Behind him he leaves a shining wake; one would think the deep to be white-haired.
God is still describing Leviathan, the creature no man can capture, and verse 32 watches him swim off through churning water. The chapter's question is not what the animal is, but what a man should think of himself after watching it.
The picture in the water
Leviathan is even more at ease in water than on land. The foam he leaves is so thick that the deep looks white-haired. One commentator measures that trail against the plainest example anyone could name:
William KellyHe is still more at ease in the water, making the deep boil like a pot, and the sea like a mixture of ointment. A ship does not more clearly make its path shine after it with its white, foaming wake.
Why God describes it at all
God did not pile up this detail so that Job could admire nature. He gave it to move Job off his own ground:
William KellyMen talk as if God's object was merely to occupy us with His works. God, on the contrary, brings forward His works to turn us away from our thoughts and bow us to Himself. For if the works of God are so wonderful, who is He that did the work, and what is man if he dares to judge such a God? … Do you think that after this Job was occupied with behemoth or with leviathan? Not at all, but with God; and this was the design of it all.
No one would dare provoke this beast. The same writer calls that the smaller danger:
William KellyHe is no commodity for traders, no game for the hunter, no safe opponent in battle. The very sight of him might knock a man flat. Only a reckless man would provoke him. Yet what is that compared with making a stand before God? And who ever gave to Him, that He should repay, since everything under heaven is His?
A trail that can be read
Commentators differ on how far the chapter reaches. Some take Leviathan as a crocodile and stop there. Others see a coming world ruler in him. For them the churned, shining water is the mark he leaves on history:
Leslie M. Grant"He makes the deep boil like a pot; he makes the sea like a pot of ointment" (v. 31). As Leviathan stirs up the water, so the Roman Beast will stir up the nations (the sea) into violent turmoil. The "shining wake" he leaves behind him tells us that there will be clear results from the Beast's activity.
Another writer traces that same trail of ruin, then puts a question to Job and to us:
Samuel RidoutThe turmoil he creates in the earth, marking it with ruin, shows his pathway. He has no equal upon earth. As the crocodile is king over all proud beasts, so this beast is king over all the children of pride. Shall Job, shall we, do him reverence and help on his kingdom?
The power behind the picture
If Leviathan stands for more than an animal, Job is looking at a power he could never match:
Charles StanleyGod now shows Job, under the figure of leviathan, that the power of Satan is too great for him. What a terrible king he is over all the children of pride! … But what could be God's object in describing the power of the adversary like this? Surely it was to lead Job into complete dependence on Himself. "I know," says Job, "that You can do all things."
Where the chapter lands
The chapter closes by calling Leviathan king over the sons of pride. That title is what catches Job:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinNow comes the conclusion that Job could easily draw. If he is proud, then he belongs to leviathan, the king who rules over the sons of pride. Jehovah has touched the secret in Job's heart. He has searched out its depths. Pride, the Devil's crime, has been cherished by him. And now, with the heart laid bare by Jehovah's dealing, we shall hear Job's voice once more.
Summary
- Follow the wake. Leviathan leaves the sea boiling and shining behind him. No ship marks its path more clearly.
- Follow it to the Creator. The description is not meant to make us study the beast. It is meant to bow us before the God who made it. A man who cannot face this creature cannot judge God's ways.
- Follow it through history. Some read the churned sea as the nations, stirred into turmoil by a coming world power. His work leaves clear marks behind it. Commentators differ on how far the symbolism goes.
- Follow it into your own heart. Leviathan is king over the sons of pride. So ask whether you cherish pride, and whether you will help on his kingdom.
- Follow it to dependence. This power is far greater than Job. That is why it drives him to lean wholly on God. His next words are a confession, not a defence.