Four Seas
There are four seas in the biblical history of the Hebrews - the Red Sea (Ex 13:18), the Great Sea (Joshua 1:4), the Dead Sea (Gen 14:3) and the Sea of Galilee (Num 34:11). They regarded the sea as dangerous, and where the great sea creatures lived. But their God is in command of the sea and the storms. God’s power over the sea is manifested in the Old Testament (Exodus 14, 15; Psalms 77:16; Jonah 1, 2). The sea symbolises the restless waves of unregenerate humanity that churns out mire and mud (Isaiah 57:20). The sea is also where the beast was summoned by Satan to come out to deceive the world (Rev. 13:1). The dead are summoned from the sea before the Great White Throne judgement of God for punishment (Rev 20:11-13). When the first heaven and the first earth had passed and there was no longer any sea, a new heaven and a new earth will appear (Rev 21:1).
The Mediterranean SeaIt is called the sea of the Philistines (Exodus 23:31). The Philistines lived in the coastal areas of the south-eastern part of the land of Canaan. Gaza was one the cities of the Philistines. Samson was captured by the Philistines, his eyes gouged out, and imprisoned in Gaza. Gaza is mentioned 19 times in the Bible.
It is also called the Great Sea in Joshua 1:4 and the western sea in Joel 2:20 and Zechariah 14:8. Jonah fled from the port of Joppa to the Mediterranean Sea. He disobeyed God’s command to go on the land route to the north east to warn the wicked people of Nineveh, the city of Assyria (c 780 BC).
The Land of Israel
in early Christianity
http://jbe.la.psu.edu/courses/worldreligions/maps-christianity.htm
