Celebrating The Wonder Of Water

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Q1115

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CELEBRATINGTHE WONDEROF WATER

SScience labels the stuff H2O.It’s so common we hardlypay attention to it—until it

loses its balance: raging floods,searing drought, stifling humidity,paralyzing blizzards.

Reflecting the light of a settingsun or flowing gently through amountain meadow, water givesus great delight. Seldom,however, do we consider theunseen properties of water thatmake it the one thing that givesthe earth its uniqueness amongall the other planets in our solarsystem—and even the newlydiscovered planets farther out inspace.

In this booklet, RBC writerDean Ohlman urges us tocontemplate at a far deeper levelthe significance of water to thehuman body—and to the soul.

Martin R. De Haan II

Managing Editor: David Sper Cover Design:Terry BidgoodScripture quotations are from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by ThomasNelson, Inc. Used by permission.All rights reserved.© 2003 RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, Michigan Printed in USA

CONTENTS

Water And The Wonder . . . . . . . . . . 2

Water And Our World . . . . . . . . . . . 3

The Importance Of Water . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

The PropertiesOf Water . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

The AvailabilityOf Water. . . . . . . . . . . . 10

The Care Of Water . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Water And The Bible. . . . . . . . . . . . 21

In The Biblical Narrative . . . . . . . . . . . 21

As The Source And Nurturer Of Life . . . . . . 23

As Seen In The Biblical Miracles . . . . . . 25

As A Symbol Of Life. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

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© RBC Ministries. All rights reserved.

WATER AND THE WONDER

TThe canyon thatcradles the BigThompson River in

the mountains of Coloradooffers the traveler suchsensory delights that it’s not easy to forget. I’vemade the memorablejourney between Estes Parkand Loveland many times—sometimes stopping andgetting out of the car toenjoy the music of thewater and to dip my feet in the refreshing but painfulchill of the snow-bornstream. Surrounded by highrock walls and lined withwillows and alders, the BigThompson makes its wayfor about 15 miles rapidlydownhill from Estes Park. It flows through a multitudeof twists and turns over andaround boulders that havebeen rounded smooth bycenturies of hydraulicsculpting.

The size and abundanceof these rocks, however,reveal a fearful truth aboutthis normally confined river. Whenever longtimeresidents of this narrowcanyon hear the drummingof distant thunder, a gut-tensing reflex reminds themthat the Big ThompsonCanyon is one of Colorado’smost likely spots for adestructive flash flood.

The most deadly of thecanyon’s floods happenedon July 31, 1976, when arare combination of weatherfactors created a toweringstationary thunderstormthat dropped 8 inches ofrain in just 1 hour. Becauseof the narrowness of thecanyon and the steepnessof its rocky sides, theoverabundance of waterhad nowhere to go but intothe shallow river channel.The huge wall of water thatresulted moved so fast thatmany in its path had notime to scramble to safety.

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One hundred and fortypeople died in therampaging waters.

Whether in their calm orchaotic state, the propertiesand power of water fill uswith respect and awe forsomething as gentle as asummer morning mist, ashard and cold as ice, or asirresistible as a poundingsurf. In the many faces ofwater we see a reflectionnot only of our ownexistence but of somethingfar bigger than life itself.

WATER AND OUR WORLDTHE IMPORTANCEOF WATER

TThe earth is the onlyplanet we know ofwhere water and life

walk hand in hand. Theway the earth uses water isso fine-tuned that just onefactor out of kilter woulddestroy the very life thatwater sustains. Simply put,virtually everything alive onearth has its source in waterand lives in some form ofwater. Marine creatures andplants live in and dependupon liquid water and are composed primarily ofwater. Terrestrial creaturesand plants live in anddepend upon gaseous water(water vapor) and they tooare composed mostly ofwater. And people who live in the humid tropicssometimes find it hard tobelieve they aren’t living in liquid water!

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Whether in their calm orchaotic state,the properties and power of

water fill us withrespect and awe.

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Since we are virtuallysurrounded by water, itseems ironic that we wouldfeel discomfort with highhumidity—especially giventhat our bodies are mostlywater. A human baby is 75 percent water, an adultmale is 65 percent water,and an adult female iscomposed of 60 percentwater.

When we age, however, we tend to “dryout.” The older members ofour families are about 50percent water. This factgives rise to the theory thatpeople might live longerand remain healthier bydrinking more water. Itseems reasonable—givenwhat water does for ourbodies. Water is the verystuff of our cells. Of the 11gallons of water in theaverage adult body, about6 1⁄2 gallons are what makeup the fluid in our cells:intracellular water. Theremainder of the fluid,

which is extracellular, is used to lubricate andoperate functions like bloodflow, digestion, metabolism,procreation, and muscleand bone movement. Wateralso provides the body withthe temperature controlcritical to maintaining its life-giving and life-sustaining processes. And water even helps us to think: Our brains are 75 percent water. Knowing

this, we can readilyunderstand that while we can live more than a month without food,

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While we can live more than

a month withoutfood, we can’t livemore than a week

without water.

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we can’t live more than aweek without water.

