Leviathan

INTRODUCTION: As the Lord continues His dealings with Job, He points out yet another product of creation. Leviathan is an amazing creature, and the Lord uses the greatness of this being to demonstrate His own power and glory. The greatness of creation will always be greatly overshadowed by the greatness of its Creator. Once again, the Lord asks Job a number of questions to validate the gap between God and man.

1. HIS WILD NATURE (Job 41:1-6)
1. His Unwillingness to Be Captured (Job 41:1-2)
1. By being drawn out with a hook (Job 41:1)
2. By putting a cord on his tongue (Job 41:1)
3. By putting a hook in his nose (Job 41:2)
4. By boring a thorn in his jaw (Job 41:2)
2. His Unwillingness to Submit (Job 41:3-4)
1. He will not make many supplications unto thee (Job 41:3).
2. He will not speak soft words unto thee (Job 41:3).
3. He will not make a covenant with thee (Job 41:4).
4. He will not become a servant (Job 41:4).
3. His Unwillingness to Be Tamed (Job 41:5)
1. He will not be played with as a bird.
2. He will not be bound for the maidens.
4. His Unwillingness to Be Eaten (Job 41:6)
1. Companions will not make a banquet of him.
2. He will not be parted among the merchants.
2. HIS FIERCE COUNTENANCE (Job 41:7-11)
1. The Battle to Take Him (Job 41:7-9)
1. He will not be taken by barbed irons or fish spears (Job 41:7).
2. A man who lays his hand upon leviathan will fight his last battle (Job 41:8).
3. One can be cast down at the sight of leviathan (Job 41:9).
2. The Contrast with God (Job 41:10-11)
1. None would dare stir leviathan up (Job 41:10).
2. Who then could stand before God? (Job 41:10; Joel 2:11; Revelation 6:17)
3. Who has God in debt to them? (Job 41:11; Romans 11:35)
4. All things under heaven belong to God (Job 41:11).
3. HIS COMELY PROPORTIONS (Job 41:12-17)
1. Revealed by God (Job 41:12)
1. His parts
2. His power
3. His comely proportion
2. His Unapproachable Appearance (Job 41:13-14)
1. The face of his garment (Job 41:13)
2. The doors of his face (Job 41:14)
1. His mouth
2. His terrible teeth
3. His Scales (Job 41:15-17)
1. His pride (Job 41:15a)
2. As a seal (Job 41:15b-16)
3. Cannot be sundered (Job 41:17)
4. HIS FIERY BREATH (Job 41:18-21)
1. His Light (Job 41:18-19)
1. A light from his sneezing (Job 41:18)
2. A light from his eyes (Job 41:18)
3. Burning lamps out of his mouth (Job 41:19)
2. His Furnace (Job 41:20-21)
1. Smoke out of his nostrils (Job 41:20)
2. Coals kindled by his breath (Job 41:21)
3. A flame goes out of his mouth (Job 41:21).
4. Note: he is a fire-breathing dragon.
5. HIS FIRM STRENGTH (Job 41:22-24)
1. The Strength of His Neck (Job 41:22)
2. The Flakes of His Flesh (Job 41:23)
3. The Firmness of His Heart (Job 41:24)
6. HIS HAUGHTY MANNER (Job 41:25-30)
1. His Fearlessness (Job 41:25-26)
1. Mighty men become religious they purify themselves (Job 41:25).
2. He cannot be held with the weapons of man (Job 41:26).
2. His Invincibleness (Job 41:27-30)
1. Treating iron as straw (Job 41:27)
2. Treating brass as rotten wood (Job 41:27)
3. Against arrow (Job 41:28)
4. Against sling stones (Job 41:28)
5. Against darts (Job 41:29)
6. Against spear (Job 41:29)
7. Against  sharp stones (Job 41:30)
7. HIS PROUD REIGN (Job 41:31-34)
1. In the Deep (Job 41:31-32)
1. Making it to boil (Job 41:31)
2. Making a shining path (Job 41:32)
2. His Exaltation above All Creation (Job 41:33-34)
1. None like him on earth (Job 41:33)
2. Made without fear (Job 41:33)
3. Beholding all high things (Job 41:34)
4. A king over all the children of pride (Job 41:34); compare with the pride of Satan (Isaiah 14:12-15).

CONCLUSION: This passage gives us a healthy respect for the power of God’s creation and for the power of leviathan himself. However, the main purpose is to put in us a holy fear of God. Surely, the Creator of such creatures and beings is to be feared. Verse 10 states, “None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me?” The first statement in this verse is about leviathan (“him”). It is said that no one is so fierce that they purposely stir him up. However, the second statement refers to God (“me”). The true purpose of this passage is to create awe for the Creator. What a God who can make such a beast!