"the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters"

The creation account

The phrase in the heading has always been a bit mysterious. You may recognize it from the second verse of Genesis. The creation is a fascinating account chock full of symbolism. What to make of this phrase? Two important things are worth mentioning for a start. "Spirit" in this phrase is from the Hebrew word, "ruach", which can mean spirit, breath or wind. I will get back to that. Next, the symbolism of water. This is a complex symbol in ancient Hebrew culture with both positive and negative connotation. We have the pure, living waters, the fountain of righteousness, the symbolism of the life-giving substance that can be applied to our spiritual life. But it is also used as a chaos motif, especially when it is not confined within its bounds and when the tempest is raging. This is what we see in the very early stages of the creation account. The "darkness...upon the face of the deep" was frightening. But God did not remove the water. He separated the water and dry land and then "God saw that it was good" (Genesis 1:10).

Noah and the flood

I have begun to understand how fundamental the creation account was in the Israelite culture. It keeps getting referenced, both in the Bible and the Book of Mormon, sometimes more subtly than others. This post shows some examples of how the story about Noah and the flood refers to the creation account. It is another story where the chaos motif of water is used, but also with a positive connotation because the earth was baptized and got a new start. But there was no spirit moving upon the waters. Or was there? In Genesis 8:1

God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged

Recall that wind and spirit is the same word in Hebrew. Ruach is used both in Genesis 8:1 and 1:2, only translated differently into English. So in both cases we have a "ruach" before the separation of water and land. Just to underscore the reference to the creation account, the next sentence in Genesis 8:2 starts with "the fountains...of the deep". "Deep" is translated from the Hebrew "tehom" that is also found in Genesis 1:2. It can also be translated into "sea" and is therefore synonymous with "waters" (Hebr. mayim). But it has a more negative connotation (it is also sometimes translated into "abyss").

Moses and the parting of the Red Sea

This 'ruach' of God turns up again in Exodus 14 prior to separation of waters and land

And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind [Hebr. ruach] all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. (Exodus 14:21)

In English, the "Spirit of God" and the "east wind" sound like two completely different things. Not in Hebrew. As mentioned, both spirit and wind is the same, but in addition, the 'east' signifies that it comes from God. Same pattern again, quite unmistakably, especially when the "deep" (tehom) is referenced once more as the Israelites sing about their redemption from the Egyptians.

4 Pharaoh’s chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea.

5 The depths [Hebr. tehom] have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone.

6 Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy. (Exodus 15)

Summary of the three accounts

We have three accounts where the ruach of God turns up right before the beneficial separation of water and dry land contrasted by the frightening tehom. The table below shows the contrasting context for these Hebrew words in the three stories.

Hebrew word	Creation account	Noah and the flood	Moses and the parting of the Red Sea
Tehom	Darkness (Genesis 1:2)	Broke up to cause a great flood (Genesis 7:11)	Egyptians drowning (Exodus 15:5)
Ruach	Preceding the separation of water and dry land, pronounced “good” (Genesis 1:2, 10)	Causing the flood to recede and redeem Noah and his family (Genesis 8:1)	Causing the Red Sea to divide and redeem Israel (Exodus 14:21)

There is a clear pattern. But what does it all mean? I don't know if I really have the full answer to that, but the New Testament offers intriguing insight. 

Birth/creation and rebirth/new creation

Recall when Jesus was baptized. The Spirit descended upon the waters of Jordan in the from of a dove. I don't think it is coincidence that familiar symbolism from the Old Testament accounts discussed above shows up at this event. Even though the New Testament is written in Greek and not Hebrew, there is still the same spirit/wind dualism. "Pneuma" means both and is the word used for "Spirit" in John 1:32

And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.

The Spirit from heaven reminds us of the "ruach" from God in the Old Testament accounts, but especially Noah. After the earth had been baptized, Noah sent forth a dove that we can imagine moving upon the face of the waters. The last time the dove was sent out, it did not return and Noah never saw it again. One can speculate if the authors of the Gospels wanted to indicate symbolically that Noah's dove finally found its "rest" on the Savior.

In any case, this symbolism shows up again a couple of chapters later. In John 3, Nicodemus comes to Jesus to ask him questions. Jesus teaches him about birth and rebirth.

3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?

5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. (John 3)

Jesus himself had been born of water and Spirit by John the baptist as quoted, and thereby set an example. He teaches Nicodemus that he set an example that everyone must follow to enter the kingdom of God. Then he goes on to say

The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. (John 3:8)

Jesus uses a wordplay here since "wind" and "Spirit" both are the same word (not only in Greek, but also in Aramaic, the language that Jesus spoke).

These teachings by Jesus as recorded in John provides an excellent perspective into the passages from the Old Testament that we have discussed. The creation account is the birth of the earth. It is born of water and spirit. Later, at the time of Noah, we read about the rebirth of the earth, by water and spirit. Notice the similarity between the Hebrew "ruach" and "nuach" by the way, the latter meaning (divine) rest, a prevalent theme in the story of Noah from which also his name is derived. Even later, in Exodus, we learn about the spiritual rebirth of a covenant people, Israel. Again, water and "ruach" are the central components. The waters are a blessing and new beginning for the covenant people and a destructive force, the abyss ("tehom"), for the unrepentant sinners.

Jesus invites us to follow his example by becoming a new creation and entering into a covenant at the waters of baptism. The Old Testament teaches about these truths through deep symbolism.