Unless we were highlymotivated in chemistryclass, it’s not likely that most of us remember thechemical formula for manyof the common compoundsand materials we interactwith from day to day. Butmost of us remember theformula for water: H2O. And we may even rememberthat the formula means thatwater is a compound formedfrom two atoms of hydrogenand one of oxygen.

Hydrogen and oxygenare two of the Creator’sbasic material buildingblocks. Science calls them“elements.” And hydrogenis the most basic. It’s listed#1 on that complex chart ofelements many of us cameto dread: the Periodic Table.Those who named theseelements actually did apretty good job of it. Takehydrogen, for example. It’s made up of two Greek

terms that mean “water”and “born.” By giving it that name, scientists weremaking it clear that thissubstance is what givesbirth to water. That’s pretty significant when you understand how water, birth, and life arerelated. And it’s interestingalso to learn that hydrogenis the most abundantelement in the universe,making up 90 percent of its weight.

But hydrogen doesn’tparticularly like beingalone, so it teams up with a number of other elementsto make some reallysignificant compounds—themost important to life beingits bond with oxygen. Thisbond happens becausehydrogen atoms have apositive electrical chargeand oxygen has a negativecharge. They’re likemagnets attracting eachother. In nanoseconds theselittle teams join up with one

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another to form vapor and drops, then eventuallyclouds, thunderstorms,puddles, lakes, andstreams—and finally our great oceans.

It’s been discovered alsothat this chemical bondisn’t unique to the earth.Water is actually commonall over God’s cosmos(which isn’t surprising whenyou learn how widespreadboth hydrogen and oxygenare). There’s a cloud ofgases in the constellationOrion that’s making watervapor so fast—and sovast—that it puts outenough water molecules tofill the earth’s oceans morethan twice every hour!

THE PROPERTIESOF WATERTo better understand what awonder water is, it’s helpfulto consider the amazingproperties of water. Theseproperties are so unusualthat the finding of many

scientists is the ratherunscientific conclusion thatwater is simply “weird.”Students of this amazingsubstance have actuallylisted 38 anomalies ofwater—ways that waterdiffers from what’sexpected. And it’s thesedifferences that make water so significant.

Density. The almostuniversal behavior forliquids is that when they getcooler, they become moredense, until their moleculesvirtually stand still. Theyfreeze in their most densestate. Not water. Whathappens with water is thatwhile it does get denser as itgets colder, when it reachesabout 38° F the processstops. And when thetemperature drops just sixmore degrees, it quicklyexpands and then freezes.That’s why ice floats. Andit’s a good thing. If it didn’tdo this, ice would form onthe bottom of bodies of

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water—gradually buildingup until all life in the waterwas destroyed. This wouldin turn eventually destroyall life on earth. It’s thissame process that helpscreate the wonders thatfascinate us every winter:the latticework of frost, thesymmetry of snowflakes,and the light blanket ofwhite that dazzles our eyeson cold sunny days.

The 19th-centurypreacher and author GeorgeMacDonald, who becamethe inspiration for many ofC. S. Lewis’ writings, wasfascinated by nature—andby water in particular. He wrote the followingreflection on ice crystals:

I walked home onewinter’s Sunday morningafter church. It was alovely day. The sunshone so warm that youcould not help thinkingof what God would beable to do before long—draw primroses and

buttercups out of theearth by force of sweetpersuasive influences.But in the shadows layfine webs of laces of ice,so delicately lovely thatone could not but beglad of the cold thatmade the water able toplease itself by takingsuch graceful forms. AndI wondered over again,for the hundredth time,what could be theprinciple which, in thewildest, most lawless,fantastically chaotic,apparently capricious,work of nature, alwayskept it beautiful. Thebeauty of holiness mustbe at the heart of itsomehow, I thought.Because our God is sofree from stain, so loving,so unselfish, so good, so altogether what Hewants us to be, so holy,therefore all His worksdeclare Him in beauty;His fingers can touch

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nothing but to mold it into loveliness; andeven the play of Hiselements is in grace and tenderness of form (Discovering TheCharacter Of God, editedby Michael Phillips,Bethany House, 1989,pp.117-118).Cohesion. The way

the water molecule isformed and the nature ofthe elements from which it’smade result in creating aliquid with a surface “skin.”It’s this skin that dimplesunder the feet of thefascinating spider-like waterstrider, spreads its wideningwake behind the zoominglittle water-boatman beetle,and forms the concentriccircles advancing outwardfrom the impact point of achild-thrown stone. Even asewing needle can be madeto float on the cohesivesurface of water. Thiscohesion, or surfacetension, also makes

water form the droplets so vital to other lifeprocesses—especiallyimportant to the form andfunction of the living cell.

Adhesion. Whilecohesion causes watermolecules to stick together,adhesion helps water stick to other things. Weexperience this when we try to separate stacked glasstumblers that have virtuallybonded themselves with athin layer of water. It takesan amazing amount of pullto accomplish the task.Many a mom has scars toindicate that some of theseattempts have negativeconsequences!

