LEVIATHAN
Opening Prayer
Pray Psalm 63 today.
Read Job 41:1–11
41 [a]“Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook
or tie down its tongue with a rope?
2 Can you put a cord through its nose
or pierce its jaw with a hook?
3 Will it keep begging you for mercy?
Will it speak to you with gentle words?
4 Will it make an agreement with you
for you to take it as your slave for life?
5 Can you make a pet of it like a bird
or put it on a leash for the young women in your house?
6 Will traders barter for it?
Will they divide it up among the merchants?
7 Can you fill its hide with harpoons
or its head with fishing spears?
8 If you lay a hand on it,
you will remember the struggle and never do it again!
9 Any hope of subduing it is false;
the mere sight of it is overpowering.
10 No one is fierce enough to rouse it.
Who then is able to stand against me?
11 Who has a claim against me that I must pay?
Everything under heaven belongs to me.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Where has the Accuser been in the book of Job since 2:7?One surprise in the book of Job is that Satan seems to go underground after chapter 2. But he’s been behind almost every twisted thing that is said or felt. And now we see how terrifying he is.
The Bible often uses natural words to speak of the supernatural. It uses allusion, so the picture is not 100 percent clear. But the Bible takes the imagery of beasts and serpents and dragons and monsters and applies it to Satan. His first appearance in Genesis 3 is as a snake or serpent. By Revelation 12:9 he is, “the great dragon… that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray.” Even here in verses 18 to 21, Leviathan looks like a fire-breathing dragon. He is utterly pride-filled (34).
And now the real enemy who has attacked Job is unmasked. He has often fooled Job so that when Job saw evil, he thought it came from God (e.g., Job 19:6–12). He uses the same trick today.
Both the Behemoth and Leviathan symbolize great evil at loose in his world. But both are creatures, and their creator can slay Behemoth (40:19) and subdue Leviathan. How much more then should we fear him (10,11)?
Apply
Read Matthew 10:28. How should this verse impact the way we live? Choose to fear God rather than people today.
Closing prayer
Lord, I give You thanks that Jesus has already won the victory over sin, death and the devil!
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