Chaos Monsters

Does the idea of chaos frighten you, or excite you?  Do you have a fear of the unknown, the uncontrollable, or do you welcome it?

Think about whatever is completely wild and uncontrollable in your life.  Let the emotion take you over for just a moment.

For Israelites – water was the symbol of chaos. While Israelites live near along 150 miles of the Mediterranean Sea, archaeologists have found almost NO homes along the sea shore.  Being a fisherman was just about the worst job one could have.  The Israelites (in contrast with the Philistines) were not sea-faring people.  They believed that something horrific lived in beneath the deep, chaotic waters.  The Leviathan was a massive sea creature that was more than just legend to Israelites – there was a complete description of it (Job 41), and to them it was the very picture of chaos and terror.  Imagine being sucked under water and not knowing what is beneath you…watching you…

For those whom chaos completely freaks them out, Isaiah describes God tackling the Leviathan and putting him under his control. Watching as God captures this chaos monster with a fishhook (Job 41:1) will bring awe and worship to many who fear the unknown.

But what about for those who crave chaos, and disdain order?  What if people who see the unknown as a critical part to a big, scary, chaotic world?  There is nothing certain out there after all – and who wants to live in a completely predictable world?

For them – the writer leaves the idea that God is in cahoots with this wild and crazy monster – the Leviathan is “God’s pet.” And chaos is part of the powerful arm of God. Reading the description of God’s near nuclear destruction of Mount Sinai or the waters of the flood remind me that God carves his own path when the predictable routes no longer accomplish his desires.  This God is a wild and rabble-rousing God.  He commands even the unknown beasts of the deep!  He “caught chaos as it came bursting forth from the womb of creation!”  (Job 38:8)

If you tend toward order - take a moment and explore the good that comes from destructive chaos in God’s creation – the health of a wildfire that brings fresh life to a forest, the release of a volcano that keeps our earth from caving in.

If you tend toward chaos - remember that there is a place for discipline and predictability.  Its alright that your heart beats over and over again, with relative pace.  And to have something much stronger than you conquering the greatest beasts of chaos is probably in your best interest!

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