GLASSY SEA

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.

Used by permission. www.Lockman.org

Revelation 15:2

“And I saw as it were a glassy sea mingled with fire; and them that come victorious from the beast, and from his image, and from the number of his name, standing by (on) the glassy sea, having harps of God” (ERV).

The scriptures talk about a region called the abyss or the deep. Its location is in the sea, hence the name, deep. The first time the word was used in the Bible was in Genesis 1:2: “The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.” From this verse, we see that the deep and the waters were already in existence even before the commencement of the work of ‘creation,’ as it is normally called. But actually, the record in Genesis 1 is not the record of creation but of the restoration of the earth. For in Genesis 1:1 the scriptures say: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” And according to Isaiah 45:18, it is said that, God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited. However the next verse after Genesis 1:1 says, “The earth was (or rather, became, Heb.) formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.” The earth which the Lord had created not to be formless but to be inhabited had become formless and empty and therefore needed to be restored. The only thing that could have brought about the need for the restoration of the earth would have been its destruction by God’s judgment. A few portions of the Bible give such hints. The same assertion in Genesis 1:2 was made in Jeremiah 4:23, and it was referring to when God executed His half judgment upon Judah. Also in Isaiah 24, the Bible speaks about the same result after God judges the earth because its inhabitants transgressed laws, violated statutes and broke the everlasting covenant.

Now, before the time of Adam, satan with his subordinates, seemed to have been placed by God to run the administration of the earth before he became a rebel. But when he rebelled with his subordinates against God, they were judged by the waters and the earth was ruined. The judging water became the sea, and many of his subordinates were now reserved in the deep of the sea to be destroyed later in future. So that after God separated the waters in the second day, causing some to be over the expanse and some to be below the expanse, He did not pronounce it good, as He had done to His works in the other days. This is also supported by the fact that after God would have finished His judgments on earth, and the new heaven and new earth roll in, there will be no more sea (Revelation 21:1). 

The same occurrence was seen during the time of Noah. The angels of God came to mingle themselves with the daughters of men which was an abomination and then corrupted the earth. And the wickedness of man became so great in the earth, and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The Lord became sorry that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart. So He decided to destroy both man and beast, and the creeping things, and the  fowls of the air from the face of the earth. Then in Genesis 7:11, the Bible says: “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened.” Once again was the judgment of God executed by the waters. So Jude 1:6 says concerning them: “And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds UNDER DARKNESS for the judgment of the great day” (Emphasis added). 

But after the flood, Noah made an offering unto the Lord and God was pleased and then made a covenant with Noah and the whole earth. He gave him a token of the covenant which was His bow, or rather, the rainbow in the cloud. So He said to Noah in Genesis 9:15: “And I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh.” God promised Noah never to use water to destroy the earth. Therefore, His subsequent judgments would be carried out by fire and not waters, as we can see with Sodom and Gomorrah. 

Then in Revelation 15:2, we see a glassy sea, not of waters but of fire. This glassy sea is similar to the sea wherein every rebellious thing is confined and punished. But this glassy sea was not of water. It is said to have been mingled with fire. Since God had promised not to destroy the earth with waters again, the sea of water would be turned to a glassy sea mingled with fire which would eventually be developed into the sea of fire, or rather, lake of fire wherein everything that is against God would forever burn. This glassy sea was seen with the rainbow of God in Revelation 4, showing that God would keep to His covenant, but He would nonetheless execute His judgment, however not by waters but by fire. And according to Revelation 15, only those who came out of the earth victorious would stand on this glassy sea, being above God’s judgment. The judgment of God will eventually be executed upon the wicked. And God has been gracious to reveal that the only way out of it is by believing in Jesus Christ and living a victorious life by the power of the Holy Spirit. Begin to live a life above sin today and you will be counted victorious tomorrow to stand, not in, but on the glassy sea with harps to play unto the Lord.