12-19-14. Job 41:1-34. Humbly Submit to The Lord– my devotional

Job 41:1-34                                                                                                             Kevin E. Jesmer

Key verse   10                                                                                                 12-19-14

“10 No one is fierce enough to rouse it. Who then is able to stand against me? 11 Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me.”

Part 1: Be Humble And Depend On God To Win The Battle (1-23)

This passage teaches us how important it is to remain humble before God. It may even give us insight in the character and the strategies of the devil. Let’s see…

Job 41:1-23 reads, “Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook or tie down its tongue with a rope? 2 Can you put a cord through its nose or pierce its jaw with a hook? 3 Will it keep begging you for mercy? Will it speak to you with gentle words? 4 Will it make an agreement with you for you to take it as your slave for life? 5 Can you make a pet of it like a bird or put it on a leash for the young women in your house? 6 Will traders barter for it? Will they divide it up among the merchants? 7 Can you fill its hide with harpoons or its head with fishing spears? 8 If you lay a hand on it, you will remember the struggle and never do it again! 9 Any hope of subduing it is false; the mere sight of it is overpowering. 10 No one is fierce enough to rouse it. Who then is able to stand against me? 11 Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me. 12 “I will not fail to speak of Leviathan’s limbs, its strength and its graceful form. 13 Who can strip off its outer coat? Who can penetrate its double coat of armor? 14 Who dares open the doors of its mouth, ringed about with fearsome teeth? 15 Its back has rows of shields tightly sealed together; 16 each is so close to the next that no air can pass between. 17 They are joined fast to one another; they cling together and cannot be parted. 18 Its snorting throws out flashes of light; its eyes are like the rays of dawn. 19 Flames stream from its mouth; sparks of fire shoot out. 20 Smoke pours from its nostrils as from a boiling pot over burning reeds. 21 Its breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from its mouth. 22 Strength resides in its neck; dismay goes before it. 23 The folds of its flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable. 24 Its chest is hard as rock, hard as a lower millstone.” (NIV)

At first glance the Leviathan in this passage appears to be some sort of monster. The Leviathan usually refers to a seven headed sea monster in Old Canaanite myths. It probably means a crocodile here. A crocodile is one of the  most impressive animals that live in land and water. The crocodile seems to dare all who come near.

Proud people, without some sort of ballistic type weapon, are no match for the powerful crocodile. If we are no match for the river crocodile, it is foolish to think that they can stand up against God. How much more powerful is He! We must bow our heads in humility and submit to God who is powerful and all mighty.

Let’s think about this passage from another point of view. Could this description be a description of Satan the “great dragon” who is the enemy of both God and people. The devil is described as the great dragon in the Book of Revelation. Revelation 12:7-9 reads, “Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.” (NIV). Knowing that the devil is related to a great and powerful dragon, some qualities of Satan may be derived from the description of the leviathan in Job 40. Let’s see.

Satan can not be subdued. In verse 2 God asks Job, “Can you put a cord through its nose or pierce its jaw with a hook?” People, by their own power, cannot subdue, contain or control Satan. He is much more powerful than that. The battle we are engaged in is not physical, mental, or financial. It is a spiritual battle and for this battle we must put on the full armor of God.

Ephesians 6:10-18, reads, “10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”

Satan will try to deceive with soft words. Verse 3 reads, “Will it keep begging you for mercy? Will it speak to you with gentle words?” Satan plies the hearts of people constantly seeking to deceive them, hoping to lead them astray. Deception is the devil’s greatest weapon. He uses soft words, and even pretending to beg for mercy, to carry his deception through. He will even try to pull this one over on God himself. Satan can not be trusted. That is why we need the helmet of salvation.

Satan will make agreements with people he has no intention to keep. Verse 4 reads, “Will it make an agreement with you for you to take it as your slave for life?”  Satan tries to make a covenant with people. He will promise riches, power, influence, fame. I have heard that criminals in Mexican drug cartels actually worship the devil in order to get his protection. But they are very foolish for the devil is a liar and the father of lies. He will make any covenant that people like, knowing that he will not keep his side of the bargain. He only seeks to enslave them by the power of sin and death.

Satan wants people to think that he is harmless. People treat Satan like he can be an amusing pet, much to their demise. Verse 5 reads, “Can you make a pet of it like a bird or put it on a leash for the young women in your house?”  Unfortunately, millions of people have attempted to do just this…trying to capture and control the devil for their entertainment, like a pet. But they soon find out that Satan and sin are nothing to be contained for entertainment. Instead they will become merciless task masters.

