Leviathan – Isaiah 27

At mythology.net there is a page dedicated to sea monsters.  Every sea going culture has had stories of them.  Were the stories of them spawned actual creatures of the sea which were misidentified, or cryptids (unusual creatures that actually exist but not yet authenticated), sprung from a desire that the one who perished overboard was taken by something, or inanimate objects that looked like monsters?  Sea monsters in the Bible are referred to as a description of Egypt (Psalm 74:13,14) as well as actual creatures created by God (Psalm 104:25,26).  Isaiah speaks of one.

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.

In that day, “A pleasant vineyard, sing of it!  I, the LORD, am its keeper; every moment I water it.  Lest anyone punish it, I keep it night and day; I have no wrath.  Would that I had thorns and briers to battle!  I would march against them, I would burn them up together.  Or let them lay hold of my protection, let them make peace with me, let them make peace with me.”

In days to come Jacob shall take root, Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots and fill the whole world with fruit.

Has he struck them as he struck those who struck them?  Or have they been slain as their slayers were slain?  Measure by measure, by exile you contended with them; he removed them with his fierce breath in the day of the east wind.  Therefore by this the guilt of Jacob will be atoned for, and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin:  when he makes all the stones of the altars like chalkstones crushed to pieces, no Asherim or incense altars will remain standing.  For the fortified city is solitary, a habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness; there the calf grazes; there it lies down and strips its branches.  When its boughs are dry, they are broken; women come and make a fire of them.  For this is a people without discernment; therefore he who made them will not have compassion on them; he who formed them will show them no favor.

In that day from the river Euphrates to the Brook of Egypt the LORD will thresh out the grain, and you will be gleaned one by one, O people of Israel. And in that day a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were driven out to the land of Egypt will come and worship the LORD on the holy mountain at Jerusalem.  (Isaiah 27 ESV)

Leviathan was a mythological sea creature in pagan theologies that represented chaos and evil.  The myth is borrowed here to show that Yahweh has absolute control over everything and will one day quell all chaos and evil, and particularly, the enemies God uses to purge His people.  In that same time period He will make Israel like a pleasant vineyard that has no problems at all.  She will fill the whole world with her fruit.

But the way she will get there is first through exile because of her idolatry.  In this way He will purge her of idolatry.  Her “atonement” will be the destruction of all her altars to false gods and all her images.  After becoming a place of desolation God will reap the harvest of His people, removing the grain from the chaff, and restore true believers to the land once again.  From all the countries to which they were exiled they will return to Jerusalem and worship Yahweh alone.

Our “atonement” is in giving up the things we depend upon other than God.  This is not strictly atonement that removes sin.  The Law is clear that atonement is accomplished by blood sacrifice.  But a “little a” atonement is real repentance.  Let the idols in our hearts be threshed out so that the grain alone remains.

Discussion Questions

1. Do you believe in sea monsters?
2. What is the Leviathan (\ li-ˈvī-ə-thən \) God has used to discipline you when you needed discipline?
3. Has the discipline you experienced led to your being a “pleasant  vineyard”?
4. Isaiah says God dealt with Israel’s enemies “measure by measure” the way they dealt with Israel.  What does this tell you about God’s justice?
5. The end result of Israel’s being gleaned by God and restored to her land is that  they come back to worship Him.  What impact has God’s discipline in your life had on your worship of Him?