This is a text reader for the article below:

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Wednesday 4/17/24

Title: God reveals Himself in Leviathan & Job is moved to repentance

Message Video Player

Message Audio Player:

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:30:37 — 125.9MB)

Subscribe: Spotify | RSS

***Video is HERE***

God reveals Himself in Leviathan & Job is moved to repentance

Tonight we finish the book of Job by examining the next creature God points out to Job as He brings His servant to a place of humility and reconciliation.

This is an even more remarkable creature than the Behemoth and is perhaps the most fearsome one ever to exist on this planet.

The Leviathan!

Job 41:1-34,

“(1) Can you pull in Leviathan with a hook or tie his tongue down with a rope?

(2) Can you put a cord through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook?

(3) Will he beg you for mercy or speak softly to you?

(4) Will he make a covenant with you so that you can take him as a slave forever?

(5) Can you play with him like a bird or put him on a leash for your girls?

(6) Will traders bargain for him or divide him among the merchants?

(7) Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears?

(8) Lay a hand on him. You will remember the battle and never repeat it! (9) Any hope of capturing him proves false.

Does a person not collapse at the very sight of him? (10) No one is ferocious enough to rouse Leviathan; who then can stand against Me?

“Can you pull in Leviathan with a hook or tie his tongue down with a rope?”

(11) Who confronted Me, that I should repay him? Everything under heaven belongs to Me. ”

The last statement we just read clearly reveals God’s intentions in mentioning this creature.

If you have no hope of standing against this creature which I made, then what possessed you to tangle with Me?

Obviously Leviathans were real creatures with which Job was clearly very familiar and most likely had seen.

You don’t ask questions like these about a mythological creature period – much less if your intention was to create humility by means of a real comparison.

Can you catch it?
Can you sell it to traders?
If you ever touched it the ensuing battle would give you the wisdom to never attempt it again.
Just to look at the creature causes people to collapse in fear.

I don’t know about you but even in museums where I’ve seen the huge remains of gigantic sauropods I never came close to fainting in fear.

At Epcot in Disney and in parades in ChinaTown I’ve seen very large depictions of leviathan type creatures – like Chinese dragons before, and never once were my knees made weak through fear. The obvious reason is because they are not living and in the case of the dragon may be mythological.

If the creature God is describing to Job were nothing but a pretend creature none of the questions nor their answers would mean anything or produce what God was attempting to generate in Job which was a humbled heart.

Let’s continue…

Job 40

“(12) I cannot be silent about his limbs, his power, and his graceful proportions.

(13) Who can strip off his outer covering? Who can penetrate his double layer of armor? (14) Who can open his jaws, surrounded by those terrifying teeth?

(15) His pride is in his rows of scales, closely sealed together. (16) One scale is so close to another that no air can pass between them. (17) They are joined to one another, so closely connected they cannot be separated.

(18) His snorting flashes with light, while his eyes are like the rays of dawn. (19) Flaming torches shoot from his mouth; fiery sparks fly out! (20) Smoke billows from his nostrils as from a boiling pot or burning reeds. (21) His breath sets coals ablaze, and flames pour out of his mouth.

(22) Strength resides in his neck, and dismay dances before him.

(23) The folds of his flesh are joined together, solid as metal and immovable.

(24) His heart is as hard as a rock, as hard as a lower millstone!

(25) When Leviathan rises, the mighty are terrified; they withdraw because of his thrashing.

(26) The sword that reaches him will have no effect, nor will a spear, dart, or arrow. (27) He regards iron as straw, and bronze as rotten wood.

(28) No arrow can make him flee; slingstones become like stubble to him.

(29) A club is regarded as stubble, and he laughs at the whirring of a javelin.

(30) His undersides are jagged potsherds, spreading the mud like a threshing sledge.

(31) He makes the depths seethe like a caldron; he makes the sea like an ointment jar. (32) He leaves a shining wake behind him; one would think the deep had white hair!

(33) He has no equal on earth–a creature devoid of fear! (34) He surveys everything that is haughty; he is king over all the proud beasts.”

This creature is greatly represented in literature and many seafaring crews have remarkably similar descriptions of a creature like this.

Perhaps it is best represented in Chinese art as the dragon. You have no doubt often seen it even if you cannot call it to mind.

In these depictions it is always revealed to have 4 limbs which this scripture does not mention.