It’s this same adhesiveforce that creates capillarity:the ability of water to climb narrow tubes.Cohesion and adhesion in tandem make watermolecules sort of reach up and grab the sides of a tube, and seemingly indefiance of gravity, pull

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themselves upward, whileat the same time they reachdown and grab fellowmolecules and pull themalong. It’s this property thatallows water to move upthrough living plants andmove the way blood movesthrough the capillaries ofour bodies.

TemperatureControl. Water is theearth’s thermostat and the human body’s thermalregulator. What it does in relationship to heat isastounding in many ways.The key wonder is thatgiven the behavior of other similar substances,water would be expected to become a gas at roomtemperature. Life existsbecause it doesn’t. Somewater, however, does escape the surface of itsliquid state and becomevapor through the process of e-vapor-ation.Evaporation cools thesurface area where it

occurs. How it does this is itself a wonder: Heatapplied to the surface of water causes the topmolecules to “dance” withthe higher temperature—like barefoot kids trying tocross a hot asphalt road ona summer day. Eventuallythese heat-energizedmolecules vaporize, risinglike hot air balloons. Thisleaves behind the coolermolecules, lowering thetemperature of the bodyfrom which it has escaped.

Water also stores heatextremely well and gives itup reluctantly. Those of uswho live in the Great Lakesregion of the United Statesare well aware of the resultof this factor in the winter:“lake-effect” snow. Watervapor rises from the surfaceof the heat-retaining largelakes and condenses intosnowflakes in the driersubfreezing air. Prevailingwinds move the subsequentsnow clouds over land

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where they drop theircrystal load—sometimes all within a few short miles. Longtime residents of Buffalo, New York, can testify of the “verticalblizzards” that have manytimes left them strugglingthrough chest-high snow to reach the curbside whitemounds that mark the spotwhere they need to startdigging for their cars.

Water’s ability to store heat and then hold it is just one more way that it supports life onearth. If it didn’t make upnearly 80 percent of theearth’s surface and didn’tstore heat, the earth’stemperature fluctuationwould become so extremethat all life would quicklycease to exist.

Dissolver. Water iscalled the universal solvent.Virtually all the naturallyoccurring elements havebeen found dissolved inwater, from sodium to

gold. And it’s clearly noaccident that the mostcommon elements in waterare the most commonelements in the humanbody. Of all the work thatwater does in, around, and for people, one of itsmost important jobs is itscapacity to carry to everyhuman cell the dissolvednutrients and criticalcomponents we need to live and remain healthy.

THE AVAILABILITYOF WATERThe millions of people who live along thecoastlines or occupy thewater-rich regions of theearth sometimes find itdifficult to believe thatmillions of others struggleto find enough water tosurvive. It seems that theearth is oversupplied withwater—until we understandsome significant facts.

The most basic fact isthat 96.3 percent of the

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earth’s water is found in itsoceans. While seawater iscritical in many ways to lifeeverywhere, it’s too salty forpeople to use for drinking,for irrigation, and for mostindustrial purposes. Freshwater, then, amounts toonly 3.7 percent of theworld’s supply. That’sactually a pretty heftyamount of water, and if all of it were available fordirect human use, it wouldmore than supply all ourfresh-water needs. But mostof it is not available. Thegreat bulk of it is locked up in glaciers, ice caps, theatmosphere, and in groundmoisture. The amountavailable to human beingsfrom wells, streams, andlakes is .007 percent of theglobal water supply!

To get a good picture ofthis, imagine that all theearth’s water is collected ina thirty-gallon drum. Nowfill a gallon-size containerfrom the drum. That

represents all the freshwater there is on earth.Finally, pick up a teaspoonand dispense from thegallon container enoughwater to almost fill it. That’sall we have available forready use. But, believe it or not, even that smallamount can adequatelyprovide humanity with allits fresh-water needs—thatis if we don’t pollute it,don’t overexploit it, anddon’t hoard it. We alsoneed to keep in mind thatthe other air-breathingcreatures of the world, alsoloved and cared for by theirCreator, need their share of fresh water—a factpoetically presented to usby the biblical psalmist:

He sends the springs intothe valleys; they flowamong the hills. Theygive drink to every beastof the field; the wilddonkeys quench theirthirst. By them the birdsof the heavens have their

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home; they sing amongthe branches. He watersthe hills from His upperchambers; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of Your works (Ps. 104:10-13).If all the earth’s fresh

water were neatly portionedout to human beings, we’deach have about 2 milliongallons of the vital stuff.And over a normal span of life, we would take inand use only about 16,000gallons of water. Theamount ideally available to us and the amount weconsume to keep our bodiesworking seems to indicatethat we have a lot tospare—until we start addingup the hidden spending ofH2O by the modern human.Consider these commonwater usages in the life of the typical American:

• 2 gallons to brushone’s teeth each day

• 4 gallons to flush atoilet once

• 12 gallons to putdishes through anautomatic washer

• 20 gallons to hand-wash dishes

• 30 gallons to take a shower

• 2,000 gallons to makefour new tires

• 37,000 gallons to makea car

• 1 gallon to process a hamburger

• 11 gallons to process a chicken

• 9 gallons to process a can of fruit orvegetables

• 5 gallons to make oneboard-foot of lumber

• 24 gallons to make apound of plastic

• 1,800 gallons to refineone barrel of oil

When people have to pay for water to bedelivered, it really adds up. For example, a citizenof water-rich Canada paysabout a penny for 8 gallonsof water. In the Old World

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nations like Germany, acitizen pays about a pennyfor every gallon. Developednations typically deliverwater through municipalwaterworks, requiring farless effort for their citizensthan those who have tohand-carry water. The result of this difference isthat the poorer citizens inless developed nations willend up paying 12 timesmore in actual currency forwater—and who knowshow much more in labor.

