by John Masefield
I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.
I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.
I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.
So begins the allegory
THE SEA
Now the fourth person in the 4 types who cry out to God
In each instance God saves them from their situations and circumstances
From those who wandered through the wilderness to those who sit in darkest gloom
and imprisonment and to those who were within the "foolish malady" which is described
in the bible as an ailment of soul as they went without food and near to death
Psalm 107:23-26
And still some went off in ships to trade around the world
Where else to know the wonders of creation or to view the Makers craftmanship than on
the sea's !
Psalm 93:3 The seas have lifted up, O LORD, the seas have lifted up their voice; the
seas have lifted up their pounding waves. Psalm 148:8
For it is God who made the sea's and by the Word - Breathe of His mouth all things were created
and as He speaks the sea's roar and the nations tremble
Now lets put the word "sea's" as a metaphor as this word can be seen or uised in relation to
"people" as in "a sea of people" or nations
It can be used to be seen as "a divide" also
THE TWISTING ONE
In biblical times and we are still in biblical times....but in ancient times the "sea" was seen
as a place of mystery and intrigue
A place to be feared and reverenced, a place that held the dark secrets of the earth
Many may not have travelled far or never seen such a thing as "the sea"
It held creatures and sea monsters and beheld great storms that swept ships to the rocks
This may sound far fetched to us now but you have to remember that a voyage on a ship
was not something people did very often in their lifes if in fact at all
Even in the days of the early Church the sea was a voyage to be dreaded
Wherein lurks the Leviathan Isaiah 27:1 which again can be seen as symolic Revelation 12:3
This " twisted animal" called the Leviathan , the sea monster of the deep Job 41:1-34
Who can fight against the Leviathan ? when God created him on that day ? Ezekiel 28:14
The Leviathan can be associated with the "gatekeeper of hell" the one who stands and guards
The Sea as in "go down to the depths to fall or to be taken under"
And so back to Psalm 107:23-26 as the people on the ships rise up to the heavens and fall
down to the depths
And as the nations roar in turmoil so men faint in fear and call out to God , in the same way
as the sailors both of old and now might call out to God in distress
They rise up to the heavnes not just in a literal sense with the wave but in that they are suddenly
gripped with fear and cry out to God to save them as their lifes are in danger and they see great
peril
WAVE UPON WAVE
As a Christian the wave roars up and I loose sight of Jesus Matthew 14:29 and for a moment there
I only see the wave and I look down and cry out "save me"
As a non believer the wave roars up and at that moment fear grips me and paralyses my world
and at that moment the God I denied entrance and access to , suddenly becomes alive and very
real and I call out to Him Jonah 1:5
"ooo but Jesus is alseep what do we do ? " Mark 4:38
"oooo but Jonah is alseep what do we do ?" Jonah 1:5
"Ooo Job how high the wave has become as the Leviathan frolics in the waters of knowledge
and knowing your distress Job:41
Can you catch the Leviathan and will it speak to you with gentle words ?
Can you enslave it or make it a slave in your life ?
Will the traders of the high sea's barter with you and will the merchant sailors catch it for you ?
No you will never subdue it, that twisted animal, that sea monster of the deep
How high has the wave risen ? O job of the sea's ?
Job of the so called "modern day" ?
And when the wave rises above your head and seeks to overcome you and envelop you
Who will you cry out too ? and who will save you ?
And after when the wave goes down into the deep within you and you lie there in the depths
of despair o job of today, what will you do then ?
Can you really overcome that which is to be and cannot change ?
You built up your own defenses and now they are shattered and the walls are broken down
You relied on other gods and now you are in exile
Now I will build the walls and restore the Temple of your life
Now that you have called upon me"
THE DEPTHS
Acts 27:11 But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed
the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship.
Who and what do I follow ? who do I listen to ?
But people did not listen to God or to the people who follow Him and spokeof His
salvation
Instead they followed the authority of the Land
Yet God saved them from disaster, yet God saved their lifes, Yet eternal salvation was far off
And as the monster from the deep waters lifted its head above the nations he was given authority
and power but for a short time
Revelation 17:12 Revelation 18
“‘Woe! Woe, O babylon, for you have fallen from the heavens"
You prostite yourself and dress in fine linen, purple and scarlet,
and you glitter with gold, precious stones and pearls!
Ezekiel 28:12-17 You tried to stand above God yet you were cast down
In one hour such great wealth o babylon has been brought to ruin
Yet every ship that is commanded by a sea captain and every
sailor and all the traders of the sea, will weep and cry out
In one hour all has come to ruin yes the great city of Babylon is thrown down
and come to nothing and all who sailed in her
Like a millstone tied around the neck of that place Luke 17:2 hurling it into the depths
of the oceans
Now in darkness in the depths where no light will shine again, no not even the light of
a lamp Matthew 5:15 will shine in that dark place , so deep is it that no Light would
penetrate
The voice of those who spoke to you and the voice of the living God will never be heard
in your walls again
Listen - today if you hear His voice do not harden your heart
Acts 27:11 But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the
pilot and of the owner of the ship.
THE FINAL ALLEGORY
2 Peter 3:13 So there will be a new heaven and a new earth as if renewed and new being
that it is , as Johns vison in revelations
As if burnished by fire Revelation 1:15 and it can seem as if all things are made new
as if renewed and altered
Being that all sin has been removed being not just illuminated by the prescence of
God but being "burnt up" by God Deuteronomy 32:22
And the stars and the sky which once told of the glory of God are replaced by God
Himself
And then the tossing and turning and turmoil of the sea's , those oceans that roared,
those nations that were in such turmoil and array shall be no more Amos 7:4
And all those of the nations that did not listen to the voice of One calling but
instead listened to the owner of the ship on the sea's were gone as if never being
Isaiah 57:20
And then the sea was gone and there was no longer any divide between the nations Revelation 21:1
But now they were one nation under God, being of one and in one
And the water that flowed was the water of life Revelation 22:1
And now the Bride has met with her groom and they are Wed
Mark 10:9
Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.
.......................
A picture within a picture and a hidden meaning being revealed yet not yet fully understood
As yet we look through a dim mirror and see a poor reflection
Then we shall see Him face to Face
Questions arising from this stgudy
1. How often do I listen to the voice instead of the ships captain ?
2. If all is not yet revealed to me in Gods Word then all I have and need is sufficient in Jesus
Being so then Gods Word is incomplete until which time ?
a. Until I rely totally on Jesus
b. After this age has passed and I am with Him
