As He brings His word to Job to a close, God points him to Leviathan (vv. 1-34). This indication is not accidental, because the image of Leviathan, whatever its origin, by the time the Book of Job was written had already become a symbol of the power opposed to God, although, of course, Leviathan was just as much God's creature as the rest of the world. And God, of course, does not accidentally set Job before Leviathan just as He had previously set him before Behemoth (Job 40:15-24). If Behemoth was a symbol of nature, completely indifferent to man, then Leviathan was a symbol of the dark powers that oppose man. God is, as it were, saying to Job: you wanted to lean on your own righteousness and demand something from Me; but I am not the one opposing you, I am on your side. Here is your real enemy; see whether you can withstand him. Will your righteousness help you (vv. 1-9)? This turn in the theme was not accidental: Job had in fact demanded the immediate triumph of justice, accusing God of permitting the forces of evil to act, of looking indifferently at the suffering of the righteous and the triumph of the wicked. Job, as it were, set his own righteousness against this indifference.

And now God showed him visibly what human righteousness is worth in the face of the world's evil if it remains without the help and support of the One who Himself is the source of all righteousness. But there was also a second, deeper meaning in this vision. God tells Job directly that only He Himself can deal with Leviathan, who embodies the forces of evil (v. 11). And the one who cannot deal with Leviathan has no right to challenge Him (v. 10). A person stands before the choice between God and Leviathan, and if he is not on God's side, then willingly or unwillingly he supports those who oppose God. A righteous person cannot become an opponent of God; the very nature and origin of righteousness do not allow it. Of course, God's triumph over Leviathan does not come immediately. God's struggle with those who oppose Him will end only at the end of time; Leviathan's recompense, as is clear, still lies ahead (v. 10). And then each one will receive his reward. Such a prospect would appear no better than the one Job's friends spoke of, pointing out to him that the time for rewarding the righteous and punishing the sinner would still come.

But there they spoke of a human perspective, while here the perspective is that of God's providence. And the issue is not only scale. The issue is also that time passes away, while God's eternity does not. And therefore in God's eternity every life finds its place, even one that by the standards of this world appeared to have failed completely. The reward of the righteous person in God's eternity is not that he receives from God some kind of compensation for the sufferings he has endured, but that his entire life is renewed, including the part of it that had seemed irretrievably lost. God does not evade Job's questions; He simply lets him understand that the answer to the questions he has asked can be found only in the Kingdom. And Job believes God, who speaks with him face to face.

At first glance it may seem that God is merely demonstrating His power to Job. And in demonstrating it, He says: can you do that? No? Then do not meddle in what is not your business. In fact, however, everything is not so simple. Job is already, in essence, ready to humble himself for real, to acknowledge God's complete authority over him and His absolute sovereignty in the world. This is no longer religiosity; it is real acceptance of the authority over oneself of the real God who enters a person's life.

The true path of righteousness begins with such complete and unconditional surrender of oneself to God. And Job is finally ready to take the first step on this path. He refuses to answer not because he has become afraid of God in the way a person may be afraid of someone infinitely stronger than himself. He has simply understood that a person has nothing to say to God. Of course, communion between a person and God is entirely possible. But not the kind Job was seeking and wanted.

He wanted to meet God in order to inform Him of his righteousness. To tell Him that he, Job, had not received from Him, from the God on whom he had so hoped, the expected reward. He wanted to remind God of the rules of the game. But it turned out that God does not need to be reminded of anything. Not because God knows the rules by which people play. And not even because God Himself establishes those rules. It is because God does not play human games at all. He solves His own tasks, and they are far larger than anything people can tell Him about.

God is ready to commune with a person, but about what is real, not about games invented by people. Even if they are religious games and God is the chief figure in them. Righteousness won in such a game remains toy righteousness. And Job seems already to be beginning to understand this. But the question of evil in the world is by no means a toy question. It is completely real. And very real. So what then? What is to be done with it? Is there an answer? God appears not to give an answer. But only appears so. Yes, the picture of a grazing Behemoth seems, at first glance, to have nothing to do with the matter.

But Behemoth is only the occasion. A starting point for awareness. And this awareness is connected with the understanding that there is no force in the world that is not subject to God. He truly is King. Sovereign. The absolute Monarch of the universe. And its supreme Judge. He knows what to do with the wicked and with all the evil of the world in general. And if a person can know anything about this, it is no more than he knows about the strength of Behemoth. A person has no more chance of solving the problem of evil in the world than of moving that very Behemoth from the place where it lies. The image is impressive and entirely clear.