If the Ocean Has a Soul: Diving Into God’s WordSample

Symbology of the Sea

Waves the height of six-story-tall buildings roll, crest, and crash against the coast after a winter storm. These are the warrior kings of ocean waves, called mavericks, and in the natural world, there is nothing quite so humbling and dramatically intimidating as their inanimate power.

Besides the threat of drowning from being held underwater by their power, there’s the potential of getting pounded into oblivion against the reef. Because of this, it’s best to avoid entering the water around mavericks, unless you’re a professional surfer. Admittedly, I wouldn’t dare go into the water near mavericks, but I would stand along the shore and marvel at their natural power, being reminded of how people viewed the sea long ago.

Although the ancient Hebrews who penned the first books of the Bible may not have seen a maverick wave, they did have an understanding of the ocean’s dangers. In fact, in ancient Hebrew literature, references to the ocean were often used to symbolize chaos, disorder, danger, darkness, and terror. This was their perception of the sea.

Keeping their perception in mind when we read the Bible lends greater insight into what the original authors meant when they spoke about the ocean. In the beginning, “the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters” (Genesis 1:2). As a marine biologist, I’ve always been fascinated by the presence of water in the beginning, before God had created anything. The mention of this water illustrates just how “formless and empty” things were, adding to our understanding of the chaos and disorder that existed prior to God creating.

Similarly, we might turn to the end of the Bible and understand references to the ocean with fresh eyes. “Then I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’ for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea” (Revelation 21:1). When God restores all of creation, the chaos and disorder that the ocean represents in the Bible will no longer exist. “‘There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

It’s phenomenally encouraging to know that God is in the business of redeeming and restoring all of creation, including the ocean and its maverick waves. When facing the chaos and disorder of the world, we can remember that God is at work, creating and re-creating to eventually bring all things to himself. Perhaps one day, we’ll watch heavenly mavericks crest before our Creator, seated on the throne before “what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal” (Revelation 4:6).