2. The Red Sea (Ac 7"", 1 Co lO'-^, He 11=»).— In some respects this is the most remarkable body of water on the globe. It is subject to extreme evaporation ; and, though no rivers empty into it, it is never exhausted. It is 1350 miles long, and 205 miles broad at its widest jiart. There are three references to it in apostolic history : (a) Stephen in his memorable .apology speaks of Moses thus: ' This man led them forth, having wrought wonders and signs in Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years ' (Ac 7™). His argument is that, as Mo.ses' Uivine ajipointment was .attested by signs anil wonders, so signs and wimders formeil part of the credentials of Christ. (/)) Paul also, in writing to the Corinthians, says, ' For I would not, brethren, have you ignorant, how that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all jiassed through the sea ; anil were all bajitized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea' (1 Co 10'-=). The Apostle's ]ioint is that ancient Israel started well ; all were protected and guided by the cloud ; all were safely brought through the sea; all were sealed as "liy a lia]itisni into trustful allegiance to Moses as their deliverer ; yet in the end all ex- cept two failed to enter Canaan. Those who sang victory at the crossing of the Red Sea never reached
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SEA
SEA OF GLASS
tlie promised land, (c) A didtTent use is made of tlie same fact in He 11^. The author here em- phasizes how faith Muds a path in life. ' liy faith they passed throu^'h tlie Hed .sea as by dry land : which the Egyptians assajing to do were swallowed up.' What the writer means to teach is, that Israel's passage through the Red Sea was due to the discovery of faith. It was not a path which anyone could lind. Indeed, to the Egyptians who luul no faitli, it became a sea. Hence it is an example of the wonder-working power of faith.
3. The Mediterranean Sea (Ac Kfi-^'^ 17'*).— The Mediterranean was to the Hebrews ' the great sea' (Nu 34*). It was probably the largest expanse of water with which they were familiar ; it was like a mighty mirror flashing the glories of the sun. Two passages are in point here, though one refers more particularly to the ^Egean. {a) The first recounts how Cornelius sent to Joppa to fetch Peter, who lodged with one Simon, a tanner, ■whose house is by the seaside' (Ac 10*- ^■-). The sea here alluded to is obviously the Mediterranean. Simon's house, which doubtless was a very humble abode, was by the sea because there he would have easy access to water ; and it was outside the city, at least 50 cubits, because tanning was held to be an ' unclean ' employment, bringing one constantly into contact with dead animals. (6) The other passage tells how the brethren of Beroea sent forth Paul, whose safety was in jeopardy, ' to go as far as to the sea' (Ac 17"). The main road from Macedonia to Thessaly bent about tlie base of Mt. Olympus close along the sea. Whether St. Paul, on arriving at the coast, changed his plan, and, instead of taking ship for Athens at Methone or Pydna, went on foot, it is impossible to say.
i. With 71) and oipav(5s, the whole created universe (Ac 4''" 14'=, Rev 5'^ 10° 14').— For ex- ample, in Ac i'*"-, after the healing of the lame man, Peter and John, who had been accused and brought before the elders, and charged and even threatened by them not to speak any more in the name of Jesus, prayed, ' O Lord, thou that didst make the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that in them is . . . grant unto thy servants to speak thy word with all boldness ' (v."- '"). The opening words were probably not altogether un- familiar to them, as they seem to have belonged to tlie earliest known psalm of thanksgiving in the Christian Church (cf. Is 37'«-™). In similar language, Barnabas and Paul remonstrated with the men of Lystra, saying, ' We also are men of like passions with you, and bring you good tidings, that ye should turn from these vain things unto the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that in them is' (Ac 14"). The Lystrans are thus introduced by the apostles to the true and living God. In Rev 14' there is a striking parallel to their .summons, the implication being that the God who creates has a right also to judge His creatures. In 5", also, by a sweep of prophetic imagination, even .sea-monsters join with departed spirits in a doxology of praise to the Lamb ; Avhile in 10° the thought of God's creator- ship, of earth and heaven and sea, prepares the way for the announcement that the God of creation and providence is also a God of judgment.
5. The apocalyptic sea of glass before the throne of God (Rev 4" 15-).— The first passage (4") reminds one of the 'molten sea' in Solomon's Temple (1 K 7^-39). !„ fancy the Rabbis com- pared the shining floor of the Temple to crystal. To John heaven is a sort of glorified Temple, and the crystal pavement is a kind of sea. The figure greatly enhances the splendour of the picture. The Apostle was probably attempting to portray the ether with all its clearness ami calm, shimmer-