Under the lotus plants it lies, hidden among the reeds in the marsh. – Job 40:21

Today's Scripture Reading (September 19, 2024): Job 40

So, how do you feel about dragons? I admit that they are part of a fantasy world that I rarely enter. I have always believed that dragons are part of a fictional world that never really existed. However, they can also symbolize the insurmountable problems we sometimes have to face in this life. Recently, I was listening to an older podcast of "The Rest is History" with historians Tom Holland, who dislikes the other Tom Holland (yeah, him), and Dominic Sandbrook, who dislikes, if you really want to know, the poetry of John Lennon. In this podcast, this pair of historians spent some time on the possible historicity of dragons.

The historians talked about dragons in the literature of J. R. R. Tolkien, the author of the "Lord of the Rings," and in George R. R. Martin's, "Game of Thrones." (I just noticed that both men use R. R. as part of their initials. Is there any significance here? Let's start a conspiracy theory.) I have read several books from both of these authors. However, the existence of dragons in literature goes back to ancient days, and they can even be found in the Bible. These historians make the point that the idea of a dragon had to come from somewhere. Most concepts in fiction find their roots somewhere in history. So, Holland and Sandbrook openly wonder about the Leviathan of the Bible; is it possible that they were somewhat dragon-like? As they discussed this possibility, my mind went to the Nephilim in Genesis 6. These were beings of great strength and stature. Could it be that Genesis 6 was describing dragons? And what about the Behemoth? Is there a possibility that we are dealing with a water dragon? I must admit that there is something intriguing about the Behemoth being a dragon rather than just assuming that this mysterious animal is a hippopotamus or a rhinoceros.

But whatever this animal was, it was an animal of significant size that could hide among the lotus plants. At first, as I read this verse, I wondered how something as big as a behemoth could hide among something as insignificant as the lotus plant. But a lotus plant does not grow alone. A lotus plant is planted at the bottom of a water source and stretches up to the lake's surface. Its leaves float on the water, and the flower reaches just above the leaves. But the effect of the leaves is that it casts a shadow below the surface of the water. As a result, fantastic beasts like a hippopotamus, rhinoceros, or even, dare I say, a dragon can hide beneath the lotus leaves, and the watcher on shore doesn't even know that the beast is there.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Job 41