A Cosmic Vampire: The Origins of Sin

The Reign of Sin, Part 3

I have few vivid memories from my childhood, but there is one in particular that I often think about.

My family consists of four siblings: three girls and one boy. Yeah, do the math on that.

The oldest of my sisters is eight years older than me—so when I was five, she was thirteen. This thirteen-year-old sister of mine somehow got her hands on a VHS of a movie about Dracula. Naturally, she hid it from my parents and had me watch it with her.

It was my first introduction to monsters.

I didn’t make it long into the movie before I couldn’t take it anymore. I was scarred. SCARRED. For years, I would lie in my bed at night wondering where the vampire was hiding in my room—in the closet? Under the bed? Standing in the shadows of the doorway?

I vividly remember thinking: “I WISH SHE NEVER SHOWED ME THAT MOVIE.”

Despite the fear, monsters have become a mainstay in human psychology. Humanity’s fascination with monsters is very real.

Cosmic Monsters

This may come as a surprise—or maybe not—but did you know the Bible has monsters in it? It’s true. Some are obvious, and some are not as obvious.

Here is a list of some of the obvious monsters in the Bible…

1. The Leviathan (see Job 41 / Isaiah 27) — A sea monster representing chaos, destruction, and evil.

2. The Behemoth (see Job 40) — A land monster representing chaos, destruction, and evil.

3. Rehab (see Isaiah 51 / Psalm 89) — Another sea monster representing chaos, destruction, and evil.

4. The Serpent (see Genesis 3) — A crafty creature perpetuating evil and disobedience.

5. The Dragon (see Ezekiel 29 / Psalm 74) is another sea monster representing chaos, destruction, and evil.

Do you see a theme here?

In the instances in which these monsters are mentioned in scripture, various authors intend to convey the idea that these forces of supernatural evil in the earth have set out to de-create God’s created order into chaos.

This is why they are often referred to as cosmic chaos monsters.

Interestingly enough, the tactic of utilizing chaos monster passages is used in scripture as well as other writings of the Ancient Near East—that is, the world of the Old Testament. Thus, biblical authors were speaking to audiences in a way they’d understand.

It's like helping modern-day people understand the nature of evil by using vampires as an illustration. You know, like I just did.

[[ For what it’s worth, if you get a chance, go check out the BibleProject’s content about chaos monsters in the Bible. They do an incredible job of laying out the use of these monsters in scripture. ]]

Sin as a Chaos Monster

Guess one of the not-as-obvious chaos monsters in scripture. Agh! I gave it away in the heading!

That’s right; sin is also represented as a chaos monster—if you have the eyes to see it.

[[ For what it’s worth, it is essential to note that I am not saying sin is a literal monster. I am saying that the authors utilized the illustration of chaos monsters to help readers understand the true nature of sin—and I think it is an understanding that is essential to our comprehension of sin in the modern world, too. ]]

In Hebrew, [one of] the word[s] translated as “sin” is chata, which means to “miss the mark.” Interestingly, while Adam and Eve’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden is indeed a sinful act, the Bible does not yet utilize the language.

The first time we see the word chata in scripture is in the story of Cain and Abel.

More Than Bad Behavior

As the story goes, Cain and Abel are making offerings to the Lord. Abel has a “better” offering than Cain, which makes Cain jealous. Cain is sparked to do something outside of God's values. He yearns for his brother’s death.

Now, if chata is limited to bad behavior (see the previous post), you’d expect God to say: “Hey, Cain! Stop! You are about to commit the sin of murder.” But that’s not what God says…

God actually says in Genesis 4:7 (ESV): “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”

Sin is crouching?

Sin… is… a… monster?

Standing at the threshold like the vampire I imagined at my door as a five-year-old?

Speaking of vampires…

The Door Demon

In transliterated Hebrew, the phrase “sin is crouching at the door” reads like this: chata robes. We know the chata part. We got that. But what is this robes word?

Believe it or not, robes is a borrowed word from a language older than Hebrew: Akkadian. Akkadian was a language used, in part, to convey ancient Mesopotamian myths.

Robes, then, comes from the Akkadian word Rabisu. Let me just rip the bandaid off on this one…

The Rabisu is an ancient Mesopotamian malevolent demon spirit that would wait on the other side of doorways to attack their victims. Their victims, however, rarely knew the attack was coming. The Rabisu would sneak up behind their prey, bite them in the neck, and inject its evil will into them—and the victim didn’t even know it.

Victims were now under the control of the will of spiritual evil. In this way, their eyes are no longer on God’s will but now on something else.

Oh, by the way, the Rabisu is one of the places from which the “vampire lore” comes. Full circle.

This concept parallels the biblical depiction of sin in Genesis 4, suggesting a deeper, more pervasive threat than mere “bad behavior.” In his work The Unseen Realm, Dr. Michael Heiser explains, “The biblical writers were well aware of these cultural concepts and used them to communicate profound spiritual truths. Sin, like the Rabisu, waits for an opportunity to dominate and destroy.”

[[ For what it’s worth, Dr. Heiser is with the Lord after a recent battle with cancer. He was a significant influence on me, and I thank God for him every day. ]]

The Emergence of Cosmic Sin

In this way, the author of Genesis 4 utilizes this illustration to help us better understand sin as a cosmic evil force that aims to de-create God’s created order. An effective way to understand sin is as it is a chaos monster.

Sin is not just an individual issue; it is an evil cosmic force that affects all creation. Ephesians 6:12 (ESV) captures this cosmic struggle: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” That makes a lot more sense now, huh?

Sin's ultimate goal is to separate humanity from God and to distort the goodness of creation. John 10:10 (ESV) explains this destructive aim: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” The thief, representing sin and spiritual evil, seeks to undermine God's purposes by bringing chaos and death.

But, the emergence of this cosmic problem is not the end-all-be-all.

Hopefully, That Made Sense

You should go back and read this post a few times. A lot is going on here. The time you put into this will help you understand sin and, thereby, be confident in the spiritual warfare waged against it—alongside the other elements of spiritual evil (see the previous post for more).

Hear me on this: you aren’t alone in the battle. The battle has been won. But what in the world does that mean?

Cosmic problems need cosmic solutions. In the next post, let’s discuss the cosmic solution: Jesus, our cosmic King.

Vampires stand no chance.

Until next time,

Petey