Identifying Leviathan

You crushed the heads of Leviathan; You gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness. You split open springs and brooks; You dried up ever-flowing streams. (Psalms 74:14-15 ESV)

This psalm recounts how God delivered His people from Egypt. The chronological order of events helps us in identifying Egypt’s evil army as Leviathan, since the following item describes the time after Pharaoh’s defeat, when God brought water from the rocks in the wilderness. Thanks to this description, we know that the metaphorical meaning of Leviathan is an evil army. In the spiritual realm, Satan’s network, hovering over the Earth, is called by the same name. God describes him as follows when He spoke with Job: 

Can you draw out Leviathan with a hook? Or his tongue with a cord which you let down? Can you put a hook into his nose, or bore his jaw through with a thorn? Will he make many supplications to you? Will he speak soft words to you? Will he make a covenant with you? Will you take him for a servant forever? (Job 41:1-4 AKJV)

Because an animal cannot speak or make a covenant with us, we know this is a metaphorical reference. After a lengthy description of this beast, we see how great the strength of the enemy is:

None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before Me? (Job 41:10 AKJV)

God is telling Job that no one can confront Leviathan, and none dare to attack him. The Almighty then compares the beast to Himself. Since God is a spirit, we can assume that this Leviathan is also a spirit being. Some assume Satan and his army are now on Earth because of a statement made by the Lord:

And He said to them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from Heaven. (Luke 10:18 AKJV)

To fully understand this, we need to look at other meanings of the Greek words involved:

• Satan: Literally means adversary, one who opposes a work being done, not just Lucifer, who is sometimes called Satan.

• Fall: To descend from a higher place to a lower place.

• Lightning: The light of a lamp, used in Revelation 4:5, 8:5, 11:18 to describe power coming from God’s Throne.

Looking at the full definition of these words, we see that this verse is about Satan’s power being defeated by the power released in Heaven. Jesus was explaining to His disciples why demons were subject to His name: they had been defeated by power from God’s throne. The enemy will eventually be removed from Heaven, as we see in Revelation.

And there was war in Heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in Heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the Earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (Revelation 12:7-9 AKJV)

Until the Tribulation begins, Satan is still in the Heavens. Leviathan is the army of Satan with the ability to influence events on the Earth. When we mention “Leviathan,” we are saying that it is a coordinated attack by the armies of Satan.

Pride Opens the Door 

The Bible says Satan was created as a perfect being until the sin of pride led him astray.

Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, Thus says the Lord God: You are the full measure and pattern of exactness [giving the finishing touch to all that constitutes completeness], full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God... (Ezekiel 28:12-13 AMPC)

Because this verse refers to the “king of Tyre” as being in Eden, we know this isn't the physical king, but the spiritual king over that area. Only a spirit being could have been found in the Garden of Eden, and we know it was there that Satan tempted Eve into the first sin. As we continue reading the description, we find this:

Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty, you have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your brightness: I will cast you to the ground, I will lay you before kings, that they may behold you. (Ezekiel 28:17 AKJV)

“Your heart was lifted up” refers to pride that caused Satan to be cast down from his position in Heaven. He was the first heavenly host to fall and was followed by his rebellious army of angels. Pride is often the sin that gives Satan access to us. According to Webster’s dictionary, pride is:

...an inordinate self-esteem (thinking too much of ourselves); an unreasonable conceit of one’s own superiority in talents, beauty, wealth, accomplishments, rank or elevation in office, which manifests itself in lofty airs, distance, reserve, and often in contempt of others.

Leviathan will use pride to gain influence over a person. Many people under this influence may be blinded to the fact that they are in Leviathan’s grip. When we focus on what WE have done, our OWN accomplishments, OUR skills, this is pride. We must remember that God created us and enables us to do all things:

Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. (Psalms 139:16 ESV)

Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God… (2 Corinthians 3:5 ESV)

God designed each one of us according to His purpose for our lives. It is through Him that we do all things. To focus on the products of our lives because we are so talented is pride.

