​Behemoth and Leviathan

THE BEHEMOTH AND LEVIATHAN

I could write a book about how the book of Job has shaped my life. More than any other book in the Bible, it has left its mark. It is the story of one of the greatest of men. A man totally devoted to God more than any man of that time. However, he loved God but did not understand the power of living in Grace. All of society looked to Job as the standard of righteousness. The term “being absolutely sure but absolutely wrong” fit him perfectly. At the end of the book, you see this great man free. Until that time, Job's self-righteousness was a barrier to himself and to the whole culture he led. Job was the greatest example of living in a state of righteousness under his own willpower, not God’s grace. He equated all the good in his life with God blessing him because he lived flawlessly. Only one could do this, Jesus. Job was not Jesus.
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The biggest issue in mankind, and let me say the church, is pride. It is so hidden under many layers of religion. The heart and mind can be deceptive, and we may not realize it until God shows us. The church is in the process of Job's journey from living by willpower to living by grace. Before we go on, let's understand what grace is. It is not human willpower; it is surrender, recognizing that under our own power, we can never enter the rest and peace of God. It is unearned love and favour. We do not deserve the kindness, forgiveness, love, and mercy of God, given to us with no conditions attached. Job's life until the end was void of grace. He lived unknowingly in a counterfeit.
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THE REASON FOR MOST CHURCH DIVISIONS

Job, chapter 40, speaks so powerfully of the wickedness of pride. It is significant that this powerful failure was in Job, a religious pride that he did not see. The whole of the book of Job is to bring us to the realization that we can live for God under our own power and understanding and not know it. It speaks of the agonizing process by which God reveals to Job that he lived, unbeknownst to him, in a very powerful form of pride. A pride that kept God from revealing Himself to an entire culture. All looked to Job. He stood strong in what was right. The society around him was tied to his self-righteousness. As Job was brought down, the culture went down with him. This is proof his walk was not with God. Every leader must go through this process of letting God refine their heart and motivation. For some, they are changed more easily than others. For myself, it has not been easy.

It is significant that God's stern warnings about pride immediately lead to the BEHEMOTH. The behemoth is really BIG! It is the picture of a huge, immovable creature. It stands in the river. Verse 40:23 says,” When the river rages, he is not alarmed. He is secure, though the Jordan should surge against his mouth.”

There are two things here. Our son lives by a river. It overflowed, and we had to put sandbags around the house. It is a terrifying thing to see the power of a surging river. The behemoth opens its mouth presumably to casually drink in the surge that would drown any animal. Secondly, why the Jordan River? It is the most significant river in the bible. Joshua 3 tells it all. “The Israelites miraculously crossed the flooded Jordon River. Led by priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant, the water stopped flowing, allowing them to cross on dry ground. This event, occurring near Jericho, marked the end of their wilderness and a transition into Canaan.”

Let's look at what we have here. The Jordan River represents a “transition” river. Passing the Jordan represents a transition to greater revelation of the Kingdom of God. It is to be a miracle passing that can only happen as we live in Jesus Christ. The Revelation, bringing a greater understanding of God and His church, is greater than the rivers of struggle as we are transitioned from one glory to another. BUT there is a huge problem, the Behemoth is in the way and will not let us pass. So huge that we cannot circumvent him. We are blocked!

Who might a Behemoth symbolize? It could be a stubborn, unapproachable father, strict without wisdom, causing the children to rebel. It could be a boss with an autocratic attitude whose domination repels any discussion. Yes, but we are talking church. Oh no, not the church!

Remember, the Behemoth stands in the river, blocking the way. It is not the most sensitive creature. He is blocking the passage. He must be in charge. He surrounds himself with people he can control. Yes, it is easier to control people than lead them. He stands in turbid water; he is the Behemoth, and he is not going to move. I am talking about church leadership, but not solely about it. The leader may lead, but the people in the church are resistant. Many wonderful men and women leaders with a heart for moving on in the adventure of flowing with the Holy Spirit are blocked by people. There is pain in change; not all will embrace it.

LEVIATHAN

Then there is the monster of all monsters, the LEVIATHAN. This is the most powerful creature of the bible. Let's look at him for a moment. He is depicted as a huge, powerful creature. He is a multiheaded, twisted sea serpent or dragon. He symbolizes chaos, demonic forces that oppose God and his people. He is none other than the Great Destroyer. What I want to emphasize is his multiple heads and his twisting nature. He has the ability to twist the truth. He is like the one who came to Adam and Eve in the garden with the words,” Did God really say that?” He is, for lack of a better word, the dark shape-shifter of the underworld.

