Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Revelation.  Tonight is study #2 of Revelation chapter 21 and we are going to read Revelation 21:1

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

In our last study we looked at some Scriptures where God describes the passing away of this present earth and the creation of a new heaven and a new earth.  It is similar to what God said about those He has saved.  The “old” man is passed away and all things become new; He makes the child of God a “new” creature and God is going to do the same thing with this world which has seen corruption.  God brought the world into corruption when man fell into sin and He will create a new heaven and a new earth.

We looked at everything except the last part of Revelation 21:1:

… and there was no more sea.

We wonder why God is emphasizing this part of the world, since the “sea” is part of the earth.  When He says the first earth is passed away, that would include the sea.  You cannot separate it because the mountains, the land and the seas are all part of this earth and if the earth passes away it would not be just part of the earth that passes away.  It will be the complete earth that passes away, so the sea would obviously pass away with it and it makes us wonder why God draws our attention to this statement that “there was no more sea.”

We do not know what the new earth will be like and we can be sure it will be spectacular and glorious, but we have no idea what that creation will be.  We know it will be far better than this present cursed creation, but why does God say, “And there was no more sea”?  The answer has to do with the spiritual meaning of the sea.  The word “sea” in the Bible can point to Gospel activity.  It is where fish are found and fish are likened to men.  God likens a “troubled sea” to the wicked, as He tells us in Isaiah 57 that “the wicked are like the troubled sea.”  False prophets are likened to the “raging sea.”  The wind is boisterous and it causes the sea to rage, so they are also “troubled men.”

However, the “sea” in our verse is not said to be “troubled.”  If it said that, we would think it has to do with the wicked, but it simply says that there is “no more sea.”  When we turn to the Bible to find the spiritual definition of what the sea represents, we find it points to the wrath of God that comes upon men for their sin.  For instance, in Exodus, chapter 14 the Egyptians pursed the Israelites unto the Red Sea and then God fought for Israel and we read in Exodus 14:27-31:

And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and JEHOVAH overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them. But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. Thus JEHOVAH saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore. And Israel saw that great work which JEHOVAH did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared JEHOVAH, and believed JEHOVAH, and his servant Moses.

Here, we see how God used the “sea” as an instrument of His wrath to destroy Pharaoh and the Egyptians, which typified Satan and his kingdom of the unsaved people of the world.  It was a vivid, historical parable which illustrated Judgment Day and the destruction of the wicked, the enemies of the kingdom of God.  They were drowned in the sea and it goes on to say in Exodus 15:1-10:

Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto JEHOVAH, and spake, saying, I will sing unto JEHOVAH, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. JEHOVAH is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him. JEHOVAH is a man of war: JEHOVAH is his name. Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea. The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone. Thy right hand, JEHOVAH, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, JEHOVAH, hath dashed in pieces the enemy. And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble. And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea. The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them. Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters.

It continues on, but we get a clear picture in which God uses the sea to bring destruction upon His enemies.  The language says, “Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea. The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone.” It talks of them being thrown into the sea and the waters being gathered and standing upright as a heap and the depths being congealed in the heart of the sea.  All these statement identify with the wrath of God and God’s furious anger upon sinners.  We could go to other places (in the Bible) and see how it relates.  For example, just think of the flood in Noah’s day.  It was not a “sea,” in the sense of where God drowned the Egyptians, but in a way it became a “sea” as God rained water down upon them for forty days and forty nights and He opened up waters from the depths beneath.  Tremendous amounts of water flooded the earth and turned the whole world into a sea.  How did the unsaved people die?  They drowned as a result of the flood waters, just as the Egyptians drowned in the Red Sea, because it typifies God’s wrath. 

Remember how God describes the sea in the Book of Jonah.  Jonah depicts various types in the Book, but in chapter 1 he is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ.  In chapter 1 Jonah enters a ship to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of JEHOVAH and it says in Jonah 1:3:

But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of JEHOVAH, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of JEHOVAH.

This is language indicating that Christ entered into the human race and the human race was going from the presence of JEHOVAH.  That wording takes us back to the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve sinned and hid themselves “from the presence of JEHOVAH,” and that has been the condition of mankind ever since.  So Jonah enters into a ship and goes with them from the presence of JEHOVAH; that is, Jesus became a man and entered into the human race.

