In order for this article to make sense, please read “TWO Creation Stories in Genesis 1-3!,” “The Constellations in the Scriptures,” and “The Divine Council – the Gods of the Nations” first.
The parallels between the two creation stories in Genesis 1-3 are sometimes obscure, and one of the more obscure ones is the parallel with the serpent. What do the “great sea creatures” that God creates on the fifth day, have to do with the serpent? Why are they important?
It’s important to understand that a lot of the symbolism in Genesis 1-3 is actually cosmological. As we’ve seen, the Garden of Eden has a heavenly counterpart – the Pegasus Square constellation. Word-puns on the Pegasus Square, describe a serpent in the Garden.
What about the “great sea creatures”? Do they have a heavenly counterpart?
It actually turns out that they do. The ancients depicted many of the constellations south of the celestial equator with watery themes. For instance, Capricornus, the horned goat. Cetus, the whale. Hydra, the water-snake with seven heads.
Furthermore, they often associated specific constellations with specific nations. Cetus, for instance, represented the nation of Assyria (specifically in the time of the prophet Jonah, that is; it had a different association before Assyria expanded its influence). We can recognize Capricornus from Daniel’s description of a horned goat in Dan. 8:5 – it represents Greece (specifically eastern Greece, or modern Turkey).
Egypt was yet another nation associated with a watery constellation. Flip over to Ezekiel 32 and read verse 2:
“Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him: ‘You are like a young lion among the nations, and you are like a monster in the seas, bursting forth in your rivers, troubling the waters with your feet, and fouling their rivers.'”
Note that there are two different constellations being referred to, here. The “young lion” is the constellation of Leo, while the “monster (Heb. tannin) in the seas” is the constellation Piscis Austrinus, or the Southern Fish, positioned right below Aquarius, the water-bearer, in the sky. That’s because Egypt itself was a combination of two different lands – Lower Egypt, the northern part containing the Nile delta, and Upper Egypt, the southern part positioned towards the Nile headwaters.
In fact, several of the nations of the Middle East are laid out in reverse order, in the heavens. From right to left we have Capricornus with Delphinus above it, Pistis Austrinus, Cetus, Pisces, and Eridanus, representing Eastern and Western Greece, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, and the Indus Valley, respectively. These are some of the ones that Genesis 1:21 refers to as the “great sea creatures.” (We’ll cover the rest in the future.)
If you’re at all familiar with the imagery in Revelation of the “beast that rises out of the sea” which has seven heads and ten horns, then labeling Hydra as the water-snake with seven heads, probably jumped out at you. This is the constellation that represents Revelation’s “beast that rises out of the sea.” The “beast that rises out of the earth” is none other than Draco the serpent – which happens to be in the northern celestial hemisphere, above the celestial equator.
Let’s look at some of the nations that are mentioned in Genesis 2:10-14, relating to the four rivers going out from the land of Eden:
- Pishon – Havilah (Arabia)
- Gihon – Kush (south of Egypt)
- Tigris – Assyria
The nation associated with the fourth river – the river Euphrates- isn’t named, but anciently it would have been Sumer – and later, Babylon. This is the nation associated with the serpent. (Yes, Babylon is associated with both Pisces, a watery constellation below the celestial equator, as well as Draco, a constellation above the celestial equator.)
So, what we have in Genesis 1-3 are multiple nations (beasts) rising out of the sea, and one, singular nation – the nation of the serpent – rising out of the earth. In Revelation 13, we narrow down on one singular beast (nation) rising out of the sea, and one, singular nation rising out of the earth.
Now, you may say that the serpent in Eden is obviously Satan. You would be right…but let me explain WHY you’re right. As you may recall from the article, “The Divine Council – the Gods of the Nations“, the “sons of God” can refer to both human beings as well as divine beings. In the case of the serpent in Eden, it’s BOTH Satan – as the fallen son of God described in Isaiah 14:4 and 12, and Ezekiel 28:11-19 – as well as a specific nation.
References:
White, Gavin. Babylonian Star Lore