Inequities like this, ofcourse, are not the result ofdeliberate hoarding. Theymerely reflect the reality ofthe irregular distribution offresh-water supplies aroundthe world. For example, the Great Lakes, which areshared by the United Statesand Canada, contain almost20 percent of the world’sfresh water. Lake Baikal inRussia holds close to thesame. This means that 40percent of the earth’s

available fresh water lies inconfined areas within thepolitical boundaries of justthree nations. Oneillustration will help usunderstand the scope ofthis amount of water: Ifmainland United Stateswere totally flat and theGreat Lakes were allowedto flow evenly over itssurface, every Americanwould be struggling to stayafloat in 9 1⁄2 feet of water!

THE CARE OF WATERThe irregular geographicaldistribution of fresh water is the prime cause of bothapparent and real inequitiesin human access to it. But other factors are alsoimportant in the growinginternational water crisis—most of them the result of human behavior.Consider these factors that compound the problem of uneven fresh-water distribution:

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PopulationIncrease. The number ofpeople on the earth 2,000years ago was only 3percent of the total livingtoday. Yet there is no morefresh water available todaythan there was then. Globalwater use has increased sixtimes in the past 70 years,while the populationincreased only three times.This means that not onlyare there many more peopleusing water, they are alsoindividually using—directlyand indirectly—more waterin their daily lives. If peopleconsume water in 2025 atthe rate now enjoyed byresidents of developednations, 90 percent of allfresh water will be used up in 2025. Unless LakeBaikal, the Great Lakes,and other beautiful andcherished bodies of waterbecome nothing more thanreservoirs of water forhuman consumption, thismeans a severe water

shortage is looming formany people around theworld. In addition, as we use more and moreavailable fresh water forhuman purposes, lessremains to maintain river,lake, and wetland habitatsvital to the health andsurvival of both people and wildlife.

It’s estimated that 1.2billion people, or almost 1 of every 5 people in theworld, are without access to safe drinking water, and half of the world’spopulation lacks adequatewater purification systems.Add to this the fact that 2.4billion people, or 40 percentof the world’s population,do not have access toadequate sanitation. Thesad result is that some 2.3billion people in the worldsuffer from water-relateddiseases, and millions ofthem die each year. InBangladesh, for instance,three quarters of all

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diseases are related to unsafe water. Sixtypercent of infant mortalityin the world is related toinadequate water qualityand quantity.

Water QualityDecline. Populationgrowth and increasedconsumption not onlycreate shortages, they alsodegrade the quality of thewater that is available. Theworld’s fresh-water supply isbeing contaminated bysubstances that eventuallymake it life-threateningrather than life-giving.

Pollution is caused by bothdeliberate and accidentaldumping of sewage into the world’s waterways.Chemicals from industry,agriculture, and humanhouseholds are continuingto find their way into ourfresh-water supplies—in spite of increasededucational endeavors and governmental controls.Further, hormone- andantibiotic-laced animal andhuman waste is also findingits way into our fresh-watersupplies. Scientific studiesare beginning to provideevidence that these arecreating potentiallydevastating effects on both human and animalimmune, endocrine, andreproductive systems. Manyresearchers are convincedthat the early onset ofpuberty in girls in the moreaffluent nations is the resultof hormones found in bothour food and our water.

As the world’s15

It’s estimated that 1.2 billion

people, or almost 1 of every 5 people

in the world, arewithout access to

safe drinking water.

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population increases, the demand for food rises.This in turn requires moreintensive agriculturalproduction. Agriculturalirrigation is responsible for70 percent of the total waterused globally. Agriculturalwaste, fertilizers, pesticides,herbicides, and silt arepoisoning and choking huge river systems. Thepumping of water foragriculture is drasticallyreducing the water levels in most of the world’sunderground waterreservoirs (called aquifers).When the fresh water in an aquifer near the ocean is pumped out, it is oftenrefilled by saline water fromthe sea—salt water that isuseless for farming andhuman consumption.

Even dams, which were once thought to be the answer to the world’sfresh-water shortages, arenow shown to be a cause ofwater degradation. Unlike

rainwater, which is purifiedby natural distillation, waterheld behind dams is usuallymore saline—eventuallydegrading the soil uponwhich it is applied. The soil in vast regions of Iraq and even in the stillagriculturally productivedesert regions of theAmerican Southwest isbecoming so salty that littlewill grow there. Whitishcrusty soil loaded with saltoften glitters in the sunlightnext to crops that grow onlybecause they’re pamperedby intensive, expensive,and increasingly futilefarming methods.

