Mark Tabata’s Weekday Devotionals
Monday August 3 2026
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Hebrews 1:14-Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?
Angels are strong!
One author describes the strength of angels in his exploration of the Resurrection of Jesus.
The Scriptures portray angels as extremely powerful and mighty beings. Indeed, Psalm 103: 20 calls them “mighty ones who do his bidding.” Second Thessalonians 1: 7 refers to God’s “powerful angels.” We see an example of angelic strength in Matthew 28, where we read that an angel rolled away the giant stone at the sepulcher of Jesus (verses 2-7). Some people have estimated that a wheel of granite like the one that guarded the tomb—about eight feet in diameter and one foot thick—would weigh more than four tons (8000 pounds). 20 Yet an angel flipped the stone out of the way as if it were a mere pebble. (Ron Rhodes, The Secret Life of Angels: Who They Are and How They Help Us, 85 (Kindle Edition): Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers)
There is a fascinating connection with this in the Book of Job.
The Patriarch described the questions that the Lord was asking him. He describes how the Almighty would battle against Leviathan, and goes on to detail how terrible and frightening this creature is. Then, God makes this interesting statement about Leviathan.
Job 41:25-When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid; Because of his crashings they are beside themselves.
One day, I noticed something strange about this is translated in another version of Scripture.
Job 41:25 (DRB)-When he shall raise him up, the angels shall fear, and being affrighted shall purify themselves.
Upon further study, it became evident that this passage is indeed speaking about angels!
“But it also refers to subordinate divine beings in Pss 29: 1 and 89: 7, making ‘gods’ or ‘divine beings’ an acceptable translation here. Although the point will be developed below, it is worth mentioning that in the Enuma Elish the gods cower before the chaos monster Tiamat before Marduk comes to rescue them (see Pope 1973: 286 for discussion and other references).” (Eric Ortlund, Piercing Leviathan: God’s Defeat of Evil in the Book of Job (New Studies in Biblical Theology 56), 187 Footnote 37 (Kindle Edition, emphasis added); Downers Grove, IL; InterVarsity Press)
Again:
“Verse 17 (Eng. v. 25) in particular calls for comment. I think that here we have a reference to the fear that Satan instils even among other supernatural beings. 12 The early versions support the NIV translation ‘the mighty’, and my own translation of ‘the angels’ is supported by the Vulgate. The ēlîm are probably members of the heavenly court, and the fear aroused among these ‘sons of God’ or angels is evidence of the great conflict raging in the heavenly realms.” (Robert Fyall, Now My Eyes Have Seen You: Images of Creation and Evil in the Book of Job (New Studies in Biblical Theology 12), 165-166 (Kindle Edition); Downers Grove, IL; IVP Academic)
Throughout the Old Testament, this phrase often had reference to angels.
Psalm 29:1-Give unto the LORD, O you mighty ones, Give unto the LORD glory and strength.
Psalm 89:6-7-For who in the heavens can be compared to the LORD? Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened to the LORD? 7 God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, And to be held in reverence by all those around Him.
Psalm 103:20-Bless the LORD, you His angels, Who excel in strength, who do His word, Heeding the voice of His word.
This raises the question:
Why would angels be afraid of Leviathan?
Study of this creature suggests that it is likely a huge dinosaur-like beast.
Terrifying indeed!
Yet why would angels be terrified of dinosaurs?
The answer comes in realizing that often in Scripture, demonic forces are compared with animals. It isn’t that the Jewish people believed that animals WERE demonic creatures: but that they saw correlations between certain animals and the powers of darkness that made for good and intriguing similarities. The areas inhabited by these creatures also provided the basis for these connections.
Heiser gives an excellent description.
“Biblical writers were not expressing the notion that night birds and animals were actually demons any more than modern people who entertain superstitions about black cats think those animals are not members of the animal kingdom. An owl might be the symbol of Lilith, but owls were nevertheless birds. The vocabulary of nocturnal presence and behavior allowed the prophets to communicate the notion that some places are the jurisdiction of cosmic evil and therefore occupied by evil spirits.” (Michael S. Heiser, Demons: What the Bible Really Says About the Powers of Darkness, 29 (Kindle Edition): Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press)
So, the powers of darkness were often identified with animals in the Bible.
With that in mind, please notice that there is ample evidence that the being described as Leviathan in the Book of Job is actually Satan!
It will be argued that, where evidence is available from outside the book of Job (whether from the ANE or other OT books), it consistently supports the conclusion that Behemoth and Leviathan are symbols of supernatural evil.…The evidence is much stronger when it comes to Leviathan, since the monster is mentioned (with a different spelling) in the Baal Epic and serpentine sea monsters are common elsewhere in ANE literature. With regard to the Baal Epic, Mot, the god of death, makes reference to a prior victory of Baal over Lotan (claiming it will not help Baal when he fights with Death). 118 Mot describes Lotan, the ‘fleeing’ and ‘twisting’ serpent (brḥ and ʿqltn); the identical description of yhwh’s eschatological enemy in Isaiah 27: 1 prevents any confusion about the identity of Leviathan in the Old Testament. Further afield, the Mesopotamian gods Ninurta and Tishpak defeat dragons that live in the sea; in the case of Ninurta, his opponent is even said to have seven heads (cf. Ps. 74: 14). 119 A seal from Tell Asmar, from the city of Eshnunna, also portrays a deity piercing a seven-headed monster. 120 And of course mention should be made of Marduk’s defeat of Tiamat in Enuma Elish, the latter sometimes being portrayed as a serpent or dragon. 121 All of this is to say that there is significant evidence from the ANE that ancient Semites, when hearing about a serpentine, sea-dwelling creature of the name ‘Leviathan’, would have understood it as a symbol for cosmic chaos. Modern Westerners do not think about evil and chaos this way, of course, but ancient Semites did not turn to abstract or analytical categories when addressing the problem of evil, and yhwh is addressing one such Semite in the book of Job. Although not decisive for how we read the end of the book, ancient Israelites would arguably have understood Behemoth and Leviathan in the same way they are presented elsewhere in the ANE unless it were clearly signalled that these creatures were only ordinary animals. (Eric Ortlund, Piercing Leviathan: God’s Defeat of Evil in the Book of Job (New Studies in Biblical Theology 56), 134-138 (Kindle Edition): Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press)
As noted above, the Bible elsewhere refers to Satan as Leviathan.
Isaiah 27:1-that day the LORD with His severe sword, great and strong, Will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan that twisted serpent; And He will slay the reptile that is in the sea.
John alludes to this passage in the Book of Revelation.
Revelation 12:9-So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Angels are unable to fully defeat Satan, just like humans. As such, we have a healthy respect for the devil and his forces.
Jude 9-Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”
Yet the good news is that God Himself will one Day fully defeat Satan (Job 40:19; 41:7-8)! Indeed, the work of God in Christ has already begun this great work. It is for this reason that Christians do not live in dread or terror of Satan in this world.
Hebrews 2:14-15-Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Thank You Lord for Your grace that brings redemption and victory over the powers of darkness. Amen.