COMMENTS ON PASSAGES DEALING WITH CREATION

PART TWO

The Deep, the Sea and the Flood

      The Deep is the word used in Genesis 1:2 and carries the thought of depth - the downward dimension. In fact it is sometimes translated depths. The Sea is the term used for the waters in contrast to the dry land (Genesis 1:10). The Flood is used for the outpouring of waters in judgment on the earth in Genesis and only once elsewhere (Psalm 29:10). Another word for flood is used where a torrent of waters such as a river is meant. Apart from the word used for the Noachic flood the other words - Deep, Sea and Flood - are used somewhat interchangeably, often being different aspects of the same thing. See for instance Isaiah 51:10 where the Sea and the Deep are identified; and Psalm 24:2 where Floods and Seas are used as alternative words.

      In Job 38:8 the term Sea is used rather than Deep, although the passage appears to refer firstly to the waters as found in Genesis 1:2. However, the passage goes on to speak of them as limited in accordance with Genesis 1:10. This rather confirms the thought that the origin of the waters as found in Genesis 1:2 was not long before the division of the waters from the land on the third day. The fact that the term Sea is used for the waters before they were so named on the third day does not prove that the passage does not speak of the waters that existed before then, because it is quite usual in Scripture to use a name given at a later time when referring to someone or something at a time before the name was actually given. Consider for instance the use of the name Jehovah in Genesis, though the name was not revealed until we come to Exodus 6:2 & 3. The term Sea may well be used in Job 38:8 rather than Deep because the idea of the Deep (a dimension) bursting forth is not so suitable as Sea (a great volume of water).

      The question arises as to whether the Flood referred to in Job 22:15 & 16 is the Noachic flood. It may refer to some local flood for as we know there are such floods from time to time. However, the use of a different word from that used in Genesis is not conclusive against the thought that it refers to the Noachic flood. The idea conveyed is that streams of rushing water carried away all that the wicked trusted in. The water that fell as rain in Genesis as well as the waters welling up from beneath would no doubt have resulted in rivers and streams bursting their banks and sweeping away all that came in their path before ultimately covering everything with a deep layer of water.

Moral Considerations

      In all these passages of Scripture regarding the creation and the flood moral ideas are never far away. The idea of foundations (Job 38:6) conveys the thought of what is stable and can be trusted in. The idea of the corner stone may point to Christ who is said to be that (Ephesians 2:20; 1 Peter 2:4 to 8). The waters on the other hand point to what is unstable and needs to be controlled. Thus we have the sea shut up in Job 38:8 and being put within bounds in verse 10; something also referred to in Jeremiah 5:22. The idea of pride is connected with the sea as is apparent from verse 11 and also Psalm 89:9; the latter passage having a fulfilment when Christ stilled the raging of the sea in the Gospels. One day there will be no more sea (Revelation 21:1). The idea of judgment on the wicked is found in the following verses of Job (verses 12 to 15).

6 February 1999