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Post by Admin on Sept 2, 2024 11:24:29 GMT -5
Dr. John Owen On
The "New Heavens and Earth"
(2 Peter 3:13)
The apostle makes a distribution of the world into heaven and earth, and saith they were destroyed with water, and perished. We know that neither the fabric nor substance of the one or other was destroyed, but only men that liveth on the earth; and the apostle tells us (ver. 7) of the heaven and earth that were then, and were destroyed by water, distinct from the heavens and the earth that were now, and were to be consumed by fire; and yet as to the visible fabric of heaven and earth they were the same both before the flood and in the apostle's time, and continue so to this day; when yet it is certain that the heavens and earth, whereof he spake, were to be destroyed and consumed by fire in that generation. We must, then, for the clearing of our foundation a little, consider what the apostle intends by the heavens and the earth in these two places.
' 1. It is certain that what the apostle intends by the world, with its heaven, and earth (vers. 5, 6), which was destroyed ; the same, or some-what of that kind, he intends by the heavens and the earth that were to be consumed and destroyed by fire (ver. 7) ; otherwise there would be no coherence in the apostle's discourse, nor any kind of argument, but a mere fallacy of words.
' 2. It is certain that by the flood, the world, or the fabric of heaven and earth, was not destroyed, but only the inhabitants of the world; and therefore the destruction intimated to succeed by fire is not of the substance of the heavens and the earth, which shall not be consumed until the last day, but of person or men living in the world.
'3. Then we must consider in what sense men living in the world are said to be the world, and the heavens and earth of it. I shall only insist on one instance to this purpose among many that may be produced: Isa. li. 15, 16. The time when the work here mentioned, of planting the heavens and laying the foundation of the earth, was performed by God was when He divided the sea (ver. 15) and gave the law (ver. 16), and said to Zion, Thou art my people; that is, when He took the children of Israel out of Egypt, and formed them in the wilderness into a church and state; then He planted the heavens and laid the foundation of the earth: that is, brought forth order, and government, and beauty from the confusion wherein before they were. This is the planting of the heavens and laying the foundation of the earth in the world. And since it is that when mention is made of the destruction of a state and government, it is in that languaue which seems to set forth the end of the world. So Isa. xxxiv. 4, which is yet but the destruction of the state of Edom. The like also is affirmed of the Roman Empire (Rev. vi. 14), which the Jews constantly affirm to be intended by Edom in the prophets. And in our Saviour Christ's prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem (Matt. xxiv.) He sets it out by expressions of the same importance. It is evident, then, that in the prophetical idiom and manner of speech, by heavens and earth, the civil and religious state and combination of men in the world, and the men of them, were often understood. So were the heavens and earth that world which then was destroyed by the flood.
' 4. On this foundation I affirm that the heavens and earth here intended in this prophecy of Peter, the coming of the Lord, the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men, mentioned in the destruction of that heaven and earth, do all of them relate, not to the last and final judgment of the world, but to that utter desolation and destruction that was to be made of the Judaical church and state; for which I shall offer these two reasons, of many that might be insisted on from the text:-
(1.) Because whatever is here mentioned was to have its peculiar influence on the men of that generation. He speaks of that wherein both the profane scoffers and those scoffed at were concerned, and that as Jews, some of them believing, others opposing, the faith. Now there was no particular concernment of that generation, nor in that sin, nor in that scoffing, as to the day of judgment in general ; but there was a peculiar relief for the one and a peculiar dread for the other at hand, in the destruction of the Jewish nation ; and, besides, an ample testimony both to the one and the other of the power and dominion of tile Lord Jesus Christ, which was the thing in question between them.
'(2.) Peter tells them, that after the destruction and judgment that he speaks of (vers. 7-13), " We, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth,' etc. They had this expectation. But what is that promise? Where may we find it? Why, we have it in the very words and letter, Isa. lxv. 17. Now, when shall this be that God shall create these new heavens and new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness? Saith Peter, " It shall be after the coming of the Lord, after that judgment and destruction of ungodly men, who obey not the gospel, that I foretell." But now it is evident from this place of Isaiah, with chap. lxvi. 21, 22, that this is a prophecy of Gospel times only; and that the planting of these new heavens is nothing but the creation of Gospel ordinances to endure for ever. The same thing is so expressed Heb. xii. 26-28.