There are reasons why divisions stand, but in my view, there is a main one. First, let's look at the ideal. If a pastor has embraced the fact that he is the father of the church, he would rejoice when folks in his congregation surpass him in understanding. He would be overjoyed that, in his love and teaching, they have gone beyond him. Because of his faith and heart, the people crossed the river without being swept away. This represents the supernatural life. We need the supernatural life and leaders who want the miraculous. Without it, there is no adventure, and the church dries up. They see a river that cannot be passed. But the joy the pastor has in seeing his people on the other side, in a place of much greater peace and rest. All heaven, which has assisted such a leader, rejoices.

Now, let's look at the reason most churches divide. People come into the church, and they grow to a place where their hearts and emotions crave more. But there is one obstacle, the leader. I was taught in bible college that we are to find all the leadership strength inside and lead from that premise. Boy, did they miss it. It is the opposite. In our weakness, God's strength grows in us. If you are the leader, you must be the weakest; it is here that the greatest resides. The Holy Spirit does not accept the wisdom of leaders who rely solely on past proven abilities. It is totally different than the philosophies both religious and secular have formed us to be. When we see strong people leading with self-made attributes that others like me do not have, we feel diminished in life. BUT, in weaknesses, we are all the same. God is so wise, what a Father. The apostle Paul said, "If I am boastful, I will boast about my weakness. God's strength is manifested in my weakness.” Yes, God is strongest in our weakness. This is easy to say, but living in this place is another story; it is the story of Job.

YOU SHALL NOT PASS

There is nothing more discouraging than growing in the Lord, and blocking the way is the BEHEMOTH. His/her presence is a negative force that says, “You shall not pass.” There are people who are really hungry for more. They are growing but are hindered. Sometimes it is leaders who will not even allow a different discussion on scripture or church protocol. Some denominations say you must attend their college and earn a credential before you are allowed to serve in a significant ministry. Some put restrictions on people who have been divorced, even before coming to Christ, and some put restrictions on women. There are many more examples I could add. This is extremely discouraging to those who are visionary or deep bible students carrying no credentials from a religious institution. Here is the trap set up by the Behemoth and Leviathan. It is brilliant. These folks, blocked from foraging on in faith and ministry, get angry and frustrated. The leader's attitude is, “It is my way or the highway.” These people have put years into this church, as well as a lot of money in tithes and offerings, only to reach a certain level of maturity and hit a dead end. This can be devastating. How bad can it be? The Bible says, “hope deferred makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” Proverbs 13:12. “The human spirit can endure sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?” Few things crush a person as being hurt in the church.

Guess who is waiting outside in the water, hiding in the reeds, waiting like an alligator wanting to deceive, hurt, and disgruntle believers. It is he, the greatest of all charlatans, the one with several faces (heads). The twister of truths, the angel of light, the wolf in sheep's clothing, the Leviathan. The stubbornness of the Behemoth/leaders has brought out something in the people that has always been inside them. We come to the grace of God with inner attitudes that need to be pastored out. It is a wonderful leader who seeks the love and wisdom of God to free people from hurt, rejection, anger and other troublesome inner issues. The Behemoth lacks the sensitivity and wisdom to free people. When folks who are hungry for more of God are cruelly blocked, these inner issues surface. With incredible dark wisdom and false compassion, Leviathan enters the stage. The trap is set for the destruction of God’s church. He knows that if the church is aligned with God, it means there will be a force on earth more powerful than he.

JUST START A NEW CHURCH

A slithering face of concern coils around the neck of those whose adventure in God has been blocked in hurtful ways and says the most devastating: "Why don’t you just start another church? It is Leviathan, and these people are now its prey. You have something inside he can manipulate: anger, discouragement, and rejection. It is repeated in history over and over; we, the church, blind in itself, have gone down the same roads of destruction for centuries. Many denominations, perhaps not all, have their roots in unresolved conflict. What does a Baptist on one corner, a Methodist on another, a Catholic and a Pentecostal filling in the other two corners tell you? All are saying Come in and meet Jesus. They have no communication or relationship with one another. Just think for a moment how this is interpreted by the world, yet we seem to be impervious to that thought. “Come to Jesus at our four corners.” Jesus has four parts divided among four churches, which flavour would you prefer? This Leviathan's work is in plain sight. We, the church, are content with this. His way is always to divide and conquer, and he has been very successful. He has outwitted the church, God’s expression on the earth. We have not realized how futile the church's witness to the world has been. I must say here, things are changing. It is in the working of the Holy Spirit in the church to crush this old serpent under our feet.

STAY UNTIL YOU ARE BROKEN

Ouch, this is going to hurt. You will never be schooled or prepared for leadership more than when you are under a Behemoth. You will become wiser, more effective, and more trustworthy, and you will enter a better home life with far less religious conflict and struggle. Most of all, you will have God's stamp of approval and the power of the Holy Spirit eagerly working in all you do.

