A great body of salty water covering much of the earth.
The seas are mentioned in the very beginning of the Bible. In the beginning all was shapeless, empty, and dark (Genesis 1:1–2). "And the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters." Then God spoke and out of the chaos came order. The voice of the Lord is powerful over all the waters of chaos, as Psalm 29 celebrates.
God's Power Over the Sea
From the account of Creation in Genesis 1, two things stand out:
The sea, like everything else on earth and in heaven, was created by God.
By the word of God division was made between sea and land.
The Bible expresses God's power over the sea in a number of ways:
Psalms 33:7 speaks of how "He made the oceans, pouring them into his vast reservoirs."
Job 38:8–11 The Lord's words to Job describe God’s power over the limits of sea and land: "Who shut in the sea with doors, when it burst forth from the womb; … and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors, and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?"
God’s control over the waters of the sea is described when the Bible says that God "trampled the waves of the sea" (Job 9:8).
In his life on earth, Jesus walked on the sea (Mark 6:48).
Jesus also stilled the storm, so that the disciples in awe and wonder asked, "Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?" (Mark 4:41).
The Sea in Hebrew Culture
The Hebrew people had a healthy respect for the sea and its power. They did not control the coastline for much of their history, possibly because of the lack of safe harbors. It is only in the time of Solomon that they had a fleet (group of ships) of their own (1 Kings 9:26). The restless sea was to them a picture of the wicked (Isaiah 57:20). "Breakers rolling upon a beach" (Isaiah 17:13) or "the roaring of the sea" (5:30) reminded them of powerful, harmful forces. In Daniel 7:3 and Revelation 13:1, powers hostile to God are pictured as beasts coming up out of the sea.
Yet God controls the seas. He is able to rescue those who trust in him "out of many waters" (Psalms 18:16). He is able to protect those who go out into the seas (107:23–31). It was always remembered that God had made a way in the sea for his people to pass when they came out of Egypt (Exodus 15:19). Psalmists (Psalms 74:13; 77:16; 78:13; 106:9) and prophets alike (for example Isaiah 43:16–17) recalled this.