LEVIATHAN
The Submarine in Prophecy
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"Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down? Canst thou put an hood into his nose? or bore his jaw through with a thorn? Will he made many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words unto thee? Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant for ever? Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens? Shall the companions make a banquet of him? shall they part him among the merchants? Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish spears? Lay thine hand upon him, remember the battle, do no more. Behold, the hope of him is in vain: shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him? None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me? Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine. I will not conceal his parts, nor his power, nor his comely proportion. Who can discover the face of his garment? or who can come to him with his double bridle? Who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible round about. His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close seal. One is so near to another that no air can come between them. They are joined one to another, they stick together, that they cannot be sundered. By his neesings (neesing: sneezing, American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster 1828): a light doth shine, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning. 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 kindeleth coals, and a flame goeth out of his mouth. In his neck remaineth strength, and sorrow is turned into joy before him. The flakes of his flesh are joined together: they are firm in themselves; they cannot be moved. His heart is as firm as a stone; yea, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone. When he raiseth up himself, the mighty are afraid: by reason of breakings (To cause to abandon; to break the heart, to faint, American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster 1828) they purify themselves. The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold: the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon. (A coat of mail or armor to defend the neck and breast. It was formed of little iron rings united, and descended from the neck to the middle of the body, American Dictionary o the English Language, Noah Webster 1828) He esteemeth iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood. The arrow cannot make him flee: slingstones are turned with him into stubble. Darts are counted as stubble: he laugheth at the shaking of a spear. Sharp stones are under him: he spreadeth sharp pointed things upon the mire. He taketh the deep to boil like a pot: he taketh the sea like a pot of ointment. He taketh a path to shine after him; one would think the deep to be hoary. (Moldy; mossy, or covered with a white pubescence, American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster 1828) Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear. He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride." (Job 41)
A mystery of revelation is concealed in God's reference to the great power of the leviathan, the description of which is given in the forty‑first chapter of Job. Under the name leviathan men have been unable to identify this strange monster of the underseas.
If one undertakes to associate this creature with those of flesh and blood, such as the narwhale or the whale, or some indescribable denizen of the great deep never seen by man, the vision of this creature will remain blurred and unreal. The very word leviathan owes its existence to this chapter, for no creature by such a name is revealed in the writings of antiquity. This monster is described as an inhabitant of the underseas by the self‑evident reference to the weapons which are used today, as in the past, for the capture of creatures of the deep. By the method of posing questions which ridicule the possibility of the ordinary weapons used to capture "mammals of the sea" being effectively used against the leviathan, the mind is directed in its search for something which inhabits the deep but is not as other inhabitants of the seas.
As late as one hundred years ago the enigma of the leviathan of Job's vision was still an insolvable riddle. Fifty years ago the object called leviathan had begun to take shape. Thirty years ago the "monster of the deep" was developed and raging through the seas and oceans. Just a few years ago the identification could clearly be made, not only because it was the "killer" from the underseas, but the derisive verses of the chapter had also identified the "spokesman" who gave power of speech to the inarticulate object of the vision set forth.
The name leviathan is used with the object of concealing the identity of this creature until its existence had become an accomplished fact. Then, by description and not by name, the leviathan must be identified. The modern name by which it would be known would be other than the name given by Job. It must inhabit the sea and be at home both submerged and on the surface and, when breaking the surface of the sea, fulfill in every detail the action described in the vision. If the word submarine is substituted for leviathan, the description fits the activities of this undersea craft. Every verse falls into place as naturally as if the writer of the chapter stood upon the deck of one of these ships. It not only identifies the monster itself, but reveals those who use this ship in the sense implied in the chapter as a "killer" and an instrument of terror.
An exhaustive examination of the chapter, verse by verse, and then by the method of deduction, analyzing its statements in the light of the past eleven years of actual historical facts, will make it possible to arrive at a coherent understanding of the enigma propounded to Job 3,500 years ago. An analysis of the forty‑first chapter of Job would credit the Almighty with propounding the question to Job regarding the leviathan.
Leviathan Cannot Be Hooked
1. Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?