There is a saying that my wife knows is true, but does not like it, even though she wisely embraces it.”IF SOMETHING GETS TO YOU, THERE MUST BE SOMETHING IN YOU TO BE GOT.” I do not know how many times God turned the tables on me. “Look at that God. What they did bothers me so much that I stay awake at night thinking about it!” He has always said, “Forget about them or the things others do, why are you losing your peace over it? Let's deal with what is rising up in you.”

Here is the crunch. Mathew 21:44. “Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but those on whom the stone itself falls will be crushed.” Some translations say they will be ground into powder. Wow, this is heavy. Everyone must be broken from their own selfish, prideful ways. Jesus will help us. He is not just an example; in His inner tutelage, He helps us. My pride must fall upon Him. He is the Rock of Truth, and out of the brokenness, we enter into more inner release, we become more at peace with ourselves and others. The process is not pleasant, but those who will give themselves to it find out it is worth every bit of pain and anxiety. Resisting this process, which is within our willpower, will crumble us into dust. Truth will fall on us and crush us. You just can’t circumvent Truth. Sometimes, we are blind and fight the process that sets us free. The Truth is, finally, in a situation you realize you were wrong. This humbles you. You get back up and submit to the Truth you fought. This is falling on the rock (Truth) and being broken. You are in good hands with the Lord, and He will joyfully restore you to be better than before you were broken. Now, what does it mean if we resist change? The analogy really gets frightening. Broken pieces can be put back together; when stone is crushed to powder, it cannot. Stubbornly resisting Truth, fighting change, resisting all the grace and mercy of God to change, you can bring yourself to a fearful place. Deception is the thing in all of us that needs change. Only God is “Complete Truth,” we are not. We are only growing in that direction; we must continue to change from what we were. Could it be that one who resists the Truth and refuses to be broken and restored be crushed to a powder not by God but by their own resistance, and the result is they cannot be put back into any form?

Staying under a Behemoth is not pleasant, but neither is your reaction brought out because of him/her. Let Jesus help you with your reaction and attitudes. Use this opportunity to be free. You can come out of this as a wonderful spiritual father or mother in the Lord, even a wonderful pastor or any form of leadership in the church or in the world. The truth is, we all have some form of Behemoth. Any area of our life that we will not change will be a Behemoth to someone. Let the church leader standing in your way reveal your own heart so God can heal you.

THE FEAR OF THE LORD

If you are a Behemoth-type of leader in the days we are in, it is time to change. If members of your church are growing in Christ and want more freedom and even responsibility, you must hear them out. Maybe it is to preach or prophecy, to pray for others, to have home groups or some facsimile of group activities. To do things for God with excitement, seeing a future of some form of adventure and the inner expansion of the Spirit of God through activity, is essential. Sadly, some are in a denomination that requires credentials; perhaps you, as the father of your flock, must take up the challenge to change the status quo or make other drastic decisions. Remember, God is looking to see if you put your sheep/His sheep before yourself.

If you are standing in the way of your people's spiritual adventures, you are a Behemoth and at enmity against God. This is not a good place to be in. If there is no adventure of faith in the church, many will end up back in the world. Often, the church has called them backsliders, but in many cases, it is the church itself that has backslidden. Jesus said, Mark 7:13 “You nullify the word of God by your traditions that you have handed down.” Clearly, you cannot put new wine in an old wineskin. Many church members don’t want to know that what was done in their time wasn't meant to last forever. Sometimes, pastors must deal with church members who are settled in the old ways and are blocking God's movement. This is one Behemoth; the other is the leader, resistant to dealing with those who cling to empty old wine skins. The spirit of control that a leader must deal with in the church is a big deal. Pastors rise and fall on whether they will have the courage to deal with it. This scenario really messes up new believers. Good leaders must have the courage to bring the church from the establishment of the church by leaders involved in a past movement, but who will not accept the new. I cannot say this enough: if the church does not meet the needs of Love, joy, fun, laughter, and, most of all, the sense of family, there is major dysfunction covered up by dead religion, and someone is responsible. I do not want to belabour this, but perhaps it is most important. People are coming in from a broken world, and much of its dysfunction is because the church has been fractured and not willing to rectify the results of Behemoth sending the church to Leviathan. We must take a good, hard look at how the world sees us. A very old and wise theologian has said,” The only way darkness can grow in the world is when the church has lost its light.”

