monsters: a biblical bestiary contextual monsters: here be dragons first baptist church of christ...

Monsters:A Biblical Bestiary

Contextual Monsters:Here Be Dragons

First Baptist Church of ChristNovember 20, 2013

Job 41

1 Can you draw out Leviathan with a hook, restrain his tongue with a rope?2 Can you put a cord through his nose, pierce his jaw with a barb?3 Will he beg you at length or speak gentle words to you?4 Will he make a pact with you so that you will take him as a permanent slave?

Job 41

5 Can you play with him like a bird, put a leash on him for your girls?6 Will merchants sell him; will they divide him among traders?7 Can you fill his hide with darts, his head with a fishing spear?8 Should you lay your hand on him, you would never remember the battle.

What Kind of Creature is Leviathan?

In Biblical Hebrew, liwyatan means “twisted, coiled.”



In Modern Hebrew, this is the word for “whale.”



In Modern Hebrew, this is the word for “whale.”

The word is a common English metaphor for any large sea creature.

Job 41

15 His matching scales are his pride, closely locked and sealed.16 One touches another; even air can’t come between them.17 Each clings to its pair; joined, they can’t be separated.

Job 41

18 His sneezes emit flashes of light; his eyes are like dawn’s rays.19 Shafts of fire shoot from his mouth; like fiery sparks they fly out.20 Smoke pours from his nostrils like a boiling pot over reeds.21 His breath lights coals; a flame shoots from his mouth.

Psalm 74

13 You split the sea with your power.

You shattered the heads of the sea monsters on the water.

14 You crushed Leviathan’s heads.

You gave it to the desert dwellers for food!

Leviathan...

A fierce, untameable creature

Leviathan...


Lives in the sea

Leviathan...


Lives in the sea Has invulnerable

armor

Leviathan...



armor Weapons can’t hurt

it

Leviathan...




it Breathes fire and

smoke

Leviathan...





smoke Eyes shoot laser

beams

Leviathan...





smoke Eyes shoot laser

beams Has multiple heads!

(Ps 74)

What’s Going On Here?

In our previous lessons, we have seen…



Sometimes, the “monsters” we find in the Bible are there because of a mistranslation.




Sometimes, they are there because of an irregularity in the text.




Sometimes, they are there because of an irregularity in the text.

What if they’re sometimes there because the biblical writers believed in monsters?

Contextual “Monsters”

Wherever we look, we can see evidence that the biblical writers reflect the cultural heritage of their times.

Contextual “Monsters”The Bible reflects ancient COSMOLOGY.


The Bible reflects ancient METEOROLOGY.Rain, hail, wind, and snow are kept in heavenly storehouses until God releases them (Deut 28:12; Job 38:22-23; Ps 135:6-7)


The Bible reflects ancient PHYSIOLOGY.The heart: seat of will, decision-making

The womb or intestines: seat of compassion

The kidneys: seat of personality, emotions


For us, all these things are metaphors, but for the first readers and hearers of the Bible, all these things were understood literally!


For us, all these things are metaphors, but for the first readers and hearers of the Bible, all these things were understood literally!

Apparently, God felt no need to correct their ancient, pre-scientific understanding of how the physical world works in order to teach them spiritual lessons.

The Bible and Mythology

The biblical writers seemed content to reflect the science of the ancient world unchanged.



They couldn’t do the same with the myths of the ancient world.



They couldn’t do the same with the myths of the ancient world.

Rather, they altered these myths in order to reflect the truths they experienced with respect to God.


An important aspect of those myths involved the Sea as a personification of evil or chaos.

The Bible and MythologyEGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY Nu (or Nun) is the god of the primordial watery abyss, from which the first land arose.


Both positive and negative aspects but, in later history, the negative aspects prevailed.


Both positive and negative aspects but, in later history, the negative aspects prevailed.

Nu came to reflect the disorder or chaos inflicted by foreign conquerors.

The Bible and MythologyBABYLONIAN MYTHOLOGY Tiamat was a goddess of

the ocean and the embodiment of chaos.



She went to war against the younger gods and was finally defeated by Marduk.




Marduk created the world from the severed parts of Tiamat’s body.




Marduk created the world from the severed parts of Tiamat’s body.

Related to tehom (Gen 1:2)?

The Bible and MythologyCANAANITE MYTHOLOGY Yam represents the

destructive nature of water: rivers and seas flooding the land, ruining crops, and killing animals.



Baal represents water’s positive powers.




Yam demanded that Baal be made his slave.




Yam demanded that Baal be made his slave.

Baal fought and defeated Yam, seizing control of the waters.


The sea is thus strongly associated with chaos and destruction.

Psalm 104:6b-9

6b The waters were higher than the mountains!7 But at your rebuke they ran away; they fled in fear at the sound of your thunder.8 They flowed over the mountains, streaming down the valleys to the place you established for them.9 You set a boundary they cannot cross so they’ll never again cover the earth.

Psalm 93:3-4

3 LORD, the floods have raised up— the floods have raised up their voices; the floods raise up a roar!4 But mightier than the sound of much water, mightier than the sea’s waves, mighty on high is the LORD!

Mark 4:37-41

Gale-force winds arose, and waves crashed against the boat so that the boat was swamped. But Jesus was in the rear of the boat, sleeping on a pillow. They woke him up and said, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re drowning?”

He got up and gave orders to the wind, and he said to the lake, “Silence! Be still!” The wind settled down and there was a great calm. Jesus asked them, “Why are you frightened? Don’t you have faith yet?”

Overcome with awe, they said to each other, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!”

Revelation 21:1

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

Biblical Chaos MonstersThe biblical writers evicted Tiamat from the Creation story, but they didn’t kick her entirely out of the Bible!


Rather, they keep her around as a kind of foil to display God’s sovereignty over the forces of chaos.



The point: Job can’t handle Leviathan…but God can!




We do a disservice to Job 41 by trying to “explain” Leviathan in twenty-first-century terms.




We do a disservice to Job 41 by trying to “explain” Leviathan in twenty-first-century terms.

Leviathan is meant to be an embodiment of chaos, darkness, and the demonic.

Biblical Chaos Monsters

There are some other chaos monsters in the Bible…



Se’irim (Isa 13:21; 34:14)



Se’irim (Isa 13:21; 34:14)KJV translates “satyrs”




NIV, NKJV, NLT all say “wild goats”




NIV, NKJV, NLT all say “wild goats”

NRSV, CEB, JPS all say “goat demons”



Behemoth (Job 40)



Behemoth (Job 40)A land-based monster corresponding to Leviathan, a sea-based monster



Nephilim (Gen 6:4; Num 13:32-33)



Nephilim (Gen 6:4; Num 13:32-33)Traditionally translated “giants.”



Nephilim (Gen 6:4; Num 13:32-33)More literally, “the fallen.”



Nephilim (Gen 6:4; Num 13:32-33)Offspring of “the sons of God” and “the daughters of men.”



Nephilim (Gen 6:4; Num 13:32-33)Descendants/subgroups: Anakim, Rephaim, etc.



Nephilim (Gen 6:4; Num 13:32-33)Sometimes, these seem to be ordinary humans.



Nephilim (Gen 6:4; Num 13:32-33)At other times, depicted as supernatural beings: the shades or spirits of the dead.

Contextual “Monsters”: Five Theses

(1) The ancient Israelites inherited a vast cultural vocabulary from their neighbors in the Ancient Near East.



(2) This vocabulary included not only Leviathan, Behemoth, and other “monsters”: it also included understandings about cosmology, meteorology, physiology, etc.




(3) The Israelites used this cultural vocabulary to affirm their trust in the goodness, power, and sovereignty of God.





(4) We can do the same, whether we take this vocabulary literally or not.





(4) We can do the same, whether we take this vocabulary literally or not. (Hint: the correct answer is almost certainly “not.”)





(4) We can do the same, whether we take this vocabulary literally or not. (Hint: the correct answer is almost certainly “not.”)

(5) You worry about your worldview, and I’ll worry about mine!

monsters: a biblical bestiary contextual monsters: here be dragons first baptist church of christ...

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untameable creaturelives

biblical hebrew

sea monsters

untameable creatureleviathan

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kind of creature

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