Lesson 4

Three Motifs

(Image by Dimitris Vetsikas from Pixabay)

Synopsis

In literature, a motif is a recurrent image, idea, or symbol that develops or explains the central themes and deeper meaning of a story. In this lesson we will study three important biblical motifs that appear for the first time in Genesis chapters 1 to 11. They are, water and wind, the exile, and the face of God. These motifs helps us better understand the Bible’s main theme, which is our redemption. After Jesus redeemed us by dying on the cross, we are created anew through the Holy Spirit and the waters of baptism so that we will be able to end our exile and return home, where we will once again be in God’s presence and see him face to face.

Learning Objectives

You will have successfully completed this lesson when you can describe and interpret the biblical motifs of water and wind, exile, and God’s face.

Introduction

We noted in the lesson on the crisis that Genesis 1 to 11 finishes with a cliffhanger. Despite God’s new creation through the flood, sin wasn’t eradicated from our world. On the contrary, it continued to grow until the whole world fell under its power. Everything seemed to be going in the wrong direction. Was there hope for mankind? How would God overcome this situation?

The only glimmer of hope is this strange prophecy of a woman and her offspring who will crush the serpent’s head. As Christians, we know that this prophecy is speaking of our redeemer, Jesus Christ.

For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. (Jn 3:17)

He will save us by dying for us on the cross. The redemption he will obtain for us is the main theme of the Bible. But at the moment, after having read the first eleven chapters, none of this is clear. These chapters do, however, introduce us to several motifs that will play an important role throughout the story and help us understand the nature of our redemption as the story progresses.

Remember what we saw in the course on how to read the Bible. In literary studies, a motif is a recurrent image, idea, or symbol that develops or explains the central themes and deeper meaning of a story. Because they occur throughout a story, motifs can be easy to identify. They offer clues which help the reader understand the author’s theme, but they do so in an indirect manner, forcing the reader to pause and ask questions. In this way, authors can get their message across more poignantly and in greater depth. We identify motifs by looking for repetitions of key words, images, and ideas. Three important motifs that make their first appearance in the introduction to the History of Salvation are water and wind, exile, and the face of God.

The Motif of Water and Wind

When God created the world, he used water and wind to do so. We can read about this in the second verse of the Bible.

The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit [or wind] of God was moving over the face of the waters. (Gn 1:2)

To understand this, it is important to note that in Hebrew, the word Ruah can mean both wind and spirit. Some translations will say “spirit” instead of “wind.” These same elements are also present in the story of Noah and the flood.

God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. (Gn 8:1)

This repetition helps us interpret the flood as a new act of creation rather than a divine punishment. God’s response to the growth of sin is to restore the world to its original state of chaos before creating it anew. Water and wind will reappear throughout the story. For example, in the Exodus.

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. (Ex 14:21–22)

This describes Israel’s passage through the Red Sea to escape from the Egyptian army. This event was another re-creation. On one side of the Red Sea, the Israelites were slaves to the Egyptians. But once they had crossed over, they became a new people: the People of God.

The Old Testament describes many ritual washings or ablutions. Priests, for example, where required to wash their hands and feet before entering the temple.

You shall also make a laver of bronze, with its base of bronze, for washing. And you shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it, with which Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet. When they go into the tent of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister, to burn an offering by fire to the Lord, they shall wash with water, lest they die. (Ex 30:18–20)

And water sprinkling was part of the ritual of consecration for the Levites.

And the Lord said to Moses, “Take the Levites from among the people of Israel, and cleanse them. And thus you shall do to them, to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of expiation upon them, and let them go with a razor over all their body, and wash their clothes and cleanse themselves.” (Nm 8:5–7)

Naaman was cleansed of his leprosy by bathing seven times in the Jordan river.

So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. ( 2 Kgs 5:14)

And the prophet Ezekiel said that God would renew Israel and purify her by the sprinkling of clean water.

“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them; and the nations will know that I am the Lord, says the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. For I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all the countries, and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances.” (Ez 36:22–27)

In the New Testament, John also speaks about water and wind in his gospel.

Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit [or wind], he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’ The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit.” (Jn 3:3–8)

Jesus is referring here to our baptism. Just as Israel was saved from slavery in Egypt by passing through windswept waters, so too are we saved from our slavery to sin by passing through the spirit-filled waters of baptism.

According to the Apostle Paul, the believer enters through Baptism into communion with Christ's death, is buried with him, and rises with him:

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (Rom 6:3–4; cf. Col 2:12)

The baptized have “put on Christ.” Through the Holy Spirit, Baptism is a bath that purifies, justifies, and sanctifies. (CCC 1227)

The motif of water and wind helps us understand how God will save us. Our redemption will be a spiritual bath that washes away our sins. We will also die with Christ when we enter the spirit-filled waters of our baptism, to be born again as new creatures when we come out of the water. In this way, we are created anew.

The Motif of Exile

Another motif we are presented with right from the beginning is that of the exile. When Adam and Eve sinned, they were exiled from paradise:

Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever”— therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. (Gn 3:22–24)

Cain was also exiled after he killed his brother:

You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth. (Gn 4:12)

This motif helps us understand the consequences of sin. Sin separates us from God and his family. This motif will reappear throughout the story. For example, we read how the Israelites were exiled to Egypt and the Kingdom of Judah was exiled to Babylon. It also helps us understand our redemption as a liberation. Jesus came to save us from exile as he said in his first homily in Nazareth.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

and recovering of sight to the blind,

to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. (Lk 4:17–19)

In the end, our exile is self-inflicted. But God wants us to come to our senses, like the prodigal son, and return home.

And the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” But the father said to his servants, “Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry; for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.” And they began to make merry. (Lk 15:21–24)

The Motif of God’s Face

A third motif that appears in the introduction is that of God’s face. After the fall, we read that Adam and Eve “hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden” (Gn 3:8). A more literal translation would say that they hid themselves from the face of the Lord God. In Paradise, Adam and Eve walked with in the presence of God. The main consequence of the fall was the loss of this face-to-face encounter with God. The Apostle John says: “No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him” (1 Jn 3:6).

The history of salvation can be described as the story of our quest to see God’s face. That God has as face means that he is a “you” with whom we can have a relationship. The desire to see his face expresses humankind’s deepest desire to reestablish our relationship with him—a relationship lost because of our rebellion against him.

This theme lies at the heart of the biblical story. The Old Testament uses this motif many times. For example:

Moses said, “I pray thee, show me thy glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord’; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “y ou cannot see my face; for man shall not see me and live. (Ex 33:18–20)

Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud,

be gracious to me and answer me!

Thou hast said, “Seek ye my face.”

My heart says to thee,

“Thy face, Lord, do I seek.”

Hide not thy face from me.

turn not thy servant away in anger,

thou who hast been my help. (Ps 27:7–9)

The Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron and his sons, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,

The Lord bless you and keep you:

The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you:

The Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.” (Nm 6:22–26)

By his Incarnation, Jesus became the visible face of God. Whoever sees him, sees the Father. That is why we strive to encounter Jesus in our spiritual life.

Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” (Jn 14:8–9)

Beloved, we are God’s children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. (1 Jn 3:2)

Conclusion

In this lesson, we have looked at three biblical motifs that appear in the story for the first time in Genesis chapters 1 to 11. These motifs are important because they will constantly reappear throughout the narrative. This literary device helps us better understand the Bible’s main theme: our redemption. After Jesus redeemed us by dying on the cross, we are created anew through through the Holy Spirit and the waters of baptism so that we will be able to end our exile and return home, where we will once again be in God’s presence and see him face to face.

Assignments

Watch the BibleProject video on the Exile.

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