Have you ever wondered what is the leviathan spirit mentioned in the Bible–and what that spirit may have to do with your life?

Unfortunately, the enemy attacks many people with this spirit. The enemy even uses people who have submitted to this spirit to also attack godly people. Therefore, it’s incredibly important that you familiarize yourself with what the Bible says about the leviathan spirit, so you can be on your guard against its sinister schemes.

This series is intended to help you be on your guard against, and get free from, any attacks of the leviathan spirit.

And friend, you’re about to read life-changing information from God’s Word. But, you’re going to want God’s help to understand, test, and apply all that you read.

Therefore, first, before you even study this topic, I encourage you to pray. Stop right now and ask for Holy Spirit’s help to study the Word and understand what He is saying.

You could pray something like this:

“Father God, I come to You in Jesus’ name. Father, I plead the blood of Jesus over myself right now, and I ask You to bless me and fill me with Your Holy Spirit. Lord, please draw me to Yourself. Open Your word up to me with revelation. Fill me with the Spirit of revelation and the Spirit of wisdom.

Father, please help me to rightly divide the Word of truth, and to rightly discern the Word of truth. I plead the blood of Jesus over my study time right now.

In the name of Jesus, I bind off Leviathan and declare that it cannot operate here.

I speak to every evil spirit, including that twisting spirit and all gaslighting and Leviathan spirits, and I bind you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth and command you to be silent. You may not operate here, in Jesus’ name.

Father, I ask that Your Holy Spirit would do the work in my heart right now. Grant me revelation according to Your Word. And in the name of Jesus, I charge angels to station themselves all around me and my family. Father, I ask You to send the angels to be all around us, and around everything that pertains to us. Thank You, Lord, in Jesus name. Amen.”

After you pray, it’s time to dig in.

First, as we study this topic, it’s vitally important to keep yourself centered on Jesus.

As we study how to escape from the twisting spirit, Leviathan, and gaslighting, you will see that these things all are related to each other quite closely. We will study in the Scriptures to see how the parallels work, and we’re going to look at some major things the Bible shows us about spiritual warfare.

It’s very important that you learn to recognize the wiles and traps of the enemy. However, it’s also important to NOT become devil-centric.

What do I mean by “devil-centric”?

Simply this:

There are some people who always talk about the devil. Even if you ask them how they are doing today, they will respond with something like, “Well, the devil’s just trying to get me.” Their first instinct is not to say anything positive, but rather to talk about the devil.

But beloved, that attitude is not Biblical, and you don’t want to be that way.

The Bible calls us to set our minds and keep them set on things above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. As we read in Colossians 3:1-2:

“If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:1-2 NKJV).

We also read something similar in Hebrews 12:1-2:

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2 NKJV).

Sometimes, however, even though we don’t set our eyes on spiritual warfare, we do have to pay attention to and discern what is happening in the heavenly realm.

Why? Because when we set our minds on things above, we look at Jesus.

And we see that Jesus is the Lord of hosts, which means He is the God of the armies of Heaven, and we see what He is doing with those armies of Heaven. And beloved, the Bible tells us that His angels are always defending us.

That means Jesus is causing His hosts to fight a battle right now. Jesus Himself is also fighting for us. We read that throughout the Bible, but one particularly poignant passage about this is found in Deuteronomy 20:4:

“‘for the Lord your God is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you’” (Deuteronomy 20:4 NKJV).

Jesus’ victory is already assured, but He is defending us against the enemy every day.

Remember that John 10 tells us that the thief does not come except to steal, kill, and destroy—but that Jesus came to give us life abundantly:

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10 NKJV).

So, even though we’re not going to focus our minds on the enemy, we are going to need to learn from Scripture what to look out for, so that—as we walk through our lives, keeping our eyes on Jesus—we can recognize and see how Jesus says to fight, and what we should be on guard against.

Remember also the Bible says that the enemy is like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour—and that we are to resist him. As we read in 1 Peter 5:8-9:

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world” (1 Peter 5:8-9 NKJV).

Therefore, we need to know what kinds of traps and tricks the enemy uses to try to prevent us from moving forward in God’s highest, best, most perfect plans for our lives.