BEHEMOTH BONDS

This is difficult for what I am about to say. When Behemoth-type leaders get together, there is the danger of creating one of the most serious and influential bonds in the body of Christ. This is the kind of agreement that often starts new denominations not sanctioned by the Lord, or keeps old ones in an old, unchangeable wineskin, impermeable to change. I came to the Lord in 1972, and I was almost 20 years old. I was a part of the Jesus People Movement. At 25, I attended a Bible College and graduated. I am an old man now, having been with the Lord for 54 years. I am not one with an axe to grind. I have made just as many mistakes as anyone, perhaps even more. When I meet the Lord, I want the totality of my heart to be won before this meeting. So there is fear of the Lord in me as I say what I am saying. Many pastors do not become close friends with folk in the church, but do with other pastors. We were taught this was the way it should be in bible college. This is another very damaging way to lead the people. I have found that many ministers have little in the way of friendship or trust with members of the congregation, in any significant or intimate way. This is not found in the ministry of Paul or, certainly, in that of Jesus. There was a far more intimate, yet holy, relationship between Jesus and the women who ministered to him than with the disciples. Jesus even had favourites. We were told in school that this was not wise, yet He had the twelve, then had the three closer than the other nine, and then there was the one the Bible says Jesus loved, John. I am not saying that leaders dissociate from other leaders and remain only within the confines of the local church; on the contrary, it is important to maintain associations. This is one important way for churches to come together in unity.
We, as bible college men and women, were trained to have only deep, meaningful friendships with other ministers. Is there not anyone in the church worthy to build a bond of friendship that goes beyond the minister-congregational relationship? If you have not cultivated this in the church, you are failing; you are just a professional counsellor of whom Paul said there are ten thousand of you.

However, there is another side. It may be that no one in the church wants a closer relationship with the pastor. Some just like to keep all things professional. Still, if called to that church, the pastor must seek God to change the status quo. If a church is totally resistant to change, any new people coming in will be hindered. Perhaps there are times to shake the dust off your shoes and leave. But not until God frees you from all the agitation that stubborn people can bring up.

SPIRITUAL FATHERS AND MOTHERS AS LEADERS

IF YOU ARE NOT A FATHER OR MOTHER TO YOUR PEOPLE, YOU ARE NOT A LEADER. THERE IS A VERY GOOD CHANCE YOU ARE A BEHEMOTH. 1 Corinthians 4:14 Paul says,” I am not writing this to shame you as my dear children. Even though you have ten thousand guardians (counsellors) in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ I became your father through the gospel. Therefore, I urge you to imitate me.” Wow, that says a lot. I am not talking about my present time; in the past, I was with several pastors who saw the church they were pastoring as a stepping stone to other things. They crushed the people when they suddenly announced they were leaving for another church; some went for a step up in the denomination. I ask you, does a true father think this way? At this time, their pastor's heart was revealed: they were a Behemoth in heart. Without sensitivity, they crushed the faith and hope. The people thought of the pastor as a father. They have blocked the river. Many will not have faith again in a leader who “uses hearts.” Yet these leaders had great fellowship with other leaders. Why are we so blind to the hearts of people whom we set ourselves up as leaders to be trusted? Talking about this hurts me too much. Let's move on.

A WARNING TO THOSE STARTING REACTIONARY CHURCHES

If you are starting a new church out of a rejection or other unresolved issues in your heart that a Behemoth/ leader caused to surface. You are heading for BIG trouble. The thing you despised, the lack of sensitivity, the stubbornness you saw in a willful, stubborn leader, brought up your own deep, settled issues not yet dealt with in your own life. You will repeat history. A good chance you, in a different way, will become what you thought you left. If you lead others, you are as responsible for the collateral damage that will occur as the Behemoth you were frustrated and angry with. Forgive, let go. In most cases, I would say stay under difficult leaders until they stop getting to you. Of course, if immorality is involved, everything changes. But that is not part of this discussion. If you stay in this difficult situation until all you have in your heart is asking God to have mercy on the resistant leader He has placed under you, there is a much greater chance of building a healthy, loving congregation.

FINAL STATEMENT

Yes, I am older now. I have the privilege of looking back on the years and sharing my journey with all. I have no bones to pick. Most of what I share that may have some wisdom is because I have fallen on the Rock, my beloved Jesus Christ, and been gently picked up, held, and restored more times than I want to recall. I hope, before I leave this world, that I have guided the church toward being the Family of God. This truth has been at the heart of my life. I was shown this in a vision more than 54 years ago. I was a black sheep. At 18, I was given a vision when God broke into a powerful spiritualist seance. I had been searching for reality in many new-age experiences. It was not until an old friend told me about Christ. In this seance, I sought God, and He gave me this vision. I have written about it on my website. I saw something I never knew existed. In this vision, there were grandfathers and grandmothers, moms and dads, teenagers and little children, all under a higher light. They were peaceful; it was so wonderful it felt otherworldly, and a word I did not know came to me: tranquillity. I never knew such a thing existed. The definition is “a peaceful, calm state, without noise, violence and worry.” God showed me this is what He is like, a family. Still, it took me two more years to give in to the love of God found in Jesus Christ. Jesus proved himself to me. I knew if I kept searching, I would be a hypocrite. The Fatherhood of God and His church as a loving family has been, for me, the thing I cannot stop looking for in the church. From Genesis to Revelation, God is known by one supreme word. 
FATHER