The Original "Big Fish" Tale

It is with  great joy that I open this to you today!  Although I am sorry for not having the ability to stay on course with our study of Genesis, today I truly believe I can tout that the computer is fixed!!!   What a roller coaster.  So with gusto let's dig back in . 

Genesis 1:21 (NAS)
And 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.

Genesis 1:22 (NAS)
And God blessed them saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth."

Genesis 1:23 (NAS)
And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

To understand what God was "preparing in advance" or setting in motion on this fifth day He created to support all times, we have to take a microscope to this day.  For instance what is the reality of these great "sea monsters".  To know that we would have to know the Hebrew word in which we derive it from.  Tanniyn or Tanniym is a huge fish, a marine or land monster; a dragon, a sea serpent; a water animal, a shark or a crocodile as it pertains to these scriptures.  There are other definitions but today we are only looking at these.  The others are more metaphoric in nature.  Let's look at how God has utilized those through out His creations history.

Job is considered to be among the first books ever to be written.  He made the first reference to them in a conversation he was having with God when he said, " Am I the sea or a sea monster that you have set a guard over me?"

Isaiah praised God saying "O Lord, you are my God.  I will highly honor you; I will praise your name.  You have done miraculous things.  You have been completely reliable in carrying out your plans from long ago.  He then speaks about the future for God's people saying, "On this mountain the Lord of Armies will prepare for all people a feast with the best foods, a banquet with aged wines, with the best foods and the finest wines.  On this mountain he will remove the veil of grief covering all people and the mask covering all nations.  he will swallow up death forever.  The Almighty Lord will wipe away tears from every face, and he will remove the disgrace of his people from the whole earth.  The Lord has spoken.  On that day, his people, will say "This is our God; we have waited for him, and now he will save us. - Let us rejoice and  be glad because he will save us."  A bit further down He is talking about "that day" when we are saved.  Listen to what he shares. " on that day the Lord will use his fierce and powerful sword to punish Leviathan - that slippery snake, Leviathan, that twisting snake.  He will kill that monster which lives in the sea.  On that day sing about a delightful vineyard.  I, the Lord, will watch over it.  I water it continually.  I watch over it day and night so that no one will harm it.  I am no longer angry.  If only thorn's and briar's would confront me! I would fight them in battle and set all of them on fire.  or else let them come to me for protection.  Let them make peace with me.  Yes, let them make peace with me.

Now let's move on to Jeremiah, his last prophecy was about how King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had devoured the Israelites.  He had thrown them into confusion, turned them into empty jars, swallowed them like a monster filling his belly with their delicacies; then he spit them out.  They were begging for violence to be done to Babylon, for its people to be held responsible for their deaths.  Further down God told his people to leave - to run for their lives.  Not from the evil of the Babylonians but from the burning anger of the Lord.  He did not want them to be around when His vengeance was brought to fruition.  This is exactly what He was speaking of through Isaiah as He said "if only they would confront me I would fight them in battle and set all of them on fires"...or else let them come to me for protections - Let them make peace with me.

The one reference I would have thought would be obvious was Jonah and the "whale".  However, there seems to be some ambiguity about the correct translation of this "fish - really big fish".  I will look those up and get back to you tomorrow on that one. 

As for today - we must realize that God's plans are not only perfect they are perfectly ordered.  We simply have free will as to "if we will face Him".  The ridiculous part is when we choose to not face Him, we must turn our back on Him.  That is not a pretty sight when I picture it.  Think about how you feel when some one repeatedly ignores your efforts to have relationship with them.  We might get hurt for awhile, but then we get heated about it.  This is because we are made in the Image of God.....and that's what He does. 

Just remember in your anger - Do not sin!  Vengeance is Mine says the Lord.
With the Love of Christ,
Candace