20150715 Wednesday, July 15 2015
Isaiah 27: The Real Dragonslayer

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

"In that day the LORD ... shall slay the dragon"

"Dragon" is used in the Holy Bible to translate the Hebrew words for three very different creatures (see The Dragons Of The Bible):

A howling land animal of the wilderness - the King James Version renders it as "dragon," while the Revised Standard Version (and others) renders it as jackal.

"34:13 And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons [correctly rendered as jackals the RSV], and a court for owls" [see Howls Of The Wilderness]." (Isaiah 34:13 KJV)

A large, ferocious water creature that has scales and lives in rivers e.g. the crocodile.

"29:3 Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself. 29:4 But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales." (Ezekiel 29:3-4 KJV)

Satan (see also What Is Satan's Real Name?), the "serpent":

"12:12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. 12:13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. 12:14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. 12:15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. 12:16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." (Revelation 12:12-17 KJV)

The English-language word "leviathan," as used in the King James Version, is a direct rendering of the Biblical Hebrew word, pronounced leev-yaw-thawn, that literally meant a crocodile, such as was found in the Nile River.

Job spoke of what would happen if someone hooked a literal "dragon," a crocodile, and tried to reel it in.

"41:1 Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down? 41:2 Canst thou put an hook into his nose? or bore his jaw through with a thorn? 41:3 Will he make many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words unto thee? 41:4 Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant for ever? 41:5 Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens? 41:6 Shall the companions make a banquet of him? shall they part him among the merchants? 41:7 Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish spears? 41:8 Lay thine hand upon him, remember the battle, do no more. 41:9 Behold, the hope of him is in vain: shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him? 41:10 None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me?" (Job 41:1-10 KJV)

There is nothing at all evil about the natural behavior that the LORD made in His creatures (see Amazing Bible Facts About Animals and The Origin Of Moby Dick; also What Did The LORD Say About Animals? and Where Will The Animals In Heaven Come From?). It's only when the nature of animals becomes the way of those of a greater intellect that evil becomes manifest. That is the primary reason that Satan is called a "dragon."

Isaiah used all of the terms together - leviathan, serpent and dragon ("In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea," verse 1 below) in his prophecy of the coming final defeat of the liberal loser Satan (see Which Way Is Right And Left?; also Iniquity In History And Prophecy and Decadence In History And Prophecy). Notice carefully also when it will happen: "it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown." The Feast of Trumpets prophesies the coming return of Jesus Christ (see The Feast Of Trumpets: The First Christian Salvation Day), after which the "serpent" will be put away (see the Fact Finder question below).

"27:1 In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.

27:2 In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine. 27:3 I the LORD do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day. 27:4 Fury is not in me: who would set the briers and thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together. 27:5 Or let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me.

27:6 He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit. 27:7 Hath he smitten him, as he smote those that smote him? or is he slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by him? 27:8 In measure, when it shooteth forth, thou wilt debate with it: he stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind. 27:9 By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin; when he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder, the groves and images shall not stand up. 27:10 Yet the defenced city shall be desolate, and the habitation forsaken, and left like a wilderness: there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume the branches thereof. 27:11 When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come, and set them on fire: for it is a people of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will shew them no favour.

27:12 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel. 27:13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem." (Isaiah 27:1-13 KJV)

Fact Finder: What Christian Holy Day prophesies the coming putting away of Satan?
See The Christian Day Of Atonement: Past, Present and Future