Satan does not respond to natural weapons. Look at verse 7, “Can you fill its hide with harpoons or its head with fishing spears?”  To capture the Leviathan, using harpoons and spears was a fruitless endeavor. In the same way, there are no weapons of this world that can defeat hm. That is why we must put on the full armor of God Look at Ephesians 6:12-13 again, “ 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”

Satan wants us to keep fighting with our losing strategies. We need to learn from our mistakes in the past. Look at verse 8, “If you lay a hand on it, you will remember the struggle and never do it again!” People have attempted to do battle with Satan in their past. We all do. Our natural tendency is to fight with our own human power, in the flesh, and we fail miserably. We become more ensnared by the devil’s schemes. We must remember how we have lost all attempts in the past. It should make us not want to do so any longer and instead turn to Jesus. The Lord Jesus has already completely defeated Satan. He did this when he suffered, died and rose again. He also did this in the desert, at the beginning of his ministry, when he held firm to the word of God. (Matt 4) Jesus has victory over the devil and he will help us to share in his victory when we walk by faith, wearing the full armor of God.

Give up all hope of subduing the devil by any human power. Look at verse 9, “Any hope of subduing it is false; the mere sight of it is overpowering.”  No one could bargain with Satan. Every effort is in vain. The one who attempts to subdue the devil in any way will fail miserably and become enslaved. Where have all our humanistic attempts to subdue the power of sin gotten us? We have won some battles on some fronts. But this world is still a very, very crazy and dark place and it is getting worse, so it seems.

Satan is too fierce to be defeated by mere people. Look at verse 10, “No one is fierce enough to rouse it. Who then is able to stand against me?” The one who dares to think that they can out fierce the fierceness of Satan will be fiercely humbled. God alone, who is all powerful and who loves his children with the fierce love of a bear for her cubs, can do battle with the devil.

Satan deceives us with his beauty. Look at verse 12, “I will not fail to speak of Leviathan’s limbs, its strength and its graceful form.”  God originally created Satan, not as a fallen angel, but rather as a beautiful angel. His name was Lucifer, and even served the Lord for a period of time. Ezekiel 28:11-19 tells us more of this…,

“The word of the Lord came to me: 12 “Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “‘You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: carnelian, chrysolite and emerald, topaz, onyx and jasper, lapis lazuli, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared. 14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. 15 You were blameless in your ways    from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. 16 Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. 17 Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom  because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings. 18 By your many sins and dishonest trade you have desecrated your sanctuaries. So I made a fire come out from you, and it consumed you, and I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching. 19 All the nations who knew you are appalled at you; you have come to a horrible end and will be no more.’”

Adam and Eve were deceived by the serpent in the Garden of Eden. He was able to approach Eve and entice her to eat the forbidden fruit. She was intrigued enough to engage the serpent in a conversation. Because of the devil’s merciless cunning, both Adam and Eve were deceived and were cast out into a fallen world.

The devil’s defenses are impenetrable. Look at verse 16, “each (scale) is so close to the next that no air can pass between. Man is unable to oppose Satan. There is no way for us to penetrate his defenses. We need to completely trust in Jesus’ almighty power alone and stand by faith in Christ.

There is a way, however, that the devil can be defeated. Though people cannot defeat Satan, God can. Jesus has already crushed the head of Satan, by the Gospel. It was accomplished through his suffering death burial and resurrection Jesus has atoned for all sin. He completely defeated the Evil One.

Jesus, the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth can do this. Look at verse 11, “Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me.”  All things belong to God, for he created it. One day, the Lord will completely make an end of Satan. The Bible tells us of this in Revelation 20:1-3, “And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 3 He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.”  (NIV)

We have learned so many things about the devil. Let’s review…Satan can not be subdued. Satan will try to deceive with soft words. Satan will make agreements with people he has no intention to keep. Satan wants people to think that he is harmless. Satan does not respond to natural weapons. Satan wants us to keep fighting with our losing strategies. Satan is too fierce to be defeated by mere people. Satan deceives us with his beauty. The devil’s defenses are impenetrable.

Knowing all of this, we need to learn from our mistakes in the past and respond by giving up all hope of subduing the devil by any human power. Trust in Jesus, the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth. He is powerful and loves us with a fierce love. It was accomplished through his suffering death burial and resurrection Jesus has atoned for all sin. He completely defeated the Evil One. We can find peace and rest in Christ, who fought this battle for us. Thank you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Part 2: Fight In The Strength, Wisdom The Lord Provides (25-34)

Job 41:25-34 reads, “25 When it rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before its thrashing. 26 The sword that reaches it has no effect, nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin. 27 Iron it treats like straw and bronze like rotten wood. 28 Arrows do not make it flee; slingstones are like chaff to it. 29 A club seems to it but a piece of straw; it laughs at the rattling of the lance. 30 Its undersides are jagged potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge. 31 It makes the depths churn like a boiling caldron and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment. 32 It leaves a glistening wake behind it; one would think the deep had white hair. 33 Nothing on earth is its equal— a creature without fear. 34 It looks down on all that are haughty; it is king over all that are proud.” (NIV)

The Leviathan, probably a crocodile, is very powerful and foreboding. look at  verse 25, “When it rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before its thrashing.”  Even the mightiest person is terrified at this creature. Knowing how powerful the Leviathan is, what should be the wisest thing to

This creature is very impressive. Look at verse 32; “It leaves a glistening wake behind it; one would think the deep had white hair.”  It leaves a glistening wake when it moves through the waters. How glorious this creature is. While the path of it’s movement shines, still it is deceptive…because this creature is a great threat to all people.