' This being the design of the place, I shall not insist longer on the context, but briefly open the words proposed, and fix upon the truth continued in them.
'First, There is the foundation of the apostle's inference and exhortation, seeing that all these things, however precious they seem, or what value soever any put upon them, shall be dissolved, that is, destroyed; and that in that dreadful and fearful manner before mentioned, in a day of judgment, wrath, and vengeance, by fire and sword; let others mock at the threats of Christ's coming: He will come- He will not tarry; and then the heavens and earth that God Himself planted, -the sun, moon, and stars of the Judaical polity and church, -the whole old world of worship and worshippers, that stand out in their obstinancy against the Lord Christ, shall be sensibly dissolved and destroyed: this we know shall be the end of these things, and that shortly.
'There is no outward constitution nor frame of things in government or nations, but it is subject to a dissolution, and may receive it, and that in a way of judgment. If any might plead exemption, that, on many accounts, of which the apostle was discoursing in prophetical terms (for it was not yet time to speak it openly to all) might interpose for its share.'*
* Dr. Owen's Sermon on 2 Peter iii. 11. Works, folio, 1721.
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Post by Admin on Sept 2, 2024 11:30:36 GMT -5
New Heavens and Earth
Home>New Heavens and Earth
New Heavens and Earth Study Archive
Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens, and a new earth.
New Heavens and Earth
Global, Covenantal, or Personal?
Josephus First, Book III, chap.6, section 4:
“Now the room within those pillars was the most holy place; but the rest of the room was the tabernacle, which was open for the priests. However, this proportion of the measures of the tabernacle proved to be an imitation of the system of the world; for that third part thereof which was within the four pillars, to which the priests were not admitted, is, as it were, a heaven peculiar to God.” Of the veil at the holy of holies, he said, “This veil was very ornamental, and embroidered with all sorts of flowers which the earth produces; and there were interwoven into it all sorts of variety that might be an ornament, excepting the forms of animals”
Josephus War 5.1.4 19-20
The darts that were thrown by the engines [of the seditious factions] came with that force, that they went over all the buildings and the Temple itself, and fell upon the priests and those that were about the sacred offices; insomuch that many persons who came thither with great zeal from the ends of the earth to offer sacrifices at this celebrated place, which was esteemed holy by all mankind, fell down before their own sacrifices themselves, and sprinkled that altar which was venerable among all men, both Greeks and barbarians, with their own blood. The dead bodies of strangers were mingled together with those of their own country, and those of profane persons with those of the priests, and the blood of all sorts of dead carcasses stood in lakes in the holy courts themselves. Oh most wretched city, what misery so great as this didst thou suffer from the Romans, when they came to purify thee from thy internal pollutions! For thou couldst be no longer a place fit for God, nor couldst thou longer survive, after thou hadst been a sepulchre for the bodies of thine own people, and hast made the Holy House itself a burying-place in this civil war of thine. Yet mayst thou again grow better, if perchance thou wilt hereafter appease the anger of that God who is the author of thy destruction. But I must restrain myself from these passions by the rules of History, since this is not a proper time for domestic lamentation, but for historical narrations.
