The Bible speaks often of the sea and storms and through the accounts God uncovers truths lying deep beneath the surface that reveal His power and might to save. That first account was in Genesis 1:2 where the earth was chaos and waste, and darkness was on the surface of the deep waters when His Spirit moved to bring light—the Light of God. We learned that Egypt is also a type of darkness and in Isaiah 30:7 we read: “Egypt’s help is futile and pointless. Therefore, I have called her ‘Rahab who just sits.” The Hebrew name “Rahab” is connected with a sea monster, a storm and arrogance. The sea monster “Rahab” symbolizes Egypt which caught the Israelites as slaves and was punished though the ten plagues. When the kingdom of Judah was intimidated by Assyria, the Jews relied on Egypt, not on God. Ultimately, Rahab and the sea monster represent the same thing—Satan who is the great creature of the sea. We see him described in Scripture as the monster, the beast coming from the sea, the ancient serpent, Leviathan, the devil and the dragon—the ruler of this world. The books of Daniel and Revelation reveals that the beast who speaks against God comes out of the sea. It is God who is Master over the sea and storms who will bring judgment of the devil (the temporary owner of this world) and throw him into the lake of fire. This long, long story from Genesis to Revelation is the account of God who is Master over the sea and storms and who will appear in the last days to give us salvation. Psalms 89: 9-10 confirms it: “The LORD God of hosts, who is like You, mighty LORD, with Your faithfulness all around You? You rule over the swelling of the sea. When its waves mount up, You still them. You crushed Rahab like a slain one. You scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.”
It is important for us during these last days, to be encouraged by Scriptures both in the Old and New Testament that will strengthen our faith and build our courage to trust that God Almighty is the Master over the storm-tossed sea and know that we are safe and secure in His arms. “Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Art thou not it that hewed Rahab in pieces, that pierced the dragon?” (Isaiah 51: 9-10) “He stirred up the sea by His power, And by His understanding He smashed [proud] Rahab.” (Job 26: 12)
Let’s take a closer look at the instructions that God gave Moses after the children of Israel had been freed from Egypt. We find an interesting passage in Exodus 14: 1-4 which says: “The LORD spoke to Moses saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before “Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baal-zephon; before it shall ye encamp by the sea. For Pharoah will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in. And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honored upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD. And they did so.” Why did God instruct them to travel back toward Egypt and camp there? The location where God told them to camp was before Baal-zephon—opposite the sea. Jewish tradition teaches that the Ten Plagues successfully destroyed all the false gods of Egypt except for one—Baal-zephon. From the prefix Baal we know that we are dealing with a pagan god. This god’s Egyptian name was Set. He was the patron deity of Northern Egypt and was believed to be responsible for fierce desert storms. Set represented the powers of darkness, chaos, and the sea waters that resisted light and order. If Pharaoh believed that Israel had fallen into the clutches of Baal-zephon and was hemmed in, he was assured of victory over them. God sat a trap! Pharoah rushed out to defeat Israel whom he believed that the God of Israel would have no power. BUT GOD split the Red Sea—a great miracle—showing His power over the god of storms, chaos, and water and made the way for the Children of Israel to escape on dry land! Through this miracle Egypt and Israel knew without a shadow of a doubt, “that I am God.”
Now, let’s look at two accounts recorded by Matthew in 8: 23-27 and 14: 22-33. Matthew quotes the Old Testament about 100 times as he sought to explain to the Jews that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Hebrew scriptures which spoke of God’s Messiah—that Jesus was actually God Himself, YHWH God, the God of the Old Testament, the Creator and Sustainer of the world. Jesus is pictured as having mastery over the sea just like the God in the Old Testament.
In the first account in Matthew 8, Jesus saw great multitudes about Him and He gave the command to the disciples that they should go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. He entered the ship and the disciples followed Him. Jesus went to sleep and a storm arose with waves that threatened to overturn the ship and the disciples were afraid and woke Him up. He asked them “Why are you fearful and have little faith?” Jesus stood and rebuked the winds and the sea and there was a great calm. They were amazed that even the winds and the sea obeyed Him! He was connecting the Old Testament account of God the Father as Master of the sea and storms with Himself! Jesus was fulfilling the words of Isaiah in 32: 1-2: “Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And a man shall be as a hiding place from the wind and a covert from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” Jesus calmed both the wind and the tempest of the sea—a picture of His purpose in coming to the world—to destroy the works of the devil—as pictured in the sea and storm!