2. Canst thou put an hook into his nose? or bore his jaw through with a thorn?
In this questioning of the ability of men to catch the leviathan with tackle used in fishing, any doubt regarding this creature of the sea being like other living in the deep is immediately dispelled. The manner of the arrangement of the questions indicates this creature leviathan cannot be caught by the methods used to land an ordinary fish. They are so framed that they answer themselves.
Whatever leviathan is, fish, reptile, or mammal, the hook, line, gaff, and branch for carrying it are not the tools to catch this thing which "lives in the sea." Therefore, the word leviathan must apply to something in the sea that is different than a fish, a reptile, or a sea mammal. Substitute the word "submarine" for leviathan and we have an object which uses the sea as its natural habitat, surfaces like a whale, dives, turns, and stays submerged for many hours, yet it could not smell the bait, take the hook, be caught with a line, gaffed when brought to the surface, or be strung on a branch and carried home.
In all the three thousand and five hundred years the vision of Job has been known to exist, it was not until the submarine was perfected and sent out into the oceans of the world that this vision began to make sense.
He Will Not Speak Softly
3. Will he make many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words unto thee?
4. Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant for ever?
Unless we accept the thought that with the coming of the radio, endowing the leviathan with the ability to speak, the idea that any creature of the sea could make supplication, or speak softly, is not borne out in thousands of years of study in natural history. Job was also shown a vision of a radio just prior to this vision of a submarine:
Job Tells of Modern-Day Radios
"Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds...Canst thou send lightnings (Radio waves are lightnings ‑ electrical waves transmitted from a transmitter to a receiver which transfers them from electrical waves to sound), that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are?" (Job 38:35)
But there is another explanation. Let us discard the idea that leviathan could speak, and turn to the more natural meaning, that as the submarine is a creation of man, and is under the control of men, it is the actual supplication of those who control the action of the sea‑beast, as well as their soft‑ spoken words, that the statements made to prove the feasibility of an undersea ship, there has only been one nation that turned to the undersea ship as the means to extend a military power to the underseas.
Who Can Play Or Bind Him?
5. Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens?
Reverting to the submarine, the statement suddenly shifts the train of thought by making a comparison between leviathan and a bird and the insertion of the word "play." Who is here addressed? Is it the "person" who controls the activities of leviathan as the sea‑beast or, following the same analysis, is the person addressed the one to whom the "many supplications and soft words" were spoken?
Israel's {The United States} sea power was very definitely used in the centuries it was building and, after it has attained its greatest strength, to protect and guard the empire. Behind the power of the British and American navies is the ideal of peace, equity and justice. How true, then, was the statement, when it was put in question form, that the development of the submarine would take "second place" to the airplane. Truly it was developed by "play," racing, designing, rebuilding, casting off models that would not attain speed, while retaining a "safety factor," making flight in the elements, which had been the exclusive possession of the "bird," not only possible but certain.
“ Wilt thou play with him as with a bird?" This establishes the time when the airplane would come into consideration as a competitor of the submarine. Through the same medium, by asking a question, "Wilt thou bind him for thy maidens?" there is brought into the over‑all picture the difference between the submarine and the airplane. The records of the years, 1940 to 1945, reveal that women not only learned to fly the airplane, and acted as ferry pilots, taking airships to all parts of the earth, but they did more than that, they became so expert in handling airplanes that they were used as instructresses, training men who were to become combat pilots against the enemy. This, then, seems to be the answer to the questions, for the person addressed was the person to whom supplications were made, to whom the soft words were spoken. He neglected advances in the construction of the submarine, but would "play" with the airplane and develop it to a point where it would be as safe for women to operate as for men. But it is an historical fact that women have never been used to man a submarine in the Israel navy. Knowing that leviathan is the submarine, we are able to identify the time when leviathan would appear; who were the people that would control it as an extension of land military power; and against whom it would be used.
Who Will Feed Upon Him?
6. Shall the companions make a banquet of him? shall they part him among the merchants?
The two questions asked here are easily understood now. It would seem they were inserted to continue the assurance that leviathan is not a flesh and blood creature. A submarine would be a very poor entree for a banquet, and certainly it could not be sold piecemeal at the fish market.
His Skin Cannot Be Pierced
With Fish Hooks Or Spears
7. Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish spears?