Because fresh water is consumed by a rapidlygrowing world population,numerous small and largerivers no longer even reachthe sea. And many of thosethat do are polluted. Theinevitable result is theserious degradation ofcoastal ocean waters, killing off coral reefs

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and destroying other marine habitats importantfor the production of fishand other seafoods neededto feed so many of theworld’s people.

One thing is made clearby this growing fresh-watercrisis: We must do morethan just consume water; wemust become its caretakersas well. The life, health, and

well-being of billions ofpeople around the globeincreasingly depend on our

understanding and carefulmanagement of the world’sfresh water.

Offering a cup of water to a thirsting individual asan expression of obedienceto love our neighbor hasbecome more than just asymbol. It also reflects thesobering reality that theworld’s fresh-water resourcesare being threatened. So theChristlike act of neighborlylove will increasingly involveprotecting access to this life-critical substance for allpeople.

Seventy percent of the water drawn from theworld’s rivers, lakes, andunderground aquifers is used for agriculturalirrigation. And almost half of that water is lost toevaporation and spillingbefore it reaches the roots of thirsty plants. So thesingle most significant water stewardship practicewould be to develop andimplement more efficient

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One thing is made clear by thisgrowing fresh-watercrisis: We must do

more than justconsume water;we must become

its caretakersas well.

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irrigation practices. Drip irrigation, which was pioneered by Israeliagricultural scientists andfarmers, has evolved into awider variety of low-wastewatering methodsworldwide now called“micro irrigation.” Thesemethods typically result incutting water use in half. It’sclear that wide acceptanceand implementation of suchpractices would be wisewater management.

There are a number of other important macro-conservation efforts thatwould significantly reducewater consumption:

Recycling Of UrbanWastewater. Mexico City, for instance, usesurban wastewater to irrigate and fertilize alfalfafields. Arcata, California,and many other cities in theUS, are now incorporatingwastewater treatment withwetland development topurify water, irrigate

crops, and increase wildlifehabitat. Thousands ofmunicipalities now requirenew buildings with pavedparking lots to provide water-catchment basins that will allow rainwater to seep back through theground into the local aquiferinstead of being flushed intostreams and out of town viaexpensive storm drains.

Recycling AndConservation OfIndustrial Wastewater.It typically requires 300 tons of water to make a ton of steel. This shows themagnitude of industrialwater use. Yet in the USfrom 1950 to 1990, wateruse by industry has fallenone-third while industrialoutput has risen four times.This is a strong indicatorthat the message aboutwater conservation is finallybeing heeded. The moredeveloped nations, however,at present have moreresources and more resolve

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than the less developednations to incorporate good principles of watermanagement. WesternEuropean countries, forexample, use half as muchwater to produce a ton ofpaper as China does, whichconsumes nearly 119,000gallons of water per ton of paper.

Landscaping To MatchNatural Local Vegetation.Standards for what makeslandscaping beautiful arechanging rapidly in responseto the fresh-water crisis inmany countries. Cities andcitizens in arid locationsused to strive to “green up”lawns, parks, and boulevardmedians by pumpingcopious amounts of wateronto the landscape—sometimes merely as asymbol of affluence. Manynow recognize how wastefulit is to endeavor to create a rainforest in a desertclimate. They’ve gone from“green and lush is beautiful”

to “prickly and sparse isbeautiful.” Many of thecities in America’s desertSouthwest now seek tolandscape both public andprivate property with native,drought-resistant plants.This simple attitudechange—compelled by rising water costs and watershortages—has resulted in adramatic reduction of wateruse.

If these macro-conservation practices by institutions are added tomicro-conservation practicesby individuals, the benefitsof water management willbecome more and moreapparent to all. Some ofthese personal practicesmight include the following:

• installing low-flowtoilets or toilets thatcompost waste ratherthan transport it towater-treatment plants

• installing low-flowshower heads

• repairing water leaks19

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• not letting the waterrun continuously whenbrushing teeth

• washing clothes lessfrequently, and thenonly in full washerloads

• using dishwashers onlywhen they are full, andrunning them on theshort cycle

• not letting the waterrun when washingdishes by hand

• keeping chilleddrinking water in therefrigerator instead ofrunning the tap untilthe water is cold

• composting waste foodinstead of putting itthrough a disposal

• washing your car froma bucket and runningthe hose only to rinse

• sweeping walks anddriveways instead ofspraying them cleanwith water

• watering lawns andlandscaping early in

the morning or in the evening (which isbetter for the plants,anyway)

• using “gray water”from tubs, showers,sinks, and washers to water plants

• collecting and usingrainwater to waterplants

• reconsidering the“necessity” ofswimming pools in arid climates

• returning large irrigatedlawn areas to naturallywatered vegetation

These are just a few ofthe many personal efforts toconserve water that mightbe considered as practicalways to “love your neighboras yourself.” If we do sensethe wonder of water, we arelikely also to be remindedof the One who not onlycreated our world butplaced it under our care(Gen. 2:4-15).

