Sea Monsters
In 1933, the Inverness Courier reported on a couple who reportedly saw, “An enormous animal rolling and plunging on the surface.”1In order to spice up the story a bit, the newspaper labeled this creature a “monster” and the legend of the Loch Ness Monster was born! For almost 90 years, sightings have continued as this odd story remains a fascination for the world. When viewed from a wider angle, the interest in the Loch Ness Monster should be of little surprise; sea monster stories have been around almost as long as mankind. In fact, many ancient myths, including a few from Canaan, depict a god rising to prominence by defeating a large and angry creature from the sea.
On page one of the Bible, God makes His relationship with these creatures readily apparent: “God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good” (NASB 1995). Far from having to defeat sea beasts for prominence, He states that He is the one who is responsible for their existence! When the ancient Israelites began hearing these Canaanite tales, they could rest in the fact that their God was far superior to anything the pagans had to offer.
Throughout the Bible story, sea beasts continue to make appearances. The first of these was in the court of Pharaoh. The text states, “So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent” (Exodus 7:10). While the word serpent is used, the original Hebrew translation could be sea monster. That is not to say Aaron miraculously brought a sea monster into the court of Pharaoh; however, this word clues in the reader about God’s view of Pharaoh. Many years later, the prophet Ezekiel described the Pharaoh of his day as follows: Speak, and say, Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lies in the midst of his streams, that says, ‘My Nile is my own; I made it for myself’” (Ezekiel 29:3). The word dragon is the same as “sea monster,” denoting Pharaoh as one who appears terrifying, but is fully under the control of God.
Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar was also described by this motif. As the prophet Jeremiah explained what God would do to Babylon, he described the treachery he had committed against the people of God: “Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me; he has crushed me; he has made me an empty vessel; he has swallowed me like a monster” (Jeremiah 51:34). Again, the word monster is the same as sea monster, serpent, and dragon. Other examples abound in the Old Testament; however, these illustrate a theme emerging with the usage of this term; leaders and nations who seek to rival God are these monsters rising from their own chaotic waters. However, they are never true rivals of God. As God told Babylon: “I will dry up her sea and make her fountain dry” (Jeremiah 35:36). While the monsters can thrash about in their sea and look ferocious, God will win the battle.
It is no surprise that the sea monster theme continues into the New Testament. The book of Revelation depicts a threatening empire in the same terms as these Old Testament prophets: a beast rising from the sea. He states, “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” (Revelation 13:1). Like its ancient counterparts, it stood no chance against God.
The most fearsome of these monsters is also described in Revelation. He is the one who gave the ancient sea monsters their motivation to fight against God because of his own desire to fight Him. John writes, “And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him” (Revelation 12:9). From the earliest pages of the Bible, the devil sought to rival God and destroy His plans. As with his minions, defeat is a certainty. God is victorious!
As Revelation draws the Bible story to its close, an interesting phrase is recorded: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more” (Revelation 21:1). The chaotic waters, along with its monsters, has been silenced by the Almighty God. In this new heavens and earth, the people of God will live in perfect harmony with their Creator, free from the hostilities of those who sought the demise of good.
As long as earth continues, sea monsters will raise their ugly heads. Given long enough, most every nation will eventually don these creaturely scales and oppress those who seek to serve God. For every child of God in this situation, the pages of the Bible reveal the story of eternal victory; while these monsters may thrash about for a while, they cannot dislodge the eternal security of God’s people. God always wins!
1history.com
