“….and there was no more sea”
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.” Genesis 1:1-2 NLT
Then, in the end… “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone.” Revelation 21:1 NLT
If you are one of those people that picks up a book then reads the last chapter first to find out the end of the story, the Bible is probably one of the better books to do this with. After all, how many books have you picked up where the last 2 chapters directly mirror the first 2 chapters? This is the case as we compare Genesis 1-2 with Revelation 21-22. We have in the first 2 books of the Bible; the creation of it all, we have in the last 2 books of the Bible; the re-creation of it all.
If you have done this comparison or have simply read the last part of chapters of the Bible, there is one very short sentence found at the end of Revelation 21:1 that really sticks out in a strange way. John teaches us in this verse that “the sea was also gone”. If you have read this before, it is so simple and short that you may have simply glossed right over it. But when you stop and reflect on it, you must wonder why John’s vision of the new heaven and earth would exclude the sea. I typically think of the sea as a place to enjoy the waves or the sunshine, why would it be absent in the new earth described? A deeper study reveals the problem in our interpretation is in our own personal perspective of the sea. While there is nothing specifically ‘evil’ about the sea in a physical sense, from a biblical and spiritual perspective the imagery of the sea is used very very differently. To examine this more fully we must travel through the scriptures to more fully understand why in a new creation without the influence of evil, there cannot possibly be any “sea”.
In this lesson we carefully study how the ‘deep’ or ‘sea’ is an illustration throughout scripture of chaos and destruction in our world. When we read scripture we should pay attention to the ‘sea’ in this way and as we do, our eyes will become opened to the deeper fuller meaning of what God is trying to teach us in the passages presented.
First we will discuss the sea as the residence and final destiny of evil and its destruction.
Notice how the Spirit of God in Genesis 1:2 hovered over the waters of the deep. Before the world was made ‘habitable’ for man the sea is described as the ‘waters of the deep’. In Genesis 3, man is persuaded by the evil one leading Him into sin and rebellion against God. So we must ask, where did this evil influence originate if not there at the creation of the earth? Scripture teaches us that Satan is a fallen angel (Isaiah 14:12-14 with 2 Peter 2:4), cast from heaven to the earth with his legion of followers. I conclude from this (my perspective only), the influence of the destruction and chaos was present on the earth before the formation and habitability of the earth for mankind.
Throughout scripture we find the sea used as an illustration of turmoil, chaos, residence of evil, and the destruction of evil. Only through God’s divine protection for mankind is this destruction avoided.
We find as early as Genesis 8 (Noah’s Ark), the destruction of a created world back to its origin as described in Genesis 1:2 where there was no separation between land and sea. Mankind as described in Genesis 8 as ‘being only evil, all the time’ is destroyed in the consuming water of the sea while a ‘righteous’ Noah and his family were spared this destruction floating above its waters (more on this later in the study).
Moving forward to Exodus 14 where God miraculously frees a captive Israelite nation from slavery in Egypt through a series of plagues against a polytheistic (many gods) nation. Israel is freed from Egypt, carrying its wealth when we seem to have a turn of events where Pharaoh again pursues them. The fear that must have been in the Israelite nation as they look behind them to see an army from Egypt led by Pharaoh with an army of men having just lost their firstborn children. It is only at the crossing of the Red Sea on fully dry ground that the real freedom from Egypt is realized. Pharaoh and his army are swept into the sea and never again to threaten God’s people. A people who crossed that same sea “on dry ground”.
When we enter the New Testament, we need to pay attention to Jesus actions on and around the sea. We find him healing the sick by the sea, we see him calming the sea, walking on the sea and using it extensively to teach and train his disciples.
In Matthew 8 Jesus heals the demon possessed man by casting the demons into a local heard of pigs. These pigs (this evil), not by Jesus command, but by their own inclination immediately run off a cliff, plummeting into the sea. A return to their origin of chaos and destruction.
28 When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. 29 “What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?” 30 Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. 31 The demons begged Jesus, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.” 32 He said to them, “Go!” So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water.
When we compare these different events to the Revelation given to John near the end of scripture, where we find an angel of God is about to open the 7th seal of wrath sealing the scroll that only the Lamb of God is worthy to read, the scroll of the book of life (Revelation 10). This seal once broken would signal in the time for the Lamb of God to read its contents. A book with the names of those eternally saved and given paradise in the new heaven and new earth while the abyss in the sea of burning sulfur waits for those whose names are absent from its contents. Notice the position of this angel as he stands with one foot on dry ground (life eternal) and one foot on the sea (eternal destruction).
Now let’s look at how Christ uses this destructive emphasis of the sea to display his power over the sea’s chaos and to teach His disciples his purpose for them in this chaotic world. We need not fear the raging chaos and storms of the sea, but are to bring people out of its destruction into a life of peace and victory over it.
First we see Christ calls the disciples fishing in the sea asking them to become ‘fishers of men’.
8 One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. 19 Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” 20 And they left their nets at once and followed him.21 A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets. And he called them to come, too.22 They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind.
If, in fact the sea is the residence of evil and chaos in the world (as I propose it is), look at the full significance of this passage. As the disciples cast their nets, pulling fish out of the sea, Christ calls them into a future of pulling the souls of man from this sea, the sea of destruction and evil, to an eternity of paradise without its influence. Christ himself later clarifies this point in Matthew 13.
47 “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. 48 When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. 49 This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous 50 and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.51 “Have you understood all these things?” Jesus asked. “Yes,” they replied.
This becomes a perfect illustration of his plan for them to fish for the souls of men from the ‘sea of unbelief’. Let’s look further into how this call becomes reality. As Jesus trains his disciples they are witness to numerous examples of Christ calming the sea or healing by the sea. On two separate occasions, Jesus rebukes the disciples in the face of death because of their lack of faith over the turmoil of the sea. The first instance is found in Mark 4:35-41.
35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
The second instance is found in Matthew 14:22-32
22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost, “they said, and cried out in fear.27 But 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. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith, “he said, “Why did you doubt?”
In both cases, the disciples are chastised by Christ for their ‘little faith’. It’s remarkable to think about the courage of Peter as he steps out of the boat and begins to walk on the water. When his eyes are diverted to the waves and turmoil around him, he starts to sink before being rescued by Christ. Yet another example of how evil is conquered through faith alone! Imagine the lasting value of this training as this group of men were destined to give everything (including their lives) for the gospel of the living Lord.
Please don’t miss the emphasis of this for our lives as well. Everyone struggles with the turmoil and fear from the sea of life’s difficulties around us. Nobody is immune to its destruction and being drawn into the waves that threaten to overtake us. Only through the focus on Christ are the waves of the sea and its influence completely calmed. When we take our eyes off our Savior and teacher, we focus more on the turmoil of life than the calm offered through faith in the eternal nature of our Lord. With eyes fixed on our Savior, even in the midst of death we are consumed with the peace and love that only flows through the promise of eternity in paradise.
So we reflect. In the end, ‘there is no sea’, there cannot be. No influence of evil, no chaos of life, no storms raging. So we look forward to this time with great anticipation. A new heaven and new earth without the influence of evil and chaos.