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WATER AND THE BIBLEIN THE BIBLICALNARRATIVE

GGiven the importanceof water to all oflife’s processes, it’s

not surprising to discoverhow often water, waterimagery, and watersymbolism appear in the Bible. What surprises

many, however, is the depthof understanding about thephysical nature of waterdemonstrated by writers ofthe Scriptures over 2,000years ago. It’s commonly

believed that many of theprocesses, like the watercycle, were not understooduntil the dramatic increasein scientific knowledgebeginning with theRenaissance. But some of the oldest books of the Bible indicate thatknowledge about the life-supporting attributes of water has been aroundsince ancient times.

Here are some of thoseprocesses mentioned atleast 1,000 years before the time of Christ:

EcologicalRelationships. “Can thepapyrus grow up without a marsh? Can the reedsflourish without water?While it is yet green andnot cut down, it withersbefore any other plant” (Job 8:11-12).

Erosion AndDissolution. “As waterwears away stones, and astorrents wash away the soil of the earth . . .” (Job 14:19).

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Good stewardshipof the creation is tied to our

worship of the One who created

it—and us.

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Significance ToRegeneration OfPlants. “For there is hopefor a tree, if it is cut down,that it will sprout again,and that its tender shootswill not cease. Though itsroot may grow old in theearth, and its stump maydie in the ground, yet at thescent of water it will budand bring forth brancheslike a plant” (Job 14:7-9).

Clouds As WaterVapor. “He binds up thewater in His thick clouds,yet the clouds are notbroken under it” (Job 26:8).“With moisture Hesaturates the thick clouds;He scatters His brightclouds” (Job 37:11). “He causes the vapors toascend from the ends of theearth; He makes lightningfor the rain; He brings thewind out of His treasuries”(Ps. 135:7).

Evaporation AndCondensation. “Hedraws up drops of water,

which distill as rain fromthe mist, which the cloudsdrop down and pourabundantly on man” (Job 36:27-28).

Water Cycle. “All therivers run into the sea, yetthe sea is not full; to theplace from which the riverscome, there they returnagain” (Eccl. 1:7).

Because so many of us today live and work in places insulated andisolated from the outdoors,we tend to ignore the water-related processes going onaround us, unless we arecaught off guard by asudden storm, a flash flood, or a raging blizzard.The ancients, on the otherhand, had an intimacy with the natural world thatcompelled them to havegreat respect for the powerthe Creator demonstratedby the dynamics of water.Consider this set ofquestions from the book ofJob intended to emphasize

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God’s control over nature:Who has divided a channel for theoverflowing water, or apath for the thunderbolt,to cause it to rain on aland where there is noone, a wilderness inwhich there is no man; tosatisfy the desolate waste,and cause to spring forththe growth of tendergrass? Has the rain afather? Or who hasbegotten the drops ofdew? From whose wombcomes the ice? And thefrost of heaven, who gives it birth? The watersharden like stone, and the surface of the deep isfrozen (Job 38:25-30).

AS THE SOURCEAND NURTURER OF LIFENo doubt the mostsignificant reference towater in the Bible—perhapsin all of human literature—is found in the Genesis

account of creation. That’s where we find thefoundational statementabout the connection of life to water:

In the beginning Godcreated the heavens andthe earth. The earth waswithout form, and void;and darkness was on theface of the deep. And the Spirit of God washovering over the face ofthe waters (Gen. 1:1-2). The word deep in the

second verse is a Hebrewterm that also refers towater—the fathomlessdepths of the oceans. Thisimage of the protectingSpirit of God brooding overthe pregnant waters of earthas the Creator gave origin toall of life is paralleled bythe development of the lifeof every human being bornon that very same earth.The hovering Holy Spiritguided the development of life on the earth just as lovingly as He does

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every human soul nurturedin the placental waters of its mother.

Certainly Francis ofAssisi had this image ofnurture in mind when hewrote, “Be praised, myLord, for our Sister MotherEarth, who sustains us andkeeps us.” People of God’sBook shouldn’t feelpressured to discard thisbeautiful picture of theprimal earth as a nurturingmother. Rather, we ought toboldly proclaim that ourFather God through theeternal wisdom and powerof God the Son and thesuperintendence of God the Holy Spirit created theearth with the capacity tonourish all life it gives birthto. Such life could not existwithout the miracle ofwater.

The root meaning of theLatin word for “nourish” is“to give milk to.” From thiswe can see that St. Francis’metaphor “Mother Earth” is

not based on a pantheisticunderstanding, but onnatural reality. As a followerof Christ, he properly gavepraise to his Lord and God,as did the psalmist:

Praise the Lord! Praisethe Lord from theheavens; praise Him inthe heights! Praise Him,all His angels; praiseHim, all His hosts! PraiseHim, sun and moon;praise Him, all you starsof light! Praise Him, youheavens of heavens, andyou waters above theheavens! Let them praisethe name of the Lord, forHe commanded and theywere created. He alsoestablished them foreverand ever; He made adecree which shall notpass away (Ps. 148:1-6).The human embryo,

over the course of 9months, grows into amature infant as it “swims”in its placental water sac.This fact provides us the

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simplest and most likelyexplanation for Jesus’statement to Nicodemusthat “unless one is born ofwater and the Spirit, hecannot enter the kingdom ofGod. That which is born ofthe flesh is flesh, and thatwhich is born of the Spirit isspirit” (Jn. 3:5-6). Peopleare first born naturally—outof water. And those whoplace their faith in JesusChrist are born a “secondtime”—born of the Spirit.

