“Earth And Heaven Fled Away”
Revelation 20:11
INTRODUCTION
A.Rev 20:11-15: THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT
1.With Satan and his allies gone, the time now comes for the final judgment of the wicked (and righteous) and bringing in of the eternal state of the brand “new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea”(21:1).
1)Heaven and earth is used in different ways in the Bible.
2)The context determines the interpretation.
3)Some interpret this language as a return to a Paradise on earth (restored Garden of Eden).
4)Not only does this language not demand a literal interpretation but also it contradicts other plain scriptures.
I.ISAIAH’S USE OF NEW HEAVEN AND NEW EARTH
- Judgment upon the heathen nations.
- Babylon – The end of the world for Babylon.
Isa 13:1, 9-10, 13: “The oracle concerning Babylon…9 Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, cruel, with fury and burning anger, to make the land a desolation; and He will exterminate its sinners from it. 10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not flash forth their light; the sun will be dark when it rises and the moon will not shed its light…13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken from its place at the fury of the LORD of hosts in the day of His burning anger.”
1)Isa 14:4: King of Babylon will fall.
“that you take up this taunt against the king of Babylon, and say, How the oppressor has ceased, and how fury has ceased!”
- The nations – The earth melts and the heavens are dissolved.
Isa 34:1-4: “Draw near, O nations…2 For the LORD’S indignation is against all the nations, and His wrath against all their armies; He has utterly destroyed them, He has given them over to slaughter. 3 So their slain will be thrown out, and their corpses will give off their stench, and the mountains will be drenched with their blood. 4 And all the host of heaven will wear away, and the sky will be rolled up like a scroll; all their hosts will also wither away as a leaf withers from the vine, or as one withers from the fig tree.”
1)This is symbolic language for judgment upon the nations.
2)It is the passing of one way of life to a different way of life.
3)The world of the nations will be turned upside down.
4)Isaiah is describing the change in physical kingdoms.
- Isa 51:3-6: Contrast between the eternal (salvation), and the created universe, the temporal (Law of Moses-51:16).
“Indeed, the Lord will comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places.And her wilderness He will make like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and sound of a melody. 4 ‘Pay attention to Me, O My people, and give ear to Me, O My nation; for a law will go forth from Me, and I will set My justice for a light of the peoples.5 My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth, and My arms will judge the peoples; the coastlands will wait for Me, and for My arm they will wait expectantly. 6 Lift up your eyes to the sky, then look to the earth beneath;for the sky will vanish like smoke, and the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants will die in like manner; but My salvation will be forever, and My righteousness will not wane.’…16 I have put My words in your mouth and have covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish (plant) the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, “You are My people.”’”
- 51:6: JUDGMENT – Destruction of the heavens and the earth.
1)1-4: God calls upon His own people, pleading with them.
2)4-5: As God brings in this new order of salvation, He includes the Gentiles.
3)6-8: God promises that this new order will last forever.
4)God would remove the present (old) order, arrangement, the law of Moses under which Israel was living.
2.51:16: BLESSING – The planting of the heavens and the earth.
1)The Messiah plants heaven and earth – a new order which follows the passing of the old.
2)The Jewish order would vanish away.
3)The spiritual kingdom in the gospel age is being described.
Isa 28:16: “Therefore thus says the LORD GOD, ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed.’”
4)The new order which God would “plant” and its “foundation” which He would lay would have Zion at its center, made up of His people.
- Isa 65:16-19: Former troubles are forgotten, new heavens and new earth in their place.
“Because he who is blessed in the earth will be blessed by the God of truth; and he who swears in the earth will swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hidden from My sight! 17 For behold, I create (bara) new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be remembered or come to mind. 18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing and her people for gladness. 19 I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; and there will no longer be heard in her the voice of weeping and the sound of crying. No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his days; for the youth will die at the age of one hundred and the one who does not reach the age of one hundred will be thought accursed”
1.65:1-7, 11-15: JUDGMENT – Recompense and slaughter.
