Table of contents

1. Introduction
2. Waters as both Spiritual and Physical
3. The Waters as a Reference to other gods
4. Waters and the New Testament
5. Practical Implications
6. Notes

Introduction

The ancient near-Eastern cultures in Biblical times had a massively different worldview than our modern, science-saturated culture. They did not express life experiences in the same terms as we did, and even the English translations of our Bible don’t fully express the full range of meaning of the biblical term “waters”. Ancient Hebrews didn’t possess any of the scientific knowledge we have today about the universe, but held a worldview that consisted of many different gods. Yahweh called out Abraham from such a culture. And if you study the ancient myths of non-Hebrew cultures of the same time period as the Hebrews, there is in fact a significant amount of overlap in Scripture of the same beliefs, practices, and even creation accounts of neighboring cultures.¹ One of those beliefs was in the chaotic waters that represented the battleground of “gods”. But in ancient Hebrew thought, Yahweh was the one who ruled over these waters.

Waters as both Spiritual and Physical

The beginning and end of Scripture references these “waters” (the beginning of Genesis, and the end of Revelation). It starts with God creating the heavens and the earth, and Scripture describes the state of the earth as “formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” (Gen. 1:2). This description would not have been understood in mere physical terms, but pregnant with spiritual significance to an ancient Hebrew. The picture described is not a neutral description, but describes the opposite of God (darkness) engulfing the whole earth, along with these waters. To us, we typically just think of the earth as being a big sea.

How can we know that this sea and waters could be something about spiritual darkness? The first hint we have is that we actually have a retelling of the Genesis creation story in the gospel of John. Ancient Israelites identified the books of the Torah by the first few words of each book. They did not call Genesis “Genesis”, but “In the beginning”. The Gospel of John starts with the same phrase, “In the beginning”; a Jewish man or woman reading John’s gospel would have understood him as retelling the creation story, especially since the first paragraph speaks of God’s “word” in creation, and the themes of darkness and light are covered. After explaining that through the “Word” all things were made, and this “Word” is the “…light of all mankind” (v. 4), he clearly alludes to the themes of light and darkness in Genesis when he says, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (see also Gen. 1:3-4). Jesus as the light is covered extensively by John in his epistles (1 and 2 John particularly). Paul mentioned that God “called light out of darkness” (2 Cor. 4:6).

The Waters as a Reference to other gods

But what evidence is there that the world engulfed by “waters” had a deeper meaning? The seas were seen by Israel almost as a personality, with a will of its own that threatened order (Ps. 104:7, Prov. 8:29, Ps. 29:10), as well as having a certain prideful rebelliousness (Job 38:8-11). Like other ancient near-Eastern cultures that viewed the “waters” as a formidable foe that their gods would have had to restrain, ancient Hebrews praised God for his supremacy over these waters. OT Scripture also did not depict these “waters” as a mere natural force. While it certainly included the physical world, the biblical worldview saw natural phenomenon as influenced by the spiritual realm.

Even the Red Sea was seen as a hostile force that convulsed and writhed like a snake at Yahweh’s power (Hab. 3:15, Ps. 77:16-19), and an ancient Hebrew word translated in English as “waters” or “sea” is actually the name for the Canaanite god “Yam”, that also was associated with waters in other ancient near-eastern cultures. Dr. Greg Boyd points out that,

…these menacing deities are closely associated with aspects of nature and are frequently depicted as acting violently through these aspects of nature against various people or against other deities. Without additional research, readers who must rely on English translations of the OT cannot discern how prevalent these and other deities are in the OT since their names are almost uniformly translated as personified nouns (e.g., “Yam” = “sea”, “Mot” = “death”, “Resheph” = “plague,” “fire”).²

OT Scripture gives us clear indications that this indeed is the case, and that these waters were not just seen as natural, but were actually hostile. The Psalmist says to God,

Do not let the floodwaters engulf me or let the depths swallow me up or the pit close its mouth over me. (Ps. 69:15)

The Psalmist even associates the “mighty waters” with the behavior of people when he pleads,

Reach down your hand from on high; deliver me and rescue me from the mighty waters, from the hands of foreigners whose mouths are full of lies, whose hands are deceitful. (Ps. 144:7-8)

“Rahab” was also another one of these ancient near-Eastern deities associated with the sea that God was able to rule over. The book of Job says that “By his power he churned up the sea; by his wisdom he cut Rahab to pieces.” (Job 26:12). Further support that raging waters were influenced by the Cannanite deity “Yam” is found when the Psalmist declares,

You rule over the surging sea [yam]; when its waves mount up, you still them. You crushed Rahab like one of the slain; With your strong arm you scattered your enemies. (Ps. 89:9-10)

This passage is probably the clearest indication that the English translation of the OT can sometimes miss the actual reference to a demonic entity. The serpent “Leviathan” is also another one of these ancient deities that were associated with the sea, whom later biblical revelation identifies with Satan (Rev. 12:9, Rev. 20:9, see also Isa. 27:1). So when the Spirit of God is described as “…hovering over the waters.” (Gen. 1:2), there is something mysterious going on here. The ancient word translated as “hovering” is only found in Deuteronomy 32:11, which describes a mother eagle “hovering” over its young. An ancient saying attributed to a 2nd century Jewish Rabbi compares the Spirit in Genesis to a dove hovering over her young.³ It is in the context of the Spirit hovering in the midst of darkness (Gen. 1:2) when God says, “Let there be light.” (Gen. 1:3). To me the connection to John 1 is even more clear when it says that God called the light “good”, and that “…he separated the light from the darkness.” (v. 4).