AS SEEN IN THEBIBLICAL MIRACLESSince water is so importantin the Middle East, it’s notsurprising to discover howoften water is a primaryfactor in many of themiracles of the Bible.

• The creation of life(Gen. 1)

• The flood (Gen. 6–9)• The preservation of the

infant Moses (Ex. 2)• The plagues against

Egypt (Ex. 7–10)

• The dividing of the Red Sea (Ex. 14)

• Water from the rock(Ex. 17)

• The dividing of theJordan (Josh. 3)

• Elijah and the drought(1 Ki. 17–18)

• The consumption ofElijah’s water-drenchedaltar (1 Ki. 18)

• Elisha and the floatingax head (2 Ki. 6)

• Jesus turning water towine (Jn. 2)

• The great catches offish (Lk. 5; Jn. 21)

• Jesus walking on thewater (Mt. 14)

• Jesus calming thestorm (Mk. 4)

God used most of thesemiracles in the life of Israelchiefly as evidence of Hispresence and His power to a people surrounded bycultures serving powerlessfalse gods. But the Biblemakes it clear that even theregular events of naturehave a miraculous element.

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Is God’s sending forth waterfrom the rock at Moses’command any more awe-inspiring than the waterHe’s poured forth formillennia from the foot of Mount Hermon to fill the Sea of Galilee, theJordan, and the Dead Sea?

Consider God’smiraculous presence in the towering pillar of cloud(water vapor) in daylightand fire at night that led theHebrew children throughthe wilderness. Is that more magnificent than His manifestation in themassive, silver-linedthunderclouds that dailydash over the earth’ssurface with frightful soundand flashing fury? And is Jesus’ instantaneousmiracle of turning waterinto wine any moreamazing than God’s gradual miracle of drawingcolorless, tasteless water upfrom the earth and forcing itthrough twining vines to

produce sweet and savorygrapes out of which wine is

made? The Bible gives us abeautiful picture of this:

In that day sing to her,“A vineyard of red wine!I, the Lord, keep it, I

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Is Jesus’instantaneous

miracle of turningwater into wine anymore amazing than

God’s gradualmiracle of drawingcolorless, tastelesswater up from theearth and forcing it

through twiningvines to producesweet and savory

grapes out of whichwine is made?

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water it every moment;lest any hurt it, I keep it night and day” (Isa. 27:2-3).The idea that the regular

processes of nature aremiraculous comes outclearly in the book of Job:

He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,miracles that cannot be counted. He bestowsrain on the earth; He sends water upon the countryside (Job 5:9-10 NIV). He does great things past finding out, yes,wonders without number (Job 9:10).One of the most startling

revelations of the Bible iswhat it says about whoJesus Christ is, and why Hecould perform the miraclesHe did. The amazing truth isthat while Jesus was a man,He performed certain localmiracles. But prior to Hisincarnation, and continuingtoday, He performs all the

daily miracles of the wholecosmos. In His supernaturalpower He maintains all thematerial aspects of thecreation:

[The Son] is the image of the invisible God, thefirstborn over all creation.For by Him all thingswere created that are in heaven and thatare on earth, visible and invisible, whetherthrones or dominions orprincipalities or powers.All things were createdthrough Him and forHim. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist(Col. 1:15-17).This same truth is seen in

the first chapter of the bookof Hebrews:

God, who at varioustimes and in various waysspoke in time past to thefathers by the prophets,has in these last daysspoken to us by His Son,whom He has appointed

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heir of all things, throughwhom also He made theworlds; who being thebrightness of His gloryand the express image of His person, andupholding all things bythe word of His power,when He had by Himselfpurged our sins, sat downat the right hand of theMajesty on high (vv.1-3).From these passages

we learn the foundationalbiblical doctrine that Jesusis truly God in the flesh—the Second Person of theHoly Trinity who in Hispreincarnate form wasresponsible for creating allmatter and for continuing tohold all material thingstogether. This being thecase, we understand thatthe One who bonded thefirst hydrogen atoms withoxygen to form the first life-giving water is the sameOne who changed thecomposition of water towine when He was on the

earth—and the same Onewho offers us the water ofeternal life.