1 “I permitted Myself to be sought by those who did not ask for Me;I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me. I said, ‘Here am I, here am I,’ to a nation which did not call on My name. 2 I have spread out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in the way which is not good, following their own thoughts, 3 a people who continually provoke Me to My face, offering sacrifices in gardens and burning incense on bricks; 4 who sit among graves and spend the night in secret places; who eat swine's flesh, and the broth of unclean meat is in their pots. 5 Who say, ‘Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am holier than you!’ These are smoke in My nostrils, a fire that burns all the day. 6 Behold, it is written before Me, I will not keep silent, but I will repay;I will even repay into their bosom, 7 both their own iniquities and the iniquities of their fathers together,’ says the Lord. Because they have burned incense on the mountains and scorned Me on the hills, therefore I will measure their former work into their bosom.…11 But you who forsake the Lord, who forget My holy mountain, who set a table for Fortune, and who fill cups with mixed wine for Destiny, 12 I will destine you for the sword, and all of you will bow down to the slaughter.Because I called, but you did not answer;I spoke, but you did not hear. And you did evil in My sight and chose that in which I did not delight. 13 Therefore, thus says the LordGod, ‘Behold, My servants will eat, but you will be hungry.Behold, My servants will drink, but you will be thirsty.Behold, My servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame. 14 Behold, My servants will shout joyfully with a glad heart,but you will cry out with a heavy heart, and you will wail with a broken spirit. 15 You will leave your name for a curse to My chosen ones, and the LordGod will slay you.But My servants will be called by another name.”
1)Acts 11:26: “Christians” – FULFILLED in the gospel age.
2.65:16-20: BLESSING– Jerusalem created a rejoicing.
1)Heb 12:18-29: “heavenly Jerusalem” = The church.
2)“Create” (bara-Gen 1:1; Eph 2:10) – Create from nothing.
3)The church is not like anything that has been created before.
4)Isa 65:20: Live to be a hundred (not millennium, not heaven).
Point – Death is not a factor in the spiritual kingdom!
5)This clearly points to the age of the Messiah in Jehovah’s “holy mountain”(65:25).
6)Isa 2:2-4; 28:15; Ps 2:6, 11-12.
- Isa 66:22-24: Victory! The “seed”, spiritual Israel, remains, worships God, and looks upon the defeated enemies.
“For just as the new heavens and the new earth which I make will endure before Me,” declares the Lord, “So your offspring and your name will endure. 23 And it shall be from new moon to new moon and from sabbath to sabbath,all mankind will come to bow down before Me,” says the Lord. 24 “Then they will go forth and look on the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me.For their worm will not die and their fire will not be quenched; and they will be an abhorrence to all mankind.”
1.66:5-6, 15-17: JUDGMENT – Recompense and fire.
2.66:22-24: BLESSING – New heavens and new earth.
1)Isaiah’s new earth is the new order under the Messiah, the present dispensation.
2)The book concludes with a final reference to the new heavens and the new earth which God would make giving assurance that this new order would remain as the FINAL ORDER ON EARTH.
3)24: FULFILLED – Gal 3:29: “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to promise.”
4)As the church endures, its enemies will always suffer defeat.
5)The new Israel would be in Christ when the old fleshly Israel passes away.
6)Isaiah uses language that his people would understand.
7)They would have a relationship with the Messiah.
3.23: “new moon to new moon” – month to month.
“sabbath to sabbath” – week to week.
1)Describes time in the kingdom on earth.
2)Not refer to worship under the OT order, for these would be no more under Christ (Col 2:14, 16) – SHADOWS (Heb 10:1).
3)John 4:24: New place of worship is in spirit and truth made up of “all mankind” (both Jews and Gentiles).
4)Isaiah – Clear contrast between spiritual Zion and her offspring and physical Jerusalem and her offspring.
4.24: This contrast FORESHADOWS the contrast between the ultimate destiny of the “true worshipers”(John 4:24) of God and the wicked at the end of time.
1)Physical kingdom foreshadows spiritual (new heavens) and it foreshadows the ultimate destiny – new heavens – heaven.
2)Physical kingdom foreshadows physical kingdoms and they foreshadow the ultimate destiny – new earth – hell.
3)1 Cor 15:24: This new arrangement on earth under the Messiah, will be delivered up to God.
4)Then a completely new order will be the eternal resting place for the people of God, without any sin or death.
