CYPRESSWOOD CHURCH OF CHRIST
October 3, 2010
25424 Aldine-Westfield, Spring, TX. 77373
www.blakehart.com/cypresswoodbulletin.htm
LIFT UP IN PRAYER:
God’s will for our congregation Various relatives, friends, and co-workers
Our nation, leaders and military Peace
Happy Birthday to Jaycee Mearns (4th).
THE COSMIC BATTLE - 1
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).
One of the many things that we have difficulty grasping, is what some call the cosmic struggle that we find ourselves in. We tend to ignore anything that is not physical, that is, that we cannot see. Yet Paul makes it clear that we are a part of a battle that goes beyond our physical realm. It is also played out in our physical world in a number of ways. Certainly in the days of Jesus, the forces of the devil were very active. Whether that was because Jesus was present, or for some other reason, is not clear to us. Often it is seen when good and evil clash. It is seen in conflict within creation and when the God of heaven and earth faces the gods of this world. There are a number of ideas involved in this line of thinking, so we will only explore one aspect (1).
One way the cosmic battle shows up is in the creation story (2). When God created the world, He separated the water and the land. Land was organized with plant life, animals and humans. The water was disorganized, chaos, and when unleashed, brought destruction. Who controls the water was a challenge that we see in several places in scripture. In the mythology of the Canaanites, the god Ba’al defeats the sea god Yam, thus bringing praise to himself. Yam is the Hebrew word for sea.
Control of the sea meant control of people. That is typical of history. The Romans destroy the pirates of the Mediterranean world and controlled the sea. Great naval powers have often spread their empires and influences to many parts of the world. Both then and now, we see the same attitude about the seas.
Israel understood the power of water.
Psalm 104:5-9 - He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved. You covered
it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. But at your
rebuke the waters fled, at the sound of your thunder they took to flight; they flowed over
the mountains, they went down into the valleys, to the place you assigned for them. You
set a boundary they cannot cross; never again will they cover the earth.
Psalm 89:9-10 - You rule over the surging sea; when its waves mount up, you still them.
You crushed Rahab like one of the slain; with your strong arm you scattered your
enemies.
Psalm 77:16 - The waters saw you, God, the waters saw you and writhed; the very
depths were convulsed.
Psalm 74:13-14 - It was you who split open the sea by your power; you broke the heads
of the monster in the waters. It was you who cursed the heads of Leviathan and gave
it as food to the creatures of the desert
So who controls the sea? Who controls the water? This becomes a part of the cosmic battle. We think of the flood in Noah’s day and see the power of water unleashed on a sinful generation of people. Everything is destroyed. We look at the destructive nature of a hurricane such as Ike in Houston and Katrina in New Orleans. I remember Hurricane Camille in 1969 that hit Biloxi, Mississippi and the destruction that occurred. The beach blocked the highway, and little was left of beach front property. Just recently, we saw how destructive a flood can be when we saw the pictures from Nashville. We have attempted to control water with dams and dikes but sometimes they are overwhelmed by the power of chaos seen in water.
In the above texts, two characters are mentioned that are not identified. Rahab and Leviathan could represent two animals we know little about, having been extinct for millennia. However, some also see them as mythological animals that represent the cosmic battle seen in the seas. Either way, it is God who controls them.
God brings order out of chaos. Notice Jonah. When fleeing from God in chapter one, he boards a ship heading west. A great storm arises and the ship is in danger when the crew, knowing what Jonah did and said to them, threw him overboard. Then there was calm and the crew worshipped the God of Jonah. Jesus walked on the water and calmed the storm on Galilee to the amazement of His disciples. The One who rules the sea rules creation. Is there any wonder that we find a conflict in science between Darwinists and Christians and the control of the environment?
How does this play out in Israel’s history? We will look at that next in a familiar and powerful story.
George B. Mearns
(1) For a different idea, see my article, Pre-creation, in the 6/15/2008 bulletin.
(2) Thoughts come from Peter Enns, Yahweh, Creation, and the Cosmic Battle, copied 3/27/2010 from http://biologos.org/blog