“For Behold — from the great goodness that there will be, as if the world will be renewed, a new heavens and a new earth”
Maimonides
“Thus describing the state of Exile and its various particularities and thereupon the restoration of the kingdom and the disappearance of all those sorrows, he says, speaking in parables: I shall create another heaven and another earth and those that are now will be forgotten and their traces effaced. Then he explains this in continuity, saying: When I have said “I shall create,” I meant thereby that I shall produce for you, instead of those sorrows and hardships, a state of constant joy and gladness so that the former sorrows will not be remembered.” (Guide for the Perplexed II.29)
Origen
“For if the heavens are to be changed, assuredly that which is changed does not perish, and if the fashion of the world passes away, it is by no means an annihilation or destruction of their material substance that is shown to take place, but a kind of change of quality and transformation of appearance. Isaiah also, in declaring prophetically that there will be a new heaven and a new earth, undoubtedly suggests a similar view. “(Principles, 2:6:4)
William Burkitt
“As if the apostle had said, “The voice of God, at the promulging of the law on mount Sinai, shook the earth; but he promised after this to shake all nations, and that Christ, the expected Messias, the desire of all nations, should come, which is now fulfilled.”
Question. But what means our apostle by God’s shaking not the earth only, but also heaven?
Answer. He means thereby all the Mosaical worship, all the Judaical state, those were shaken at the coming of Christ, in order to the introduction of the immoveable gospel-state, which was perpetually to remain. Learn hence, That the coming of the Messias was to be the last dispensation of God for the salvation of mankind, and consequently was to be perpetual and unchangeable. The apostle argues from the words, once more, that the former dispensation should be removed to make way for that which should perpetually remain. Several things are here asserted by our apostle,
1. That there were some things which were intended by God to be shaken, namely, the Levitical priesthood, and all the Jewish sacrifices and services; these things were to be shaken, moved, yea, altogether removed out of the way.
2. That there were things that could not be shaken or removed, but remain; these were the gospel-state, the Christian religion, which shall continue until time shall be no more.
3. That the former things were removed, that the latter might be introduced and established; the law and the gospel were inconsistent; the legal and evangelical administration could not stand in force together, therefore there was a necessity for the nulling of the one, in order to the establishing of the other.
4. That the removal of the law, to bring the more perfect administration of the gospel, doth prove the stability and immutability of the gospel, that it stands fast forever; there shall be no more shaking, no farther alteration in matters of religion to the end of the world. For thus it follows.” (Many Thanks to Bill Kuegler ; Commentary on Hebrews 12:26)
Jonathan Edwards (1739)
“Thus there was a final end to the Old Testament world: all was finished with a kind of day of judgment, in which the people of God were saved, and His enemies terribly destroyed.” (History of Redemption, vol. i. p. 445)
“We read, That “in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth,” and the church of old were to commemorate that work. But when God creates a new heaven and a new earth, those that belong to this new heaven and new earth, by a like reason, are the commemorate the creation of their heaven and earth. (“The Perpetuity and Change of the Sabbath” (The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol 2).
“The Scriptures further teach us to call the gospel-restoration and redemption, a creation of a new heaven and a new earth…. (“The Perpetuity and Change of the Sabbath” (The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol 2).
“The gospel-state is every where spoken of as a renewed state of things, wherein old things are passed away, and all things become new.” (“The Perpetuity and Change of the Sabbath” (The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol 2).
“And the dissolution of the Jewish state was often spoken of in the Old Testament as the end of the world. But we who belong to the gospel-church, belong to the new creation; and therefore there seems to be at least as much reason, that we should commemorate the work of this creation, as that the members of the ancient Jewish church should commemorate the work of the old creation.” (“The Perpetuity and Change of the Sabbath” (The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol 2).
John Locke (1705)
“That St. Paul should use ‘heaven’ and ‘earth’ for Jews and Gentiles will not be thought so very strange if we consider that Daniel himself expresses the nation of the Jews by the name of ‘heaven’ (Dan. viii. 10). Nor does he want an example of it in our Saviour Himself, who (Luke xxi. 26) by “powers of heaven” plainly signifies the great men of the Jewish nation. Nor is this the only place in the Epistle of St. Paul to the Ephesians which will bear this interpretation of heaven and earth. He who shall read the first fifteen verses of chap. iii. and carefully weigh the expressions, and observe the drift of the apostle in them, will not find that he does manifest violence to St. Paul’s sense if he understand by “The family in heaven and earth” (ver. 15) the united body of Christians, made up of Jews and Gentiles, living still promiscuously among those twp sorts of people who continueds in their unbelief. However, this interpretation I am not positive in , but offer it as matter of inquiry to those who think and impartial search into the true meaning of the Sacred Scriptures the best employment of all the time they have.” (Ephesians 2:9-10, in loc.)
