BibleProject

The biblical theme of the dragon is a way to think of a personal foe, the Satan, and an impersonal force—the relentless power that exerts itself over humanity and all of creation. In this episode, Tim and Jon look at how the Apostle Paul talked about death and disorder almost as if they were dragons, starting with Paul's letters to the Romans and the Corinthians.

View more resources on our website →

Timestamps 

• Part one (00:00-10:26)
• Part two (10:26-26:42)
• Part three (26:42-44:46)
• Part four (44:46-55:49)

Referenced Resources

• Paul at the Ball: Ecclesia Victor and The Cosmic Defeat of Personified Evil in Romans 16:20, Michael J. Thate
• What's Our Problem?: A Self-Help Book for Societies, Tim Urban
• Interested in more? Check out Tim’s library here.
• You can experience our entire library of resources in the BibleProject app, available for Android and iOS.

Show Music 

• “Defender (Instrumental)” by TENTS
• Additional sound design by Tyler Bailey, Dan Gummel, and Matthew Halbert-Howen

Show produced by Cooper Peltz with Associate Producer Lindsey Ponder, Lead Editor Dan Gummel, and Editors Tyler Bailey and Frank Garza. Mixed by Tyler Bailey. Podcast annotations for the BibleProject app by Hannah Woo.

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The theme of the chaos dragon runs all through the story of the Bible—along with the biblical authors’ expectation of a coming king who will one day slay the dragon for good. That dragon-slaying king is Jesus, but the way he defeats the dragon is not what anyone expected. In this episode, Tim and Jon explore what it means to truly gain victory over the dragon.

View more resources on our website →

Timestamps 

• Part one (00:00-8:53)
• Part two (8:53-22:31)
• Part three (22:31-36:21)
• Part four (36:21-44:24)
• Part five (44:24-51:46)

Referenced Resources

• Interested in more? Check out Tim’s library here.
• You can experience our entire library of resources in the BibleProject app, available for Android and iOS.

Show Music 

• “Defender (Instrumental)” by TENTS
• All music breaks by Tyler Bailey

Show produced by Cooper Peltz with Associate Producer Lindsey Ponder, Lead Editor Dan Gummel, and Editors Tyler Bailey and Frank Garza. Mixed by Tyler Bailey. Podcast annotations for the BibleProject app by Hannah Woo.

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Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As we’ve traced the theme of the chaos dragon in the Bible, we’ve come to expect what the biblical authors expect: a dragon-slaying king to come. When the gospel authors introduce us to Jesus, they’re quick to show that Jesus is human, yet he wields power beyond what other humans possess. He triumphs over snake-like adversaries in the wilderness, subdues chaos waters with a word, and even has power over spiritual beings. In fact, Jesus does all the same things God himself does. In this episode, join Jon and Tim as they explore what it means for Jesus to be God’s anointed dragon-slaying king.

View more resources on our website →

Timestamps 

• Part one (00:00-14:29)
• Part two (14:29-21:51)
• Part three (21:51-32:48)
• Part four (32:48-46:44)

Referenced Resources

• Liddell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon, Henry George Liddell and Robert Scott
• Interested in more? Check out Tim’s library here.
• You can experience our entire library of resources in the BibleProject app, available for Android and iOS.

Show Music 

• “Defender (Instrumental)” by TENTS
• All music breaks by Patrick Murphy

Show produced by Cooper Peltz with Associate Producer Lindsey Ponder, Lead Editor Dan Gummel, and Editors Tyler Bailey and Frank Garza. Mixed by Tyler Bailey. Podcast annotations for the BibleProject app by Hannah Woo.

Powered and distributed by Simplecast.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Daniel 7 describes an incredible, apocalyptic dream had by the prophet Daniel where he sees four chaos monsters oppressing the people of God. Just like the other dragon stories we've encountered in the Bible, Yahweh shows up in Daniel's vision as the ultimate dragon slayer—only this time, he's not alone. There's another human-like figure who comes riding in on the clouds to fight the dragon. In this episode, Jon and Tim explore the theme of the dragon in the scroll of Daniel.

