There Was No More Sea

Introduction: The Sea Will No Longer Exist

Let me ask you a question most people glide past when they read Revelation: Why does God choose to end of the Bible with the line—“there was no more sea”? What is He telling us?

From Genesis to Revelation, the Scriptures use the sea, the deep, and great waters as a powerful picture—of chaos, judgment, death, the deep, and the bottomless pit. I believe the deep dark seas are a picture of hell.

Today, within His words, we’ll watch God set boundaries on the deep, judge through the waters, reveal the depths as a realm of darkness, show Christ’s victory over the sea, and finally remove the sea in the new creation.

1) Chaos to Order — God Masters the Deep

Genesis 1:2
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Psalm 104:6-7
Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains. 7 At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away.

Before there was garden order and human life, there was darkness over the deep—unformed, unfriendly, untamed. But God speaks, and the waters obey. The picture is clear: God alone rules the deep. He draws lines the sea cannot cross. Where man sees chaos, God sets boundaries.

If your life feels like Genesis 1:2—formless, void, dark, overwhelmed—the same Spirit who “moved upon the face of the waters” moves today. God speaks, and chaos must bow.

But think about the seas today—the ocean. It’s always moving. It never stops. Wind and air pressure. Earth’s rotation. Gravity. The moon and sun pulling the oceans. Warm water versus cold water. Salty water versus fresh water. Things sink and float differently. Coastlines and seafloor shapes. Speeding up the water and slowing down the water.

You have rivers flowing into and rainfall. Everything gets mixed together. To our eyes, the seas are turbulent and restless.

Jeremiah 5:22
Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it.

The seas are rough to us, but God is the Lord over the seas. Chaos to order. God masters the deep. God is the creator of the deep dark seas. God is the creator of hell. He is control of it all.

2) Waters that Kill — Judgment and Deliverance

Genesis 7:21-23
And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: 22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. 23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.

Outside of the ark, the waters killed.

Exodus 14:27-28
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 the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. 28 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.

Exodus 15:5
The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone.

In the Red Sea, Egypt is buried; Israel passes through.

The sea is both grave and gateway—judgment for the wicked, deliverance for God’s people. People who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ are delivered from death and hell.

God still separates His people from the world. Jesus Christ is our Ark, and He is our dry ground. Stay in Him; don’t go back under those waves. Don’t go out in the chaos. Don’t be pulled into the darkness of the deep.

3) The Deep & the Dead — The Lowest Pit

Job 26:5-6
Dead things are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof. 6 Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering.

If you pay attention as you read through the Bible, you see that the waters are compared to hell many times. “Dead things are formed under the waters.”

Psalm 88:6-7
Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. 7 Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah.

Notice the word waves are used there. It’s like waves knocking you down over and over again.

Psalm 69:1-2
Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. 2 I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.

This is like a man drowning in the seas. He’s sinking. He can’t stand. In the water, you can’t stand. He’s in the deep waters. The floods are overflowing him.

Please notice the language in many of these Scriptures—lowest pit, darkness, the deeps, wrath like waves. He’s using drowning to picture the weight of death and God’s displeasure. Job links the realm of the dead to what’s “under the waters.” The Bible is teaching us to see the deep as a picture of death and the underworld.

When sin drags at your ankles and fear whispers “you’re going under,” remember: God sees through the deep; “Hell is naked before him.” No darkness hides from Him, and no wave is higher than His word.

4) Jonah’s Descent — A Living Parable of Hell and the Deep

Jonah 2:2-6
And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. 3 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. 4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. 5 The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. 6 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 LORD my God.

Jonah speaks of “the belly of hell,” “the deep,” and the “earth with her bars.” He descends—down, down, down—until God brings him up. Jesus points to Jonah as His sign, and Scripture testifies that His soul went to hell and was not left there.

Matthew 12:40
For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Acts 2:27
Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

Acts 2:31
He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.

Psalm 16:10
For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

The descent and the travail:

Ephesians 4:9
(Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?)

Acts 2:24
Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.

Isaiah 53:10-11
Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

Jonah’s language—deep, waves, bars—forms the picture. Christ, the greater Jonah, goes into death and hell, bears the travail of His soul, and is brought up, just as it is written: His soul was not left in hell, nor did His flesh see corruption.

The “sea” imagery of judgment and the “deep” of the lowest pit converge at the cross, the grave, and His descent—then God looses the pains of death. A dead body doesn’t have any more pain. A soul in hell has pain. After 3 days and 3 nights, God looses the pains of DEATH.

5) The Restless Sea — No Peace to the Wicked

Please keep in mind that we’re talking about the sea as a picture of hell. This is very clear in the Bible.

Isaiah 57:20-21
But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. 21 There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.

The sea never rests—always heaving, always casting up mire. That’s the sinner’s soul without Christ: stirred by lust, anger, fear, and pride, no peace day or night.

If you’ve been to the beach with ocean waves, they will knock you down over and over again for as long as you can take it.

If your inner life feels like a stormy bay, the Lord is near. Don’t medicate restlessness with sin; come to the One who stills the sea.

6) Christ over the Sea — Lord of Chaos

I want you to think about how the seas are picture of hell.

Matthew 8:26-27
And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. 27 But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!

Matthew 14:25-27
And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. 27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.

He rebukes the sea—and there is a great calm. He walks on the sea—the feet of the Son of God upon the symbol of death and chaos. What the Old Testament pictured, Christ performs. He is not just a teacher about storms; He is Lord in the storm.

He has power over the waters to walk upon them. Those Scriptures are more than just Jesus doing a miracle. The word of God goes deeper and deeper.

Let Him into the boat. Invite Him with faith. He still speaks, “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.”

7) The Deep & the Bottomless Pit — The Deep as Prison

Luke 8:30-33
And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him.  31 And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep.  32 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.  33 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.

Revelation 9:1-2
And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. 2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.

In the New Testament, Scripture speaks of “the deep” and “the bottomless pit” as the underworld prison for unclean spirits. That connects back to our motif: the deep = underworld space—darkness, confinement, judgment. And who holds the key? God does. He rules the pit.

8) The Sea Gave Up the Dead — Judgment Bar of God

Revelation 20:13-15
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Notice how the sea, death, and hell all give up their dead. The sea acts like a vast grave, surrendering every last body. Then death and hell themselves are cast into the lake of fire—the second death. Not one sinner hides in the deep; not one corpse remains forgotten at the bottom of the ocean. God will raise and judge.

“According to their works” is justice—and it condemns us all. That’s why you need your name in the Book of Life.

No More Sea — No More Chaos, Barrier, or Grave

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.

Many people question: “Why is there no more sea in the new earth?” Again, I believe it’s because the sea is a picture of hell.

In the new creation, the symbol of chaos, judgment, and separation is gone. No more restless waters. No more deep as a realm of threat. No more barrier between God and man. The sea that drowned Pharaoh, the deep that pictured hell, the grave that held the dead—all removed under the reign of the Lamb. All glory to God!

From Genesis—where God tames the deep—to Revelation—where He removes the sea forever—our Lord reigns over the sea, over death, over the bottomless pit. Walk out with calm in your soul: The winds and the sea still obey Him. And preach this hope: “No more sea” is coming. No more being tossed around.

Let’s pray.