Sir Isaac Newton
“The figurative language of the prophets is taken from the analogy between the world natural and an empire or kingdom considered as a world politic. Accordingly, the world natural, consisting of heaven and earth, signifies the whole world politic, consisting of thrones and people, or so much of it as is considered in prophecy; and the things in that world signify the analogous things in this. For the heavens and the things therein signify thrones and dignities, and those who enjoy them: and the earth, with the things thereon, the inferior people; and the lowest parts of the earth, called Hades or Hell, the lowest or most miserable part of them. Great earthquakes, and the shaking of heaven and earth, are put for the shaking of kingdoms, so as to distract and overthrow them; the creating of a new heaven and earth, and the passing of an old one; or the beginning and end of a world, for the rise and ruin of a body politic signified thereby. The sun, for the whole species and race of kings, in the kingdoms of the world politic; the moon, for the body of common people considered as the king’s wife; the starts, for subordinate princes and great men; or for bishops and rulers of the people of God, when the sun is Christ. Setting of the sun, moon, and stars; darkening the sun, turning the moon into blood, and falling of the stars, for the ceasing of a kingdom.” (Observations on the Prophecies, Part i. chap. ii)
John Brown (1853)
“‘Heaven and earth passing,’ understood literally, is the dissolution of the present system of the universe, and the period when that is to take place, is called the ‘end of the world.’ But a person at all familiar with the phraseology of the Old Testament Scriptures, knows that the dissolution of the Mosaic economy, and the establishment of the Christian, is often spoken of as the removing of the old earth and heavens, and the creation of a new earth and new heavens” (vol. 1, p. 170)
“It appears, then, that is Scripture be the best interpreter of Scripture, we have in the Old Testament a key to the interpretation of the prophecies in the New. The same symbolism is found in both, and the imagery of Isaiah, Ezekiel, and the other prophets helps us to understand the imagery of St. Matthew, St. Peter, and St. John. As the dissolution of the material world is not necessary to the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, neither is it necessary to the accomplishment of the predictions of the New Testament. But though symbols are metaphorical expressions, they are not unmeaning. It is not necessary to allegorise them, and find a corresponding equivalent for every trope; it is sufficient to regard the imagery as employed to heighten the sublimity of the prediction and to clothe it with impressiveness and grandeur. There are, at the same time, a true propriety and an underlying reality in the symbols of prophecy. The moral and spiritual facts which they represent, the social and ecumenical changes which they typify, could not be adequately set forth by language less majestic and sublime. There is reason for believing that an inadequate apprehension of the real grandeur and significance of such events as the destruction of Jerusalem and the abrogation of the Jewish economy lies at the root of that system of interpretation which maintains that nothing answering to the symbols of the New Testament prophecy has ever taken place. Hence the uncritical and unscriptural figments of double senses, and double, triple, and multiple fulfillments of prophecy. That physical disturbances in nature and extraordinary phenomena in the heavens and in the earth may have accompanied the expiring throes of the Jewish dispensation we are not prepared to deny. It seems to us highly probable that such things were. But the literal fulfillment of the symbols is not essential to the verification of prophecy, which is abundantly proved to be true by the recorded facts of history.” (vol. i. p.200).