Later on in this Book God troubles the sea.  He has another plan for Jonah.  He was not to go to Tarshish, but to go to Nineveh.  To accomplish this, the Lord brought a storm upon the sea.  Then the mariners said to Jonah, in Jonah 1:11-16:

Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous. And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them. Wherefore they cried unto JEHOVAH, and said, We beseech thee, O JEHOVAH, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O JEHOVAH, hast done as it pleased thee. So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging. Then the men feared JEHOVAH exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto JEHOVAH, and made vows.

The sea was raging.  It was as if the Law of God was demanding satisfaction.  Notice that the mariners said, “Let us not perish for this man's life.”  Of course, they did not realize the full importance of what they were saying, but it is a dramatic picture of the atoning work of Christ who died for His people; Christ died so His elect would not perish.  And the elect do not perish because of what Jesus did from the foundation of the world. 

The sea ceased its raging against the ship where the men were because the “sea” had no more demand upon the mariners after the offering of Jonah.  This is the spiritual picture, as Jonah typifies Christ.  The “sea” points to the wrath of God as it takes Jonah.  Historically, Jonah is picturing Christ making payment for sin and it is as if the “sea” is taking Christ in its wrath.

Then we read in Jonah 2:1-3:

Then Jonah prayed unto JEHOVAH his God out of the fish's belly, And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto JEHOVAH, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.

When we pay close attention to this language, we find the “belly of hell” is related to the “midst of the seas” and to the “floods” that compassed him about and the “waves” that passed over him.  Then it goes on to say in Jonah 2:4-6:

Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O JEHOVAH my God.

We see a similar picture to the Egyptians being cast into the sea or to the first world that perished in the flood.  Here, Jonah, a type of Christ, is cast into the sea and he is swallowed by a whale in order that he can survive because, historically, God had more for Jonah to do.  He has to continue to live in order to go to Nineveh.  The whale is in the sea and it is in the floods with water compassing it about and that demonstrates how God depicts the sea as it devours Jonah.  But the Lord Jesus was victorious over death and hell and rose up out of the depths and was resurrected.  So the whale served its purpose and vomited Jonah out upon the dry land and it is a wonderful picture of the Lord Jesus and His atoning work for His people from the foundation of the world.

We also have a word in the New Testament that is used of “the deep,” concerning the swine that perished in the lake.  It says in Luke 8:30-33:

And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him. And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep. And there was there an herd of many swine feeding on the mountain: and they besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them. And he suffered them. Then went the devils out of the man, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake, and were choked.

They were drowned in the lake.  Drowning in that lake was referred to as “the deep,” and the word “deep” is a translation of the same Greek word translated as “bottomless pit” in the Book of Revelation, so we can see the identification God is making between the drowning of the swine in the lake to the Egyptians drowning in the Red Sea or to the people that drowned in the flood of Noah’s day or to Jonah being cast into the sea.  We can see how God uses this kind of language.

One more thing I would like to mention is in regard to Jonah’s “death” and the mariners when they said, “Let us not perish for this man's life.”  Remember what God said in Micah 7:18-20:

Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.

Here, God is making the statement that He will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea, in the sense that Christ entered into the “sea” or into the “deep,” as He experienced hell and death for His people.  Hell points to the grave.  Christ rose again.  And where are the sins of His elect once Christ rises from the sea?  They remain in the sea.  They have been paid for and the wrath of God, as represented by the sea, was satisfied with the death of the Lord Jesus Christ on behalf of His people for their sins.  Payment was made completely and then Jesus rose and all the sins He bore for the sake of His people was paid for and His people no longer have any sin.  Their sins are in the depth of the sea and that is why we are free of sin and we bear no sin in God’s sight: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.”  We are clean and we are washed white as snow.  We are pure and we have no iniquity or transgression or evil deed.  If we had just one evil deed, God would have to destroy us, but we are perfectly righteous and pure and holy in His sight because our sin was “cast into the sea.”  The “sea” typifies death, hell and the wrath of God. 

No wonder the Lord makes a special point in Revelation 21, verse 1, of saying, “and there was no more sea.”  The direction the Lord is looking here (and the direction He would have us to look) is to eternity future.  It is no longer looking at this world and this creation because they are passed away and He has created a new heaven and a new earth.  The sins of the people of God are passed away.  They are in the “sea” because Christ paid for them from the point of the world’s foundation and death and hell and the wrath of God are now finished because God has carried out what the Law demanded.  His justice has been served and His vengeance is done and now it is time for the new heaven and new earth and to dwell with His people in this glorious new creation for evermore.