Continuing the derisive questions, in this verse we are definitely led to consider the weapons used to capture the larger fish of the sea, as well as the method by which the greatest mammal known, the whale, is brought to the ship. The first question names the harpoon and the second the fish spear. Knowing the submarine is leviathan, there is no difficulty in answering both questions. It could not be "harpooned" as the steel plates of which it is constructed form the "skin" of the ship. These are made of the very toughest steels and would dull any "point" driven against them, much less allow a thrown spear to damage them in any way.
Remember The Battle
8. Lay thine hand upon him, remember the battle, do more.
This verse again shifts our thought, this time from the form of a question to that of a command. Certainly we are not cautioned here to merely lay the physical hand upon this monster of the sea. And even if this were the literal meaning, the next phrase dispels any doubt. What then is the battle we are asked to "remember?" Let it be assumed that the time when the submarine would be revealed in all its savagery would be during the Battle of the Atlantic, during WW II. At that time we carried out the instructions in the phrase, "Lay thine hand upon him" or, as it is here meant, "strike at it."
The fact that we are cautioned to "remember the battle" carries us past the Battle of the Atlantic to another battle which would follow. While the Battle of the Atlantic was seen unfolding in the strategic plan of the enemy, there was a great hue and cry raised that we should let all things drop and turn all our attention to the invention and manufacture of the kind of equipment required to destroy the "assassins of the undersea."
Fear
9. Behold, the hope of him is in vain: shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him?
With the evidence of the Battle of the Atlantic now clearly understood, there is no ambiguity in the first phrase of the above verse. It has nothing to do with the hope of those who sent the submarine wolf packs into the Atlantic to tear to pieces the convoys of merchants ships bearing the enormous production of equipment for land warfare to the fortress of Britain. The phrase applies to those who expected the German sailors of the great deep to show mercy, and history shows how vain that hope was.
Actually, before the declaration that war had begun was announced to the world, the first act of the German undersea fleet sent such hopes to the graveyard. It is only necessary to recall the sinking of the Athenia. This ship, unarmed, unprotected by an escort, without means to combat the attack of a surface naval warship, much less to ward off the torpedoes from a submarine, was attacked and sunk. This was the signal that a murderous policy of unrestricted submarine warfare had been initiated, and from that time on, the hope of mercy from the submarine attacks of the Germans was in vain. And from that time on, crews of any merchant ship sighting one of these "monsters of the undersea" had good cause to be downcast at the sight. They knew they were going to be sunk; the number of cases we will never know exactly.
None is As Fierce
10. None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me?
In the first part of this verse we find a declaration relating to the "living power" which, in fact, was the spirit that motivates leviathan. It is only necessary to know the history of the years 1933 to 1939 to grasp the truth of the declaration. In the first years of Hitler's power over the German people, even before the conquest of Austria, there was a complete reluctance on the part of any nation to move against him or the military strength he had restored to the German nation. In those years it would have been possible to have crushed the German will to again make war. Germany became so strong that none dared to stir him up.
The second part of the above verse changes swiftly and God, as the maker of the whole statement of this chapter, asks a question of Himself. Suddenly we are confronted with a problem that transcends all others. We are so sure of ourselves that we assume we declared war on Germany. But look again at the first part of the verse. No nation was willing to stir Germany up. What then can the second part of the verse mean, other than that it was God Himself ‑ with no other Power standing before Him willing to "make war" upon the power controlling leviathan, or the submarine, as an offensive extension of land military force ‑ who declared war on Germany and dared stir him up.
Who Can Prevent Him
11. Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven in mine.
There is no presumption in the analysis of this verse. Consider the first question, for God is speaking. He will repay the "man" and nation who controls the submarine as an offensive weapon. God then declares Germany, as much as any other people, is subject to His sovereignty, that in the course of her history she has moved forward to the time when the submarine would be her whole hope. This declaration then brings this aggressor within the scope of God's right, as the Sovereign of the universe, to such punishment as He determines just. Let those who weep for Germany, and the sad state to which that nation came to at the end of the war, and consider and weigh the words of this verse.
God Will Not Conceal His Parts
12. I will not conceal his parts nor his power, nor his comely proportion.
With the ending of the previous verse the majestic sweep which had embraced the people and the power of the modern world suddenly stops, and the narrator reverts again to describing the creature called leviathan. But before leaving the greater subject involving the nations and the battles, it might be well to call attention to the opening words of the above verse. Let the naval designers and architects weigh them well. Yes, it might even do the physicists some good, who are trumpeting so loudly about the disposition which they demand shall be made of the formula by which the power of the atom has now been released.
