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Isa 27:1-6 The Lord Shall Slay The Dragon in The Sea

Isa 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.
Isa 27:2  In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine.
Isa 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.
Isa 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.
Isa 27:5  Or let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me.
Isa 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.

The good news of our study today is that leviathan will be punished, that piercing serpent, that crooked serpent, which is in this age "in the sea", in the flesh of every man, shall be slain, and the Lord's elect, His elect 'Jacob', His elect 'Israel', will be kept from harm, and will be "water[ed] every moment... night and day", by the Lord. The Lord's elect will "take root... blossom and bloom and fill the... world with fruit".

That is the good news which will come forth out of all the Lord is doing, but there is a "sore and great and strong sword"  involved in bringing all of this to pass. There are "briers and thorns" to be "burn[ed]... together" before we are dragged to "take hold of [His] strength" and "make peace" with [Him].

Our first verse has a very end-time tone in its words:

Isa 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.

If we forget that these are the Lord's own inspired words, we might very well think, as some commentators do, that this is a prophecy which refers only to that climactic destruction of the adversary. However, we know that while these words do indeed include that period of time, they also had an application for Isaiah's time, as well as applying to every generation since Christ's physical life on earth. They will continue to be applicable in every future generation of mankind because Christ said:

Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

So these words are, were and will be full of instruction for each of us in every generation, including "this generation" in which we live and which is reading these words.

We will get nothing edifying out of this verse of scripture if we miss the significance of the words 'leviathan' and the words 'in the sea'. To whom does 'leviathan' refer, and why are we told that he is "the dragon that is in the sea"?

The Hebrew word translated 'leviathan' is:

H3882
לויתן
livyâthân
Total KJV Occurrences: 6
leviathan, 5
Job_41:1, Psa_74:14, Psa_104:26, Isa_27:1 (2)
mourning, 1
Job_3:8

Notice this Hebrew word appears six times in the Old Testament, and the King James translates H3882 as 'leviathan' five times. Here are those five entries:

Job 41:1  Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?

Psa 74:14  Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

Psa 104:26  There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein.

Isa 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.

Later in Job 41 we are told this of leviathan:

Job 41:31  He maketh the deep to boil like a pot: he maketh the sea like a pot of ointment.

This is the verse preceding Psalms 74:14, which was noted above:

Psa 74:13  Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.

The only place this Hebrew word is not manifestly connected with 'the sea' is in Job 3:8 where the King James inexplicably translates H3882 livyâthân as 'mourning':

Job 3:8  Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning.

This is the chapter where, because of the misery which the Lord has placed upon Job for condemning God and for Job's self-righteousness, Job curses the day of his birth. "Who are ready to raise up their mourning" is a terrible translation of what Job is saying here. The Hebrew word translated as 'mourning' is the word 'livyathan'. Many other translations catch this mistake and translate this verse more correctly:

Job 3:8  Let them curse it who curse the day, who are ready to rouse up leviathan. (ACV)

The ESV, the ASV, Bullinger, Darby, Concordant Literal, and many other versions, all translate this as "let them curse [the day of Job's birth] who are ready to rouse up leviathan"; meaning Job would rather deal with the Devil himself than to deal with his own pain and misery. He wants to die, but 'death flees from him'. (Rev 9:6)

Verse one states clearly that 'leviathan' is both "the crooked serpent" and "the dragon" who dwells "in the sea" (Isa 27:1). Leviathan is our worst enemy, and it is foolish to "rouse [him] up". Rousing up leviathan is the same as having the Lord harden our hearts (Rom 9:18) or being "delivered unto Satan for the destruction of our flesh" (1Co 5:5).

One last verse which ties leviathan, the dragon and the serpent together is:

Rev 12:9  And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

There it is. "Leviathan" is the great dragon, the serpent, the Devil and Satan. They are all one and the same adversary of Christ and the adversary of His body, the church, which in her backslid state is also called "the woman" here in Revelation 12:

Rev 12:13  And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.

This 'woman' is identified in her repentant positive state by the pronoun 'her', which we will soon see in our next verse, verse 2 of this 27th chapter of Isaiah.

But let's move on to discover the significance of leviathan dwelling "in the sea". If we are being told, "In that day the Lord with His sore and great and strong sword... will slay the dragon that is in the sea" what exactly are we being told?

We know "His... sword" is His Word with which He does everything He does, including healing His people:

Psa 107:19  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:20  He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

It is through "His Word" that we will discover the spiritual meaning of "the sea". Once we see clearly the Biblical meaning of "the sea", then we will know what the Lord means by, "[Christ] shall slay the dragon that is in the sea."

To understand what we are being told, let's go back to:

Psa 74:13  Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.
Psa 74:14  Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

The "break[ing] of the heads of the dragon... leviathan [is] meat to the people", just as the enemies of Israel were "bread for [them]":

Num 14:9  Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.

Now let's notice where the beast within us all originates:

Rev 13:1  And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

In scriptural terms our beast "rises up out of the sea". Knowing the beast within us is "out of the sea", this statement by Christ should take on far more significance:

Mar 1:16  Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
Mar 1:17  And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.
Mar 1:18  And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him.

The next two verses tell us Christ went a little farther down the shore of the sea of Galilee, where he also called two more fishermen, James and John the sons of Zebedee:

Mar 1:19  And when he had gone a little further thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets.
Mar 1:20  And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him.

Christ was not taking them away from working in the 'sea'. He was simply giving them a new kind of 'fish' to catch and a different 'sea' on which to carry out their profession.

The beast of Revelation 13 symbolically rises "out of the sea" because "the sea" symbolizes the flesh of "the first man Adam" out of which all men rise.

So when we are told:

Psa 74:13  Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.
Psa 74:14  Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

We now know that "the dragon and leviathan" are one and the same, as "that old serpent, the Devil, and Satan", whose doctrines and whose carnal-minded way of life enslaves us from birth. Those "doctrines of devils" are now being broken and destroyed within us by the fiery, truthful words and doctrines of Christ within us, and it is now His fiery words which are proceeding from our hearts and out of our mouths:

Pro 18:4  The words of a man's mouth are as deep waters, and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook.

Ecc 10:12  The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.

Mat 15:18  But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
Mat 15:19  For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
Mat 15:20  These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

Rev 11:3  And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
Rev 11:4  These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
Rev 11:5  And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

Here is a link for the spiritual significance of the number two.

Our own words will judge us. If they are Christ's words of wisdom, they will bring us life, and if they are the words of the naturally rebellious carnal mind, they will bring us death.

Job 15:6  Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee.

We really need to have merciful doctrines and speak words of wisdom and mercy because the Lord will answer us according to the idols of our hearts, and if those idols include an unmerciful God, then that is how He will show Himself to us:

2Sa 22:27  With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself unsavoury

Psa 18:26  With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.

Luk 19:22  And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow:

Consequently "the lake of fire" is called a 'lake', a small body of water, as opposed to a large vast 'sea', simply because that 'lake' is made up of  the "few chosen", in whose hearts and mouths are His fiery words of Truth, as opposed to the "many called", who will be cast into that fiery 'lake' to be judged and to "learn righteousness", as we are instructed in the previous chapter of this prophecy:

Isa 26:8  Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
Isa 26:9  With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

There it is plain and simple; the great white throne "judgment" is the "chastening of the Lord [for all] the [resurrected] dead, small and great":

Rev 20:11  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

The word of God is the "fire" spoken of here and throughout scripture as that which purifies:

Psa 12:6  The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

Psa 119:140 Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.

Pro 30:5  Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.

Jer 5:14  Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

Jer 20:9  Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.

Jer 23:29  Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?

Knowing this, we are now made aware of who it is who has the Lord's fiery words "in [their] mouths" and who it is who "dwells with the devouring fire" of their mouths:

Isa 33:14  The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
Isa 33:15  He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;

The "fire" here is not of the Devil. The "everlasting burnings" are the pure words of our Lord as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times".

"Speaking uprightly" is the "fire" of "the lake of fire", which comes forth "from the heart... out of the mouths" of all who are, in this age, witnesses of the Truth which is all those spiritually flaming fiery words of the Lord:

Mat 3:11  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:

The 'spirit' and the 'fire' are both the words of Christ:

Luk 12:49  I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

Rev 11:3  And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
Rev 11:4  These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
Rev 11:5  And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

So now we know the meaning of 'leviathan', and we know why we are told, "He shall slay the dragon that is in the sea."

Isa 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.

Our next verse repeats the phrase, "In that day."

Isa 27:2  In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine.

"That day" is the day of the judgment of the kingdom of our old man. It is "in that day" we are instructed to "sing unto her", because it is through judgment that the Lord's bride "learns righteousness" (Isa 26:9).

The pronoun 'her' in this verse refers to "Jerusalem above, the mother of us all" of Galatians 4:

Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Gal 4:27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.

"Sing to her" refers specifically to the symbolic "woman with child" of the previous chapter, who also laments her own barren condition:

Isa 26:16  LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.
Isa 26:17  Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD.
Isa 26:18  We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.
Isa 26:19  Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
Isa 26:20  Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.

Both of these women are the same woman, who has no carnal children in Babylon, but this woman brings forth children from among the dead. I repeat:

Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Gal 4:27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.

Christ and His Christ come out of "the bondwoman" of Revelation 12:

Rev 12:1  And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
Rev 12:2  And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
Rev 12:3  And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
Rev 12:4  And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
Rev 12:5  And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

It was "the church in the wilderness" which brought forth Christ. Like the church in the wilderness, this woman in Revelation 12 is also "in... the wilderness", and just like ancient Israel, she, too, has a place prepared by God where He pours out His indignation, until it is overpast.

Act 7:38  This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

What makes all of this impossible for the natural man to understand is that when we "come out of her" (Rev 18:4), when we come "out of... Babylon", we become the "manchild" who is "caught up to God and to his throne" where we are "seated with [Christ]" in the heavens, and there we become Jerusalem above "which is the mother of...all" those who follow Christ and do the things He says:

Mat 12:46  While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.
Mat 12:47  Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.
Mat 12:48  But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?
Mat 12:49  And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
Mat 12:50  For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Gal 4:27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.

Eph 2:6  So that we came back from death with him, and are seated with him in the heavens, in Christ Jesus; (BBE)

Now that we are "in Christ" we can say with Christ that we are in the heavens even as we are yet on this earth, as He told Nicodemas:

Joh 3:13  And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

I have heard the question before, "How can you say we are the manchild of Revelation 12 and at the same time say we are the "her" of Isaiah 27:2?" The answer is that it is as simple as being a "son of God" and at the same time being "a chaste virgin... presented to one husband".

Joh 1:12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Rom 8:14  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

But Christ is our head, and therefore we can also become His "virgin... bride", even as we are also "the sons of God":

Isa 62:5  For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.

2Co 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

Rev 21:2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

In this 27th chapter of Isaiah we are depicted as this "chaste virgin", this "bride", and we are here told:

Isa 27:2  In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine.

Our "husband", Christ, tells us this of His care for us, even as we are being judged "in that day":

Isa 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.

Elsewhere we are also given this same assurance of our husband's protection:

Zec 2:8  For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.

The word has gone out:

Psa 105:14  He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes;
Psa 105:15  Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.

It really is hard for us to "kick against the pricks" as Saul of Tarsus discovered on the road to Damascus, where he was in the process of touching the Lord's anointed, and touching the apple of the Lord's eye.

Act 9:1  And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
Act 9:2  And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.
Act 9:3  And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
Act 9:4  And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
Act 9:5  And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

This is what began to happen to Saul of Tarsus at that very moment:

Isa 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.
Isa 27:5  Or let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me.

All of "the briers and thorns" in the heavens of Saul of Tarsus began to be burned out of him at that moment, just as they are being burned out of us here and now.  As the fiery words of Christ begin doing their work in our lives, we can rest in the Lord's peace which He imparts to all who are His, because He is with us and in us, and He is "the root of Jesse" in whom we are grounded:

Isa 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.

If we are faithful with what the Lord has given us, then we will partake of all the fruits of being "in Him", and He will keep us as His special "jewels".

Mal 3:16  Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.
Mal 3:17  And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
Mal 3:18  Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

In this sixth verse of our study today, Jacob symbolizes the Lord's espoused virgin bride, out of whom He has burned up all the briars and thorns and has brought her to want peace with Him, as any good wife would want peace with her loving and faithful husband. He has destroyed leviathan, "that old serpent the Devil, and Satan" for our sakes, because we are His faithful and fruitful vineyard for whom He will do battle and will overcome all enemies:

Php 4:13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

In our next study we will return to the judgments of the doomed kingdom of our old man, and we will learn how "the iniquity of Jacob [is being] purged":

Isa 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?
Isa 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.
Isa 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.
Isa 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.
Isa 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.
Isa 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.
Isa 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.