I’ve got Leviathan on my mind.

Genesis 1:21, “So God created the great sea creatures…”  Psalm 104: 25 26, “Here is the sea…and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it.”

In Genesis 3 the serpent tempts the man and woman to not trust God. God declares that one of the woman’s offspring with crush the serpents head.  The themes of the serpent and the sea creature, Leviathan, eventually merge so that Isaiah tells us “On that day will the Lord punish…Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the coiled serpent; and the Lord will slay the dragon that is in the sea.

During the intertestamental period, Satan added to the image of the serpent/Leviathan.  Wisdom of Solomon 2: 23-24, “God made us in the image of his eternity, but through the devil’s envy death entered the world.”  So, we come to Revelation 12:9 where, “the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent who led the entire world astray, whose name is the Devil or Satan.”

These themes may be echoed in Jesus after resurrection appearances when his disciples give Jesus a baked fish.  On another occasion, His disciples have a night of fruitless fishing.  Jesus said to throw the net on the other side of the boat and its filled to the breaking point; on shore he has a breakfast of fish and bread awaiting.  Eating fish echoes the promise that God will devour death, terror and chaos.  It may be no accident that an early sign for Christ was a fish, ICHTHUS, leading a third century church father to pray, “Feed us, then Lord, Savior, feed us, I pray with the Ichthus.”