Today we will talk about wind & water.
And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
Genesis 1:2
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This verse starts to create patterns or prototypes that are developed and carried throughout the entire Bible. I believe This is the primary function of the creation story. That is to lay the foundation of principles and types that will be used to tell the story of our world and why it exists while it may seem like a trivial piece of information for everyday living that would be an error. Everything in our minds is built one thought upon another, and if these thoughts are not correct, the result is a wrong view of who we are and why we exist. That then leads to a failed life. This is why…
A New Life Starts At The Beginning.
In this verse, we find prototypes of wind and water. The Hebrew word for Spirit here is pronounced roo’-akh. The word means, breath or wind; it is translated either way. So the verse could be read that God breathed upon the face of the waters.
So the moving of the wind becomes an image of the moving of the spiritual world. If you have ever seen a scary movie, you have seen where the wind stirs or a curtain in the room moves. This imagery is used because wind and spirit is ingrain in our imaginations. In the new testament, the Greek word for spirit is pneuma, and it is where we get the word “pneumatics” which is the mechanical properties of air. There are many examples of wind as a spiritual force.
If the wind represents the spiritual world, then the water represents the physical world. The reason for this is water can be moved easily by the wind. The wind can play upon the water and create a vivid picture. When the wind is calm, then the sea is calm and when the wind is roaring the oceans are raging. That is so amazing because when we are armed with this knowledge, many passages come to life. Let us look at a few.
And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
Exodus 14:21
The Parting of The Sea
Any intelligent person would read this and think if the wind were mighty enough to divide the sea so that it went up like walls of water on either side, then it would be powerful enough to blow the people into the next country. One would also realize that water would not stand up as walls by a wind coming from one direction. If the story sounds unbelievable, it is because one has not seen the picture. God causes the sea to move by the roo’-akh. To the Israelite, all they could feel was the wind, and that was a sign that there was something spiritual going on. How the sea was divide is a deep secret of God. We need to understand that the spiritual world is at work in the physical world. If one reads the Hebrew text, the connection becomes clear.
Roo’-akh of God moved upon the face of the waters. Genes 1:2
The sea to go back by a strong east roo’-akh. Exodus 14:21
There are so many examples of this motif being brought to our attention in the scriptures and here are a few examples.
Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.
Psalms 89:9
Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters! The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
Isaiah 17:12-13
But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.
Isaiah 57:20
Born Again
Probably one of the most profound examples of wind and water being types of the spiritual world and physical world interacting is in John chapter three.
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
John 3:5-8
As you read the Bible look for the wind as a picture of the spiritual world. Look for the sea as the physical world and look for both the wind and the water together. This little piece of knowledge will help you gain a greater understanding of the Bible story. That means you will have more confidence in the Bible, your faith will increase and your life will change. It is a process of starting a new Life in Jesus Christ.