David Chilton (1987)
“Moreover, the phrase heaven and earth in these contexts does not, as Owen pointed out, refer to the physical heaven and the physical world, but to the world-order, the religious organizations of the world, the “House” or Temple God builds in which He is worshipped.” (Days of Vengeance., p. 544)
Gary DeMar (1996)
“Jesus does not change subjects when He assures the disciples that “heaven and earth will pass away.” Rather, He merely affirms His prior predictions, which are recorded in Matthew 24:2931. Verse 36 is a summary and confirmation statement of these verses.(6) Keep in mind that the central focus of the Olivet Discourse is the desolation of the “house” and “world” of apostate Israel (23:36). The old world of Judaism, represented by the earthly temple, is taken apart stone by stone (24:2). James Jordan writes, “each time God brought judgment on His people during the Old Covenant, there was a sense in which an old heavens and earth was replaced with a new one: New rulers were set up, a new symbolic world model was built (Tabernacle, Temple), and so forth.”(7) The New Covenant replaces the Old Covenant with new leaders, a new priesthood, new sacraments, a new sacrifice, a new tabernacle (John 1:14), and a new temple (John 2:19; 1 Corinthians 3:16; Ephesians 2:21). In essence, a new heaven and earth.
The darkening of the sun and moon and the falling of the stars, coupled with the shaking of the heavens (24:29), are more descriptive ways of saying that “heaven and earth will pass away” (24:35). In other contexts, when stars fall, they fall to the earth, a sure sign of temporal judgment (Isaiah 14:12; Daniel 8:10; Revelation 6:13; 9:1; 12:4). So then, the “passing away of heaven and earth” is the passing away of the old covenant world of Judaism led and upheld by those who “crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Corinthians 2:8). “
“John Owen, the Puritan scholar, knows his Bible better than most of the rest of us, and he tells us exactly where the Old Testament foretells a ‘new heaven and earth.”
“Owen is right on target, asking the question that so many expositors fail to ask: Where had God promised to bring “new heavens and a new earth” The answer, as Owen correctly states, is only in Isaiah 65 and 66 – passages which clearly prophesy the period of the Gospel, brought in by the work of Christ.” (ibid., p. 495)
“Because of what may be called the ‘collapsing universe’ terminology used in this passage, many have assumed that St. Peter is speaking of the final end of the physical heaven and earth, rather than the dissolution of the Old Covenant world order.” (Last Days Madness, p. 540)
J. Marcellus Kik (1971)
“But what about the new heaven and the new earth? Will there not be a renovated material heaven and earth? When the Scriptures speak of a new heaven and new earth it is not a material concept, but a spiritual concept.”
“Just a little reflection will show that to take Revelation 21 and 22 in a literal way is to make utter foolishness of that which John revealed. In that figurative passage you cannot say that the “new heaven and new earth” is a material concept while the rest is to be taken in a figurative way. The “new heaven and new earth” is but the same as “the holy city” and “the Lamb’s bride.” (An Eschatology Of Victory, p. 254-256)
Samuel Lee
“All authorities concur in the declaration that “when all these things should have been done” “The End” should come : that “the mystery of God should be finished as he had declared to His servants the prophets” : it should be completed : time should now be no more : the End of all things (so foretold) should be at hand, and be fully brought to pass : in these days should be fulfilled all that had been spoken of Christ (and of His church) by the prophets : or, in other words, when the gospel should have been preached in all the world for a testimony to all nations, and the power of the Holy People be scattered (abroad), then should the End come, then should all these things be finished. I need now only say, all these things have been done : the old and elementary system passed away with a great noise; all these predicted empires have actually fallen, and the new kingdom, the new heaven and earth, the new Jerusalem–all of which were to descend from God, to be formed by His power, have been realised on earth ; all these things have been done in the sight of all the nations ; God’s holy arm has been made bare in their sight: His judgments have prevailed, and they remain for an everlasting testimony to the whole world. His kingdom has come, as it was foretold it should, and His will has, so far, been done; His purposes have been finished; and, from that day to the extreme end of time, it will be the duty, as indeed it will be the great privilege of the Church, to gather into its bosom the Jew, the Greek, the Scythian, the Barbarian, bond and free; and to do this as the Apostles did in their days–in obedience, faith and hope.’ “
John Lightfoot (1859)
“That the destruction of Jerusalem is very frequently expressed in Scripture as if it were the destruction of the whole world, Deut. 32:22; “A fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.’ Jer. 4:23; ‘I beheld the earth, and lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light,’ &c. The discourse there also is concerning the destruction of that nation, Isa. 65:17; ‘Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered,’ &c. And more passages of this sort among the prophets. According to this sense, Christ speaks in this place; and Peter speaks in his Second Epistle, third chapter; and John, in the sixth of the Revelation; and Paul, 2 Cor. 5:17, &c. (vol. 2, pp. 18-19)
“With the same reference it is, that the times and state of things immediately following the destruction of Jerusalem are called ‘a new creation,’ new heavens,’ and ‘a new earth.’ When should that be? Read the whole chapter; and you will find the Jews rejected and cut off; and from that time is that new creation of the evangelical world among the Gentiles.
