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Job 41:21-23
21 His breath [nephesh] kindleth [lahat] coals [gechel], and a flame [lahab] goeth out [yatsa'] of his mouth [peh].
22 In his neck [tsavva'r] remaineth [luwn] strength [`oz], and sorrow [da'abah] is turned into joy [duwts] before [paniym] him.
23 The flakes [mappal] of his flesh [basar] are joined together [dabaq]: they are firm [yatsaq] in themselves; they cannot be moved [mowt]. KJV-Interlinear
21 'His breath kindles coals, And a flame goes forth from his mouth. 22 'In his neck lodges strength, And dismay leaps before him. 23 'The folds of his flesh are joined together, Firm on him and immovable. NASB
God continues with His description of the fierceness of the beast, which we have been using the huge crocodile as our example.
When coming face to face with such an animal, the sheer size of his appearance should send terror throughout ones entire being. But there is more than just size.
The breathing, snorting, and mannerisms of the animal spell nothing other than your certain doom, or the doom of its intended victim.
The strength of its neck, implying that the animal cannot be dealt with in any fashion. You cannot wrestle with it. You cannot take it down and make it surrender. You cannot defeat it.
There is but one outcome, and that is your own destruction (your sorrow), and the croc's victory (his joy).
Except for the underbelly, which you as the victim will never see, the crocodile has no penetrable points on him. His hide is coarse and tough, tightly held together such that the victim is totally defenseless and without any opportunity of turning the battle against the crocodile.
All muscle and all power, all aggressiveness, and merciless the croc will care nothing for you, your feelings or anything but his own certain outcome in the battle. In his mind, you the victim are already his meal.
Now, God is not just giving us a lesson regarding crocodiles. He is giving us a lesson regarding the jungle life that everyone is exposed to, if they do not have God in their life.
You have only two possible life environments in which you can live - the jungle and the spiritual.
In the jungle, God allows you, by your own choice, to exist within the jungle environment, and there you lose - always. The world is like the crocodile and you are the helpless victim, just as the ancients were when they faced such an animal. Regardless of the make up of the world, the jungle (life without God) is always greater than the person.
In the spiritual life, God is in control, and the jungle, though it still swirls around you, is rendered helpless by the superior spiritual resources that you possess (Christ in you). In the spiritual life, God will always lead you to certain victory. And though you will still be exposed to the jaws of violence, which is the only thing that the world knows, God uses those circumstances to help you grow up (mature) in your spiritual life.
