Let’s look at Boat TALK.

We have looked at Jesus calling his disciples from their boat at the sea.

Then we have looked at them journey with Jesus and were in danger in a boat on the sea.

We can see the changing symbolism of the boat and the sea.

That is so true in our lives.  A good thing can turn bad, and a bad thing can be used for good.

In Mark 3: 9

 ⁹ Because of the crowd he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, to keep the people from crowding him. 

Let us just take a break, away from the crowding, and the consistently urgent matters of our life, and spend some time with Jesus on his boat. Let us reflect on some things, before moving on in our amazing journey with him.

Dear friends, do you enjoy relaxing by the sea, looking at the life of the sea as the waves laps the shore and the wind blows? It offers a glimpse to the vast world that lies beyond, and fires our imagination as we take a break and dream about the future.

Yet, we know we cannot swim for long in the sea, and the therapeutic sea can become the source of danger, death and nightmares.

We need a boat to sail the sea. The bigger the boat, the better, as we will feel safer.

Yet the waves in the ocean can be far larger than we can imagine.  Just think about it, there is more sea, than land on this planet.  The larger part of the surface of Earth, is covered by the sea.

Such a blessing we have, when we come to realize that God, who created the seas, this great world and us, wants to be known by us, and desires to have a relationship with us.

In His word, we see how God uses the things that we are familiar with, to help us understand His word to us.

In this series, we will explore the messages that Jesus brings to us through the symbol of the sea and the vehicle on it, the boat.

As we do that, let us look at the other parts of the word of God at the same time, to build a better understanding of God’s use of the sea and boat symbols, through His word.

This will give us an understanding of the messages conveyed by certain objects, and open up our understanding to prophetic language.

We start by looking at the symbolism of the sea in the creation narrative in Genesis 1:2.

² Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

This same phrase, “formless and empty”, has also been used in Isaiah 34:11.

The two words there depicts chaos and desolation, and are framed in the context as the consequence of judgment of sin and rebellion.

The sea, in this and later references has been used to depict chaos.

When we take this meaning, the accounts of ‘Jesus calms the storm’, and ‘Jesus Walks on Water’, will bring forth new insights.

We will also understand how the word of God ends in Revelation.

Revelation 21:1 describes the coming future, that there is a new heaven and a new earth.  The first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.

However, when we continue reading Genesis 1 in the account of God’s creation of the world as we know it, it shows us that the waters was already there, and God caused the water to separate, and we have the sky, and later to make land rise up, separating the waters on the surface, and we get land and sea.

Then God fllled the spaces that he has created, sky, sea, and land, with plant and animal life.

The sea, in these references of God’s creation has been used to depict life.

This flipping pattern repeats itself, as we shall see.

Moving on to Genesis chapter 6, God’s judgement upon the world is seen again.

Genesis 6:11-14

¹¹ Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. ¹² God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. ¹³ So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. ¹⁴ So make yourself an ark of cypress^[c] wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.

It is because of corruption, where the people on earth had gone way out of God’s plan, that God decided to wipe all life from earth, save for a remnant.

This is a revelation of the pattern of the world, a window to the past, and a glimpse into the future.  It had happened repeatedly before Genesis 1.  And it will happen again in our life-time.

After the great flood in Genesis 9, God promised Noah with the covenant marked by a rainbow, that He will never again destroy the world with water.  It suggests that He could have done it in the past, possibly even before Adam’s time, suggesting the state in Genesis 1:2, where the spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

It offers a glimpse to the future.  The pattern of the world will repeat.

But according to the God’s covenant by the rainbow, He will not destroy the whole world by water.  Perhaps God could still destroy sinners and parts of the world by water, which we have seen in natural disasters like tornadoes and tsunamis.  God could also use another means to destroy the whole world again, like with fire.  The message is clear.  God is God, and if we live life irresponsibly, we will perish.

Where the sea is used to depict chaos, the boat used in conjunction will depict a place of refuge.

Going further along Genesis to chapter 6, the first boat mentioned in the bible, is a place of salvation.  The waters here would mean death.

Noah’s Ark as seen in Genesis chapters 6-9 is a famous story that many children are familiar with.  The boat here represents salvation to all who comes aboard.

We see that because of corruption in the world, God was grieved and sent a great flood to wipe out most of life on earth, and to restart life on earth with a remnant of his creation.

The use and analogy of the sea as chaos and the boat as salvation here, will be commonly used, but transformed too, as in the case of Jonah.

Jonah 1:1-3

¹The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai:² “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

³ But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.

In the minor prophets, the Book of Jonah stands out as one book that reveals God’s heart for the people of the world, other than Israel.

He sends his prophet Jonah to prophesy in Nineveh about the coming judgment to them. Jonah, who knew God’s heart to save this city that he hated, ran away from God, and took a ship to sail away from where God has called him to go.  Jonah’s ship represents the escape, distraction and rebellion that we put up, when we do not want to obey God’s instructions to us.  It further shows how good intentions of the people around us, might actually slow or hinder us in our path of repentance back to where God wants us to be.

In Jonah, Jonah is thrown into sea, but instead of facing death, was delivered by a big fish, and the sea instead of bringing punishment and death, becomes the place of a second chance, and repentance.

God cannot be kept out, He is omnipresent.  He can be with us in places of evil and death, and will even use these to redeem us.  We will understand this reversal in baptism, where we die to our old selves, to live a new life in Christ.

Jesus reveals that what he does and what he says, is what he has learned from His father, our creator God.  He continues in the same style of communication and symbolism used by God, and we can see coherence in the entire word of God, despite the many human authors that were inspired by God to write parts of it.

As we travel with Jesus, we will see and hear him speak and perform miracles, all with a deeper meaning to them, if we understand their biblical context. 

This power to flip, would be the resurrection power and life that Jesus came to bring.

A divine power and life that can bring the dead back to life, and the impossible to happen.

Who is Jesus?

Will you follow him?