AS A SYMBOL OF LIFEBecause of the literalrelationship of water to life, water has stoodfiguratively as a symbol of life throughout recordedhistory. And in the Bible,this life symbolism is madeeven more significant whenit represents the salvationthat leads to eternal life.This is first mentioned byIsrael’s prophet Isaiah:

Behold, God is mysalvation, I will trust and not be afraid; “forYAH, the Lord, is mystrength and song; Healso has become mysalvation.” Therefore with joy you will drawwater from the wells ofsalvation (Isa. 12:2-3). Since the people

of Israel did not remainfaithful to their God, they

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were reminded of theirfaithlessness by the prophet Jeremiah, whoseentire career was spentadmonishing his people to repent:

My people havecommitted two sins: They have forsaken Me,the spring of living water,and have dug their owncisterns—broken cisternsthat cannot hold water. . . . O Lord, the hope ofIsrael, all who forsakeYou will be put to shame.Those who turn awayfrom You will be writtenin the dust because theyhave forsaken the Lord,the spring of living water(Jer. 2:13; 17:13 NIV). God is a God of grace

and mercy, however. Heconstantly offers His people a way back to Him.One of the last of the OldTestament prophets foretoldthe glorious end whenIsrael finally repents in the last days:

In that day it shall be thatliving waters shall flowfrom Jerusalem, half ofthem toward the easternsea and half of themtoward the western sea; inboth summer and winter itshall occur (Zech. 14:8).It’s fitting that Jesus,

the author of the NewCovenant, would pick upwhere the prophet of theOld Covenant left off—announcing to a loneSamaritan woman God’sgrandest offer to mankind:

“If you knew the gift ofGod, and who it is whosays to you, ‘Give Me adrink,’ you would haveasked Him, and He wouldhave given you livingwater.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, You havenothing to draw with, andthe well is deep. Wherethen do You get that livingwater? Are You greaterthan our father Jacob,who gave us the well, anddrank from it himself, as

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well as his sons and hislivestock?” Jesus answeredand said to her, “Whoeverdrinks of this water willthirst again, but whoeverdrinks of the water that I shall give him will neverthirst. But the water that I shall give him willbecome in him a fountainof water springing up into everlasting life” (Jn. 4:10-14).One of the fascinating

facts of the biblical messageof salvation for all people is that it was so oftencommunicated first to thelowliest of humanity. TheJews, who received theoriginal written revelation of God, were scorned by the Romans and otherconquerors as worthlessrabble. The Jews themselveslooked down on theSamaritans as one of thelowest castes of humanbeings. But Jesus revealedHis desire and ability tosave a lost and sin-ravaged

humanity to a Samaritanwoman.

Not too long aftermaking His dramatic offer,Jesus made the supremesacrifice, allowing His life’sblood to be poured out onthe ground beneath Hiscross of crucifixion—history’s greatest act of self-sacrifice, and one thatassured forgiveness forsinful mankind. Theimagery of shed bloodproviding sin-healing, life-giving water has beenelegantly stated in WilliamCowper’s hymn There Is AFountain. The hymn istaken from another water metaphor used byZechariah: “In that day a fountain shall be openedfor the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness” (Zech. 13:1).

There is a fountain filled with blood

drawn from 30

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Immanuel’s veins,and sinners plungedbeneath that flood

lose all their guilty stains.

The dying thief rejoiced to see

that fountain in his day,and there may I, though vile as he,

wash all my sins away.

Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood

shall never lose its power,till all the ransomed

church of God be saved, to sin no more.

E’er since, by faith, I saw the stream

Thy flowing wounds supply,redeeming love

has been my theme and shall be till I die.

The confirmation ofJesus’ ability to provide thewater of life came shortlyafter His crucifixion, whenHe arose from the grave.

Then, after showing Himselfalive to His disciples, Heascended into heaven whereHe waits until the appointedmoment of His promisedreturn.

The apostle John wrotethe account of Jesus’ offer of “living water” to theSamaritan woman (Jn. 4).Many years later hereceived a visionaryrevelation from Jesus, who said:

It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega,the Beginning and theEnd. I will give of thefountain of the water oflife freely to him whothirsts (Rev. 21:6). John went on to declare

that Jesus “showed me apure river of water of life,clear as crystal, proceedingfrom the throne of God andof the Lamb” (Rev. 22:1).John was actually given a glimpse into the future fulfillment ofZechariah’s prophecy.

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The apostle also said thatJesus had expanded Hisgenerous offer to theSamaritan woman to

all of us—the very lastinvitation of salvation in the Bible:

Come! And let him whothirsts come. Whoever

desires, let him take the water of life freely(Rev. 22:17).So water becomes the

bookends of the Bible. Itappears in the beginning as the source andsubstance of all temporallife, and it appears again at the end as the greatsymbol for eternal life.

What a wonder water is! Humanity—all of life—would not exist without it.And everlasting life wouldnot be ours without that miraculous waterrepresented in the savingwork of Jesus Christ.

Have you responded toJesus’ invitation to partakeof the water of life? If not,now would be a wonderfultime to go to the Source ofall water, and forgiveness,and eternal life. Accept and trust the One who is the real wonder of water (Jn. 1:1-14).

32

Water becomes the bookends of

the Bible. Itappears in the

beginning as thesource and

substance of alltemporal life,

and it appearsagain at the end

as the great symbol for eternal life.

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Celebrating The Wonder Of Water