What was the leviathan?

LEVIATHAN (vv.1-34)

Leviathan was a water creature, and appears to be the crocodile, the most fearsome of all aquatic beasts, unless it was another similar animal, now extinct. Job could use a hook to catch fish, but how futile the thought of a hook for a crocodile! (v.1). His jaws and his nose are impervious to any kind of attack (v.2). Could Job persuade him to respond softly to him in order to bring about his submission? (v.4). The very appearance of the crocodile is hostile and intimidating. He would certainly never be tamed to engage in play like some birds or animals, and certainly not as a pet for girls! (v.5). Who would think of trying to obtain his flesh to make a dinner of him? Harpoons were useless against him, for they could not penetrate his outer covering (v.7). If one was bold enough to lay his hand on him, let him remember the battle encountered in any such efforts, and never do it again! (v.8).

The Lord assures Job that any hope of overcoming Leviathan is futile: the very sight of the beast should overwhelm his would-be attacker. No human is so fierce that he would dare to stir up such a creature (v.10). But let us remember it is God who made this beast: Who then could possibly stand against God? Thus we are shown the fearful, untameable character of leviathan, as wild and unapproachable as behemoth, and this reminds us of the first beast of Revelation 13, the beast who rises out of the sea (v.1). Being a water creature, Leviathan evidently symbolises the Gentile power that will arise during the Tribulation period, a revival of the Roman Empire, embracing ten nations who "give their power and authority to the beast" (Rev.17:13). This empire is called the Beast, and the man who rules over it will also be called the Beast. Of him people will say, "Who is like the Beast? Who is able to make war with him?" (Rev.13:4). This Beast, along with the Antichrist, will form a powerful union of such strength that they will not be afraid to challenge their own Creator! While no man can stand before them, however, the Lord will bring them down to a defeat of abject humiliation, and both will be cast alive into the lake of fire (Rev.19:20).

But the Lord says of Leviathan, "I will not conceal his limbs, his mighty power, or his graceful proportions" (v.12). The Lord would not hesitate to describe him exactly as he is, to let us know that the Lord knew him perfectly and took full account of his strength. "Who can remove his outer coat? Who can approach him with a double bridle? Who can open the doors of his face, with his terrible teeth all around? (vv.13-14). Men have captured crocodiles and put them in large pools of water, but who would dare to get into the same pool, as some do with dolphins?

Well now, in Job 41, comes a still longer description of "leviathan," and I understand that to be the crocodile. The crocodile is a very formidable beast. It is not so shy of the human kind; on the contrary, it preys upon men, women, and children, if it can get hold of them. It is not therefore at all so strange as the "behemoth" that we have been reading about.

"Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook?" You that can do such wonders; you can talk about God; and you can judge for God, and you can find fault with God! Well, can you catch leviathan with an hook? You ought to be able to do that. "Or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?" (vers. 1 — 8). Be off with you! Do not you fight him. "Behold, the hope of him is in vain." Spears or arrows are nothing to him and even a musket ball has no power to pierce the skin of a crocodile. "His scales are his pride," because it is not only his enormous strength, and his practical invulnerability to any ordinary weapon, but there he is so confident in it himself.

Leviathan — creature-pride fully manifested (Job 41).

Most interpreters are agreed that in "leviathan" we have the crocodile of Egypt, which is described in great detail. As the hippopotamus is largely a land animal, the crocodile is chiefly aquatic, and both are amphibious. This creature is described in a manner quite similar to the previous one, but at much greater length. We may therefore seek to recognize the various parts into which the description is divided. There seem to be three: (1) His untamable ferocity (vers. 1-11). (2) Analysis of his various parts (vers. 12-24). (3) His pre-eminent strength (vers. 25-34).

Leviathan, the untamable beast of power (41:1-11) Its description (41:12-24) His remarkable strength (41:25-34)

Verses 1-11. The leviathan has generally been identified with the crocodile. Like the behemoth, the leviathan is a strong and untamable beast. Jehovah asks, Canst thou draw up leviathan with a hook? Canst thou pierce his jaw with a reed? Will he make a covenant with thee? Wilt thou take him for a servant forever? Then He declares that he is fierce, and even at the sight of him one is cast down. And if a creature is so mighty and strong what must the One be who called this creature into existence? Verses 10 and 11 should be rendered as follows: "Who then is able to stand before Me (the Creator)? who did give to me first that I should repay him? since all beneath the heavens is mine."

Verses 12-24. A more detailed description of the leviathan follows. His frame is strong; his outer garment, so invulnerable, who can strip it off? His teeth are terrible, who can open the doors of his face (his mouth)? His scales, his armour, are his pride. Here is a good description of the crocodile's hide. The scales are so near each other that no air can come between them; they are joined one to another, they stick together, that they cannot be sundered. His sneezings flash forth light and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning. The eyes of the crocodile are visible quite a distance under water. The Egyptians therefore used the crocodile's eyes in the hieroglyphics for the dawn of the morning. The entire description shows what a terrible beast it is.

This is really a Hebrew word (livyathan), and is generally believed to refer to any great sea or land monster, it is now postulated that the description is likely to be of a dinosaur.

It is thus an apt symbol of the enemy of God's people. Ps. 74:14. In Isa. 27:1 it also typifies Satan: "leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent," whom God will punish. In Ps. 104:26 the reference may be to any sea monster, for it is in connection with the 'great and wide sea,' that is, the Mediterranean. In Job 3:8 it should be translated 'leviathan,' instead of 'their mourning,' and this confirms the general meaning of some monster.