The first four words state, "I will not conceal." Those who discovered the actual physical means by which the submarine could be constructed and made to submerge, thinking in terms of steel, copper, and brass and mechanical devices which grew from the first imperfect trials to the many thousands of parts which now enter into the construction of the submarine in its present stage of perfection, feel that they are the inventors, glorying in the inventive genius they credit to themselves. All these are made small by the fact that thirty‑five centuries ago God declared that He knew the whole plan and physical reality of the twentieth century ship which can move on the surface of the ocean, or descend into the depths like a fish.
Three things are drawn to our attention in this verse which are vital in the examination of the submarine. They are:
The Parts of Leviathan
1. His Parts.
The steel plates which are shaped to form the hull. The steel girders to which the outer hull is riveted or welded. The steel plates welded or riveted on the inner side of the girders, thus making a "double hull." The cross girders which make the foundation for the deck plates. The walls which divide the ship into separate compartments, called bulkheads. The doorways between these compartments which can be closed, making each compartment water‑tight to give buoyancy in case the ship is "punctured." The rudder, and the vanes {called fins}, by which it is made to rise or descend. The conning tower which rises amidship.
The Power of Leviathan
2. His Power.
There are two separate systems by which power is applied to the propellers. The originating power is the fuel oil which drives the Diesel engines. These Diesel engines are called internal combustion engines, the fuel oil being injected into the cylinders and exploded by the terrific compression it is subjected to on the up‑stroke of the piston. The piston is driven down by the explosion occurring in the cylinder and acts upon the connecting rod, which in turn acts upon, and through, an off‑set crank which is made integral with the shaft leading to the propellers; and these, shaped to give the thrust against the solidity of the water force the ship into motion. Integrated with the Diesel engines are driving devices which act on large electric generators, which in turn are arranged to deliver the output electric power so generated to huge storage batteries, where the electric current is held in readiness to operate a set of electric motors which also can drive the propeller shaft. The two driving systems are necessary because the Diesel engines consume too much oxygen when the ship is submerged, whereas the use of electric motors allows the ship is submerged, whereas the use of electric motors allows the ship to remain submerged for many hours.
In addition to the driving of the electric generators, the Diesel engines operate huge air‑compressors. The compressed air is required for the expulsion of water which is sucked into sections of the ship to aid in making a rapid descent. It is also required to start the torpedoes on their way.
Leviathan ’ s Proportions
3. His Proportion.
This word is preceded by the adjective "comely." when the submarine is seen traveling on the surface, it is not a graceful ship. Set far too low in the water, with the single towering mass of the conning tower thrusting up amidships, it is squat and ugly.
But, because it is possible for motion pictures to be taken under water, and we can see the submarine in what can be said is its natural setting from photographs of it in motion, an entirely different picture is presented of the ship. It can be likened to the shark. It does not move swiftly, but in making dives and turns, or ascending toward the surface, there is a lithe, graceful action that no ship built for surface travel has ever attained. If one term is sought to describe what the word proportion is meant to convey, that would be "balance."
If there is one thing which the human designers had to attain in the evolution of the submarine, it was proportion translated into perfect balance. Naturally, the above explanations have only touched upon the bare essentials concerning parts, power and proportion, and if these three words were pursued to the ultimate conclusion each is entitled to, a whole library would be required to contain the books which could be written. The above, however, is sufficient for us to understand the mechanical features revealed in the succeeding verses.
His Garment
13. Who can discover the face of his garment? or who can come to him with his double bridle?
If God had meant a flesh and blood creature, the use of the word garment would have been unnecessary. But when the word is applied to the submarine it is intelligent, because the outer steel hull is actually hung on the girders to which it is attached. Then the question regarding the discovery of the "face" of this garment follows in natural sequence, because it is meant to question the "entrance" to the garment, or hull of the ship. By likening the hull to the face, we are led to consider the larger entrance to the interior of the body, or the "mouth."