Genesis then moves on to describe God’s sovereignty over these waters (v. 6-9), an ancient Hebrew would probably understand that God is not just displaying his sovereignty over creation, but over ancient demonic forces that lived in these chaotic waters. Likewise with the Red Sea crossing, God parting the sea was not just an amazing natural miracle, it was Yahweh’s powerful victory over deities also associated with the sea. This is not to say that the waters in Genesis were purely supernatural, as if God wasn’t actually creating the world. While we often only understand the physical creation, ancient Hebrews saw both the universal sovereignty of God but also God’s supremacy and power over all the other gods whom surrounding nations worshipped.

Waters and the New Testament

In the same way that the OT viewed these waters as a hostile force, and most likely the result of a demonic force, Jesus actually displayed his authority over these forces in the famous miracle where Jesus calmed the storm. It is highly significant that Jesus isn’t just praying for God to calm the storm, but rather he “…rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.” (Mark 4:39). An ancient Rabbi or Jew might have seen a mysterious allusion to Yahweh in the account of Jesus rebuking the waters. Note that Jesus speaks directly to the waves the same way that he speaks to demons. Many scholars have seen in the waves a clear connection to the demonic,⁴ especially since this story sets up Jesus’ next encounter with a demon.⁵ Jesus’ famous water-walking miracle was also probably an allusion to Job 9:8, which depicts Yahweh as treading upon the “waters”. For a perceptive ancient Jew, Jesus walking upon the waters may not have just been an account of his miraculous power, but also of him acting like Yahweh and displaying authority over the spiritual realm and treading the waters.

The vision given to John also capitalizes on this theme of “waters”, since the evil beast comes up out of the sea (Rev. 13:1), the sea would give up the dead that were in it (Rev. 20:13), and a judgment was poured out on the sea (Rev. 16:3). In contrast to the world initially engulfed by “waters” (Gen. 1:2), at the end of time, John even saw that “there was no longer any sea” (Rev. 21:1). The end of Revelation is a restoration of the original Garden of Eden but expanded to the whole earth, which was originally engulfed in a vast sea. In contrast to Genesis, Revelation depicts a time that there is no longer any night (Rev. 22:5), either. This is further evidence that John saw hostile forces at play in Genesis 1, when Genesis describes the earth as engulfed in “waters” where “darkness was over the surface of the deep” (Gen. 1:2), especially since the theme of Revelation 22 is a restoration and expansion of Eden, the prototype for the Kingdom of God.

When we are baptized, we go under the water (signifying our death with Christ) coming out of the waters signifying our present participation in Christ’s resurrection life. So when Paul teaches us that it was the demonic forces who crucified Jesus (1 Cor. 2:8)⁶ , and that we participate in that death through baptism (Rom. 6:3-4), he likely saw baptism as a symbol not just of new life and purification, but of deliverance from the more fundamental problem with the world: demonic forces.

Jesus said that when demons are cast out, they are cast into “waterless places” (Matt. 12:43, ESV). Perhaps this is why the demons who went into the herd of pigs immediately rushed into the water, because that is their “home”, and their eventual place of death (Rev. 16:3, Rev. 21:1).

Practical Implications

The significance of “waters” enhances the meaning of baptism to include deliverance from the spiritual realm of darkness. Our participation in the death of Christ through baptism means that we have “…died to the elemental spirits of the world.” (Col. 2:20, ESV). Contrary to our science-saturated culture that cuts out the spiritual world, the NT consistently places Satan as the primary enemy that was defeated. While a defeated foe, Scripture calls Satan the “the prince of this world” (Jn. 12:31), and holds power over the whole world, both before and after the death and resurrection of Christ (Lk. 4:5-6, 1 Jn. 5:19, 2 Cor. 4:4, Eph. 2:2). This is meant to show us where the real battle is, and to teach us that the fundamental problem with the world is the spiritual forces of darkness that enslave humanity.

While the fundamental problem is spiritual beings that influence the world, this does not always entail direct interaction with them. This is why the majority of the NT teaching isn’t centered on engaging the realm of darkness directly (e.g., rebuking demons), but rather aimed more at how to love and relate to God properly in truth. After declaring to the Colossian church that they have “…died to the elemental spirits of the world”, he then immediately asks,

…why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— ‘Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch’ (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings?” (Col. 2:20-22, ESV, emphasis mine).

Demonic forces are opportunists, and rely on human commands and teachings. Paul’s proposed solution to the problem is not to go and rebuke demons (but he did this at times!), but to set their minds and hearts on heavenly things (Col. 3:1-3). We may from time to time confront the powers of darkness directly, since Jesus gave us this authority. But the solution is not always to look for a demon behind everything.

The understanding of the chaotic waters should also help us understand just how warfare-centered Scripture is, from the OT to the New. Understanding that Yahweh lives within us should give us confidence not just for our own deliverance from any “watery” obstacle, but that we can deliver others. This has strong implications for non-Western contexts where the worldview is almost identical to the biblical worldview of gods. A Christian missionary in India should not try to argue rationally from Scripture about why a Hindu’s gods aren’t real, but should rather affirm that they are real, but are really rebellious gods that have defied the supreme God in Christ, the creator of all other “gods”.

Notes