Compare 2 Cor. 5:17 and Rev. 21:1,2; where, the old Jerusalem being cut off and destroyed, a new one succeeds; and new heavens and a new earth are created.
2 Peter 3:13: ‘We, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth.’ The heaven and the earth of the Jewish church and commonwealth must be all on fire, and the Mosaic elements burnt up; but we, according to the promise made to us by Isaiah the prophet, when all these are consumed, look for the new creation of the evangelical state” (vol. 3, p.453)
“That the destruction of Jerusalem and the whole Jewish state is described as if the whole frame of the world were to be dissolved. Nor is it strange, when God destroyed his habitation and city, places once so dear to him, with so direful and sad an overthrow; his own people, whom he accounted of as much or more than the whole world beside, by so dreadful and amazing plagues. Matt. 24:29,30, ‘The sun shall be darkened &c. Then shall appear the ‘sign of the Son of man,’ &c; which yet are said to fall out within that generation, ver. 34. 2 Pet. 3:10, ‘The heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat,’ &c. Compare with this Deut. 32:22, Heb. 12:26: and observe that by elements are understood the Mosaic elements, Gal 4:9, Coloss. 2:20: and you will not doubt that St. Peter speaks only of the conflagration of Jerusalem, the destruction of the nation, and the abolishing the dispensation of Moses” (vol. 3, p. 452).
John Owen (1721)
‘It is evident, then, that in the prophetical idiom and manner of speech, by heavens and earth, the civil and religious state and combination of men in the world, and the men of them, were often understood. So were the heavens and earth that world which then was destroyed by the flood.
‘ 4. On this foundation I affirm that the heavens and earth here intended in this prophecy of Peter, the coming of the Lord, the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men, mentioned in the destruction of that heaven and earth, do all of them relate, not to the last and final judgment of the world, but to that utter desolation and destruction that was to be made of the Judaical church and state
‘First, There is the foundation of the apostle’s inference and exhortation, seeing that all these things, however precious they seem, or what value soever any put upon them, shall be dissolved, that is, destroyed; and that in that dreadful and fearful manner before mentioned, in a day of judgment, wrath, and vengeance, by fire and sword; let others mock at the threats of Christ’s coming: He will come- He will not tarry; and then the heavens and earth that God Himself planted, -the sun, moon, and stars of the Judaical polity and church, -the whole old world of worship and worshippers, that stand out in their obstinancy against the Lord Christ, shall be sensibly dissolved and destroyed: this we know shall be the end of these things, and that shortly.” (Sermon on 2 Peter iii. 11, Works, folio, 1721.).
Stanley Paher
“Several Biblical references show that the phrase ‘heaven and earth’ is a figurative expression to denote the Jewish economy, its religious society and government.”
Luke 16:17 declares that it ‘is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fall.’ Again, the Jewish society is meant. In the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:18), Jesus declared, ‘Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one title shall in no wise pass away till all things be accomplished.’ All things needed to be fulfilled which had been written in the Psalms, Moses, and in the scrolls of the other prophets (Luke 24:44; see also John 17:4). The last of these temporal events would be the dissolution of the Jewish economy.” (p. 152)
Moses Stuart (1836)
(On Heb. 12:25-29) “That the passage has respect to the changes which would be introduced by the coming of the Messiah, and the new dispensation which he would commence, is evident from Haggai ii. 7-9. Such figurative language is frequent in the Scriptures, and denotes great changes which are to take place. So the apostle explains it here, in the very next verse. (Comp. Isa. 13:13; Haggai 2:21,22; Joel 3:16; Matt. 24:29-37). (Hebrews, in loc.)
