Mythology
in the Bible
In verse 7 of today's segment,
we read: "Therefore I call her 'Rahab quelled.'"
Who is "Rahab" and how does he relate to this text?
The "Rahab" in this verse is a mythological being.
Rahab seems clearly to be associated or identified with the monster
of chaos which is slain by the creative deity of ancient semitic
myths of creation. In the OT, this victory is attributed
to the Lord God. It was the Lord who hewed Rahab in pieces,
pierced the dragon, dried up the sea (Is 51:9). The Lord rules
the raging sea, stills its waves, crushes Rahab (Ps 89:10-11), who
stilled the sea, smote Rahab, slew the fleeing serpent (Job 51:9).
The helpers of Rahab are bowed under the Lord's power (Job 9:13).
These allusions to the sea, the dragon, and the serpent,
which can be traced in other literatures, place Rahab clearly in
the context of the myth.
In Isaiah 30:7,
the name is scornfully applied to Egypt; Egypt is a "Rahab,"
a monster of threatening appearance who is "quelled,"
rendered useless. Possibly on the basis of this allusion,
Rahab appears with Babylon in Psalm 87:4: "I will tell of Egypt
[literally, Rahab] and Babylon among those that know the Lord."
In Psalm 89: 10-11: "You, Oh Lord, rule over the surging
of the sea; you still the swelling of its waves. You have crushed
Rahab with a mortal blow; with your strong arm you have scattered
your enemies." By depicting Egypt as Rahab, the destructive,
cosmic power of chaos, what appears to be Judah's safety and sanctuary
is really disorder.
The word "myth"
comes from the Greek, "mythos," originally meaning
simply, "something said" or "something told,"
a "story." Later in Greek tradition, the word came
to mean a false story or a fabrication. And when we look at
the use of the word in the NT, this is true. "Mythos"
in the NT refers to false and foolish stories that are
to be rejected as misleading and dangerous. "Instruct
certain people not to teach false doctrines or to concern themselves
with myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather
than the plan of God that is to be received by faith" (1Tm
1:3-4). "Avoid profane and silly myths. Train yourself
for devotion . . . Since it holds a promise of life both for
the present and for the future" (1Tm 4:7). "For
the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine,
but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity, will
accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth and will
be diverted to myths" (2Tm 4:3-4). "We did not follow
cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty"
(2Pt 1:16).
But in the context of mythology,
the best understanding of myth is not "false story."
Yes, the characters in the mythological stories, dragons, monsters,
super human creatures, etc., are fictional. But the story itself
is intended to explain what cultures believed about cosmic and human
origins, the origins of human institutions, and people's quest for
happiness and the successes and failures in finding it, and the
end of the world. In a special way, it concerned the relationship
between human beings and their God or gods.
There are 4 elements which
most definitions of myth contain: (1) a story; (2) that is traditionally
transmitted, usually orally, within a communal setting; (3) that
deals with character(s) who are more than merely human; and (4)
treats events in remote antiquity.
Israel was surrounded by
other civilizations; Mesopotamia, Egypt and Canaan had myths of
their own concerning creation, the deluge, the fall. The OT
was concerned with the same questions. The OT stories
intended to teach how the world was created by the Lord, the God
of Israel, and how human creatures came to their fallen state.
We find some of these stories in the Book of Genesis.
An example in the Bible
where mythology had some kind of influence is the great flood, Gen
6:5 - 9:17. This story can be traced back to the ancient Mesopotamian
myth of a great flood found in the eleventh tablet of the Gilgamesh
Epic.
But what distinguishes these
passages of the OT from the ancient myths is the Hebrew
idea of the God they knew through God's revelations of God's very
Self, a knowledge the Hebrews attribute to a personal encounter
with God. Therefore, when the thought processes of the OT
are compared with the processes of semitic myth, we see that the
OT rejects all elements which are out of character with
the God they came to know through their experience of God.
But what they knew of God could be expressed only through symbolic
form and concrete cosmic events, and the relations of God with the
world and with human beings were perceived and expressed through
the same patterns and processes which elsewhere we call mythical.
The symbolic forms of the bible are an expression of truth, not
a denial of it. But the symbolic form must be recognized as
an inadequate and approximate expression of the mysterious.
A possible allusion to mythological
realities is found in Romans 8:39: "Neither death nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things,
nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other creature will be
able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord."
Paul is using concepts taken from an astrological and mythological
backdrop that suggested to people in his time powers of frightful
proportions. He is not attesting the reality of these "powers"
but is basically saying, "Folks, these powers out there that
you might fear are nothing to me, for the only power in my life
is the power of God in Jesus Christ."
When alluding to mythology,
the biblical authors are not saying these mythical characters ever
existed as individuals, but that the reality the story points to
is what we believe, and that ultimately, mysteries of the past,
our origins for example, are directly related to one reality, our
God. The sacred authors' primary concern was to relate all
things in the past, beginning with creation, to the working of the
God they knew, Yahweh, the Lord God Almighty.
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| Text:
Isaiah 30:1-14
1 Woe to the rebellious children,
says the LORD, Who carry out plans that are not mine, who weave
webs that are not inspired by me, adding sin upon sin.
2 They go down to Egypt, but my counsel
they do not seek. They find their strength in Pharao's protection
and take refuge in Egypt's shadow;
3 Pharaoh's protection shall be your
shame, and refuge in Egypt's shadow your disgrace.
4 When their princes are at Zoan and
their messengers reach Hanes,
5 All shall be ashamed
of a people that gain them nothing, Neither help nor benefit, but
only shame and reproach.
6 (Oracle on the Beasts
of the Negeb) Through the distressed and troubled land of the lioness
and roaring lion, of the viper and flying saraph, They carry their
riches on the backs of asses and their treasures on the humps of
camels To a people good for nothing,
7 to Egypt whose help
is futile and vain. Therefore I call her "Rahab quelled."
8 Now come, write it
on a tablet they can keep, inscribe it in a record; That it may
be in future days an eternal witness:
9 This is a rebellious
people, deceitful children, Children who refuse to obey the law
of the LORD.
10 They say to the seers,
"Have no visions"; to the prophets, "Do not descry
for us what is right; speak flatteries to us, conjure up illusions.
11 Out of the way!
Out of our path! Let us hear no more of the Holy One of Israel."
12 Therefore, thus says
the Holy One of Israel: Because you reject this word, And put your
trust in what is crooked and devious, and depend on it,
13 This guilt of yours
shall be like a descending rift Bulging out in a high wall whose
crash comes suddenly, in an instant.
14 It crashes like a
potter's jar smashed beyond rescue, And among its fragments cannot
be found a sherd to scoop fire from the hearth or dip water from
the cistern.
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