Job 41:1

Leviathan was a water creature. He appears to be the crocodile, the most fearsome of all water animals — unless he was some similar animal that is now extinct. Job could use a hook to catch fish, but how futile the thought of a hook for a crocodile! No attack can get through his jaws or his nose. Could Job persuade him to answer softly and give in? The very appearance of the crocodile is hostile and intimidating. No one could ever tame him for play, as people tame some birds and animals, and certainly not as a pet for girls!

In Job 41 comes a still longer description of "leviathan," and I understand that to be the crocodile. The crocodile is a very dangerous beast. It is not so shy of people; on the contrary, it preys on men, women, and children, if it can get hold of them.

"Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook?" You who can do such wonders! You can talk about God. You can judge for God. You can find fault with God! Well, can you catch Leviathan with a hook? You ought to be able to do that. "Or press down his tongue with a cord?" Stay away from him! Do not fight him. "Behold, the hope of a man is false." Spears and arrows are nothing to him. Even a musket ball cannot pierce the skin of a crocodile.

Can a net or hook take him, or a line pressing down on his tongue? Can you tie him up like an ordinary fish, with a reed rope through the gills? Is he shy and eager to please, or loyal and obedient? Will he become a plaything, like a pet bird, to amuse the household? Is he a regular item in the markets, bought and sold? If he cannot be caught as a fish, can darts and weapons bring him down? Anyone who has tried it will remember the terrible fight, and never try it again.

If this is so with this mere creature, who can stand before the Creator? Who has first given to the LORD, that he can demand it back again? Or, as the apostle asks, "Who has given a gift to Him that he might be repaid?" (Rom. 11:35).

Job however could not tackle Leviathan or behemoth, nor could he subdue proud man. How then could he contend with God? This was powerfully driven home into his heart.

This creature comes up out of the water, and so suggests the first Beast of Revelation 13, the great world-power. In behemoth we see the spirit of falling away from revealed truth in religion; in leviathan we see the same spirit in civil government. And it is not limited to nations wanting to be first. The same strong self-will, which puts up with no contradiction, shows up in the single person too — a refusal to be tamed or to submit to authority. Who has ever tied down and held the proud will of man?

Both the behemoth and the leviathan picture Satan, his character and his rule. He is king over all the sons of pride. Now see the conclusion Job could easily draw. If he is proud, then he belongs to leviathan, the king who rules over the sons of pride. The LORD has touched the secret in Job's heart. He has searched out the depths of it. Job has cherished pride, the Devil's crime.