As He brings His word to Job to a close, God points him to Leviathan...
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.
40 Job humbles himself before God, Job 40:1-5.
God challenges him to vie with him, in justice, power, majesty, and dominion over the proud, Job 40:6-14.
And gives an instance of his power in the Behemoth, Job 40:15-24.
40:6 Whirlwind - Which was renewed when God renewed his charge upon Job, whom he intended to humble more throughly.
40:8 Wilt thou - Every word is emphatical, wilt (art thou resolved upon it) thou (thou Job, whom I took to be one of a better mind) also (not only vindicate thyself, but also accuse me) disannul (not only question, but even repeal and make void, as if it were unjust)my judgment? My sentence against thee, and my government and administration of human affairs? Wilt thou make me unrighteous that thou mayst seem to be righteous?
40:10 Deck - Seeing thou makest thyself equal, yea, superior to me, take to thyself thy great power, come and sit in my throne, and display thy Divine perfections in the sight of the world.
40:13 Hide - Kill every one of them at one blow. Bind - Condemn or destroy them. He alludes to the manner of covering the faces of condemned persons, and of dead men. In secret - In a secret place, bury them in their graves.
40:15 Behemoth - Very learned men take the leviathan to be the crocodile, and the behemoth to be the river - horse, which may fitly be joined with the crocodile, both being well known to Joband his friends, as being frequent in the adjacent parts, both amphibious, living and preying both in the water and upon the land. And both creatures of great bulk and strength. Made - As I made thee.Grass - The river - horse comes out of the river upon the land to feed upon corn, and hay, or grass, as an ox doth, to whom also he is not unlike in the form of his head and feet, and in the bigness of his body, whence the Italians call him, the sea - ox.
40:16 Strength - He hath strength answerable to his bulk, but this strength by God's wise and merciful providence is not an offensive strength, consisting in, or put forth by horns or claws, as it is in ravenous creatures, but only defensive and seated in his loins, as it is in other creatures.
40:17 Tail - Which though it be but short, yet when it is erected, is exceeding stiff and strong. Thighs - The sinews of his thighs.His thighs and feet are so sinewy and strong, that one of them is able to break or over - turn a large boat.
40:19 The chief - He is one of the chief of God's works, in regard of its great bulk and strength.
40:20 Mountains - Though he lives most in the water, yet he often fetches his food from the land, and from the mountains or hills, which are nigh the river Nile. Play - They not only feed securely, but sport themselves by him, being taught by experience that he is gentle and harmless.
40:22 Brook - Or, of the Nile, of which this word is often used in scripture. His constant residence is in or near this river, or the willows that grow by it.
40:23 River - A great quantity of water, hyperbolically called a river.Hasteth not - He drinks not with fear and caution; but such is his courage, that he fears no enemy either by water or by land. He drinks as if he designed, to drink up the whole river. He mentions Jordan, as a river well known, in and nigh unto Job's land.
40:24 Sight - Can any man take him in his eyes? Openly and by force? Surely not. His strength is too great for man to overcome: and therefore men are forced to use wiles and engines to catch him.
41 To convince Job of his wickedness, he is here challenged to subdue and tame the leviathan, Job 41:1-10.
A particular description of him. Job 41:11-34.
41:1 Leviathan - Several particulars in the following description, agree far better with the crocodile, than the whale. It is highly probable, that this is the creature here spoken of. Cord - Canst thou take him with a hook and a line, as anglers take ordinary fishes.
41:2 Thorn - Or, with an iron hook, or instrument as sharp as a thorn; wherewith thou usest to carry little fishes.
41:3 Supplications - Doth he dread thine anger or power? Or will he earnestly beg thy favour? It is a metaphor from men in distress, who use these means to them to whose power they are subject.
41:7 Fill - A whale's you may: but the skin of a crocodile is so hard that an iron or spear will not pierce it.
41:8 Lay - Seize upon him, if thou darest. Battle - But ere thou attempt it consider what thou art doing, and with whom, thou art going to fight. Do no more - Proceed no farther, draw back thy hand.
41:9 Hope - The hope of taking or conquering him.
41:10 Stand - To the battle.Me - To contend with me who created him?