What are WE waiting for? (The end of the Sea)

Chaos roars about us like the crashing waves of the sea. In the largest nation in Africa, Christians are murdered by the thousands (See here for reading about Nigeria's war on Christians). In the world's largest nation, China, surveillance grows on every border and in every sector of life (See here for reading about China's increased surveillance in Hong Kong). In the United States, protests seem to take place for anything and everything except the continual, ongoing, government sponsored murder of the unborn (See here to read about the 17 states that fund abortions for low-income women on the same or similar terms as other pregnancy-related and general health services). 

Murder, war, injustice, pestilence, plague, famine. Am I missing anything to add to the list of present chaos? 

This week I've been asking the question, what are we waiting for? Maybe you are waiting for justice, maybe you are waiting for mercy, maybe you are waiting to purchase a house, maybe you are waiting to sell a house, maybe you are waiting for a new church, maybe you are waiting for a different job, maybe you are waiting for a relationship, maybe you are waiting for an apology, maybe you are waiting for satisfaction, maybe you are waiting for the end of life. 

We're all waiting for something. Each of us has our own personal answer to that question, so perhaps I should be a bit more specific. What are we waiting for as Christians? We're waiting for the chaos to end, and the eternal dwelling of God with us. 

As Christians, we know that the present chaos is not an everlasting reality. Although chaos is a present reality we know that God's order and rule triumphs over chaos. We know this because God's word has said so! 

21 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:1-4)

There are a couple of distinctive "new" things that are coming at the end of time as we know it. We read from God's Word that there is a new heaven (21:1), a new earth (21:1), a new city (21:2) and a new order is contrasted with an old order (21:4). Let us examine each of these, and see how God will establish order and abolish chaos. 

Revelation is far from the first time we read of the heavens and earth passing away. Often both the heaven and earth are mentioned together as a pair when speaking about things to come. In Psalm 102 we read about how God remains the same, but the heavens and earth themselves will be changed:

25 Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,

    and the heavens are the work of your hands.

26 They will perish, but you will remain;

    they will all wear out like a garment.

You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,

27     but you are the same, and your years have no end. (Psalm 102:25-27)

Here the Lord is contrasted with the heavens and earth. The Lord does not change, but the heavens and earth will change. The use of the plural "they" in verse 26 speaks to both the heaven and earth. A singular would be expected here if referring only to heavens. The Lord will be the cause of the heavens and earth to change. God made the heavens, and someday they will be made anew. The heavens passing away is a repeated theme throughout scripture. Peter speaks extensively about the heavens passing in the day of the Lord:

10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. 11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, (2 Peter 3:10-11)

One important note to ask here is what is Peter referring to when he says "these things are thus to be dissolved", to "what things" is he referring? Some options would be, A) the "works" done on the earth, B) the earth itself, C) heavenly bodies, D) the heavens or E) Some mixtures of these previous references within the same thought. Since Peter refers makes reference through a plural "all", I interpret this to mean all the things Peter cites between the first description of the day of the Lord, till the beginning of verse 11. Meaning, the heavens and the earth are coming to a time when these present places we know of will be dissolved. 

In a familiar passage, Jesus speaks about the passing away of the heaven and the earth and contrasts it with God's Word. We often focus on the statement Jesus makes regarding his words, while forgetting the first half of his statement. It is true and good for us to focus our attention on the reality that God's Word endures. By contrast, the heaven and earth will not:

35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. 36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. (Matthew 24:35-36).

Jesus' interpretation and teaching here in Matthew reinforces that this heaven and this earth are headed towards the exits. Jesus goes on to compare that day (the day of the Lord) as to Noah's days. The flood swept away all that God wanted to be destroyed, and spared all those whom God had saved. This is what the end of days will be like:

37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. (Matthew 24:37-39)

Just as the flood brought about a great destruction, it also brought about a new order to the world. Revelation 21, Matthew 24, and 2 Peter 3 all make very clear points that the old heavens and earth are on the way out. Isaiah 65:17 points towards both the reality that the present heavens and earth are on the way out, and that there is a new heaven and new earth on the way in:

17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. (Isaiah 65:17)

God, in the day of days, at the end of time, will be about the business of creating a new universe. This is something that we Christians, along with all of creation wait for!