View more resources on our website →

Timestamps 

• Part one (00:00-12:24)
• Part two (12:24-19:21)
• Part three (19:21-25:57)
• Part four (25:57-38:29)
• Part five (38:29-49:05)

Referenced Resources

• Interested in more? Check out Tim’s library here.
• You can experience our entire library of resources in the BibleProject app, available for Android and iOS.

Show Music 

• “Defender (Instrumental)” by TENTS
• All music breaks from “Leche Demos” by Matthew Halbert-Howen

Show produced by Cooper Peltz with Associate Producer Lindsey Ponder, Lead Editor Dan Gummel, and Editors Tyler Bailey and Frank Garza. Mixed by Tyler Bailey. Podcast annotations for the BibleProject app by Hannah Woo.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the story of the Bible, the dragon is a recurring symbol of chaos, death, and destruction. The good news is, Yahweh is the dragon slayer, and he gives humans power over the dragon too. But in the Bible—and in our own lives—we can encounter stories like Job’s. The scroll of Job explores what happens when a righteous person, someone who should be experiencing God's Eden blessing, gets their life co-opted by the dragon instead. In this episode, join Tim and Jon as they explore the story of Job.

View more resources on our website →

Timestamps 

• Part one (00:00-14:13)
• Part two (14:13-20:05)
• Part three (20:05-29:56)
• Part four (29:56-37:55)
• Part five (37:55-46:28)
• Part six (46:28-59:31)

Referenced Resources

• Piercing Leviathan: God's Defeat of Evil in the Book of Job (New Studies in Biblical Theology, Volume 56), Eric Ortlund
• Playing With Dragons: Living With Suffering and God, Andrew R. Angel
• Interested in more? Check out Tim’s library here.
• You can experience our entire library of resources in the BibleProject app, available for Android and iOS.

Show Music 

• “Defender (Instrumental)” by TENTS
• Additional sound design by the BibleProject team

Show produced by Cooper Peltz with Associate Producer Lindsey Ponder, Lead Editor Dan Gummel, and Editors Tyler Bailey and Frank Garza. Mixed by Tyler Bailey. Transcript edited by Grace Vang. Podcast annotations for the BibleProject app by Hannah Woo.

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While the chaos dragon is not God’s rival--it’s the rival of creation--it is God’s enemy. The Psalms sometimes portray creation as the ordered result of Yahweh’s battle with the dragon, to bring order out of chaos. In this episode, Tim and Jon discuss two psalms that look back to the cosmic battle at the beginning of creation and also look ahead to a day when Yahweh will give his own dragon-slaying power to a human image of God.

View more resources on our website →

Timestamps 

• Part one (00:00-8:07)
• Part two (8:07-23:23)
• Part three (23:23-36:12)
• Part four (36:12-48:27)

Referenced Resources

• Interested in more? Check out Tim’s library here.
• You can experience our entire library of resources in the BibleProject app, available for Android and iOS.

Show Music

• “Defender (Instrumental)” by TENTS
• All music from Leche Demos by Matthew Halbert-Howen

Show produced by Cooper Peltz with Associate Producer Lindsey Ponder, Lead Editor Dan Gummel, and Editors Tyler Bailey and Frank Garza. Mixed by Tyler Bailey. Podcast annotations for the BibleProject app by Hannah Woo.

Powered and distributed by Simplecast.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Did God create disorder and chaos? What does it actually mean to be evil? And how do you tell your kids that in the Bible dragons are actually the “bad guys”? In this episode, Tim and Jon respond to your questions from the first half of the Chaos Dragon series. Thank you to our audience for your incredible questions!

View more resources on our website →

Timestamps 

• Did God Create Disorder? (2:29)
• What is God’s Relationship to the Darkness? (15:05)
• What Does it Mean to be Evil? (21:41)
• Does God Use the Dragon for His Own Purposes? (33:49)
• Does the Dragon Theme Give People a Way to Justify Violence? (47:49)
• How Do You Tell Your Kids Dragons Are the “Bad Guys”? (52:57)

Referenced Resources

• Interested in more? Check out Tim’s library here.
• You can experience our entire library of resources in the BibleProject app, available for Android and iOS.

