Those wild and crazy boys in Edmond Oklahoma have been solving the mysteries of the Bible for many years now. As acolytes of God's one and only true prophet Gerald Flurry, these special men have access to Biblical mysteries that is theirs and theirs alone.
For many years there have been all kinds of speculation about the large fossilized bones that have been discovered in the Egyptian desert. From being giant whales to giant catfish, the speculation swirls around. Thanks to the Philadelphia Church of God this mystery has been solved and it is straight out of the Bible.
In the latest issue of Watch Jersualem, an online rag for the PCG, they have an article up about these bones, written by Christopher Eames:
Are These the Bones of Leviathan? What was the fearsome biblical ‘leviathan’? Could it be a terrifying sea creature discovered in the sands of the Near East—a beast whose scientific name aptly translates to ‘King Lizard’?
What kind of incredible beast was the biblical leviathan? Speculation as to the identity of this sea creature has gone on for millennia. Leviathan is mentioned in a handful of passages throughout the Bible, but is most well known for its description in the book of Job.
At weather-worn sites across the Middle East, and in Egypt in particular, erosion has been revealing a terrifying creature that may well fit the biblical description.
Some years ago, we published an article examining the identity of Job’s behemoth (you can read that article here). While both creatures are enigmatic, the leviathan surely takes the cake as most peculiar—or, shall we say, the most fantastic. Some say it is an allegorical myth. Some claim it simply represents a crocodile. Then there is Wadi Al-Hitan.
Why is it that Armstrongism has felt the need to solve every mystery of the Bible? Sadly our history of these needless speculations has been of one idiotic speculation after another. Much of this speculation lies at the feet of Herman Hoeh and his entirely disproved Compendium of World History. Even he admitted later in life that his book was a load of bunk, yet there are still so many in the church that look at his idiotic nonsense as gospel truth. Sadly, the PCG carries on that tradition of junk science and junk Biblical interpretation.
One particular species, whose remains are common throughout this area (and is also notable from other Middle Eastern sites), stands out: Basilosaurus, a creature whose scientific name means “King Lizard.”
Could this be the creature described by the Bible?
One peculiar scripture in the Psalms illustrates not only the beast but also a Wadi Al-Hitan-type setting. “Thou didst crush the heads of Leviathan, thou didst give him as food for the creatures of the wilderness” (Psalm 74:14; Revised Standard Version). Perhaps this psalm was written by an author who had seen such a startling sight as the image to the right: The “crushed,” once-fearsome skull of a sea creature now strewn out in the wilderness.
Eames go on with this:
The original meaning of the Hebrew word leviathan denotes something “wreathed, twisted in folds” (Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon)—again, of a serpentine nature. Yet the biblical leviathan was not merely a serpent. Job 41:12 describes limbs and “comely proportion”—something that would match the limbed, yet extremely long and serpentine Basilosaurus. Verse 22 describes this creature having a powerful neck (snakes, squid and whales in general are not distinguished for their “necks”). Basilosaurus did have a sturdy neck.
Verse 14 mentions “terrible” teeth. Verse 20 describes nostrils, indicating an air-breathing creature: “Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or caldron.” This paints a picture matching that of a whale blowhole (something that Basilosaurus likewise had), blowing water like steam out of a “seething pot.” Verses 31-32 describe leviathan in a deep sea environment (as does Psalm 104:25-26), befitting this creature.
Eames goes on to believe it was actually a different kind of animal than the Basilosaurus. Of course, this leads us to the leviathan. Even more, this creature still may be alive...somewhere.
Still Alive?
It would appear that God would describe a creature to Job that he would be familiar with—one that he, as a leader in a “wilderness” territory, would have either seen or heard described. Such would be the case with the scattered, ancient remains of Basilosaurus around the Middle East, including Jordan, Pakistan, Egypt and particularly at Egypt’s Wadi Al-Hitan—a location that Job may well have been familiar with, given the textual setting around the time of the patriarchal migration to Egypt.
Likewise, some form of “leviathan myth” is known throughout the ancient Near East. Are they related to these gigantic remains? Ugaritic texts (from modern-day Syria and fitting roughly with the timeframe of Job) mention a serpentine monster called Lotan—a word directly connected to the Hebrew leviathan. Mesopotamian myths describe a parallel beast.
But like the coelacanth, who’s to say that a leviathan creature such as Basilosaurus is not still alive? Much remains unknown about what lurks in the ocean depths, and new creatures are being discovered yearly.
Various allegations of sea monsters have continued to the present day (the Loch Ness monster is probably the most famous). Over the centuries, various artistic depictions have attempted to represent alleged descriptions of beasts witnessed by sailors. Several depictions actually match Basilosaurus quite well. To the right is a depiction of the “Hans Egede sea serpent,” named after a missionary who reported the creature his ship encountered in 1734. It looks suspiciously familiar.
Then as proof of this still-living sea creature Eames includes this video in this article:
Eames then concludes with this about the leviathan with his belief that God picked the leviathan up out of the ocean and plopped it down in the desert of Egypt:
The Point of Leviathan
But why the biblical account of leviathan? Why is a full chapter of Job dedicated to this creature? Why is it described in several additional biblical passages?
The context of the book of Job is clear: God was teaching Job a lesson in humility. A mortal man is no match for the mighty leviathan, monster of monsters. He neither created it nor can stand before it. Yet the beast is as nothing before the mighty God who created it. God has the capability to handle this beast. And Psalms and Isaiah describe just that—God’s destruction of the beast, in a metaphor of crushing the head of the great sea serpent—matching the prophecy made to the serpent in the Garden of Eden, a symbol of Satan: “he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (Genesis 3:15; New International Version). God holds power over the physical sea serpent, just as He does over the spiritual serpent.
The lesson of behemoth and leviathan, then, is a humbling of self-righteousness and self-importance. If man is as nothing before these mere physical beasts, how much less so before God? God recorded the leviathan in Scripture for a reason. He wants us to realize just how insignificant we are apart from Him—and the power that we have, with Him.
No mortal man would stand a chance against a 20-meter Basilosaurus. Yet God is capable of plucking it from the water and leaving its bones scattered across the desert.
Where would the church be without all of these endless streams of fools speculating about all kinds of things they have no business even saying anything about? From self-appointed false prophets to false church historians the COG has been filled with an endless stream of deceitful men masquerading as agents of truth.
While it may be fun to speculate about these things it is not the job of church leaders to be running off at the mouth about such things. None of them have any education to back up their theories. Leave it to real paleontologists, historians, and real theologians.