That creatures like this did exist with limbs of some variety seems possible because other drawings and mosaics have a similar creature with something akin to fins. So the one in scripture may not have offered a complete description or the limbs may have been fins or it may be a different creature altogether.

Its ability to produce sparks or flame from its mouth is certainly extraordinary, but not biologically impossible or even entirely unique. Other creatures have similar abilities. Of course the most famous of which is the Bombardier Beetle of which there are 500 known varieties. This produces hundreds of sequential pulses of highly volatile chemicals per second which explode on impact with a predator. Two of the predominant chemicals are hydroquinone and a concentrated form of hydrogen peroxide which has also been used in rocket fuel.

As far as the Leviathan leaving a glowing wake in the ocean, there are many creatures both on land and in the sea which produce phosphorescence, a type of photoluminescence.

Also the amazing Firefly produces a controlled thermonuclear reaction in its abdomen in order to produce light. The method by which fireflies produce light is by combining oxygen with calcium, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and the chemical luciferin in the presence of luciferase, a bioluminescent enzyme. This produces the light known as bioluminescence.

The point is, only the ignorant or jaded would claim such a creature with such abilities could not exist.

Job 42:1-17,

“(1) Then Job replied to the LORD:

(2) I know that You can do anything and no plan of Yours can be thwarted.

(3) You asked, “Who is this who conceals My counsel with ignorance?”

Surely I spoke about things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.

(4) You said, “Listen now, and I will speak. When I question you, you will inform Me.”

(5) I HAD HEARD RUMORS ABOUT YOU, BUT NOW MY EYES HAVE SEEN YOU. (6) THEREFORE I TAKE BACK MY WORDS AND REPENT IN DUST AND ASHES.”

The New English translation presses the force of Job’s words upon us by rendering it this way…

Job 42:5-6,

“(5) I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye has seen you. (6) Therefore I despise myself, and I repent in dust and ashes!”

The word ma’ ‘as which means to reject, abhor or despise has no object on the verb so Job could be referring to himself or his words that he despises. In the end though I imagine there is little difference.

These represent some of the most beautiful words in the entire Bible – words of humility, respect and sincere repentance and we see that this was ALL God needed and all He wanted in order invite Job into His forgiveness, mercy, grace and more than a complete restoration!

“(7) After the LORD had finished speaking to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite:

“I am angry with you and your two friends, for you have not spoken the truth about Me, as My servant Job has. (8) Now take seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. Then My servant Job will pray for you.

I will surely accept his prayer and not deal with you as your folly deserves. For you have not spoken the truth about Me, as My servant Job has.”

(9) Then Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the LORD had told them, and the LORD accepted Job’s prayer.

(10) After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his prosperity and doubled his previous possessions.

(11) All his brothers, sisters, and former acquaintances came to his house and dined with him in his house.

They offered him sympathy and comfort concerning all the adversity the LORD had brought on him. Each one gave him a qesitah [a token sum of money], and a gold earring.

(12) So the LORD blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the earlier.

He owned 14,000 sheep,

6,000 camels,

1,000 yoke of oxen, and

1,000 female donkeys.

(13) He also had seven sons and three daughters.

(14) He named his first daughter Jemimah, his second Keziah, and his third Keren–happuch.”

Jemimah, means dove

Keziah, means cassia (this is an herb which is both sweet & spicy)

Keren–happuch, means horn of antimony ( a white mineral)

“(15) No women as beautiful as Job’s daughters could be found in all the land, and their father granted them an inheritance with their brothers.

(16) Job lived 140 years after this and saw his children and their children to the fourth generation.

(17) Then Job died, old and full of days.”

So the lesson of the book of Job is really quite simple and straightforward and perhaps therein lies its life transforming power.

It is nothing less than a clarification of our earthly and mortal vulnerability to attack.

That we are central figures in a war that was not our own but in which we have taken sides.

The immediate consequences of the choices we make in regard to this conflict can be harsh… even fatal and the eternal consequences beyond imagining in either direction.

There are two kingdoms at play and the allegiance of our hearts is the battlefield.

As for the particulars…

God is Just and will never pervert justice, nor sidestep it for ANYONE!
- This is because justice is based upon the nature of the three members of the Godhead. The Father will NOT allow ANY challenge to or corruption of the dignity of Their individual or collective characters and persons to go unanswered. He CANNOT! To do so would be to say it does not matter and that would be a lie. It would also be to place a created being on a level which is superior to their Creators which too would be a lie. As such ALL injustice HAS to be addressed!

