A state of complete disorder or confusion. The first stage of creation where, having brought something out of nothing, God had not yet brought order to the universe. This primeval chaos, often symbolised by surging waters, threatens to disrupt God's order at any time. God sometimes allows a return to chaos as judgment.
God creates order out of chaos
God creates something out of nothing
Genesis 1:1–2 See also Psalm 33:9, Psalm 148:5–6; Romans 4:17; Hebrews 11:3
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
God brings order to his creation
Isaiah 45:12 See also Genesis 1:14–19; Job 9:8; Psalm 8:3; Isaiah 48:13
It is I who made the earth and created man upon it. It was My hands that stretched out the heavens, and I ordained all their host.
Chaos threatens God's order
Life and order in creation must be sustained by God
Psalm 104:29; Colossians 1:16–17 See also Job 12:10, Job 34:14–15; Isaiah 42:5; Hebrews 1:2–3
When You hide Your face, they are terrified; when You take away their breath, they die and return to dust.
For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
The raging sea as a symbol of chaos
Psalm 46:2–3 The raging sea is a frequent symbol of the chaos from which the world was created and to which it could return. Yet those whose confidence is in the God who brought order out of chaos have nothing to fear; Psalm 104:7–9 See also Exodus 15:8; Psalm 69:2, Psalm 69:15, Psalm 77:16; Proverbs 8:29; Zechariah 10:11; Matthew 8:23–27 parallels Mark 4:36–41, Luke 8:22–25
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth is transformed and the mountains are toppled into the depths of the seas, though their waters roar and foam and the mountains quake in the surge. Selah
At Your rebuke the waters fled; at the sound of Your thunder they hurried away — the mountains rose and the valleys sank to the place You assigned for them — You set a boundary they cannot cross, that they may never again cover the earth.
Threatening nations are likened to the raging seas as bringers of chaos
Isaiah 17:12–13 See also Psalm 46:6; Jeremiah 46:7
Alas, the tumult of many peoples; they rage like the roaring seas and clamoring nations; they rumble like the crashing of mighty waters. The nations rage like the rush of many waters. He rebukes them, and they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweeds before a gale.
Spiritual and political chaos
Judges 17:6 A period of anarchy, when no spiritual or political authority was recognised in Israel; Ephesians 4:14 See also Galatians 1:7
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming.
God uses chaos as a judgment
Isaiah 34:11 See also Isaiah 24:1, Isaiah 24:3–4, Isaiah 24:10–12, Isaiah 24:17–21, Isaiah 27:10, Isaiah 32:14; Zephaniah 1:14–15; Revelation 6:15–17
The desert owl and screech owl will possess it, and the great owl and raven will dwell in it. The LORD will stretch out over Edom a measuring line of chaos and a plumb line of destruction.
Floodwaters as a symbol of the chaos of judgment
Jonah 2:3 See also Genesis 6:17; Job 20:28, Job 22:16; Isaiah 8:7
For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the current swirled about me; all Your breakers and waves swept over me.
Panic and destruction characterise the chaos that follows judgment
Zechariah 14:13 See also Judges 7:22; 1 Samuel 14:20; 2 Chronicles 20:22–23; Isaiah 19:2; Ezekiel 38:21; Haggai 2:22
On that day a great panic from the LORD will come upon them, so that each will seize the hand of another, and the hand of one will rise against the other.
Related themes
Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Bible Aquifer. Formatted for this site, with Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.