But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:6-7
A world champion wrestler could hardly resist the death roll of a saltwater crocodile. Nor is the arm of the burliest powerlifter a match for the slashing claws of a frenzied polar bear. Yet as formidable as these predators are, their strength pales before the animal kingdom’s ultimate apex predator – Leviathan – of whom the Lord declares: ‘Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear’ (Job 41:33).
Facts regarding this mysterious creature were relayed to Job by the Lord Himself out of the whirlwind. With an array of terrible teeth set within a door-likened jaw (Job 41:14), impenetrable scales (Job 41:15-17), and an aquatic habitat (Job 41:31), many have considered Leviathan to be a crocodile. However, the Lord’s description goes on to say:
Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out.
Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or caldron.
His breath kindleth coals, and a flame goeth out of his mouth. Job 41:19-21
Since it is only honest to take this account literally, what else could Leviathan have been but a fire-breathing dragon? Accounts of similar beasts have been chronicled by profane historians. The story of Regulus and the Bagradas Dragon given by stoic philosopher Quintus Aelius Tubero in the second century BC, details a creature encountered by a Roman army in North Africa:
The consul Atilius Regulus, when encamped at the Bagradas river in Africa, fought a stubborn and fierce battle with a single serpent of extraordinary size, which had its lair in that region; that in a mighty struggle with the entire army the reptile was attacked for a long time with hurling engines and catapults; and that when it was finally killed, its skin, a hundred and twenty feet long, was sent to Rome.
Given that it took a whole Roman army to slay this dragon, the courage of a well-armed elite soldier of the 21st century would likely falter if met by Leviathan, for it is written: ‘Shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him?’ (Job 40:9). The Lord relays that the best course for any would-be dragon slayer is to admit defeat and flee: ‘Lay thine hand upon him, remember the battle, do no more’ (Job 41:8). In closing His chapter-long rebuke to Job, God declares of this most fearsome beast of His terrestrial creation: ‘He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride’ (Job 41:34).
Just as no man can match the animal power of Leviathan, no man can (in his own strength) resist the supernatural power of Satan. The former covering-cherub is unmatched in terms of intellectual power. Fallen from heaven through pride himself, ‘the great dragon’ reigns on earth as ‘king over all the children of pride’ (Job 41:34). The proud whom he reigns over do not resist him. On the contrary, they eagerly submit to his temptations, as the carrot on the stick that Satan holds out before them is precisely what they desire.
However, while the devil’s offers of riches, worldly acclaim, and sinful pleasures are irresistible to the proud, such temptations gain no traction in the heart of the humble soul. For the humble welcome the call to ‘submit yourselves therefore to God’ by seeking to render full obedience to God’s law.
In this endeavour, you will meet the devil head on, but not alone. For while none can ‘draw out leviathan with an hook’ – or overcome the dragon with his own might – God ‘giveth grace unto the humble’. Thus, as you ‘resist the devil’ by refusing to indulge his temptations, he soon perceives that there is nothing in your heart to leverage. Turning from the sight, the arch fiend ‘flees from you’, as nothing wounds his bulging pride more painfully than being overcome by a poor mortal.
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:57
Christopher Sparks