I have heard several teachers warn that it is not possible for us to bind the evil spirit of Leviathan – but that statement is not biblical. The Bible says in Matt 16:19, “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” That scripture does not add: “except Leviathan!”
For one thing, if we can’t bind Leviathan, we can’t bind anything! The Word tells us that God has enabled us to bind spirits since Holy Spirit lives in us and Jesus has provided all authority to do so. We need an understanding of God’s Word and the authority He gave us. Experience and the Word tells us these truths.
How can anyone believe in being able to move mountains with faith as a grain of mustard seed (Luke 17:6) but deny the ability to bind Leviathan? Even if Christians are not comfortable or experienced in binding and loosing, at the very least they can tell Leviathan to move out of their life, to stop causing problems, and to flee.
Ephesians 6:11-12 (NKJV) says, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” God would not give us these instructions if He did not wish that we bind evil spirits like Leviathan. He equipped us.
No one can deny Jesus’ own words in the Great Commission which He spoke just before He ascended to heaven. Mark 16:15-18 says: “And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.’” We who believe are commissioned to cast out demons…any demon.
Luke 10:19 is a very well-known scripture and says: “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” Notice it says: over ALL the power of the enemy.
Psalm 91:13 is another scripture that adds to my case: “You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.” This is talking about our authority over evil spirits. Is any evil spirit more powerful than us when we have Holy Spirit in us?
In Job 41, God asks Job if he can bind Leviathan. Of course he cannot. Job lived before Jesus came to earth, lived, died, and resurrected to give us this power and authority by His shed blood. Let’s look at the whole chapter:
“1 Can you draw out Leviathan with a hook,
Or snare his tongue with a line which you lower?
2 Can you put a reed through his nose,
Or pierce his jaw with a hook?
3 Will he make many supplications to you?
Will he speak softly to you?
4 Will he make a covenant with you?
Will you take him as a servant forever?
5 Will you play with him as with a bird,
Or will you leash him for your maidens?
6 Will your companions make a banquet of him?
Will they apportion him among the merchants?
7 Can you fill his skin with harpoons,
Or his head with fishing spears?”
Here the Lord was addressing Job’s pride (which we all have) and his inability to bind Leviathan in that Church Age before Jesus was raised back to heaven and before Holy Spirit came to help us. God was trying to help Job to be set free from his pride. Even in this New Testament era, it is not possible for anyone to bind this spirit without first dealing with their own pride. We cannot fight in the flesh and these scriptures present this.
Let us continue to look at this chapter:
“8 Lay your hand on him;
Remember the battle—
Never do it again!
9 Indeed, any hope of overcoming him is false;
Shall one not be overwhelmed at the sight of him?
10 No one is so fierce that he would dare stir him up.
Who then is able to stand against Me?”
Here, God is establishing that He is so much more powerful than Leviathan. Who would dare to stir Leviathan up and not realize that God is so much more powerful? It is only God who can bind any evil spirit, but we can do it through Him and His power. In this Church Age, God can do the work through His Word, our words, our faith, and His timing. It is that faith in God doing the work that accomplishes the binding. To say we cannot bind Leviathan is to say we have no faith that God can do it.
“11 Who has preceded Me, that I should pay him? Everything in heaven is mine.
12 I will not conceal his limbs,
His mighty power, or his graceful proportions.
13 Who can remove his outer coat?
Who can approach him with a double bridle?
14 Who can open the doors of his face,
With his terrible teeth all around?
15 His rows of scales are his pride,
Shut up tightly as with a seal;
16 One is so near another
That no air can come between them;
17 They are joined one to another,
They stick together and cannot be parted.
18 His sneezings flash forth light,
And his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.
In these verses, God is letting us know ways to deal with Leviathan, its frailties, and characteristics. By getting into its scales and taking out its eyes that are slightly open, we can take out Leviathan bit by bit, following Holy Spirit’s direction one part at a time. Often, principalities are not taken out all at once but there are other measures or actions one needs to take to weaken that principality. It all depends on what Holy Spirit says to do in His perfect timing and we need to follow His orders explicitly.
“19 Out of his mouth go burning lights;
Sparks of fire shoot out.
20 Smoke goes out of his nostrils,
As from a boiling pot and burning rushes.
21 His breath kindles coals,
And a flame goes out of his mouth.
22 Strength dwells in his neck,
And sorrow dances before him.
23 The folds of his flesh are joined together;
They are firm on him and cannot be moved.
24 His heart is as hard as stone,
Even as hard as the lower millstone.
25 When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid;
Because of his crashings they are beside themselves.
26 Though the sword reaches him, it cannot avail;
Nor does spear, dart, or javelin.
27 He regards iron as straw,
And bronze as rotten wood.
28 The arrow cannot make him flee;
Slingstones become like stubble to him.”
This spirit makes even the mighty afraid and has a heart of stone, but we are not to let fear stop us. Leviathan, the king of the children of pride, is a tyrant and yes, he is dangerous. Pride can cause Christians to bind this spirit prematurely, in the flesh, or without the orders and timing of Holy Spirit. Many scriptures reiterate that fleshly weapons do not work against demons – but the supernatural power of God does. You cannot do it by yourself but can only bind this spirit with Holy Spirit power, direction, and timing. We must look at binding Leviathan with a fully New Testament point of view.
“29 Darts are regarded as straw;
He laughs at the threat of javelins.
30 His undersides are like sharp potsherds;
He spreads pointed marks in the mire.
31 He makes the deep boil like a pot;
He makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
32 He leaves a shining wake behind him;
One would think the deep had white hair.
33 On earth there is nothing like him,
Which is made without fear.
34 He beholds every high thing;
He is king over all the children of pride.”
Sounds daunting? Yes, Leviathan is one of the harder demons, but we still have authority according to God’s Word. If we do not take Leviathan out, it leaves a wake of destruction behind (verse 32). But we need not be intimidated. We must know the Word in context. The way to be safe is to know safe principles of spiritual warfare, binding and loosing, spelled out in His Word and yielded to Holy Spirit.
The book of Job talks about how Satan came to the throne room of God to accuse Job and to make him suffer as Satan wanted to believe Job would curse God in that suffering. Job was a Godly man and despite all that happened to him and all the questions he had, he never cursed God even though friends and his wife made things worse. The book of Job is the oldest book of the Bible and shows us the pride we all have.
God asks Job if he thinks he can bind Leviathan, if he thinks he knows where the snow comes from, if he gave the ostrich and the peacock their feathers, and other posing questions. If course, Job knows that he cannot do these things and finally Job passes the test by realizing his mistaken pride. We all must realize what we can do and what God only can do. Everything was returned to Job after he repented for his pride. Yes, he had forgiveness for his friends; but the book of Job has several chapters dealing with pride, ending in Job’s repentance for that sin, ultimately setting him free and bringing restoration.
God IS the only one who can bind Leviathan. God is the only one who can bind anything. We are here on earth as His vessels, His servants, His hands extended to do the work He has called us to do with the power vested in us by Jesus Christ and His shed blood. However, no one can bind Leviathan who is steeped in pride. You cannot bind anything thinking pridefully that you are the one doing it. “Pride goeth before a fall” is God’s Word (Prov 16:18). No one can bind a demon who has the same characteristic as that particular demon inside of them. It takes humility to bind this demon. The “kryptonite” to defeat Leviathan is true Godly humility.
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