The Earth: Hit by Wind, Waves, & Floods in the Bible
… not in every passage, but in most prophetical passages, war is being spoken of, in metaphorical terms …
—————
Sea = surrounding nations
Wind/Waves = attacks
Flood = invasion
—— many examples:
Reach down your hand from on high; deliver me and rescue me from the mighty waters, from the hands of foreigners[.]” (Psalm 144:7)
Woe to the many nations that rage—they rage like the raging sea! Woe to the peoples who roar—they roar like the roaring of great waters! (Isaiah 17:12)
Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come. (Isaiah 60:5)
“Who is this that rises like the Nile, like rivers of surging waters? Egypt rises like the Nile, like rivers of surging waters. She says, ‘I will rise and cover the earth; I will destroy cities and their people.’ (Jeremiah 46:7-8)
This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines before Pharaoh attacked Gaza: This is what the Lord says: “See how the waters are rising in the north; they will become an overflowing torrent. They will overflow the land and everything in it, the towns and those who live in them. The people will cry out; all who dwell in the land will wail (Jeremiah 47:1-2)
The Lord will destroy Babylon; he will silence her noisy din. Waves of enemies will rage like great waters; the roar of their voices will resound. A destroyer will come against Babylon; her warriors will be captured, and their bows will be broken. (Jeremiah 51:55-56)
Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against you, Tyre, and I will bring many nations against you, like the sea casting up its waves. (Ezekiel 26:3)
Therefore the Lord is about to bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates—the king of Assyria with all his pomp. It will overflow all its channels, run over all its banks and sweep on into Judah, swirling over it, passing through it and reaching up to the neck. (Isaiah 8:7-8)
But with an overwhelming flood he will make an end of Nineveh …. 4 The chariots race madly through the streets; they rush to and fro through the squares;
they gleam like torches; they dart like lightning. He remembers his officers; they stumble as they go,
they hasten to the wall; the siege tower[b] is set up. The river gates are opened; the palace melts away; its mistress[c] is stripped;[d] she is carried off, her slave girls lamenting, moaning like doves and beating their breasts. Nineveh is like a pool whose waters run away.
“Halt! Halt!” they cry, but none turns back. (Nahum 1:8 … 2:4-8)
[notice the army here does what water does]: “They rush upon the city; they run along the wall. They climb into the houses; like thieves they enter through the windows.” (Joel 2:9)
Your wrath has swept over me; your terrors have destroyed me. All day long they surround me like a flood; they have completely engulfed me.
You have taken from me friend and neighbor-darkness is my closest friend. (Psalm 89:16-18)
Woe to that wreath, the pride of Ephraim’s drunkards, to the fading flower, his glorious beauty, set on the head of a fertile valley- to that city, the pride of those laid low by wine! See, the Lord has one who is powerful and strong. Like a hailstorm and a destructive wind, like a driving rain and a flooding downpour, he will throw it forcefully to the ground. That wreath, the pride of Ephraim’s drunkards, will be trampled underfoot. (Isaiah 28:1-3)
From the west, people will fear the name of the LORD, and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory.
For he will come like a pent-up flood that the breath of the Lord drives along. (Isaiah 59:19)
And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed. (Daniel 9:26)
And the angel said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. (Revelation 17:15)
15 The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. 16 But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. 17 Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea. (Revelation 12:15-17)
Your wrath has swept over me;
your dreadful assaults destroy me.
They surround me like a flood all day long; they close in on me together. (Psalm 88:16-17)
And David inquired of God, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?” And the Lord said to him, “Go up, and I will give them into your hand.” 11 And he went up to Baal-perazim, and David struck them down there. And David said, “God has broken throughla) my enemies by my hand, like a bursting flood.” Therefore the name of that place is called Baal-perazim. (I Chronicles 14:10-11)
And David came to Baal-perazim, and David defeated them there. And he said, “The LORD has broken through my enemies before me like a breaking flood.” Therefore the name of that place is called Baal-perazim. & 21 And the Philistines left their idols there, and David and his men carried them away. (2 Samuel 5:20-21)
Isaac Newton actually figured this all out too: see his writings on prophetic language: