Enter and Exit:
The Dragon
Who lives in the celestial sea (above the
firmament)? Why is he there and
where else are theses dudes allowed ?
You noticed, I’m sure,
that I said dudes (as
in plural)?
Introduction of the Chapter
God’s Victory over the Cosmic Monster at the beginning of creation and the end of time
Everyone loves a good story of a fight between legendary creatures and members of the human race. Kids love the
dinosaurs and cave men, teenagers in the early 21st century like the Twilight vampire stories and you’ll find the story of
the Cyclops and Sirens from the Odyssey still thrilling to adults (OK, I haven’t read that since high school, but it was
cool back then…). Throw in a war for the destiny of all humanity and you have the makings of a real thriller. The hero
or heroine rides in on the beast, clutching her shield and spear, shouting out victory in the name of the King. I at least
enjoy a little Lord of the Rings now and again and J.R.R. Tolkein couldn’t have given me better creatures and
characters (I was particularly thrilled with the fight between the Balrog and Gandalf the Grey in Khazad-dûm…and
Gandalf only looked like a human…hmmmm).
This chapter will introduce Christians to a battle of which they may have been hitherto unawares. At the inauguration
of time, possibly before the “beginning” we read in Genesis 1, God, the Father of believers, had a clash with a
monster of, well…Biblical proportions! In this battle He was triumphant (duh), but with a proviso; a quid quo pro: The
final victory would not be evident to humanity until certain things had been accomplished in the heavens and upon
earth many eons later. In the mean time there was an arrangement fixed, an agreement (one might say...) between
He and his antagonist; certain boundaries set. Much of the information about this battle is seen through the
somewhat shadowy, poetically mannered retelling of the story in the Hebrew wisdom literature. It is also shrouded in
some cultic imagery and mythic presentation, but it is nonetheless clear to any reader that the battle occurred
.
In the prophetic writings there are figures of speech and idioms that portray the silhouette of the real thing. Angelic
beings are “stars”, demonic beings are often portrayed as “beasts”, “dragons” and/or “serpents” (and not just the
serpent you may be familiar with tempting Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden). Many Scriptures indicate the
presence of the aforementioned primordial, cosmic ocean that is in place between God’s throne and man on earth (see
chapter 1). God is often portrayed as the white-headed Ancient-One using clouds and darkness, lightning and thunder
and other theophanies that heighten the dramatic in the telling of the tale. The physiognomy of the cosmos is
couched in the language of pre-scientific prophets, but in a very real way the story is rehearsed.
The Hebraic and ancient near eastern understanding of the cosmos can be read about in Appendix XXX - “The
Prophets’ Conception of the Universe: A Lesson in Ancient Near Eastern Cosmic Geography”. It will come
as no surprise to modern readers that the concept of a 21st century “space-time continuum” was not in the prophet’s
mind, nor is it surreptitiously inserted by the Holy Spirit.
It’s almost Christmas: Time to talk
smackdown between
Santa….no, Jesus….and the dragon?
VS
Jesus Born Tishri 1 (Jewish New Year)
3 B.C.
…and the dragon was there (Rev. 12: 1-6); so it
was actually Jesus’ mother who had to “answer
the bell” so to speak and make sure “her child”
(Revelation 12: 4) would be safe.
The Dragon was at the Beginning of Creation too
(some think that Creation was on Tishri 1)
There was a fight just before Christmas
Revelation 12:1-6 NIV A great and wondrous sign appeared in
heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under
her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was
pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth.
3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red
dragon with seven heads (see Psalm 74: 12, 13) and ten horns
and seven crowns on his heads. 4 His tail swept a third of the
stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon
stood (BBE has – “took his place”) in front of the woman who
was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the
moment it was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child,
who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child
was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6 The woman fled
into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she
might be taken care of for 1,260 days.
Draco and Virgo in the Celestial Dance
The tendency of humans is to
“unspiritualize” the Bible
So, now a brief expose on the Dragon (Leviathan/ Rahab)
in scripture (see Slide 7).
• Job and Leviathan (aka – the dragon)… (Job 41: 1- ff);
Behemoth some other time OK? These are not natural.
• Who is Rahab?
• Where do they show up? Why are they confined? Cf. –
“bars and doors”, compassed
• What about Satan (Job 1,2) “to and fro in the earth”:
allowed??
• Sons of God (Genesis 6): not allowed??
• Dragon on earth (Revelation 12) or is it by his minions?
Read Job 41
`WaJ'(x;t.yI ~yrIªb'V.m÷i ~yli_ae WrWgæy" AtFemâi WTT Job 41:17
NAU Job
41:25 "When he raises himself up, the 1mighty fear; Because of the
crashing they are bewildered.
See LXX on verse 33 (angels)
If you think Job 41 is talking about a dinosaur,
what is Psalm 18 talking about. This stuff is
cosmic not “natural”.
And so the Big Bang gives us “poof”
(sorry….that would be Puff?) a
Dragon…right?
Not so much like this I
don’t think.
Our dude was nasty…
No, but we did get the Celestial Sea!
Psalm 148: 4-7
The water seems boisterous!
What do we think caused the commotion?
These context say it was a nasty creature
“Enter the Dragon”
Texts with the Dragon
• Psalm 74: 12-14 (Leviathan)
• Psalm 89: 5-15 (Rahab)
• Job 26:12-14 (Rahab)…match with Genesis 1:2
• Isaiah 51:9, 10 (Rahab)
• Isaiah 27:1 (Leviathan)
Psalm 74
YLTPsalm
74:7-17 7 They [your “enemies” [from verse 4]] have sent into fire Thy
sanctuary, to the earth they polluted the tabernacle of Thy name [the Temple], 8 They
said in their hearts, 'Let us oppress them [the people, Israel] together,' They did burn all
the meeting-places of God in the land. 9 Our ensigns (banner or sign) we have not
seen, There is no more a prophet, Nor with us is one knowing how long. 10 Till when, O
God, doth an adversary reproach? Doth an enemy despise thy name for ever? 11 Why
dost Thou turn back Thy hand, Even Thy right hand? From the midst of Thy bosom
remove it.
And God is my king of old, Working salvation in the midst of the earth. 13 Thou
hast broken by Thy strength a sea-monster, Thou hast shivered Heads of
dragons by [in] the waters, 14 Thou hast broken the heads of Leviathan, Thou
makest him food, For the people of the dry places. 15 Thou hast cleaved a fountain and
a stream [“torrent” or “flood”], Thou hast dried up perennial flowings. 16 Thine is the
day, also Thine is the night, Thou hast prepared a light giver -- the sun. 17 Thou hast
set up all the borders of earth, Summer and winter Thou hast formed them.
12
Psalm 89
•
Psalm 89:5-18 5 And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O LORD: thy
faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints. 6 For who in the heaven can be
compared unto the LORD? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto
the LORD? 7 God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be
had in reverence of all them that are about him. 8 O LORD God of hosts, who is a
strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee?
•
9
Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou
stillest them. 10 Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain;
thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm. 11 The heavens are
thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast
founded them. 12 The north and the south thou hast created them: Tabor and
Hermon shall rejoice in thy name. 13 Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand,
and high is thy right hand. 14 Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne:
mercy and truth shall go before thy face. 15 Blessed is the people that know the
joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance. 16 In thy
name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.
17 For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy favour our horn shall be
exalted. 18 For the LORD is our defence; and the Holy One of Israel is our king.
Job 26
Job 26:1-ff Then Job 1responded, 2 "What a help you are to 1athe weak! How you
have saved the arm bwithout strength! 3 "What counsel you have given to one without
wisdom! What helpful insight you have abundantly 1provided! 4 "To whom have you
uttered words? And whose 1spirit was expressed through you? 5 "The 1adeparted spirits
tremble Under the waters and their inhabitants. 6 "Naked is 1aSheol before Him, And
2bAbaddon has no covering.
NAU
Job then appeals to God’s greatness as a way of contesting Bildad’s absurdities.
"He (God) astretches out the north over empty space And hangs the earth on nothing.
8 "He awraps up the waters in His clouds, And the cloud does not burst under them. 9
"He 1aobscures the face of the 2full moon (throne) And spreads His cloud over it. 10 "He
has inscribed a acircle on the surface of the waters At the bboundary of light and
darkness. 11 "The pillars of heaven tremble And are amazed at His rebuke. 12 "He
aquieted the sea with His power, And by His bunderstanding He shattered cRahab.
13 "By His breath (spirit) the aheavens are 1cleared; His hand has pierced bthe
fleeing serpent. 14 "Behold, these are the fringes of His ways; And how faint aa word
we hear of Him! But His mighty bthunder, who can understand?"
7
Isaiah 51
KJV Isaiah
51:1-16 Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye
that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to
the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. 2 Look unto Abraham your
father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and
blessed him, and increased him. 3 For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he
will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like
Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness
shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody. 4
Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a
law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a
light of the people. 5 My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone
forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon
me, and on mine arm shall they trust.
Isaiah 51 (continued)
Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for
the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old
like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but
my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be
abolished. 7 Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in
whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye
afraid of their revilings. 8 For the moth shall eat them up like a garment,
and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for
ever, and my salvation from generation to generation. 9 Awake, awake,
put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in
the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and
wounded the dragon? 10 Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the
waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for
the ransomed to pass over?
6
Isaiah 51 (continued)
Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion;
and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and
sorrow and mourning shall flee away. 12 I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art
thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which
shall be made as grass;
11
Isaiah then appeals again to his reader’s historical sensibilities and takes them way back
to the beginning of creation.
And forgettest the LORD thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and
laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually every day because of
the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the
oppressor? 14 The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not
die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail. 15 But I am the LORD thy God, that divided
(quieted – BBE and YLT) the sea, whose waves roared: The LORD of hosts is his
name. 16 And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the
shadow of mine hand, that I may plant (establish – NASB) the heavens, and lay the
foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.
13
Isaiah 27 – Exit the Dragon!
ESV Isaiah
27:1 In that day the LORD with
his hard and great and strong sword will
punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent,
Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will
slay the dragon that is in the sea.
Others in the Celestial Sea?
YLT Psalm
74:13 Thou [God] hast broken by Thy strength a sea - monster, Thou hast shivered Heads
of dragons by the waters,
Further evidence is found in Psalm 89: 9, 10.
KJV
Psalm 89:9-10 9 Thou [God] rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou
stillest them. 10 Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine
enemies with thy strong arm.
Job 9: 8-13 helps as well; remembering that the stretching out of the heavens is a key to the context
being a creation context.
ESV
Plural
“dragons”,
“enemies”
“helpers”
Job 9:8-13 8 who [God] alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the sea; 9
who made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the chambers of the south; 10 who does great things
beyond searching out, and marvelous things beyond number. 11 Behold, he passes by me, and I see
him not; he moves on, but I do not perceive him. 12 Behold, he snatches away; who can turn him
back? Who will say to him, 'What are you doing?' 13 "God will not turn back his anger; beneath him
bowed the helpers of Rahab.
This might seal the deal…
Psalm 40:1-4 1I waited patiently for the
LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. 2 He
lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud
and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave
me a firm place to stand. 3 He put a new song
in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear and put their trust in the
LORD. 4 Blessed is the man who makes the
LORD his trust, who does not look to the
proud (~ybiªh'r> - rahabim (plural of Rahab))
to those who turn aside to false gods.
NIV
Figure of Speech – Metonymy
Waves or Billows
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
NIVJob
38:4-11 4 "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand. 5 Who
marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? 6 On what were its
footings set, or who laid its cornerstone-- 7 while the morning stars sang together and all the angels {7 Hebrew the
sons of God} shouted for joy? 8 "Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, 9 when I
made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, 10 when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and
bars in place, 11 when I said, 'This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt'?
NASBPsalm 65:5-8 5 By aawesome deeds You answer us in righteousness, O bGod of our salvation, You who are
the trust of all the cends of the earth and of the farthest 1dsea; 6 Who aestablishes the mountains by His strength,
Being bgirded with might; 7 Who astills the roaring of the seas, The roaring of their waves, And the btumult of the
peoples. 8 They who dwell in the aends of the earth stand in awe of Your signs; You make the 1dawn and the
sunset shout for joy.
KJV Psalm 93:2-4 2 Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting. {of old: Heb. from then} 3 The
floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves. 4 The LORD on
high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.
BBE Isaiah 51:13-15 13 And you have given no thought to the Lord your Maker, by whom the heavens were
stretched out, and the earth placed on its base; and you went all day in fear of the wrath of the cruel one, when
he was making ready for your destruction. And where is the wrath of the cruel one? 14 The prisoner, bent under his
chain, will quickly be made free, and will not go down into the underworld, and his bread will not come to an end.
15 For I am the Lord your God, who makes the sea calm when its waves are thundering: the Lord of armies is his
name.
YLT Jeremiah 31:35 Thus said Jehovah, Who is giving the sun for a light by day, The statutes of moon and stars for
a light by night, Quieting the sea when its billows roar, Jehovah of Hosts is His name:
Dragon
Revelation 12:17 - 13:1 17 Then the dragon
became furious with the woman and went off to
make war on the rest of her offspring, on those
who keep the commandments of God and hold
to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood1 on the
sand of the sea. ESV Revelation 13:1 And I saw a
beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and
seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and
blasphemous names on its heads.
Not Blowin’ Kisses
Isaiah 27:1 “In that day (what
day?), the LORD will punish
with his sword, his fierce,
great and powerful sword,
Leviathan the gliding serpent,
Leviathan the coiling serpent;
he will slay the monster
(dragon) that is in the sea.” -
Psalm 104:3 - “Who
layeth the beams of his
chambers in the
waters: who maketh
the clouds his chariot:
who walketh upon the
wings of the wind:
ANE Cosmic Geography
The Big Picture
Psalm
148:4
The
Highest
Third
Heaven
2 Cor 12:2
Heaven
Genesis 1:8
Genesis 1:
7-9 Exodus
20: 4
Sheol/ Hades
Heaven
2 Sam 21:10;
Revelation
19:17
Tartaros
in Denis Lamoureux’s
Evolutionary Creation:
Bob’s Notes
The Throne of God
The Circuit (circle)
of Heaven
Dragon
in the
Sea
Looking down on the earth and
the “sea”:
very close to the Biblical model: Water, water everywhere…
The oldest known world map, 6thC BCE, Babylonian clay tablet. Courtesy of the British Museum, London.
Water all
around
Circle of the
Earth
1. Where the birds fly (Jeremiah 4:25); can be “black”
(Jeremiah 4:28)
2. The Firmament (Genesis 1:6-8); can be “rolled
up like a scroll”; has “windows”, is a “tent”, etc.
3. Where God (Elyon – the Most High) lives (the “heaven
of heavens” or “highest heaven” or just “highest”
(Psalm 68:33; Deuteronomy 33:26; Luke 2:14; 2
Corinthians 12:2 (Paul’s “third heaven”)
We no longer think of them chronologically.
Waters “above” the firmament?
Genesis 1:3-8 3 And God said, Let there be light: and
there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good:
and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 And God
called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And
the evening and the morning were the first day. 6 And
God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the
waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 7
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters
which were under the firmament from the waters which
were above the firmament: and it was so. 8 And God
called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the
morning were the second day.
Exit the Dragon
Revelation 20:7-10 7 And when the thousand years are
expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8 And
shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four
quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them
together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of
the sea. 9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth,
and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the
beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven,
and devoured them. 10 And the devil that deceived them
was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the
beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented
day and night for ever and ever.