Milton Terry (1898)
“That these texts may intimate or simply foreshadow some such ultimate reconstruction of the physical creation, need not be denied, for we know not the possibilities of the future, nor the purposes of God respecting all things which he has created. but the contexts of these several passages do not authorize such a doctrine. Isaiah 51:16, refers to the resuscitation of Zion and Jerusalem, and is clearly metaphorical. The same is true of Isa. 65:17, and 66:22, for the context in all these places confines the reference to Jerusalem and the people of God, and sets forth the same great prophetic conception of the Messianic future as the closing chapters of Ezekiel. The language of 2 Pet. iii, 10, 12, is taken mainly from Isa. 34:4, and is limited to the parousia, like the language of Matt. 24:29. Then the Lord made ‘not only the land but also the heaven’ to tremble (Heb 12:26), and removed the things that were shaken in order to establish a kingdom which cannot be moved (Heb. 12:27,28).” (Biblical Hermeneutics, p. 489).
Crispin H.T. Fletcher-Louis (1997)
“In this essay it is argued that the principal reference of ‘heaven and earth’ is the temple-centered cosmology of second-temple Judaism which included the belief that the temple is heaven and earth in microcosm. Mark 13 and Matthew 5:18 refer, then, to the destruction of the temple as a passing away of an old cosmology and also, in the latter case, to the establishment during Jesus’ ministry and at His death and resurrection of a new temple cosmology — a new heaven and earth.” (Eschatology in Bible & Theology InterVarsity Press, 1997, p. 145)
C.H. Spurgeon (1865)
“Did you ever regret the absence of the burnt-offering, or the red heifer, of any one of the sacrifices and rites of the Jews? Did you ever pine for the feast of tabernacle, or the dedication? No, because, though these were like the old heavens and earth to the Jewish believers, they have passed away, and we now live under a new heavens and a new earth, so far as the dispensation of divine teaching is concerned. The substance is come, and the shadow has gone: and we do not remember it.” (Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, vol. xxxvii, p. 354).
Holman Bible Dictionary
“Jesus as Doer of God’s Mighty Works This One who was raised, the same One who died, had performed the miracles of God’s kingdom in our time and space. John testified that in the doing of God’s mighty works Jesus was the prophet sent from God (John 6:14). He healed all kinds of persons, a sign of God’s ultimate healing. He raised some from the dead, a sign that He would bring God’s resurrection life to all who would receive it. He cast out evil spirits as a preview of God’s final shutting away of the evil one (Rev. 20). He was Lord over nature, indicating that by His power God was already beginning to create a new heaven and a new earth (Rev. 21:1). The spectacular impact of His mighty works reinforced and called to mind the power of His teachings. (J. Ramsey Michaels in the Holman Bible Dictionary.)
Isaiah 51:15-16 | Hebrews 12:25-29
Another example of “heaven and earth” being referred to the Covenant World of Israel, and not literal creation, is Isaiah 51:16, “And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.
Notice that God is speaking to Israel. He says he gave them his law, the Old Covenant, the same law Jesus is speaking about in Matthew 5:17-18, to establish heaven and lay the foundation of the earth!
Clearly God is not saying he gave the Old Covenant to Israel to create literal heaven and earth! Material creation existed long before Israel was ever given the Old Covenant.
Isaiah 51:16 And I have put my words in your mouth and covered you in the shadow of my hand, establishing the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth, and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’
Who is God speaking to in Isaiah 1:1-2, “…Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth.” The physical creation?
No, he is speaking to Israel. And who is the witness in Deuteronomy 4:26, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day”? Physical creation or Old Covenant Israel?
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Post by Admin on Sept 2, 2024 11:42:07 GMT -5
New Heavens and Earth
Home>New Heavens and Earth
New Heavens and Earth Study Archive
Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens, and a new earth.