This is why we don’t want to become “devil-centric.” We always want to keep our eyes on Jesus, and we want to be Jesus-centric. But, being Jesus-centric means we learn His ways, including His ways as the King of kings, Lord of lords, and the Conqueror of death, hell, and the grave.

Now that we’re in agreement about that …

What is Leviathan, or the leviathan spirit?

Leviathan, as we are describing it for the purposes of this study, is a demonic power or principality (a manifestation of the devil and his minions). You could even call it a demonic entity that operates under a certain set of operating procedures, in which the devil and his minions—his principalities, powers, and demons, which are all fallen, unholy, wicked creatures—go to work on the earth to destroy people in a certain way. (Or to try to destroy them, at least.)

Specifically, Leviathan is an evil, demonic entity that operates through people and twists words, twists context, tempts people to believe twisted thoughts, twists Scriptures, distorts and twists people’s perceptions and presuppositions, and destroys other things.

The word “leviathan” is in the Bible five times. It is a word rooted in the Hebrew language.

According to Strong’s Concordance, this word in the Hebrew refers to a wreathed animal, like a serpent, crocodile, or sea monster. It is a creature that twines together and twists things.

There are different kinds of twisting.

For example, let’s talk about the twisting of words:

• If you said words, and you meant one thing (and thought that you said it clearly) …
• … but someone comes back to you and says, “Well, no, you said this,”—and they’ve twisted what you said to the point that it is beyond recognition—then not only did that person twist your words …
• … but, also, the enemy offered that person the opportunity to take words that you verbally spoke and add to those words, or twine into those words their OWN presuppositions or predispositions …
• … about what they either wanted you to say, or what they thought you said, or what it felt like to them that you probably wanted to say, or even what they think is in your heart (even if they don’t really know you) …
• … and their twisted perceptions probably have nothing at all to do with reality.

However, the devil and his demonic entities are always ready to tempt and destroy. So, if somebody is susceptible to Leviathan’s influence (which only happens when they have an open door to the enemy; see my book Finding Deep Soul Healing 101 for information about open doors to the enemy, and how to close them), they are easy prey—and the enemy uses them to try to make YOU easy prey also.

So, the enemy tempts people to think twisted thoughts and to do twisted things.

When people accept the temptation, grabbing onto the evil/twisted thoughts that the enemy presents to them on a platter, they often add their own fleshly presuppositions and strongholds to the situation. Then, you end up with a twisted, writhing, coiled-up mess.

Interestingly enough, the Hebrew root of the word “leviathan” also includes the concept of “to borrow.”

This word is used in the Bible very often pertaining to borrowing money, but there are other ways to borrow—ways that are more pertinent to this study.

For example, you might hear one thing with your ear, but the enemy offers you a presupposition to add to that … and you proceed to “borrow” that thought from the enemy, make that thought your own, add it to the words you heard in your ear, and produce a completely different set of words in your own mind. So, that’s kind of how a manifestation of how that borrowing comes in.

Leviathan is mentioned five times in the Bible:

• Job 41: The whole chapter contains God describing Leviathan to Job. (Read below for more about that.)
• Psalm 74:14: “You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces, and gave him as food to the people inhabiting the wilderness” (Psalm 74:14 NKJV).
• Psalm 104:26: “There the ships sail about; there is that Leviathan which You have made to play there” (Psalm 104:26 NKJV).
• Isaiah 27:1—and the word “Leviathan” is used two times in this verse: “In 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” (Isaiah 27:1 NKJV).

In Isaiah 27:1, note that “Leviathan” is described as a fleeing serpent and as a twisted serpent. Additionally, you should note that Satan is often described as a serpent or dragon in the Bible. For example, in Revelation 12:7-11, we read this:

“And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 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.

Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death” (Revelation 12:7-11 NKJV).

Please note that the enemy is also called “the accuser of our brethren” in Revelation 12:7-11.

That’s very important, because accusing God’s people is what the enemy does. GOD is not an accuser. He confronts actual behavior, but accusing carries with it a judgment against a person’s worth and character. And when GOD corrects and confronts, He does so in love—but the enemy uses accusation to try to set a trap and a snare, and to discredit and humiliate people. THOSE are things that Jesus does not do.