The second account in Matthew 14 reveals that Jesus sent His disciples ahead in a ship in the Sea of Galilee while He went up into a mountain to pray. Since God knows the beginning to the end, Jesus knew that a storm was forming but He sent them into it in order to again reveal His mighty power over the sea and storms. During the fourth watch which was 3-6 am—the darkest part of the night, He walked on the water to them in the ship. When the disciples saw Him, they were afraid and thought that He was a ghost and cried out in fear! Remember that to Israel, the sea was the embodiment of chaos and was dangerous. Jesus spoke to them and said “Take courage! It is I! Don’t be afraid.” In the Old Testament God is depicted as rebuking the waters and putting barriers around the sea—the God who was sovereign over it and they realized that Jesus could stop the waves. He could walk on water! Peter who is always portrayed as the impetus one said: “Lord, if it is you, let me come to You!” Peter here spoke the same words as Satan, in Matthew 4:3 in asking “If it is you…” and maybe this was one of the reasons that Jesus would have to test Peter when he denied Him three times! It seems that he was the first to realize that it was Jesus walking on the water as he addressed Him as Lord. When Peter asked to come to Him, Jesus said, “Come” and Peter starts to walk on the water to Jesus. Of course, we know that as Peter saw the wind and the waves, he became terrified and began to sink. He cried out: “Lord, save me.” He gives us the example for each of us in the midst of a storm—in a chaotic circumstance—cry out to the Lord to help us—to save us from darkness and despair. The disciples seem to completely recognize for the first time that Jesus is the Son of God! There was only One person they knew who had complete control of the wind and waves and that was God Himself so they bowed in reverence and worship to Him. Colossians 1: 13 says: “He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves.” When Jesus walked on water, He was displaying the authority that God gives Him to put all things under His feet! “For He [the Father] has put all things in subjection under His [Christ’s] feet. But when it says, All things are put in subjection [under Him], it is evident that He [Himself] is excepted Who does the subjecting of all things to Him.” (1 Cor. 15: 27)
During 2023 and continuing into 2024 we are seeing storms of “Biblical” proportion! Could this be the return of the ancient storm god? In Jonathan Cahn’s book “The Return of the Gods” he presents evidence that America is experiencing the return of the ancient gods that were present at the birth of the church. Could it be that the unusual weather and devastating storms are powered by the “prince of the powers of the air” as the god of forces in this present age? Research shows that beginning in 1947 (the year before Israel was recognized as a state) our military began a project on weather warfare under DARPA that began with cloud seeding and other weather manipulations that were actually used in the Viet Nam War. Later HAARP was created to research more advanced weather warfare that uses radio frequencies into the ionosphere to control and manipulate the weather. In 2025 US aerospace forces will initiate a venture at Maxwell Air Force Base to quote “own the weather by capitalizing on emerging technologies and focusing development of those technologies to war fighting applications.” Hum…does it sound like the prince of the powers of the air is stepping up his warfare as he knows his days are numbered? Creation might seem out of control. BUT GOD is committed to its restoration! God’s plan will not be thwarted—God is still on the Throne and He is in control! Remember that we know a God who is in charge even when our reality might seem like it’s coming undone. Remember that we know a God who is powerful enough to save! We know that Jesus conquered death, evil, and brings the order creation groans for (Romans 8: 22). The events of Revelation detail how the Lamb of God slain before the foundation of the earth prevails and Satan is bound for a 1000 years, loosed for a season and destined to the Lake of Fire forever! God wins over sin and death and the words of Revelation 21: 1 prove it: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.” This is the fulfilment of Isaiah 65: 17-18 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating.” According to Revelation 21: 3-4 God will dwell with His people—there will be no tears, no death, no mourning or crying, no pain! God affirms His final victory in verse 6: “Then He said, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will freely give from the spring of the water of life.” The best is yet to come! Let us learn lessons from Peter in the storm: (1) we cannot depend on our self; (2) we must fix our eyes on Jesus; (3) we must cry out to Him for help; (4) we must trust Him, praise Him and proclaim Him as our Savior and Lord. Then we as the disciples will receive the gift of peace by trusting Jesus in the midst of life’s storms knowing that He stands by us and will not leave or forsake us! “Jesus, teach us to trust You completely in this storm.”