| [Editor's Note: See discussion below on why this could also be titled:
"How Kenneth L. Gentry Teaches Covenant Creation and Full Preterism"]
No More Sea
By Kenneth L. Gentry
"In Rev 21:1 an unusual statement appears at the coming of the new heavens and earth: “and there is no longer any sea.” Commentators have long debated the meaning of the absence of the sea (thalassa) in this text. Is this literal? And if it is literal, why would the sea not be part of the consummate order? Or is it metaphorical? And if so, of what is it a metaphor?"...
"But if we understand this literally, it makes no theological sense: Why would the sea not be apart of the eternal new creation order? Did not God re-create the “new earth”? Why would he not also re-create the sea? Did not God create and bound the sea at the original creation (thalassas, Ge 1:10; Exo 20:11; Ps 33:6–7; 95:5; 104:24–25; 146:6; Pr 8:29; Jer 5:22; Am 9:6; Ac 4:24; 14:15; Rev 5:13; 10:6; 14:7). And is it not a feature of God’s creative work which is “very good” (1:31; cp. Ps 104:24, 28)?"...
"But again, God created the sea as an important part of his creation (Ge 1:10; Ex 20:11; Neh 9:6; Ps 24:1–2; 95:5; 146:6; Jnh 1:9). He owns his creation and claims the seas (Ps 24:1–2; 95:5). Furthermore, the sea is not invariably a negative image, for it can also represent good (Isa 48:18; Eze 47:8; Zec 14:8; Hab 2:14) and abundance (Dt 33:19; Isa 60:5). Unfallen man was given dominion over the sea (Ge 1:26–30; Psa 8:6–8). The sea’s roar does not always picture man’s rebellion, for the roaring sea represents God’s power (Psa 33:6–7; 89:9; 104:24–25; 107:22–24; Jer 31:35; Eze 43:2; Am 5:8; 9:6). And the sea rejoices in God (1Ch 16:32; Ps 65:5; 69:34; 96:11; 98:6–8; Isa 42:10)."...
"Why is there “no longer any sea?” In the previous article I discounted the literal interpretation as well as the chaos approach. But now, what does it mean?"...
"This new covenant principle of open access to God appears elsewhere in the NT. For example, we see this when Jesus promises that soon people will no longer need to worship in Jerusalem but can call upon God from anywhere (Jn 4:21, 23; cp. Mal 1:11). This begins to occur when the temple veil is torn and creation is darkened and shaken (Mt 27:45//, 51b; cp. Rev 21:1), for after that event Christians are urged to “draw near with confidence to the throne of grace” (Heb 4:16; cp. 7:19) because of the removal of the old covenant (Heb 8:13; 12:22–28) which blocked access to the holy place (Heb 9:8). This removal of the old covenant is dramatically exhibited and finalized in AD70."...
"I do believe the absence of the sea in Rev 21:1 portrays just this sort of image. The new covenant access to God is a major consequence of the removal of the old covenant and rituals portraying the hiddenness of God. As Christianity takes the place of Israel at AD 70, God’s people can come boldly before the throne of grace in a way they could not have in the OT."
Click here to read the full article:
Part 1
Part 2
[Editor's Note: We offer this article to the thoughtful reader as a demonstration.
Notice how Gentry affirms the origination of the sea in the Genesis 1 creation in the above article. Yet he believes there is now no more sea with fulfillment at A.D. 70!
Thus, Gentry acknowledges the Genesis 1 creation has passed away and is no more. But wouldn't this conclusion necessarily show that the original creation of the sea was not a material creation related to physical water and oceans on planet Earth?
Furthermore, Gentry posits the fulfillment of Revelation 21:1-2 and the New Heaven and New Earth is finalized at A.D. 70. Gentry explains, "This removal of the old covenant is dramatically exhibited and finalized in AD70." In other words, Gentry identifies the sea as an essential element of the old covenant. This is central to his argument that "no more sea" has been fulfilled in the new covenant creation. There is no longer any sea.
But notice what we find at the end of the Millennium:
" The sea gave up the dead who were in it..." Revelation 20:13
Wait a minute! Has Gentry unwittingly affirmed that the end of the Millennium was fulfilled at AD70?
How can Gentry teach that the end of the Millennium remains in our future, a so-called "consummation" at the end of the new covenant age when this judgment involves the sea, something Gentry has demonstrated to have passed away with the old covenant at AD70?
Gentry argued above that there is no sea in the New Heavens and New Earth. This is a crucial question: How can the end of the Millennium in Revelation 20 correspond to a judgment at the so-called conclusion of the new covenant age? Gentry has affirmed that the New Heavens and New Earth has no sea! In fact, wouldn't the sea-judgment at the end of the Millennium prove the Millennium concludes at AD70, since the sea is an element of the old covenant?
Has Gentry inadvertently shown his postmillenialism to be incoherent in light of the text of Revelation?
By demonstrating "no more sea" is fulfilled at the "removal of the old covenant... dramatically exhibited and finalized in AD70" Gentry has offered a powerful proof of two monumental conclusions:
1.) The Genesis 1 creation is a Covenant Creation that is not defined by material or physical universe definitions.
2.) The Millennium judgement is concurrent with the end of the age old covenant in AD70.
Consider this as one more testimony to the truth of Covenant Creation and Full Preterism as taught by Kenneth L. Gentry.]
Ken Gentry Teaches Panpsychism
Theologians sometimes use “Old Covenant” to refer to the Mosaic covenant. There is truth to this in that the Mosaic covenant published most fully the distinctive character of the Adamic covenant under curse. Yet, ultimately, the Old Covenant is the covenant of the original garden of Eden. Ultimately there are two covenants, Old and New. There are two Adams, Adam and Jesus. There are two heavens and earth, the first in Adam and the second in Christ.
James B. Jordan, Through New Eyes (1988), p. 311.
The Mark of the Beast [As a proof of Covenant Creation]
The Logic of Biblical Creationism and the Future
Why James B. Jordan's Postmillennialism Requires a Local Flood
Back to Related Articles
Click here to read Beyond Creation Science: New Covenant Creation from Genesis to Revelation
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