Salvation Through the Sea in the Scriptures

“And I saw a new sky and a new earth, for the first sky and the first earth have passed away, and the sea no longer is” (Hart, Rev. 21.1). This verse is the epic conclusion of the Bible that reveals the ultimate restoration of all creation. Just as God created the sky and the earth in the first line of the Bible (Gen. 1.1), He would re-create them on the last (Rev. 21.1). The interesting note on this verse, however, is that “the sea no longer is”. What was so important to “John the divine” to have noted that there was no sea in restored creation? To understand the significance of this detail, one must first steep themselves in the Hebrew Scriptures - As John was. When one understands what the significance of the sea is, they will unlock the meaning of creation, the deluge and Noah’s ark, the exodus, and baptism. All of these scenes that will be explored demonstrate that throughout the biblical drama, God chooses to save His chosen people miraculously and mercifully through chaos waters.

As with all major motifs in the Bible, salvation through the waters is found first on page one of the Bible. God creates the heavens and the earth (Gen. 1.1) by first preparing places for creatures to inhabit (vv. 3-13), followed by their inhabitants (vv. 14-31). Genesis 1.2 says that “the earth was wild and waste / darkness over the face of Ocean” (Fox, Gen 1.2). The pre-creation state is described as chaotic waters (Heb. ‘tohu va-vohu’ and ‘tehom’). God first separated these waters to put half of them above and the other half below (vv. 6-8); next, He separated them from the land by bringing the dry land out of the water (vv. 9-12). At the climax of creation, God places His two images on that dry land (vv. 26-27). While this first example is not quite as clear-cut as the others that follow, the following type-scenes add to the idea and allow the reader to understand salvation through the waters better.

After God split open the chaotic waters and brings humans onto dry ground, He blesses them and granted them dominion over all things (vv. 28-30). Humans being placed safely on dry ground and being blessed is the last act of creation and God sees it as good (v. 31). This idea is only expanded upon in the next significant narrative in Genesis: the deluge drama. As humanity descendants into wickedness - Even to the point of having illicit sex with their divine watchers (Gen. 6.2) - God is grieved (Gen. 6.5-6); He is sorry for making humans and so decides to let loose again all of the chaotic waters that He had held back on humanity in the form of a cosmic deluge (Gen. 6:7, 17). However, God sees Noah as righteous and so saves Him by telling him to build an ark to keep himself safe throughout the duration of the deluge (vv. 13-21). It says: “then burst all the well-springs of the great Ocean / and the sluices of the heavens opened up” (Gen. 7.11). However, Noah is kept safe through the same water that God protected humanity from. Fox notes on this very verse: “The world returns to the primeval chaos of 1:2” (37). 

Yet, once again, God saves humanity by bringing him out of the chaos waters (Gen. 8.13). In this scene of salvation through the waters, readers are called to pay special attention to the fact that “Noah was a righteous, wholehearted man” (Gen. 6.9). It is by the righteous of Noah, that not only he but also his whole family is brought to safety through the chaos waters. Even though the text has nothing to say of the righteousness of his family, they are invited to join Noah in safety in the ark that God only told Noah to make (vv. 9-22). Further, the same chaos waters that righteous Noah is safely brought through are the same chaos waters that ruin those who originally brought ruin upon the land (Gen. 6.5-12; 8.20-22). Scholars like Joshua Berman bring light to how the biblical authors made mention of the creatures and spaces that were mentioned in the first creation narrative in the same order as Noah is brought of the Ark (Berman 285-289). Again, Noah is brought safely onto land, where he plants a little garden and is blessed by God almost the same as Adam on page one (Gen. 9.1-20).

Moving on to the second scroll of the Hebrew Scriptures, the reader comes across one of the most significant scenes of salvation through chaos waters: the exodus. God had chosen the people of Israel (Gen. 12.2; Ex. 3.10); even though they are enslaved in Egypt, God uses Moses as a prophet to confront Pharoah as He also brings about a series of plagues on the province (Ex. 3.10; 7.14-12.32). Even though the Israelites are not necessarily faithful to Yahweh or especially righteous, God calls Moses to lead them out of Egypt towards the promised land (Deut. 7.7). However, the Israelites come to be trapped between the Reed Sea and the Egyptians - Only God could deliver them by parting the Reed Sea. Again, the elect pass through the same chaos waters that will destroy the wicked - All of this is only possible because of the miraculous power of Yahweh (Ex. 14.29-30). The most important development in this type-scene is that the elect nation of Israel is to be led into the promised land to be a blessing to the surrounding nations.

It is in Israel being brought into the promised land that God brings Israel to Sinai to be called to be “a priestly kingdom and a holy nation” (New Revised Standard Version updated edition, Ex. 19.6) if they follow His calling and keep to the covenant. This is in realization of what God had already promised Moses about bringing them “up from the affliction of Egypt” and through the other nations “to a land flowing with milk and honey” (Fox, Ex. 3.17). In fact, the way in which the Israelites are brought into that promised land is in a sequential water-crossing scene with the next generation following the successor of Moses (Josh. 3). This scene of salvation through the Reed Sea not only leads up to the Mosaic Covenant but is also a step through the waters towards fulfilling the promise He made to Abraham that “All the clans of the soil will find blessing through you” (Gen. 12.3).

However, most know that the story does not go so well - Not just on the journey to the waters, but all throughout the other side. As the rest of the Prophets and Writings add their own important build-ups to the scene, the next most significant change is found towards the beginning of the New Testament and is recorded in all four gospel accounts. For context, the Hebrews had already been in exile for some time because of their apostasy. Suddenly, some prophet named John (Lk. 1.76; Mk. 11.32) comes onto the scene and starts to immerse (Grk. ‘baptizo’) people in water and then bring them back out - All as a sign of repentance (Mt. 3.1-6). Jesus comes onto the scene, asking to be baptized as well (vv. 13-15). Matthew says: “And, having been baptized, Jesus immediately rose up out of the water, and look: The heavens were opened, and he saw God’s Spirit descending as a dove, alighting upon him” (Hart, Mt. 3.16). The location being the Jordan River and the language of Jesus being immersed in the waters and coming out are all obvious signs of the author building off of the earlier type-scenes. Even better, the author adds on the detail of God’s Spirit coming like a dove - Just as Noah had sent out a dove over the waters to find out that he could come out of the ark and on to dry land (Gen. 8.10-12).

For Jesus, who was the Son of God and sinless savior of the world, this baptism was not about repentance but about showing who He really was (and is). Not only did the Spirit of God descend on Him like a dove (v. 16), but the Father Himself said, “‘This is my Son, the beloved, in whom I have delighted’” (v. 17). If John the Baptist was Elijah (Mt. 11.14), then Jesus was the prophet greater than Moses (Deut. 34.10-12) and the triune revelation was what was always need to show this true identiy.

But what does baptism mean for everyone else who was stained with sin? Paul would write that “as many as were baptized into the Anointed One, Jesus - were baptized into his death” (Rom. 6.3). He would elaborate: “by baptism into death we were buried with him in order that, just as the Anointed was raised from the dead by the Father’s glory, so we also might walk in newness of life” (v. 4). The baptism for Jesus was also a foreshadowing of His own death in the waters for mankind - For all of His followers, it was their ‘co-crucifixion’ (v. 6). It should be noted that Jews had a ritual representative of baptism for Gentiles that wanted to convert to the Jewish faith and repent of their sins (Oden 221-222). Oden also notes that “John was baptizing not non-Jews but Jews!” (222). Since the ministry of Jesus was “to the Judean first, then also to the Greek” (Rom. 1.16), He would come to the Jews for them to be baptized first. This is the same as how they were brought out of the Reed Sea to be that blessing to the nations in the first place - They now had to recognize and repent of their inability to be that blessing on their own.

Understanding baptism as the ultimate revelation of salvation through the waters, what are Christians to do in response? Peter, in authoring his first epistle, directly connects baptism to Noah, noting that the deluge was an antitype of baptism (1 Pet. 3.20-21). He states that it is “not a removal of the filth of flesh but rather the pledged consent of a good conscience to God - through resurrection of Jesus the Anointed” (v. 21). Bible scholar David Bentley Hart notes that the Greek word for ‘pledge’ in this verse has the “approximate…meaning of ‘sacramentum’” (469). Christians are to be baptized as a way of pledging (or ‘sacrament-ing’) themselves to God and as a way of making “a public avowal of who is on the Lord’s side in the cosmic war between good and evil” (Heiser 338).

Not only are Christians to publicly promise loyalty to the Lord Jesus; Christians are called to co- rule over the cosmos with Jesus. As Doctor Tim Mackie states in his lecture, “The Flood Story in the Hebrew Bible”: “The flood is a type of baptism, and in your baptism, you experience with Jesus the death and resurrection where you hope to share in Jesus’ rule over the cosmos and the angelic powers” (Mackie). Just earlier in that same verse, Peter mentions Jesus making “a proclamation to the spirits in prison” (v. 19); going on to speak of baptism being the antitype of this, he concludes that Jesus is exalted over all authorities and powers (v. 22). Baptism is about allowing followers of Jesus to be the images (Heb. ‘tselem’ - Also translated as ‘idol’) that they were originally meant to be (Gen. 1.26-27). They would finally join Jesus in ruling over all creation by being baptized and brought back to real life.

Bibliography

Alter, Robert. The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary. Vol. 3, W. W. Norton & Company, 2019.

Berman, Joshua. Inconsistency in the Torah: Ancient Literary Convention and the Limits of Source Criticism. Oxford University Press, 2017. 

Fox, Everett. The Five Books of Moses. Shocken Books, 1997.

Hart, David Bentley. The New Testament. Yale University Press, 2017.

Heiser, Michael S. Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible. Lexham Press, 2015. 

Mackie, Tim. “Session 13: The Ark as a Symbolic Eden and Tabernacle.” https://bibleproject.com/classroom-alpha/education-videos/session-2-flood-story-hebrew-bible/.

New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. E-book edition, Thomas Nelson, 1989.

Oden, Thomas C. John Wesley's Teachings: Christology. Vol. 2, Zondervan, 2012.