Show Music 

• “Defender (Instrumental)” by TENTS

Show produced by Cooper Peltz with Associate Producer Lindsey Ponder, Lead Editor Dan Gummel, and Editors Tyler Bailey and Frank Garza. Mixed by Tyler Bailey. Podcast annotations for the BibleProject app by Hannah Woo. Audience questions compiled by Christopher Maier.

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Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The theme of the chaos dragon raises some challenging questions. For instance, if God created a perfect world and humans messed it up, why did the dragon and the chaos waters exist at the beginning of the universe? Why would God allow the potential for chaos at all? In this episode, Tim and Jon discuss God’s goodness and the existence of evil, through the lens of the chaos dragon theme.

View more resources on our website →

Timestamps 

• Part one (00:00-13:33)
• Part two (13:33-30:44)
• Part three (30:44-47:06)
• Part four (47:06-1:01:03)

Referenced Resources

• Interested in more? Check out Tim’s library here.
• You can experience our entire library of resources in the BibleProject app, available for Android and iOS.

Show Music 

• “Defender (Instrumental)” by TENTS
• All music breaks by Patrick Murphy

Show produced by Cooper Peltz with Associate Producer Lindsey Ponder, Lead Editor Dan Gummel, and Editors Tyler Bailey and Frank Garza. Mixed by Tyler Bailey. Transcript edited by Grace Vang. Podcast annotations for the BibleProject app by Hannah Woo.

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Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The story of Jonah employs all the major motifs of the theme of the chaos dragon: chaotic waters, a servant of God who rebels against him, and a great sea monster. But the story doesn't call it a sea monster—the story calls it a great fish! Join Tim and Jon as they discuss Jonah, thrown into the deep abyss and swallowed up by death, and the reality that even the belly of the beast is no match for Yahweh.

View more resources on our website →

Timestamps 

• Part one (00:00-11:21)
• Part two (11:21-28:00)
• Part three (28:00-45:04)
• Part four (45:04-58:59)

Referenced Resources

• Jonah (Brazos Theological Commentary), Philip Cary
• Berit Olam: Twelve Prophets: Volume I: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Marvin A. Sweeney
• Liddell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon by Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott
• The Iliad, Homer
• Interested in more? Check out Tim’s library here.
• You can experience our entire library of resources in the BibleProject app, available for Android and iOS.

Show Music 

• “Defender (Instrumental)” by TENTS
• All music breaks are from “Lay Them Straight” by Everett Patterson with additional sound design by Tyler Bailey

Show produced by Cooper Peltz with Associate Producer Lindsey Ponder, Lead Editor Dan Gummel, and Editors Tyler Bailey and Frank Garza. Mixed by Tyler Bailey. Podcast annotations for the BibleProject app by Hannah Woo.

Powered and distributed by Simplecast.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

When Israel chooses to act like the chaos monster instead of living like the people of God, God brings judgment on them. How? He sends other bigger monsters after them, namely, Babylon and Egypt. In this episode, Tim and Jon discuss the scrolls of Jeremiah and Ezekiel and their focus on the dragon-like behavior of these three nations––as well as God’s promise to bring about justice for each and every dragon in the end.

View more resources on our website →

Timestamps 

• Part one (00:00-12:26)
• Part two (12:26-26:07)
• Part three (26:07-38:12)
• Part four (38:12-47:19)

Referenced Resources

• The Dragon, the Mountain, and the Nations: An Old Testament Myth, Its Origins, and Its Afterlives, Robert D. Miller II
• Interested in more? Check out Tim’s library here.
• You can experience our entire library of resources in the BibleProject app, available for Android and iOS.

Show Music 

• “Defender (Instrumental)” by TENTS
• All music breaks from Leche Demos by Matthew Halbert-Howen

Show produced by Cooper Peltz with Associate Producer Lindsey Ponder, Lead Editor Dan Gummel, and Editors Tyler Bailey and Frank Garza. Mixed by Tyler Bailey. Podcast annotations for the BibleProject app by Hannah Woo.

Powered and distributed by Simplecast.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.