LEVIATHAN: a Creature of Mystery
Other than staring out into space, there are few things in nature to help a man understand his diminutive stature in relation to creation then to look out across an open ocean. As long as history records, the ocean has been, for mankind, a place of danger, a place of life-giving food, a place of adventure and a place of mystery. Ancient sources in mythology refer to creatures of the deep that defy explanation or even description. Some of those are even known in theological references specifically, the Leviathan.
Wikipedia has this in regard to Leviathan. “The Leviathan of the Book of Job is a reflection of the older Canaanite Lotan, a primeval monster defeated by the god Baal Hadad. Parallels to the role of Mesopotamian Tiamat defeated by Marduk have long been drawn in comparative mythology, as have been wider comparisons to dragon and world serpent narratives such as Indra slaying Vrtra or Thor slaying Jörmungandr. Leviathan also figures in the Hebrew Bible as a metaphor for a powerful enemy, notably Babylon (Isaiah 27:1). Some 19th-century scholars pragmatically interpreted it as referring to large aquatic creatures, such as the crocodile. The word later came to be used as a term for great whale, and for sea monsters in general.”
Yet, God, Himself, the Creator of all heaven and earth spoke directly of and named Leviathan in his word in several places specifically in talking with Job. God replies to Job‘s challenge to him. God asked him several questions about Job’s own ability to build, create, and control the universe. One of those questions involved Leviathan as we read in Job chapter 41 verse one. God asks Job, “Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook or tie down its tongue with a rope?”
God is very clear about this amazing sea creature of His. He extols it’s uniqueness in the following verses:
“Can you put a cord through its nose or pierce its jaw with a hook? Will it keep begging you for mercy? Will it speak to you with gentle words? Will it make an agreement with you for you to take it as your slave for life? Can you make a pet of it like a bird or put it on a leash for the young women in your house? Will traders barter for it? Will they divide it up among the merchants? Can you fill its hide with harpoons or its head with fishing spears? If you lay a hand on it, you will remember the struggle and never do it again! Any hope of subduing it is false; the mere sight of it is overpowering. No one is fierce enough to rouse it. Who then is able to stand against me? Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me. I will not fail to speak of Leviathan’s limbs, its strength and its graceful form. Who can strip off its outer coat? Who can penetrate its double coat of armor? Who dares open the doors of its mouth ringed about with fearsome teeth? Its back has rows of shields tightly sealed together; each is so close to the next that no air can pass between. They are joined fast to one another; they cling together and cannot be parted. Its snorting throws out flashes of light; its eyes are like the rays of dawn. Flames stream from its mouth; sparks of fire shoot out. Smoke pours from its nostrils as from a boiling pot over burning reeds. Its breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from its mouth. Strength resides in its neck; dismay goes before it. The folds of its flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable. Its chest is hard as rock, hard as a lower millstone. When it rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before its thrashing. The sword that reaches it has no effect, nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin. Iron it treats like straw and bronze like rotten wood. Arrows do not make it flee; sling stones are like chaff to it. A club seems to it but a piece of straw; it laughs at the rattling of the lance. Its undersides are jagged potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge. It makes the depths churn like a boiling caldron and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment. It leaves a glistening wake behind it; one would think the deep had white hair. Nothing on earth is its equal— its a creature without fear. It looks down on all that are haughty; it is king over all that are proud.”*
What an incredible description of an amazing creature. And yet we know that there are many more. Still, mankind in all of his “wisdom“ or scientific exploration have never seen them. In thousands of years of searching the planet, not all has been found. The world is God’s world and we are to be reminded of that fact.
We can search creation and the descriptions of creatures found throughout that creation and in so doing we find the minuteness of our beings. Yet, that search reveals an even more amazing fact about mankind. In all of its smallness in comparison to creation, there is only one of God’s creatures that was made in His image, is immortal, and was the object of a depth of love so deep, God allowed His only Son to die to save us.
For you, what part of God’s creation reminds you of your place in His world? Is it looking out across a vast ocean wondering at what lies beneath the surface? Is it staring into a vast night sky considering what lies beyond? Is it looking into the face off a newborn baby or into the eyes of an elderly person? Perhaps you’re just clinging to the fact that God is God, He is still there, and He is still in control.
Often times it is a natural disaster or dramatic weather events that remind us that we as human beings are not in control. It’s also likely whenever there’s a good outcome to a natural event there is no mention of God. If there is a horrific outcome there is a chorus from people wondering ‘How could a God of love allow this?’
May it ease our minds in times of distress, if we are fortunate to hear the sound of rolling waves in the ocean or in wilder times the crash of the waves wave against a stalwart rocky coastline or seawall, to know that God who created and controls without issue Leviathan and so much more, remains in control, and He loves you more than mere words can express.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leviathan
*Job 41:2-34
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