What Does “No Longer Any Sea” Mean In Revelation 21:1?

Sea In The Hebrew Bible

In the Hebrew Bible, sea is used to refer to the nations. In Ezekiel 32:2, Egypt is described as a lion among the nations and a monster of the seas. In Daniel 7:2-3, Daniel has a vision the four great beasts that came out of the sea, meaning out of the nations.

“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea.”

When Daniel inquired about the identity of the four great beasts, he was told they were four great kings over four kingdoms that would arise from the earth. (Daniel 7:17, 23). These are the same kingdoms of Daniel 2 symbolized in Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams. They are the kingdoms or empires of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome.

During the time of the old covenant heaven and earth, God used sea imagery when he sent nations to bring his judgment. An example of this is in Ezekiel 26:13 when God told Tyre that he would bring many nations against it like the sea casting up its waves. Another example is in Jeremiah 6:23 when God sent the Babylonian armies in judgment upon Jerusalem.

They are armed with bow and spear; they are cruel and show no mercy. They sound like the roaring sea as they ride on their horses; they come like men in battle formation to attack you, Daughter Zion.

Not only did God judge Jerusalem with Babylonian soldiers mounted on horses sounding like the roaring sea, he also judged Babylon as the Medes (Jeremiah 51:28) rose over Babylon and covered her like the sea. This brought desolation to the towns of Babylon (Jeremiah 51:41-43).

How desolate Babylon will be among the nations! The sea will rise over Babylon; its roaring waves will cover her. Her towns will be desolate, a dry and desert land, a land where no one lives, through which no one travels.

The Use Of The Word Sea In Revelation

Based on the use of the word sea in the Hebrew Bible, the original first-century Jewish audience would have associated sea in Revelation with a nation and with judgment. Close to ten times in Revelation the word sea is used to symbolize the nations. In Revelation 13:1, a beast comes up out of the sea, meaning out of the nations. This is the Roman Empire, the fourth kingdom in the statue of Daniel 2 and the fourth beast of Daniel 7. In Revelation 18:21, Babylon the Great (Jerusalem) is thrown into the sea in judgment.

The use of the word sea was common in the Hebrew Bible to describe nations and judgment. It is the same in Revelation. Sea describes nations and judgments connected to the old covenant heaven and old earth. However, when John saw the new heaven and new earth, there was no longer any sea because the first heaven and first earth passed away. The first heaven and first earth is symbolic for the old covenant heaven and earth. Since the old heaven and earth passed away, there was no longer any sea, meaning God was no longer using the nations to bring judgment upon other nations.

Today, we live under the new heaven and on the new earth where God is not sending one nation against another nation in judgment. Rather, heaven is now pouring grace upon the nations as the good news of the grace of Jesus flows into the nations through the new Jerusalem...the bride of Christ...the family of grace.

This is an excerpt from my new book, The Book of Revelation: Judgment On First-Century Israel - Available On Amazon.

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