De Potentia Promissioque Baptismi - Part II

Chapter I - The Water and Spirit in Genesis: Creation, Judgment, and Renewal


On a purely natural level, the power the sacraments exert over us is tied to the psychological impact inherent in the Divine tokens. Simply put, our human make-up is drawn to the power of symbol. This fact in no way diminishes the objective meaning of the sacraments, as they are God's instituted means of conveying spiritual realities, regardless of how sharp or dull our imaginations might be. And though the effect of the sacraments do not rely on our imaginations, nevertheless, speaking to the power of the senses, we cannot ignore the profound symbolism behind the physical instruments so wisely selected by God, that instruct -- no! preach -- His saving activity in our midst.

In the sacrament of holy baptism water is our object of instruction. It has a universal relevance to which virtually no race or nation couldn't relate. Perhaps the most fundamental of all elements, water becomes for mankind the most basic sign of life. It is accounted as the primordial building block of all that is vital for our existence.

--Creation--

In the book of Genesis we find God's Holy Spirit "hovering" or "moving over the face of the waters" (1:2), preparing to bring forth the new creation from the depths. The water is first broken up by a firmament, some of which is set in the heavenly vaults, and the rest remains beneath (1:6).

The Lord then draws up the water into its own distinct entity (1:9) revealing the land on which and out of which His crowning achievement will be made. Like the earth, the water receives its command to "bring forth swarms of living creatures" (1:20) .

In Genesis 2 the water nourishes the earth, but not in a down-pour of rain, but rather envelops the Paradise in the form of a mist (2:6). Additionally, the very Garden eastward of Eden was watered by a river, which branched into four historically named rivers: Pishon, Gihon, Tigris, and the Euphrates (2:14).

--Judgment--

The creation narrative therefore begins with the Spirit of Life over the Water, but the Principle of Death (sin) soon fills the earth. Not only was the First Man exiled from the presence of God through disobedience, but by the 6th chapter we find the entire race of men "corrupted their way upon the earth" (6:12), and the earth was "filled with violence through them" (6:13).

The Judgment that ensued was a virtual reversal of creation, for God declared, "My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh, but his days shall be a hundred and twenty years" (6:3), and "I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall die" (6:17) . The Spirit's presence of life was to be removed, and the waters which brought life were now a grave.

But Noah, a righteous man who feared God, was chosen by God and commissioned to build an ark and save himself, his family, and a remnant of all animals from the earth. God graciously established a covenant with faithful Noah (6:18), that all with him would be saved through the flood. Even with an eye toward judgment, God's merciful eye looked further to the salvation of the whole world.

Nevertheless, judgment as promised came, and "on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened, and rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights" (7:11, 12). The Spirit departed, the waters of life became death and judgment, and only God's chosen remained. All men, fowl, beasts, and creeping things were utterly destroyed (7:23), "and the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days" (7:24).

--Renewal--

True to His covenant, "God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided" (8:1). The "wind" (Hebrew. ruach) is also "Spirit" -- and whether this is the third Person of the Blessed Trinity or a physical wind, is of little import -- God nevertheless returns to divide the waters as in Creation, setting in order what was disorder. Judgment is removed, and for 150 days the water subsides until the Ark of Salvation rests on Mt. Ararat (8:4).

Noah remained in the Ark, and at first sent out a raven to see if the waters had sufficiently subsided to leave the Ark. Next a dove was sent out from the Ark to see if it would return for lack of land. Finally, 14 days later the dove returned with an olive leaf, and the promise of salvation fulfilled.

Noah was saved through the waters and the presence of the dove carrying the olive branch confirmed Jehovah's promise. After the flood, God declares to Noah:

"Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth... This is the sign of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh." (9:9-18).

Next time, we shall look at how Scripture expands on water's use in liturgy and ceremony in various places of the Old Testament.