Raphael vs. Leviathan

Besides subduing the demon Asmodeus in the Book of Tobit, Raphael the Archangel is credited with the defeat of the powerful demon Leviathan. A long, long time ago, when Lucifer’s Great Rebellion erupted and the forces of Satan faced off against the army of Michael’s Heavenly Host, Leviathan was one of the devil’s earliest and staunchest supporters. This demon is one of the seven Crown Princes of hell and the gatekeeper of the abyss.

As punishment for his defiant disloyalty to God, Leviathan had his divine nature and beauty transformed into a huge, draconic, she-serpent of the sea. She has been depicted as a dragon who reigns over the realms of the deep in concert with her male counterpart on earth, the land dragon Behemoth. Leviathan is described by mystics, church historians, and theologians, St. Thomas Aquinas among them, as the demon of envy.

Leviathan’s heart weighs within her like a boulder of granite and the monster is impervious to the fiercest weapons known to man. Her underbelly is undaunted by the elements and any assault on it is futile. Since Leviathan had been blinded by pride in the angelic form, the only possible area of vulnerability is the eyes.

The thick oily water in which she lies is boiling. She arrogantly flaunts her aggressive power unflinchingly leaving darkness, death, and destruction in her wake. Leviathan’s rolling presence illuminates the water she inhabits and leaves the pollution and corruption of sin everywhere she moves.

The Destruction of Leviathan- Picture from The Holy Scriptures, Old and New Testaments books collection published in 1885, StuttgartGermany. Drawings by Gustave Dore. File Photo

God chose the archangel Raphael to do battle with this humongous maritime beast. Raphael is the patron saint of travel and healing. He is not primarily a warrior. However, as all faithful angels, he comes to do God’s will and so will confront this beast trying to make the bloody battle before him as short and expeditious as possible. Leviathan is just the opposite and wants to savor the experience. In her exalted pride she deludes herself into believing it is she who is summoning the archangel into battle. At the sight of Raphael, she hurls herself in and out of the water creating tidal waves, typhoons, and underwater quakes. Roaring in deafening decibels she spews torrents of dense black smoke from her ashen nostrils and flaming projectiles of blue fire through her bloody spiked teeth.

Raphael cocks his right arm and throws his spear which finds its mark directly into the left eye of the beast. Raphael rushes her and pushes his weapon deeper into the cornea. He gives it a quarter twist and with a surge of angelic strength wrests a massive bloody eyeball from its socket. Black ooze erupts into the ionosphere as Leviathan pounds her long-contorted torso against the waves. She whimpers, becomes limp, and slides down into the water causing the surrounding areas to turn crimson.

It is recorded in the Book of Job that after God shattered the head of Leviathan into small pieces, Raphael salts the carcass and gives it to the saved people for sustenance in the wilderness.