It is God’s desire to justify the offender.
We have an adversary whose mission is to distort justice and corrupt mankind’s hearts against God by suggesting lies regarding His character.
Satan has the right to tempt, try and persecute the human race. Loyalty which is unchallenged cannot be proven to be loyalty at all.

One could not claim that Adam was faithful to Eve in their union together until other options presented themselves.

Satan evidently possessed this right to challenge our devotion to God from the beginning or the temptation in the garden could never have taken place.

Why he had this right is a matter of conjecture – at least for me in my present comprehension of scripture.

Part of this right or jurisdiction was arguably increased by us in the garden when through Adam, we all surrendered our minds to the devil’s suggestions and acted upon them. Since the fall God’s rescue plan for mankind has had to follow a judicial path of justice though for God and us, it is more of a heart issue. If mankind was subject to temptation before the fall and after, then all the more those rescued from their fallen state. The devil will be as relentless as permitted in his attempt to prove our loyalties to God are about what we stand to gain FROM Him, rather than devotion to God as a matter of love and heart.

Satan’s authority is limited. He MUST gain permission to attack us and limits are in fact placed upon his actions regarding us.
God NEVER allows an attack from the enemy without also providing for our ability to bear up under it and in the end, escape without surrender to him.
The devil’s desire is to kill, steal and destroy.

God’s purpose is life everlasting!

Blessings!

Pastor Mark

View posts by Pastor Mark

Hi my name is Mark and though I am opposed to titles, I am currently the only Pastor (shepherd/elder) serving our assembly right now.

I have been Pastoring in one capacity or another for nearly 30 years now, though never quite like I am today.

Early in 2009 the Lord revealed to me that the way we had structured our assembly (church) was not scriptural in that it was out of sync with what Paul modeled for us in the New Testament. In truth, I (like many pastors I am sure) never even gave this fundamental issue of church structure the first thought. I had always assumed that church structure was largely the same everywhere and had been so from the beginning. While I knew Paul had some very stringent things to say about the local assembly of believers, the point of our gatherings together and who may or may not lead, I never even considered studying these issues but assumed we were all pretty much doing it right...safety in numbers right?! Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong!

So needless to say, my discovery that we had been doing it wrong for nearly two decades was a bit of a shock to me! Now, this "revelation" did not come about all at once but over the course of a few weeks. We were a traditional single pastor led congregation. It was a top-bottom model of ministry which is in part biblical, but not in the form of a monarchy.

The needed change did not come into focus until following 9 very intense months of study and discussions with those who were leaders in our church at the time.

We now understand and believe that the Bible teaches co-leadership with equal authority in each local assembly. Having multiple shepherds with God's heart and equal authority protects both Shepherds and sheep. Equal accountability keeps authority and doctrine in check. Multiple shepherds also provide teaching with various styles and giftings with leadership skills which are both different and complementary.

For a while we had two co-pastors (elders) (myself and one other man) who led the church with equal authority, but different giftings. We both taught in our own ways and styles, and our leadership skills were quite different, but complimentary. We were in complete submission to each other and worked side-by-side in the labor of shepherding the flock.

Our other Pastor has since moved on to other ministry which has left us with just myself. While we currently only have one Pastor/Elder, it is our desire that God, in His faithfulness and timing, may bring us more as we grow in maturity and even in numbers.

As to my home, I have been married since 1995 to my wonderful wife Terissa Woodson who is my closest friend and most trusted ally.

As far as my education goes, I grew up in a Christian home, but questioned everything I was ever taught.

I graduated from Bible college in 1990 and continued to question everything I was ever taught (I do not mention my college in order to avoid being labeled).

Perhaps my greatest preparation for ministry has been life and ministry itself. To quote an author I have come to enjoy namely Fredrick Buechner in his writing entitled, Now and Then, "If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think that He speaks to us largely through what happens to us...if we keep our hearts open as well as our ears, if we listen with patience and hope, if we remember at all deeply and honestly, then I think we come to recognize beyond all doubt, that, however faintly we may hear Him, He is indeed speaking to us, and that, however little we may understand of it, His word to each of us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling." ~ Fredrick Buechner

Well that is about all there is of interest to tell you about me.

I hope our ministry here is a blessing to you and your family. I also hope that it is only a supplement to a local church where you are committed to other believers in a community of grace.

~God Bless!