Bigger Than the Boogie Man

When we interpret the Bible it is important to get inside the mind of the human author of a passage, as well as the minds of the original audience. Much of the language of the prophets and psalmists, for example, assumes the reader understands certain things. If I were to use an expression such as “Get out of town,” you would probably understand that to mean something like “You’re kidding!” No one would think I was commanding the reader to pack a bag and get on a bus; I am assuming that the expression is understood, and is not to be taken literally.

Some of that colorful language makes its way into Scripture. While we take the Bible literally (as in “literally true”), we also need to recognize figures of speech that should not be taken literally. Consider Psalm 74:12-15:

For God is my King from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. You divided the sea by your strength; you broke the heads of the sea serpents in the waters. You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces, and gave him as food to the people inhabiting the wilderness. You broke open the fountain and the flood; you dried up mighty rivers.

Did God actually break the heads of sea serpents? Did He break Leviathan (a dinosaur) into pieces and feed him to people? When did He dry up mighty rivers? And why would He?

Interpreting the colorful language of the Old Testament is like observing an oil painting; get too close and you will miss the big picture. We need to step back and ask, “What is the author trying to say?” With Psalm 74 we do well to know that Mesopotamian and Canaanite literature frequently elevated their gods based on how they handled the forces of chaos. A classic example is how the ancient god Marduk rose in power after defeating the goddess of the ocean (in the text Enuma Elis). Against this backdrop Asaph described God in Psalm 74 as a destroyer of the feared sea serpent and Leviathan (most likely a plesiosaur), a deity strong enough to dry up a mighty river. The sea serpent might not mean much to us, but this would be like telling a child today, like the VeggieTales have, that “God is bigger than the boogie man.”

What is the author trying to say? God is all-powerful, at the absolute top of the pecking order; beside Him there is none else. There is no reason to fear because if God is for us, who can be against us? We should certainly want to know that we are on God’s side.