1.
Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?
2.
Canst thou put an hook into his nose? or bore his jaw through with a thorn?
3.
Will he make many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words unto thee?
4.
Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant for ever?
5.
Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens?
6.
Shall the companions make a banquet of him? shall they part him among the merchants?
7.
Canst thou fill his skin with barbed iron? or his head with fish spears?
8.
Lay thine hand upon him, remember the battle, do no more.
9.
Behold, the hope of him is in vain: shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him?
10.
None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me?
11.
Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine.
12.
I will not conceal his parts, nor his power, nor his comely proportion.
13.
Who can discover the face of his garment? or who can come to him with his double bridle?
14.
Who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible round about.
15.
His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close seal.
16.
One is so near to another, that no air can come between them.
17.
They are joined one to another, they stick together, that they cannot be sundered.
18.
By his neesings a light doth shine, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.
19.
Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out.
20.
Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or caldron.
21.
His breath kindleth coals, and a flame goeth out of his mouth.
22.
In his neck remaineth strength, and sorrow is turned into joy before him.
23.
The flakes of his flesh are joined together: they are firm in themselves; they cannot be moved.
24.
His heart is as firm as a stone; yea, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone.
25.
When he raiseth up himself, the mighty are afraid: by reason of breakings they purify themselves.
AN AWE-INSPIRING OBJECT
‘When He raiseth up Himself, the mighty are afraid.’
Job 41:25
Leviathan is almost certainly the crocodile, and there is the playfulness of a great tenderness in the suggestions Jehovah makes to Job about these fierce creations. Can Job catch him with a rope or a hook? Will he pray to Job? Will Job make a servant or a plaything of him for himself or his maidens? There is a fine and yet most tender and humorous satire in the words of Jehovah—
‘Lay thine hand upon him;
Remember the battle, and do so no more.’
If none dare stir up leviathan, who can stand before God? If Job dare not attempt to catch or subdue or play with this animal, how can he hope to enter into competition in the government of the universe with God? The question being asked, the description returns to the beast in all the magnificence of his strength, and ends with a picture of men attempting to overcome him with sword, or spear, or dart, or pointed shaft; while all the while in fierce anger he holds the citadel of his being, and becomes king over all the sons of pride.
I. What a magnificent description of the crocodile!—There is nothing to compare with it in any page of the world’s literature. The inference is that the Maker of so marvellous an animal must be superlatively great. If the creature be so wonderful, what must not the Creator be? If you cannot approach or tame the monster, which buries itself in the seething water and eludes your sight, how helpless you are to follow the track of the Divine Providence, or bend it to your will!
II. One great lesson from all these chapters seems to be the desirability of acquainting ourselves with the works of God in Nature.—No devout student in the school of this instructress can ever leave it without loftier conceptions of Him Whose handmaiden Nature is. A great God is the goal which they must reach who travel, from the tiny gnat that blows its horn, or the smallest humming-bird that glances in the sunbeam. Nature is always beautiful, but to the ordinary eye of men’s curiosity or admiration she does not unfold her choicest aspects. There is a colour in the rainbow which evades, and a music in the waterfall which eludes, and a note in the storm which remains unheard by any, save those whose heart is pure and childlike and full of the love of God. If this be yours, adopt some line of natural study, have your hobby, as they say. It may be a shell, an egg, a fossil, a cone, an orchid, but each of these may lead your thoughts to God.
26.
The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold: the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon.
27.
He esteemeth iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood.
28.
The arrow cannot make him flee: slingstones are turned with him into stubble.
29.
Darts are counted as stubble: he laugheth at the shaking of a spear.
30.
Sharp stones are under him: he spreadeth sharp pointed things upon the mire.
31.
He maketh the deep to boil like a pot: he maketh the sea like a pot of ointment.
32.
He maketh a path to shine after him; one would think the deep to be hoary.
33.
Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear.
34.
He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride.