The Leviathan and the Legion

Leviathan represents both the chaotic individualism of self-determination and the unity found in a common enemy since he and all associated with him are at war with God. There is abundant Biblical evidence for the idea that a single entity can represent many spirits. To explore this phenomenon, we’ll look at some examples, starting with perhaps the most striking instance - the exorcism of Legion. As we study this narrative, we will see some parallels with the entity of Leviathan:
Mark 5:1-13 “And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.”
Some observations here: Firstly, the initial language used is singular. Mark presents one man and one unclean spirit (Matthew has two men, so apparently there was more than one man, but both Mark and Luke refer only to the one that spoke to Jesus).
Then we note the shift in reference from the singular to the plural, which begins at the point where Jesus speaks to the unclean spirit. Jesus refers to the spirit as singular, and the reply comes back in the plural. After Jesus has dealt with the unclean spirit, the entities separate, leaving the man and finding embodiment in about two thousand separate beasts.
The name “Legion” is important. Everyone knows the term “legion” refers to a large group of Roman soldiers. We usually just consider the name in terms of quantity, because we know that there were many spirits within this man. But why use a military term? Why not some other word that implies a large group or gathering? It is because the military aspect is important. A legion is comprised of soldiers. Soldiers are a hostile force of strong men, mighty warriors. In Hebrew, they would be “gibborim.” In Canaanite tradition, another term might have been more appropriate. The spiritual warriors were the Rephaim.
The idea of chains being unable to restrain the man is an interesting one. While Peter and Jude drew on 1 Enoch’s text to present the fallen angels in chains, none of these authors present the unclean spirits as restrained at all. However, Jesus mastered them by His authority.
The power of Yahweh is what scattered the entities, just as at Babel Yahweh dispersed the people under the dominion of separate “sons of God,” and also as Leviathan was defeated (but not yet utterly destroyed). Note the plurality in use:
Job 26:12 “He divideth the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud [Rahab, or Leviathan].”
Psalm 74:13-15 “Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters. Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness [Amorites]. Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers.”
Isaiah 51:9 “Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?”
Ezekiel 29:4-5 “But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales. And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields; thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven.”
The location of this encounter with the demoniac is significant. The region of the Gadarenes was outside the border of Judah, on the other side of the Sea of Galilee, in Dan’s tribal allotment. That area is old Bashan, the ancient land of the Rephaim. Note also that the demons, having been permitted to enter the pigs (unclean beasts), rushed immediately down a steep decline into the sea. The sea is the cosmological (not literal) home of Leviathan, and the descent of the swine indicates the idea of a fall. We are getting hints here from the author to connect this event with the Nephilim, the Rephaim and Leviathan.
Even the storm on the sea ties into this whole concept. The storm preceded the encounter with Legion. It was an attempt to kill the Messiah before he could displace the power of Leviathan in Bashan. Although Leviathan’s storm-bringing power was able to devastate Job’s family by killing all of Job’s offspring, it was futile against the pre-eminent Son of God.
Jesus simply rebuked the wind and sea. The Hebrew term for “tempest” is related to the term for “multitude.” The “sea” as we know is connected to the personified force of chaos. Both terms describe perfectly the nature of Leviathan and the situation of the man demonized. This perfectly matches the prophecy of the psalmist:
Psalm 89:9-10 “Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them. Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm.”
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- Excerpt from “Answers to Giant Questions,” by TJ Steadman.