That this is the correct answer is confirmed by the second question in the insertion of the word bridle, which is used to complete the harness used on the horse. But the word bridle, as used in the verse, is intended to convey another meaning. This part of the harness used on a horse has a very specific purpose. It is the means by which the horse is guided. Therefore, the question is posed in the above verse. Just how would a bridle be put upon the submarine, when we know the "mouth" of the ship is not at the forward end but set amidships? Yet the ship does have a bridle, but it is not at the "nose" of the ship; it is completely in reverse and at the "stern" of the vessel, from which end the ship is actually steered.
Who Dares Open His Mouth
14. Who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible round about.
Now we are asked directly how we would proceed to open the "doors" of the face, or the "mouth" of the submarine. Consider, then, the door which leads down into the ship. It is situated in the deck of the conning tower, completely hidden from view to the observer unless he is directly above this part of the ship. But the question asks, "How can this door be opened?" If it is closed and secured on the interior side, there is no means by which it can be opened, except if an acetylene torch is used to melt the steel casing around the door itself.
The second part of this verse is a positive statement. In the parlance of the naval man, the guns of the submarine. At the forward end are situated the torpedo tubes; on the decks, fore and aft of the conning tower are high‑powered naval rifles which are capable of firing a shell 4.9 inches in diameter, and these can pierce the lighter armor of small warships. Situated in the conning tower are mountings for rapid‑firing heavy machine guns which also throw an armor‑piercing, small caliber shell. Truly the teeth of a submarine are terrible, as can be attested to by many thousands who, in past years, have suffered from their "bite."
His Skin is Sealed Tight
15. His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close seal.
The meaning of this verse is obvious. The plates of the submarine, and the method of joining them together, is the whole secret of the ship's ability to submerge below the surface. They have to be set together so perfectly that no water can come through between them. Originally they were held in place by riveting, but later they were welded together, and to the frame on which they are hung.
His Scales Are Close Together
16. One is so near to another, that no air can come between them.
17. They are joined one to another, they stick together, that they cannot be sundered.
It would be laboring the point to continue a description of what is already so plain. But, as with any of the veiled prophecies, there is no room left for doubt. It is by comparing the scales which cover a fish to the plates which form the hull of the submarine that we are absolutely sure leviathan is not a fish. For, a fish with scales is the reverse of the submarine. The scales are single and attached separately to its body; water can come between them; they do not stick together and they can be sundered one at a time from its body.
When He Sneezes
18. By his neesings a light doth shine, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.
In the verse above we meet another word which has no meaning in the English language, other than as it is used in the translation from the original source of this chapter. Neesings, as it is used here, would seem to be the equivalent of "making a noise," signifying that the creature called leviathan, being an inhabitant of the sea, makes a "noise" and then a light appears.
Let us make a comparison with the whale. This mighty mammal, when it rises to the surface, causes a great disturbance of the water and thus creates a rushing sound as the displaced water breaks into thousands of air bubbles, and also when it surfaces it "blows" the water it had taken into its body when it catches the smaller fish upon which it feeds.
This waterspout rises high into the air from an opening in its body just back of its head. The submarine, upon breaking the surface of the sea also makes the same rushing sound for the same reason as that made by the whale. But the statement changes here and, instead of the waterspout rising as from the whale, a light begins to shine over the sea. There is no difficulty in understanding this as it plainly refers to a searchlight.
His Eyes Shine Like Morning Sunlight
18. ...And his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.
This is not hard to understand in our consideration of the submarine. When a person awakens in the morning for the first moments after he is aroused from sleep, his eyes are not accustomed to the strong light of the morning and he only half sees. Just before the submarine surfaces the commander of a submarine uses the periscope to view the surface of the sea around his ship. The periscope is raised above the ship while wholly under the water. Only a partial area of the sea can be surveyed at a time and the periscope must be turned about in a full circle to cover the entire area around the ship.
Out of His Mouth Goes Fire
19. Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out.
Because natural history does not record any fish or sea mammal which has ever had the power to carry lamps, or to emit fire from its mouth, the above verse has no meaning at all if it is applied to a flesh and blood beast of the sea. But the moment the submarine is considered, the verse is perfectly clear. The "riding lights" of the ship are on the sides of the conning tower or, as the verse states, the riding lights are at the mouth of the ship. What, then, of the sparks of fire? What, other than the machine guns in action and the flames from their muzzles! (Taken in part from a study by Pastor Howard B. Rand)