Let’s take a closer look at each of these Scriptures:

In Job 41, God is telling Job that Job has been thinking all wrong throughout his time of trial and testing. Remember that Job had been very sick and had suffered tremendous loss. But, God corrects him anyway, for Job is one of God’s highly honored children.

While correcting Job, God uses the creature “Leviathan” in His teaching. In modern times, people often translate “Leviathan” as being a crocodile, but I don’t personally believe there’s specific evidence for that in the Scriptures.

In my personal opinion only, and the way that it appears to me, is that this physical “Leviathan” creature—an animal that existed in the natural world at that time—was (if you’re looking at the literal translation of it) a literal sea creature that God was describing; something that no longer exists on the earth. (You can form your own opinion!)

It’s easy to understand why people may believe that Leviathan was, in the natural world, a crocodile. But, the Bible doesn’t say that it is. People have just translated it that way because it’s the closest comparison they can find when looking at creatures that still live on the earth.

Nevertheless, in Job 41, God describes Leviathan very clearly to Job. So, we’re going to look at Leviathan’s characteristics, as described by God Himself, and we’re going to see in those characteristics exactly what the demonic Leviathan power, principality, or spirit does, and how it operates.

Next, how do we know that God’s words in Job 41 had a double meaning?

How do we know that Job 41 is talking both about a living creature on the earth AND about the works of the devil? Great question. We definitely need to address that … and the answer is found in Isaiah 27:1.

Isaiah 27:1 says:

“In 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” (Isaiah 27:1 NKJV).

In His conversation and teaching about Leviathan, the Lord was not just talking about earthly animals for the animals’ sake. He was using the word “Leviathan” to describe the devil. He talks in Isaiah 27:1 about how the enemy, Leviathan—the devil—is a fleeing serpent and as a twisted serpent.

And after that, in Isaiah 27 and continuing, the Lord goes on to describe how He’s going to cast down this Leviathan, and how He is going to restore His people Israel.

Now, again, the devil is often described as a serpent or dragon in the Bible.

In the Bible, and in the study of Christian theology in general, there is a thing called “the law of first mention.” The law of first mention means that, whenever a thing is mentioned first in the Bible and carries a certain meaning, and when the Bible repeats that symbol or that thing again, it still is going to mean the same thing.

Who in the Bible was the very first twisted serpent and fleeing serpent? Obviously, it was the devil. Therefore, whenever we hear about that fleeing serpent, that twisted serpent, that wicked serpent, it’s always going to be talking about the devil.

We even read this all the way through into the book of Revelation.

In Revelation chapter 12:7-11, we read that war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.

Again, that passage says:

“And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 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.

Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death” (Revelation 12:7-11 NKJV).

So, in Isaiah 27:1, we see the devil portrayed as a serpent—and it clearly says that God is going to defeat him and slay him. God said in Isaiah 27:1 also that He—God—will slay the reptile that is in the sea.

In the Bible, references to “seas” are not always literal.

When you read about the sea in the Bible, it doesn’t always mean the actual ocean. Of course, it can mean the actual ocean if the Bible is telling an actual story and talking about a ship, sailing on the sea.

However, if the passage is not talking about an actual story, the reference to “sea” or “the seas” can often refer symbolically to mass numbers of people, humanity, the congregation, the body of Christ, the people of the world, every nation, tongue, kindred and tribe.

Therefore, when we look at how God is using the reference to Leviathan and the sea to discuss the devil and his end-time punishment, God is saying here that He will slay the devil who is operating among the people. This is key!

Additionally, in Isaiah 27, at the end of the passage, the Lord actually shares what the ultimate defeat of the devil is going to provide for God’s people—and what, specifically, the defeat of Leviathan is going to prescribe. And, from that, we can infer what the devil’s purpose was in attacking us with this leviathan twisting modus operandi.

Next, however, in Job chapter 41, we see God describing the literal beast of leviathan.

But, since God referred to him again later as the devil, we know that we can take these same characteristics that God describes and we can learn how the devil operates—how the devil uses the Leviathan spirit, or uses this set of tricks, traps, and evil operating behaviors.

God has a lot to say about Leviathan in Job 41, so we’re going to save that for the next article in this series. Stay tuned for that! But until then, please leave a comment below. Did what I shared so far help you understand what is the leviathan spirit? Please let me know!