II.PETER’S NEW HEAVEN AND NEW EARTH (2 Pet 3)
CONFIDENCE OF CHRIST’S RETURN AND THE END OF WORLD
- From creation to the judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
1.3:1-4: The continued order from creation – mockery in the last days.
1)3: “last days” – (1 Pet 1:20) – Age of Messiah=Christian age=church age – began on Pentecost (Acts 2:17).
2)“know this first of all” – What do you do when people scoff about the Lord’s return? “Remember the words spoken beforehand” (2).
3)The second thing to remember is mockers are “following after their own lusts.”
4)4: The third thing to remember is their major argument is “Where is the promise of His coming?”
Only evidence is the Lord’s promise.
Are you sure these are inspired writings?
If really true, Jesus would have come by now!
“all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.”
- 3:5-7: God’s answer: Remember that God’s word is consistent.
1)5: Mockers overlook the fact that things have not always been the same. Radical changes have taken place – EX: creation.
2)6: Second proof is the flood – God used creation to flood the earth.
3)“destroyed” – Same word is used in vv 7 & 9.
Destruction of well-being – not the destruction of being.
Heaven and earth of old – flood.
4)7: “Present heavens and earth…kept for the day of judgment…”
- 3:8-15: The passing of the present and ushering in of the new.
1)8: Remember God is not affected by time.
Don’t try to put forth an argument based on time.
2)9: God does not carelessly make promises – will take action.
3)8-9, 15: The present day of salvation.
4)10: “The day of the Lord” = “day of judgment” = “will come like a thief” = SAME DAY!
1 Thes 4:13: “the coming of the Lord” (15)
1 Thes 5:1-4: “the day of the Lord will come just like a thief” (2).
5)11-13: Beyond the judgment day “a new heavens and a new earth”.
III.JOHN’S NEW HEAVEN AND NEW EARTH (Rev 21:1-2)
- Rev 20:11-15: The passing of the present order and the judgment.
- The new heaven and new earth beyond the judgment, paralleling Peter’s description of the same event.
- Isaiah’s new heaven and new earth looked to the passing of the old order and the establishing of the new under Christ, which is now.
1)Peter’s and John’s new heaven and earth looked beyond the judgment and passing of the present order to the new and eternal order when time shall be swallowed up in eternity.
2)The glory of the future surpasses the present as the present surpasses the old.
3)Its description is beyond our ability to grasp – we await the day when our anticipation becomes reality.
B.Peter and John’s new heaven and earth is not a return to the Garden of Eden on earth (earth restored).
1.1 Cor 6:13:Food is for the stomach, and the stomach is for food; but God will do away with both of them.”
1)The Bible tells us that when Jesus returns, He will do away with both food and the stomach.
2.Luke 20:33-36:“In the resurrection therefore, which one’s wife will she be? For all seven had her as wife.” 34 And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, 35 but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage; 36 for neither can they die anymore, for they are like angels.”
1)There is no marriage in paradise. Is there going to be sex without marriage in heaven?
2)If there is reproduction through sex, how will the earth contain this over time? Will we be colonizing other plants?
3.Will there be people of different ages?
1)Do you get stuck with your age in heaven the moment you die?
2)If you die at 30, are you 30 forever in paradise?
3)If you die a child are you stuck being a child forever in paradise?
4)If you die 102, is that your age in paradise forever?
4.Rev 21:1,23; 22:5:No longer any sea, night, sun or moon.
1)If there is no night, then the earth would heat up considerably, being a global greenhouse!
2)All snow on the planet would melt, even on the highest mountains!
3)The whole idea of these Revelation passages is to convey that paradise is not an earth bound experience!
5.1 Cor 15:50-51: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
1)Luke 24:36-39: Spirit has not flesh and bones.
2)1 Cor 15:35-54: Dead raised imperishable, living changed to imperishable.
3)The whole idea of this section is that we will be spiritual, non-physical beings totally unlike our present form.
4)1 John 3:2:Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is.
Notice that John the apostle had seen Jesus Christ AFTER HIS RESURRECTION! Yet John said he had no idea what we will look like in the resurrection!
5)Obviously when Jesus ascended, His heaven-to-earth transformation was reversed.
Phil 2:6-10: “who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,”
6)We will be transformed with great power to be exactly like Jesus.
Phil 3:20-21: “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; 21 who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”