22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. (Romans 8:22-23)

Paul uses harvest language in Romans 8 to describe what we now have. We do not have the full harvest presently, we don't see the fullness of time and we aren't in the new heaven and new earth presently. We are the first fruits, we are, as Christians, throughout the Holy Spirit, waiting for the day when our bodies will be redeemed into their eternal place of rest. That place, will be in the new heaven and new earth and will be without any sea. This comment about the sea isn't about a lack of bodies of water just as in general revelation isn't a book about geology. Rather there is meaning packed into this language of "sea" that John saw in his vision. 

In this new heavens and new earth there is no "sea", and as that word is used in the back half of Revelation it is very often referring to chaos of the world. John doesn't mean an absolute absence of water, John speaks to what he hears later in Revelation 21:6:

6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. (Revelation 21:6)

So on the one hand we have an absence of sea (21:1) and on the other we have an abundant spring bringing forth life. What is this sea then? And what is it good news that it will be gone in the new heaven and new earth? 

In the closest previous mention of sea in revelation, we learn much of what John is referring to in 21:1. This is yet another case where the segmentation and versification of scripture is somewhat unhelpful. Because we so often preach and teach on a paragraph by paragraph basis, we miss out on connecting thoughts or repeated themes that overlap chapter or verse. 

In Revelation 20 we read of the great white throne Judgement that happens prior to the new heaven and new earth. In the midst of this judgement we see the dead coming to be judged. The first place that is referenced for dead to come forth for judgement is the sea: 

11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:11-15)

The sea is a place that at the final judgement is lumped in with Death and Hades. It is a place of chaos, it is a place of brokenness, it is a place where there is no peace. Notice that both Death and Hades are given capital letters, this is because these are specific names in the original texts of Greek. In the closest reference to the sea in Revelation, the sea is going the way of Death and Hades, it's on the way out in the new heaven and new earth. All of the chaos of the sea will be no more. 

In Revelation 18 we read of the great destruction of Babylon the great. It is the city juxtaposed with Jerusalem. We might say that as the new Jerusalem is the city of God the old Babylon is the city of the world. The ones who prospered at the hand of this worldly city called Babylon mourn it's destruction. Specifically mentioned are those who worked at sea. 

17b And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off 18 and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning, “What city was like the great city?”

19 And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out, “Alas, alas, for the great city where all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth! For in a single hour she has been laid waste. 20 Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets,

for God has given judgment for you against her!” 21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more; (Revelation 18:17b-21)

This isn't a passage speaking against serving in the Navy, or working at sea. This is once again pointing towards the sea as a corrupt place of chaos where wickedness abounds. The ship masters and seafarers are looking from afar off and see the destruction of that which they had deemed wonderful. Chaos and all it's profiteering in partnership with this wicked city come crashing down. The city of wickedness, Babylon itself is then given a picture of it's destruction. An angel throws a great millstone into the sea. Just as the millstone sinks into the sea, the city of of wickedness, Babylon, will sink into chaos. No more will the city of wickedness profit in league with chaos, it will be utterly swallowed up by its affiliation with chaos. 

This sea of chaos that we are now in the midst of, war, wickedness, famine, and in a word, sin, will be done away with. There is coming a day when there will be a new heaven and a new earth, and it will be the end of chaos, an end of death, an end of all the enemies of God. The day of the Lord is the day that we look forward to as Christians. We wait eagerly for the day when every tear will be wiped away, and the voice of the everlasting God himself declares "there will be no more death". We wait for the end of the sea, and the new order of God which is to come.