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Water In The Bible Research Paper

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In the religious book, the Hebrew Bible written by 4 Jewish scholars water is a recurring archetype throughout. Genesis is the first book of the Old Testament, it tells the story of how the world was created, shaped by human sins, and how the world's people began to prosper through many descendants. In the first book of the Bible, Genesis, water is present from the start. Water is very prevalent in the Old Testament, it is seen from the very start with the creation of the world from nothing, it is seen in the garden of Eden, and it is seen in the flood with Noah's ark. All through Genesis, the idea of Gods 3 main powers become apparent through the imagery of water. The readings connect Gods powers to waters powers, and how water can create, …show more content…

In Genesis 13 Lot was looking for a place to stay and live, “Lot looked around him, and saw that the plain of the Jordan was well watered everywhere like the Garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar.”(13:10). The river is a source of bountiful and lush water which can sustain any plants, animals, and humans who live around it. This ability to preserve and sustain life is a reminder that God is present and wants to support abundant life. While people are in fact thirsty for water because to live you need water they could be in need of a God and proof of the savior. The power of water reappears in the form a river when Jacob wrestles with an angel by the Jabbok river, “He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything the he had. Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak” (32.23-32.24). Water is refreshing just as God might be to someone in times of troubles. The river is a reminder that God is present and that he is sustaining Jacob’s faithfulness. God’s power to sustain life is evident when he creates rivers to flow and support people's livestock, plants, and own lives. God’s power to sustain is shown through the image of …show more content…

The destructive power of water and the flood are seen to wipe out everyone on earth except Noah and his animals he brought. God uses the flood in Genesis 8 to wipe out the sinful and corrupt people the earth is filled with. When the flood is over Noah has an earth to himself and his animals that is empty and pure again,
“For the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took it and brought it into the ark with him. He waited another seven days, and again he sent out the dove from the ark; and the dove came back to him in the evening, and there in its break was a freshly plucked olive leaf; so Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth.”(8:9-8:11).
The flood cleans the world of the people who were all self-centered not God-centered, purifying the world of the sinful and immoral people. The power of the water to clean the world of all the dirty people represents God’s ability to purify life and the earth. In baptisms water is used in the process to bless the person and to represent the new life with God. The water is in the process when you are submerged in the water. With the baptism, the water used is to clean the person of any sins of the past and stand for their new clean life with God. God’s power to purify life is symbolized through the flood

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