Then his attention is drawn to two creatures of God, not now land-animals or birds, as in the former discourses, but amphibious, though there have not been wanting people of erudition who contend for the elephant as meant by Behemoth (Job 41:15), thinking that the name is a plural. majest. of hm;heb]. This, however, does not suit the description, particularly as to the tail; and the name is, as competent men believe, an Egyptian designation (p — ehe — mo, literally water ox) of the hippopotamus in Shemitic form. Again, the Leviathan here described (Job 41) seems to be beyond doubt, not the dolphin or the whale, as some learned men have argued, but the crocodile. So most have been convinced since Bochart (Hieroz. iii. pp. 705, etc., 737, etc.). It is impossible to conceive anything more graphic than the accounts of each, nor more forcible than the inference for Job or any other. If such the might of mere brutes, the effect of God's creative will, what folly to resist, censure, or even judge His ways!

A large part of the book is taken up with long speeches and I am convinced that when the Lord in the end asked the question “Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?” He was saying there are a tremendous number of words to no purpose at all. There are views of interest and of truth, but they contribute nothing to the vindication of God or the comfort of Job, or the true representation of God. There are some interesting things. You get “Acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee” (Job 22:21). There is a verse that tells us that God gives His own “songs in the night” (Job 35:10). There are other very interesting things that have made the book of Job on everybody's lips without even knowing that they are quoting from it. When we use the expression “Job's comforters” we mean someone who pretends to comfort but is no comfort at all. Perhaps the expression which is most familiar to us is from chapter nineteen, verse twenty, where Job says “I am escaped with the skin of my teeth”. The verse is sometimes used to express a “close shave” but what Job really meant was that he was covered with boils from head to foot and the only place where there were no boils, because there was no skin, was his teeth. Another point of interest that I must mention is this. The very last part of God's address to Job from out of the whirlwind deals with a creature called Leviathan. There is a great deal of discussion about what creature the Leviathan can be and almost all the authorities, including the margin of some of our Bibles, say that it is a crocodile. When you read that he is the king of beasts and that he is absolutely unassailable in his pride, it can hardly be held to be a crocodile. I take it to be a dinosaur. If you think of that skeleton in the Natural History Museum in London, seventy feet long, one third neck, one third body and one third tail, and having a most savage display of teeth, it is not surprising when God says “Behold, the hope of him is in vain: shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him? None is so fierce that dare stir him up”. I want you to keep this in mind. When God comes to speak in the end He speaks of Leviathan and says some very remarkable things about him.

From verse 15 to the end of Job 41, the Lord makes further reference to the wonders of His creation. He called Job's attention to behemoth and to leviathan — probably the hippopotamus and the crocodile. They had brute strength but no human intelligence. It would be more easy to subdue them than to bring down proud man. In Job's day human inventions had hardly begun, so this was probably not so apparent as it is in our day, when these mighty creatures are easily subdued — but not so, proud man!

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.

Before however going into details, it will be well to inquire as to the significance of this beast, as compared with the former. That, as we have suggested, typifies the spirit of apostasy from revealed truth, culminating in the Antichrist, the man of sin. This, as arising out of the water, suggests the first Beast of Rev. 13, the great world-power, as seen in the various beasts in Daniel's vision of Job 7. If in behemoth we have the spirit of apostasy in religion, in leviathan we see it in civil government. It is the world-power, rather than that of the false prophet; and yet the two are closely linked together. But this is looking forward to the culmination in the last days. The principle (independence of God), seeking to make itself a name, has been manifest since the days of Cain, who established a city, and of Nimrod, the founder of the first great world-empire (Gen. 10:8-10). Nor is this confined to national pre-eminence; the same spirit of strong self. will, brooking no contradiction, is seen in the individual as well, an untamable insubjection to authority. Who has ever bound and held the proud will of man? But this brings us to the details, as opened for us in our chapter.

(1) The closing question as to behemoth leads on to a similar one as to leviathan. Can he be captured with a net or hook, by a line pressing down upon his tongue? Can he be bound as an ordinary fish with a rush rope passed through the gills? Is he timid and fawning, or loyal and subservient? Can he be made into a plaything, like a bird, for the amusement of the household? Is he a staple commodity in the markets, bought and sold? If not caught as a fish, is he assailable with darts, with weapons? Whoever has attempted this will surely remember the fearful battle, and make no further attempt. He is the despair of all opposition; none dare stir him up or stand before him.

If this be so with this mere creature, who can stand before the Creator? (For thus should verse 10 be rendered, leading up to verse 11, "Who will stand before Me?") Who has first given to Jehovah, that he can demand it back again? Or, as the apostle asks, "Who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed to him again?" (Rom. 11:35).

In all this first part of the description, we have the fierce, unapproachable, untamable character of this creature; the evident deduction is, as already indicated, if the creature be so mighty, what must the Creator be? But, as has been said, we are led to expect something more than this declaration of God's greatness and power. It is not only a mighty power that is described, but a power for evil. So Satan is spoken of as the dragon (Rev. 20:2), and as ruler of the earth, through his instrument the ruler of Egypt, it is said of him, "In that day the Lord, with His sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan, the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and He shall slay the dragon that is in the sea" (Isa. 27:1, 12, 13). How remarkable that the world-ruler should thus be spoken of. Can we fail to see the connection with the power of evil seen in our chapter?

pride." it has a deeper meaning. In Isaiah 27:1 we read: "In that day the LORD with His sore and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan the crooked serpent; and He shall slay the dragon that is in the sea." Here leviathan typifies the power of darkness. Both the behemoth and the leviathan typify Satan, his character and his rule. He is king over all the sons of pride. These two beasts are likewise a good description of the beasts spoken of in Revelation, which at the end of this age will manifest their power and pride as Satan's masterpieces. And now the deduction which Job could easily make. 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 bosom. He has searched out the depths of his heart. 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.