The proud people have something to fear in this creature. This creature fears no people. Look at verse 34. “It looks down on all that are haughty; it is king over all that are proud.”  Apparently there were people who were haughty in the face of the Leviathan. They were proud towards him. They flung swords, spears, darts, arrows and slingstones at the creature but to no avail. V. 26-27, “26 The sword that reaches it has no effect, nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin. 27 Iron it treats like straw and bronze like rotten wood. 28 Arrows do not make it flee; slingstones are like chaff to it.”  They tried, but it had no effect. How futile were the attempts of these people to defy the leviathan!

     There are things in this life that raise it’s menacing head to us. They threaten our lives. They are very powerful. Satan, that ancient serpent magnifies and multiples the damage done to our souls by these things. When facing such things as these we tend to want to stand up before them in our strength. Though we are so weak and powerless, we still think we can do something to crush the forces of evil that assail our hearts and our minds. Satan and the forces of darkness are just too powerful to overcome with our own power. What about when depression or bitterness seeps into our hearts? What about when we despair captures us so that we no longer can go on in this world? What about relationships that seem to crumble before us, even though we try our best to hold these together? What about the every tightening vice of sins, that seem to suck us into a bottomless quagmire? Can we get out of the quicksand of sin on our own power? Can you control the negative, destructive thoughts that occupy our minds? What about disabling feelings and emotions? And what about sickness and death itself? Can we give meaning to life in a fallen world apart from Christ? Can we escape these things? Never! How can we ever think that we, mired in sin and weakness, can ever stand up before the Leviathans in our life?

What about Nations? There are nations who are crumbling because they do not have the right foundation. They are economically depressed, politically in turmoil, full of corruption and crime and war, and some are plain and simple, failed nations. But still they refuse to make Jesus and the Gospel the foundation of their nations. They try with their own human efforts to implement many things of human origin. They try education, false religion, political alliances, more money, but these don’t seem to help at all to bring about lasting results. They fail to change their situations and they lie there defeated. And Satan moves on leaving a “glistening wake” to his next victim.

Why is it so hard for individuals and nations to admit defeat, stop fighting with “human” efforts and submit fully to Jesus, who is the only one who can save? It has to do with false, human pride. We always think we can do something, when we can not. We think we are on the road to recover when in reality we are on the road to destruction. But still we fight and fight. Is it noble to fight a losing battle or is it more noble to abandon all hope in ourselves and place our hope in Jesus? Submit to God. Seek his wisdom and his direction and fight in the power and strength that he alone can provide.

I am not talking about pride in your nationality, or the work of your hands, or of your family or heritage. I am talking about pride that cuts us off from a relationship with God. Pride make us keep digging a hole, ignoring God’s pleas to stop digging and come on up out of that hole to follow him. It is the pride that keep us repeating the same failing methods, even though they are proven false and fruitless. Isn’t the definition of insanity…doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results? I call it pride. This false pride is the crowning sin that has always beset the human race. It is the foundation of all sin. If you dissected every sin, ultimately you would find pride. Pride is the sin that caused the fall of Adam and even in the Garden of Eden. Genesis 3:5-7, “5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.” It is the sin that caused the downfall of Lucifer. Ezekiel 28:17, “Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.” It is this false pride, which God apposes. James 4:6, “But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”  Pride is the sin that God hates more than any other sin for it keeps us from a relationship with our Creator. Proverbs 6:16-17, “There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,” (NIV)

There are many spiritual forces, “leviathans”, that try to assail me. Most of them are emotional and relational “leviathans” that threaten my soul with depression, angry reactions to things I feel I can’t control, despair, withdrawal, relational stresses. I think I can pull from my quiver, human weapons of war to fight this spiritual battle with my own power. But I can not fight forever on my own strength. In and of myself I am a weak. I am no match before the devil’s whiles for this battle is a spiritual battle. But Jesus is strong. God is the Creator. He is all-powerful. He can calm every storm and strengthen every relationship. He alone can create and re-create a new heart within me. In his sovereignty, he can rescue me from any circumstance according to his will. I need to abandon all feeble, and useless “human centered” efforts and submit to Lord. My strength comes from the Lord. My direction in this battle comes from my Spiritual General, Jesus. My hope comes from the Lord.

Prayer: Lord, save me from my false human pride, that keeps me fighting a losing battle against my leviathans. I want to submit to you. I want to trust you and go forth in your power alone.

One Word: Humbly Depend on Jesus.