument, or we are looking at a totally different animal. The descriptions just really don’t make sense together. Could this be a dinosaur? Maybe, but out has to be some kind of terrifying animal, not just a crocodile, it could be dinosaur-ish or dragon-ish. Similarly, this needs to be linked with Evil, particularly the biblical evil who is personified by the accuser, also known as satan. In fact, in Isaiah, God crushes the leviathan’s head. That sounds like Genesis 3:15 when God crushes the serpent's head. The connection between the leviathan and evil is already made in Job 3. All that to say, the leviathan is this really incredible choice for a bunch of reasons. God is bringing both satan and the leviathan, which were already mentioned together in this chapter. He is doing that all to say to Job “You have been wondering about several layers or creations. One, God's operation of the world in general. Specifically, how I deal with evil and injustice”. In a sense, the leviathan encompasses both. Does Job control a leviathan or does a leviathan c on troll him? That is the question of this entire chapter. If he controls a leviathan then he can talk about how to control the world and evil. If the leviathan controls Job, then the world and evil control him. Job is not the good guy and evil controls him, he is Job, which means the enemy. By the way, if God controls the leviathan, then that demonstrates that God controls evil and the world the same way we’ve already seen demonstrated with satan and by extension the leviathan earlier on.
Job 41:1
This is where is gets a little bit tricky for me because I have to do math on the fly, especially with weird verse numbers. The Hebrew is eight verses off sync with the English, so if I mess up, add eight.
God now begins to question Job based upon the leviathan. The first eight verses deal with kind of a fundamental definition of the nature of a leviathan. Verse one and two, deal with man’s inability to use resources to manipulate a leviathan. God asks two questions in the order of greater to lesser.
The whole point here deals with direct manipulation. If you draw out a leviathan with a fish hook that means you bridle the leviathan. Similarly, if you press down on his tongue, think about a bridle on a horse, you can steer the leviathan. God is asking if Job has ever been able to drag the leviathan around and Job would say “no.”. Notice, there is any emphasis on what Job might use to control a leviathan like a fish hook.
Job 41:2
This is just categorical, can Job even poke the leviathan. Forget trying to steer it, can he even attack/pierce it somehow? The answer to that is no. There is no way that a human can exert any kind of control on a leviathan. It gets a little more humorous in verse three.
Job 41:3
The “many pleas” there is actually the word for prayer. Will the leviathan come up and beg to you like the animals do in kids' cartoons? The whole point is will he come up to you and pray/be desperate? The idea of soft words are words of great delicacy because he fears you. Humans do not carry enough authority or wisdom to make this kind of impression on a leviathan.
Job 41:4
Forget about a leviathan coming to you in prayer, does it even come to you at all to make a covenant to be your slave? Do you even carry that kind of authority over creation in this day and age?
Job 41:5
Have you ever brought home a leviathan for your wife? Have you ever tried to play with a leviathan? The answer is “you’ve got to be kidding me.”, no one does this!
Job 41:6
Two questions here that focus on pleasure or money. One is “Can you derive any pleasure from a leviathan?”, and the answer is no because you don’t have that kind of authority/power. The second question is “Can you make money from a leviathan?”, the answer is again no. This might make you pause and ask when people make money off of terrible monsters, but think about a circus or a zoo. Yet there are certain animals you just don’t bring to the circus or zoo because they just don’t work. By the way, that is another major argument against a crocodile. The whole point is you cannot manipulate this thing to get any kind of financial gain, let alone chop it up for money. The problem with trying to divide up a leviathan is diving it. Forget the money part, you just can’t do it. That is God’s point, Job doesn’t have enough authority over a leviathan to make a dime. We know how greedy humans are and it just cannot be done.
Job 41:7-8
These verses would argue that you cannot overcome this thing. Verse seven even kind of repeats what has already been saying. Do you realize the ridiculousness of this situation? Think of a fish hook, even what fish hooks looked like in ancient days was pretty close to modern-day, attacking a dinosaur with a fishhook is ridiculous. Notice, it cannot pierce his skin, Job’s might cannot even get to the surface of a leviathan. God is saying “go ahead, just pet the leviathan and challenge it to a battle, you will die.”. Man, no matter how you look at it can never overcome this animal.