He beholds all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride. (Job 41:34 AKJV)

In this verse, God is describing Leviathan to Job. If you respond to situations in a prideful way, then Leviathan may be allowed to take root in your life as a stronghold is developed. Eventually, Satan may become your king and rule over your life. Paul shows us how we should consider ourselves:

And I, when I came to you, brothers, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:1-5 ESV)

Paul wrote roughly half of the New Testament, yet he was determined not to rest in the wisdom he had studied all his life. Instead, he trusted in and relied on the Holy Spirit. Some Christians are proud of what they know and count on their knowledge instead of trusting in and relying on Jesus.

Once, God sent me with a message to a certain, well-known person. As this person appeared at a church, the Lord miraculously brought me face to face with him and the pastor of the church. When I gave the message, his reply showed the state of his heart: “I have written over 15 books about this.” Instead of listening to what God sent me to say, they boasted about how many books they had written on the topic.

This is the danger we all face when we study the Word of God. We cannot rely on what we know. If God sends someone to speak a correction, we need to look and see if perhaps it has merit.

Our hearts can be lifted up in pride every time someone makes a mistake because “we know better” and are not doing such things. Some may even think they are better than non-Christians, or because they haven’t sinned as much in their life. Both of these are pride.

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. (1 Corinthians 15:10 ESV)

It is only through God’s grace that I am where I am today. It was God’s grace that opened my eyes to see demons when I rededicated my life to Him. It was God’s grace that brought healing when I prayed. It was God’s grace that brought gifts of the Spirit and strong correction so I could turn from wrong teachings and traditions.

If you are not focused on the fact that it was God’s grace that brought you to Him, freed you from the enemy, and paid for all your sins, you have not received Jesus as your Lord. If pride is the king of your heart, then Jesus isn’t. As children of God, pride is something we must always guard against.

How we respond to correction may indicate if pride has a place in our lives:

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. (James 1:19-20 ESV)

Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools. (Ecclesiastes 7:9 ESV)

Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. (Proverbs 16:18 ESV)

If we are annoyed, irritated, or angry when we receive correction, this is a sign of pride. When we are focused on our accomplishments, it is like holding a sword by the blade. When someone corrects us, or even shows us how we can do better, the blade of pride cuts into our hands as it pierces our hearts. This is when pride wounds us. When others wound us, we need to ask ourselves, “Why am I hurt?”

• Did they disrespect you? Ignore you?

  • Who are you to demand respect? Jesus didn’t.

    • That is desiring glory for yourself, instead of glory for Jesus.

•  Did they falsely accuse you?

  • They did that to Jesus as well.

    • Jesus said that when we are attacked, we should turn the other cheek so they can attack us there as well. (Matthew 5:39)

    • He also said that the world hated Him and they will hate us as well. (John 15:18-21)

• Did they disregard your contributions?

  • King Nebuchadnezzar boasted about his accomplishment by saying that “he built the great Babylon.”

    • God cursed him, and he became like an animal for seven years.

Martin Luther King said pride gives birth to many sins. We can list pride and wounded pride as the primary traits or characteristics of Leviathan:

1. Pride

   1. Contributes our accomplishments to our abilities

   2. Looks down on others for their sin

   3. Does not give grace to others when we have received so much grace from God.

2. Wounded pride

   1. Gets annoyed, irritated, angry, and hurt because of how we are treated.

Judging Others

And I heard a loud voice in Heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. (Revelation 12:10 ESV)

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. (Matthew 7:1-2 ESV)

Satan is the accuser of mankind. Jesus told us to be careful of judging others harshly. Because harsh judgment may be linked to pride, it may be an open door for Leviathan to enter your life. If you point out small mistakes to others instead of bringing them to the person, this can be gossip, which is also a sin. If you exaggerate the mistakes, then it is slander. Humility is the opposite of pride:

Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:5 ESV)

When we realize that we are not perfect and make many mistakes, we can easily overlook the mistakes of others. This doesn’t mean we cannot bring items to the attention of Christian leaders, if we think there is a mistake. It is just a matter of how it is done, with understanding or with judgment. We can add the following to the traits or characteristics of prideful actions:

3. Judging others harshly

4. Gossiping about someone else’s faults or shortcomings

5. Slanders, exaggerates, or lies about someone's actions to others.

Leviathan is a Rebel

And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns on his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. (Revelation 12:3-4 AKJV)

A tale metaphorically represents lies. From Revelation 1:20, we know that stars are angels. Satan lied and convinced one-third of all the angelic beings to follow him and attack Jesus when He was born. He is the leader of the rebellion against God and the one who leads Leviathan. Rebellion against authority has a root of pride and will open the door to pride.

Moreover, if your brother shall trespass against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone: if he shall hear you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear you, then take with you one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it to the church: but if he neglects to hear the church, let him be to you as a heathen man and a publican. (Matthew 18:15-17 AKJV)

Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. (1 Timothy 5:1 ESV)

If we find a Christian in error, we should bring correction privately. If they don’t listen, then we bring two or three others with us. The final step is to bring it to the church leaders. Even a leader should be corrected, but we need to do it respectfully as we would to our parents. We must be careful when dealing with leaders, as King David showed us:

“Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm.” (Psalms 105:15)

David knew that we are not to cause harm to God’s anointed. Even though King Saul tried to kill him, David refused to lift his sword against him. He didn’t rally the kingdom against Saul. David punished the men who killed Saul. We should be very careful about actions against those anointed by God! What about those who are not in the body of Christ?

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. (Romans 13:1-2 ESV)

Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. (1 Peter 2:12-15 ESV)

It isn’t only religious leaders whom we can rebel against. We are to obey the laws of the land where we reside as long as they do not violate God’s law, if we want God’s protection. Our good conduct is a testimony to those around us!

Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. (Colossians 3:22-23, Ephesians 6:5-6 ESV)

When we join an organization that has established rules or guidelines, we should be willing to submit to those rules. Rebellion occurs when we place our desires above the rules we have agreed to. We consider our desires more important, which is pride in what we want.

Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8 ESV)

Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? (Romans 6:16 ESV)

We can rebel against God by willfully and continually sinning. When we continue to repeat the same sin, over and over, we are a “slave” to Satan. If you are having a problem letting go of a particular sin or even not wanting to stop sinning, please schedule a “Let's Chat” so that the Lord can set you free from sin. Let’s add these rebellion traits to the Leviathan list:

6. Rebellion against authority: both spiritual and lawful, including:

   1. Inciting others against leaders

   2. Harshly correcting others

7. Continuing in sin is rebelling against God’s ways

Avoiding Pride

The only way we can effectively avoid these traps of Leviathan is to live in humility.

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up. (James 4:10 AKJV)

Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you… (1 Peter 5:5-6 ESV)

God will help us when we remain humble, but that is a choice we have to make. Humbling ourselves is something we must choose to do because clothes are items we have to put on every day:

• Focusing on Jesus as your Lord will help you begin submitting your life to Him.

  • The word Lord means owner, master; you are no longer the master of your life.

  • Submitting to the laws, rules, and those in authority over us keeps us humble.

• Realizing that He created and designed us for His purpose, we can then truly give the glory to Jesus.

  • When you submit to Jesus, He will begin to move you towards your destiny, which will be the best and most fulfilling job of your life!

• Confessing our mistakes and sins to another is an act of humility. (James 5:16)

  • See the Fellowship Groups page to join a group to receive mentoring and discipleship

These are the basic traits that will create an open door to Leviathan. He often attacks us through other people in our lives. But that is a whole other topic that we will cover next, as well as how to remove Leviathan’s attacks. Whatever you do, do not attack Leviathan until you’ve learnt a bit more.