English
Português
Español
Français
Answer
Revelation 21:1 states, “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.” There is no reason not to interpret this literally, indicating that God’s new earth will not include vast areas of saltwater across the globe. Naturally, bodies of freshwater, like the river mentioned in Revelation 22:1, could still be plentiful in the new earth.
Prophecies concerning Jesus’ first coming were fulfilled literally. Similarly, non-prophetic sections in the Bible are also mostly literal. If a particular passage is not intended to be taken literally, there will be clear contextual indicators: for example, an inanimate object used to represent a living entity (Jesus is the bread), life attributed to an inanimate object (the trees clap their hands), or an expression inconsistent with the described subject (Herod is a fox). Revelation 21:1 lacks such indicators; hence, there is no valid reason to interpret the revelation that the new earth will lack a sea as figurative.
As Revelation 21 reads like an actual depiction of the new heaven and new earth, and since Scripture offers no alternative explanation, verse 1 likely means exactly what it says: in the new earth, there will be no sea.
While this may unsettle those who cherish the sea, we must not distort the meaning to align with our preferences or biases. Jesus’ statement in Matthew 22:30 about the absence of marriage in heaven may also be disconcerting; nevertheless, we must not manipulate the meaning of any verse to seek comfort. We must trust by faith that whatever God, in His perfect wisdom, has ordained is the optimal reality.
By adopting a literalist approach, we recognize that there are alternative interpretations of the declaration that there was no longer any sea. Some individuals believe that the “sea” in RevelatioIn Revelation 21:1, it refers only to the Mediterranean Sea. When John peers into the future, he sees that the Mediterranean is gone. Elsewhere in Scripture, the Mediterranean Sea is simply referred to as “the sea,” for example, Joshua 17:10.
Others believe that the statement “there was no longer any sea” is a figurative reference to there being no more divisions among humanity. In our current world, the oceans provide natural barriers between nations and people groups. According to this interpretation, John’s vision predicts that, in the new earth, humanity will not be separated by any means.
Another view is that the statement “there was no longer any sea” refers to the absence of anything that is perilous, unpredictable, or tumultuous. The sea in John’s time was often viewed as a place of danger and changeableness. Jesus spoke of “the roaring and tossing of the sea” as part of the tribulation of the end times, “And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;” (Luke 21:25). Psalm 46 speaks of the need to trust God, although the sea’s “waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging” (verse 3). According to this interpretation, God’s promise is that the new earth will not be a place of turmoil or fear.
Earlier in Revelation, the “sea” was the source of the satanically empowered beast, “And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.” (Revelation 13:1). This has led some to interpret the statement “there was no longer any sea” in Revelation 21:1 to mean that the source of evil in the world is gone. No longer will there be an opportunity for rebellion in God’s creation.John’s statement that there will be no more sea in the new earth is the first of seven things that are “no more.” The other six promises are that the new order of things will have no more death, mourning, weeping, pain «And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. », (Revelation 21:4), curse «And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: », (Revelation 22:3), and night (Revelation 21:25;Revelation 22:5).
Revelation 21:1 and the statement that there was no longer any sea is part of a description of the re-creation of the whole universe, after the tribulation, after the millennium, after the final rebellion. Things will obviously be very different on the new earth from what they are now. The current earth is mostly covered by water, but the new earth will have a different geography and therefore a different climate.
In the end, the key is that God will make everything beautiful in His time. Whatever He has planned for us, it will be for the best. Eye has not seen nor ear heard the wonderful things that God has prepared for those who love Him «But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, Neither have entered into the heart of man, The things which God hath prepared for them that love him. », (1 Corinthians 2:9).