Job 41:9
Any man who actually believed he could overcome a leviathan had expectations that were a complete lie. God’s argument is that Job’s expectation of understanding how the world should operate and how God should have done things in the situation is equally a lie. That is what God is confronting Job on. Human wisdom thinking we can know how to do something better is a complete lie because we don’t even have to power to overcome a leviathan, much less control the entire world.
Job 41:10
“Who then is he who can stand before me?”. The keyword in this phrase is “stand” because it is the same verb used in Job 1:6 when the angels presented themselves before God and when Satan was with the angels. This was when satan was originally elicited to raise the challenge of God’s rightness. Now god has come full circle, satan was never truly able to stand before him, this is the play on the leviathan. The leviathan was often associated with evil and therefore Satan himself. God is saying that Job doesn’t have the might to overcome the leviathan and satan which is why he is in this predicament, But He does and they already have the proof of that. The fact that now God is proving to Job that he is incorrect about how the world should operate because he doesn’t have the power that God does invalidates human wisdom and there Job cannot stand before God. Satan cannot stand, Job cannot stand, the only one left standing is God, only God stands. In the end, there is only one who is truly right, that is God. Of course, the irony in that is that Job doesn’t understand, that no one can understand apart from divine revelation, is that because God is right he also makes other people right/able to stand. Job has raised up the issue and now God has leveled up each courtroom, both heaven, and earth. The point that God has made to Job is that no one stands before Him, no one can challenge Him, in verse 11 you find out why.
There is an association between satan and the leviathan, although they are not the same so that when God is pressing the case of whether or not Job can control a leviathan there is an association about if he has control over evil. The leviathan’s body distorts both ground and water, which is why the animal is so effective. The argument here is if the leviathan has the power in and of itself and Job doesn’t, then the leviathan actually has more control over creation than Job does. Basically, the leviathan imagery continues on in the New Testament and it evolves and continues in the form of a dragon, which is where you get some more of the satan imagery. It is also connected to Daniel seven, with the crazy beast. There are all kinds of leviathan imagery, but nonetheless, it stands for the workings of evil in this world. It is always connected and associated with that. No different than drawing an association to satan when you see a horned individual with a pitchfork. Satan does not look like that, but you draw an association when you see that. It is the same thing with Santa and his red hat and white beard, St. Nicholas is not perpetually that.
Job 41:11
This phrase is repeated, even in the book of Romans. Remember that this is repeated in the book of Romans and I said that Job would cry if he received the book of Romans at 11:31. Do you know why that is so critical? It is because chapters 1-11 are this doctrinal section explaining the gospel and the plan of God and it culminates with how God is going to complete His entire plan and overcome every objection with evil and injustice, in 9-11 specifically. The concluding sentence is “Who has ever paid God so that God has to owe him something?”. The whole point here, in chapter 41, is that God, by default, always does everything that is right because He owes no one anything. You can never make a demand of God because He never owes you anything. The question becomes “Did you ever give God anything where He owes you a favor and you can demand something of him?”. The answer is no, you can never tell God what He has to do for you just because you say so, or He owes you. The only thing we can cling to is God’s promises, but not because we demand them of God but because he gave them to us. That is important both in suffering, but also relative to human wisdom. Human wisdom makes demands of God, which it has no right to because humans don’t have any power. Rather, everything under heaven is God’s. So when God is defending his righteousness to Job and showing no one else stand but Him and when He defends His righteousness on an even greater scale in Romans, which are interconnected with this book they are all the same point. God is always right, and He has done what is right, and He makes people right. That is when Job wishes become fulfilled in the book of Romans, in full, so Paul repeats the same phrase because that is where God is finally fully vindicated and that is where this statement of God’s rightness is exhibited and demonstrated once and for all. That is how you can pull Job with the rest of the book of Romans. All that to say that God has fundamentally proven, kind of what Elihu has already said, why God is unquestionably right and Job is unquestionably wrong.
Job 41:12-14
This verse begins a series of questions/statements which point out to Job that his position is not at God’s side, it is within the world. The first question that God asks is one of defense, how Job could defend himself against the leviathan. Then you look at the offense, how the beast could attack you. If Job is unwittingly not buying it, God furthers the description.
Job 41:15-17
This skin is like armor, it is woven together quite tightly. You have to understand that all of these descriptions are so good. On one hand, the armor is woven together so tightly together, but have you ever noticed that toys make in china just come unglued? It doesn’t matter if it's all woven tightly together fit just come sun woven pretty quickly? God’s point with the skin here is that it's not just woven tightly together, it is joined so that it won't be undone. Does Job really think he can undo the beast’s skin?
