Matthew 14:25-33: A Preterist Commentary

“And the Spirit of God Hovered over the Waters”

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Matthew 14-25-33: A Preterist Commentary: Summary and Highlights

In Matthew 14:25-33, Jesus walks on water. Could this miracle point to Jesus as the creator who moves over the waters at the creation of the earth in Genesis 1:2 and therefore be a prophetic omen pointing to the creation of the new earth foretold in 2 Peter 3?

The following may seem unbelievable.  However, all information is taken from unbiased historical records, cited and easily verifiable.

Dore, Gustave. Jesus Walking on the Sea.

The fact that Jesus hovers over the water in Matthew 14:25-33 shows that He is the creator who in Genesis 1:2 hovered over the waters before the creation of heaven and earth.

“And the Spirit of God Hovered over the Waters”

25During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. 27But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” 28“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” 29“Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” 32And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

Matthew 14-25-33: A Preterist Commentary drawing Peter out of teh water

The miracle in which Jesus draws Peter out of the abyss, like many of the miracles recorded in the Gospels, looks to be a sign of both the imminent creation of a new earth and the concurrent resurrection. This miracle hints at the resurrection in which the saints are raised to heaven from the Abyss, the dark realm of the dead.

A Preterist Commentary on Matthew 14-25-33: Could the Fact that Jesus walks on Water Point to Genesis 1:2 and therefore be a Sign that He is the Creator of the New Earth?

The strong wind blowing over the sea in v. 30 may point to Revelation 7:1-3.  In these verses, four winds are said to be responsible for harming the land and sea.  These four winds seem to cause the destruction of the earth.  Throughout the Book of Revelation earth represents Israel and sea, Gentile Rome.1  See In the Bible “Earth” Signifies the Specific Land Addressed While “Sea” Symbolizes Foreign Nations.  In the first century A.D., the Roman army swept through Israel like a devastating flood leaving it desolate.   Floods are often used in the Bible as a metaphor for a foreign invading army (Isaiah 8:7-8; Daniel 11:10; 11:40, Nahum 1:8; Joel 2:9).  Therefore, the Jewish War could be said to be a metaphorical flood in which Rome, the sea, destroyed Israel, the earth.  This flood seems to symbolize the primordial abyss of Genesis 1:2.

The earth was a water world in Genesis 1 Matthew 14:25-33 preterism

According to Genesis 1, the earth was formless and void because it was a water world before its creation.

In Genesis 1:2 the spirit of God moves over the waters.  This miracle in which Jesus walks on water could be a sign of divinity.  It may point to Jesus as the creator who moves over the waters at the creation of the earth in Genesis 1:2.  If this is true, then this miracle seems to be a prophetic omen of the creation of the new earth foretold in 2 Peter 3.2

Jesus walking on water Matthew 14-25-33: A Preterist Commentary

 

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Interested in THE PRETERIST VIEW OF ESCHATOLOGY, or are you a PRETERIST struggling with a prophecy or verse?  It DID happen just like the Bible says!  If you liked this essay, see PRETERIST BIBLE COMMENTARY for a detailed explanation of the FULFILLMENT OF ALL MAJOR END TIME PROPHECIES IN THE BIBLE. The more unbelievable the prophecy, the more amazing and miraculous the fulfillment!

Also see Historical Evidence that Jesus was LITERALLY SEEN in the Clouds in the First Century. For an explanation of how the end of the age and its fulfillment during the Jewish War mirror Genesis 1-3; how the Bible teaches that the resurrection of the dead is a resurrection of heavenly bodies to heaven, not a resurrection of perfected earthly bodies; and how the resurrection is a mirror opposite of the fall see How the Jewish War and Resurrection to Heaven Mirror Genesis and the Fall; and How Preterism fixes the Age of the Earth Problem and unravels the Mysteries in Genesis.

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Matthew 14-25-33: A Preterist Commentary: Conclusion

As stated in the above Preterist commentary on Matthew 14:25-33, the miracle in which Jesus walks on water points to Jesus as the creator who moves over the waters at the creation of the earth in Genesis 1:2 and is therefore a prophetic omen of the creation of the new earth foretold in 2 Peter 3.  

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Matthew 14-25-33: A Preterist Commentary

 

  1. See the preterist commentary on Revelation 17:15.
  2. The creation narrative found in Genesis 1 is a common creation account found throughout much of the ancient world in some variation.  In one interesting variant rather than hovering over the waters, the creator is said to walk on water in order to create the earth by drawing the earth out of the sea.  The creation account in which God creates the earth by walking on water was an ancient Mandan belief.  The Mandans were a Native American tribe.  (Barbara C. Sproul, Primal Myths: Creation Myths around the World, (New York: HarperOne, 1991), 249)

    This miracle in which Jesus walks on water recorded in Matthew 14:25-33 may also shed light on an otherwise inexplicable event said to have occurred in Rome in A.D. 69, in the midst of the fifth plague of Revelation:

    On the Capitol many huge footprints were seen, presumably of some spirits that had descended from it.  The soldiers who had slept there on the night in question said that the temple of Jupiter had opened of itself with great clangour and that some of the guards had been so terrified that they fainted. (Cassius Dio Roman History 65.8.)

    As stated above, the sea or waters represents Rome.  And thus Jesus’s giant footprints seen in this city during one aspect of His second coming may be a miraculous manifestation of the creator God walking on the waters before the creation of the new earth, the New Jerusalem of Revelation 21 and Revelation 22.