Job 41

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TALKS FOR GROWING CHRISTIANS

God’s Continuing Challenge to Job

BACKGROUND NOTES

God continues to question Job here in chapter 41, specifically about the leviathan. What was the leviathan?
Among all of the creatures God created, why did He choose to question Job about the leviathan?

With support from Psalm 104:25 and 26, “And there is that Leviathan which You made to play [in the great and wide sea]”, and considering the characteristics given in this chapter of Job, it can be concluded that the leviathan was a large sea creature which is now extinct. The description of the leviathan given in this chapter of Job includes frightening teeth (v 14), an outer layer of scales (v 15), and the ability to create a huge, foaming wake as it swam through the sea (v 31, 32).
God questioned Job about the leviathan as a matter of logic, confronting Job with the question that if he could not control this great sea creature that God had created, how would he think he could control the Creator and force Him to answer Job’s questions on Job’s terms? In addition, God would use the scary, sinister-looking leviathan as a reminder to Job of evil, used here figuratively as a symbol of Satan. See Isaiah 27:1 in this connection. Remember, because Isaiah used the leviathan in a figurative way as a symbol of Satan does not mean that the leviathan was not a real creature in the days of Job.

Discuss the connection between God’s omniscient (all-knowing) and omnipotent (all-powerful) attributes and how they confirm and affirm God’s control over all of creation. Consider the importance of God’s additional attribute of omnipresence (all-present) regarding His overall control. Discuss the impact that these attributes of God has on your life and the on the life of the Church, the body of Christ.

In the chaotic, seemingly unpredictable world that we live in, are you uncertain about God’s absolute control of all things? Do you find yourself questioning God’s ability to control evil people and activities? While we fall short of understanding all of God’s ways, we can rest assured that God is in complete control of everything, and He knows what He is doing. We are not to question God’s ways because there is no need to question God’s ways. Learn the leviathan lesson!

“Who then is able to stand against Me? Who has preceded Me that I should pay him? Everything under heaven is Mine.” Job 41:10b, 11