Job 41:18-21
Now we go back to the offense, we have dealt with the skin that was questioned in thirteen and now we are going to go deal with the offense, the mouth that is dealt with in verse fourteen. Even when this beast sneezes, it attacks you, that is just funny. Most superheroes don’t sight that they have a super powerfully sneeze that might kill you and does just when it's allergic to you and it's sneeze electrocutes you. So you say “why do you have eyes like the eyelids of the morning?”. The eyelids of the morning are like glowing beams, which is so important because you can’t sneak up on the beats in the dark. In essence, it has night vision, when it looks out at night it is the same thing as looking in the day, you can’t surprise it. Both burning torches and sparks are designed to set things on fire so now you have a fire-breathing thing, so would you really stick your head, trying to take out this beast, by opening its mouth and putting your head in there? What do you do with your nostrils? You breathe so when it breathes it breathes out hot air hot enough to kindle coals. It doesn’t matter if it sneezes on you, let's say you prevented it from having an allergic reaction. The very fact that you are in the proximity of it when it breathes means you would be incinerated. Does Job really think he can stand a chance? Who alone could stand a chance? Not Job, but God, He is the only one who can best the leviathan and all that it is associated with, Satan and thereby extension the world and evil, is God.
Do we have any validation that this isn’t just some made-up being? Two things argue for it not being so. The first thing argued on both a vertical and horizontal historical axis. The vertical historical axis is its universal understanding in multiple cultures. You don’t just have it in ancient near eastern culture, you have it in Babylonian myth, Mesopotamia myth, and in Egypt. The question is how in the whole wide world do they have the same picture? You would expect if it was a made-up creature, that there would be quite a bit of deviation from each other on that vertical, or should we say cross-sectional analysis. That is because it would be based on their own culture so they overlap and similarity between all of those things argues that it would be a legitimate creature. They are all variations on the same thing as opposed to totally different variations which would be based on different animals/people. So that horizontal cross-analysis also demonstrated that hey, this is probably a real creature. Once again, you’ll see that myths are usually based upon an ounce of truth and they are linked to some parts of what we call reality, that is what we are witnessing here. In addition, if God was talking about a mythical creature and Job could best it and the mythical creature doesn’t exist then the argument does weaken slightly, but besides that, these are what anchor the argument more. The creature is associated with this mythical reality, but that is intentional because God is over everything, He is not authenticating the myth itself, but what it stands for (evil/satan).
Job 41:22-24
You start to see that the weak points are not weak, your neck is weak and vulnerable, but it's not for this animal. On the outside, this leviathan's flesh is impenetrable. Even if you did penetrate it with a spear its heart is like a millstone, this thing is impenetrable.
Job 41:25
As a result of it’s impenetrableness, it puts fear in a hunter. That’s important because that means even the mighty hunter does not rule over the leviathan, the leviathan rules over the hunter. Job is nothing.
Job 41:26-29
The third implication, found here, is that weapons don’t work. Human ingenuity doesn’t work, it doesn’t matter what it’s is made out of or if you use many weapons, it doesn’t work. Human ingenuity cannot overcome a leviathan.
Job 41:30-32
These verses deal with how the leviathan impacts its environment. Its body reshapes the ground around it, in fact, it makes the water boil, as well as the fact that it looks like a jar of ointment. Because of the turbulence that this beast has caused in the ocean, it looks like he is stirring up all the different components of the ocean. On top of that, nothing is the same after he goes through it. The point is, leviathans, unlike humans, actually make a huge environmental impact. Here, Job is trying to say that he could do it better because he has power over the world and he knows what he’s doing and the point is that he can’t even make as big of an impact as a leviathan.
Job 41:33-34
There is no one on earth that compares to him. The word “earth” here is the word “dust”, why? Because that is what Job is, just dust. There is nothing to him. The only other time the word “pride” occurs in Job is in Job 28 where you have no animal, no proud one understands wisdom because wisdom comes from the Lord. The fear of the Lord is wisdom. God reminds us that He makes big animals on this earth, like a leviathan, to remind you that you are not in control. Therefore, you don’t have the right to judge God because you’re not even in a remote position to judge how He reigns over His creation and has sovereignty over evil.
For the full lectures, see here: https://adamsetser.com/blog/2015/6/12/job-lecture-series-from-dr-abner-chou