New Heavens and Earth
Global, Covenantal, or Personal?
Josephus First, Book III, chap.6, section 4:
“Now the room within those pillars was the most holy place; but the rest of the room was the tabernacle, which was open for the priests. However, this proportion of the measures of the tabernacle proved to be an imitation of the system of the world; for that third part thereof which was within the four pillars, to which the priests were not admitted, is, as it were, a heaven peculiar to God.” Of the veil at the holy of holies, he said, “This veil was very ornamental, and embroidered with all sorts of flowers which the earth produces; and there were interwoven into it all sorts of variety that might be an ornament, excepting the forms of animals”
Josephus War 5.1.4 19-20
The darts that were thrown by the engines [of the seditious factions] came with that force, that they went over all the buildings and the Temple itself, and fell upon the priests and those that were about the sacred offices; insomuch that many persons who came thither with great zeal from the ends of the earth to offer sacrifices at this celebrated place, which was esteemed holy by all mankind, fell down before their own sacrifices themselves, and sprinkled that altar which was venerable among all men, both Greeks and barbarians, with their own blood. The dead bodies of strangers were mingled together with those of their own country, and those of profane persons with those of the priests, and the blood of all sorts of dead carcasses stood in lakes in the holy courts themselves. Oh most wretched city, what misery so great as this didst thou suffer from the Romans, when they came to purify thee from thy internal pollutions! For thou couldst be no longer a place fit for God, nor couldst thou longer survive, after thou hadst been a sepulchre for the bodies of thine own people, and hast made the Holy House itself a burying-place in this civil war of thine. Yet mayst thou again grow better, if perchance thou wilt hereafter appease the anger of that God who is the author of thy destruction. But I must restrain myself from these passions by the rules of History, since this is not a proper time for domestic lamentation, but for historical narrations.
“For Behold — from the great goodness that there will be, as if the world will be renewed, a new heavens and a new earth”
Maimonides
“Thus describing the state of Exile and its various particularities and thereupon the restoration of the kingdom and the disappearance of all those sorrows, he says, speaking in parables: I shall create another heaven and another earth and those that are now will be forgotten and their traces effaced. Then he explains this in continuity, saying: When I have said “I shall create,” I meant thereby that I shall produce for you, instead of those sorrows and hardships, a state of constant joy and gladness so that the former sorrows will not be remembered.” (Guide for the Perplexed II.29)
Origen
“For if the heavens are to be changed, assuredly that which is changed does not perish, and if the fashion of the world passes away, it is by no means an annihilation or destruction of their material substance that is shown to take place, but a kind of change of quality and transformation of appearance. Isaiah also, in declaring prophetically that there will be a new heaven and a new earth, undoubtedly suggests a similar view. “(Principles, 2:6:4)
William Burkitt
“As if the apostle had said, “The voice of God, at the promulging of the law on mount Sinai, shook the earth; but he promised after this to shake all nations, and that Christ, the expected Messias, the desire of all nations, should come, which is now fulfilled.”
Question. But what means our apostle by God’s shaking not the earth only, but also heaven?
Answer. He means thereby all the Mosaical worship, all the Judaical state, those were shaken at the coming of Christ, in order to the introduction of the immoveable gospel-state, which was perpetually to remain. Learn hence, That the coming of the Messias was to be the last dispensation of God for the salvation of mankind, and consequently was to be perpetual and unchangeable. The apostle argues from the words, once more, that the former dispensation should be removed to make way for that which should perpetually remain. Several things are here asserted by our apostle,
1. That there were some things which were intended by God to be shaken, namely, the Levitical priesthood, and all the Jewish sacrifices and services; these things were to be shaken, moved, yea, altogether removed out of the way.
2. That there were things that could not be shaken or removed, but remain; these were the gospel-state, the Christian religion, which shall continue until time shall be no more.
3. That the former things were removed, that the latter might be introduced and established; the law and the gospel were inconsistent; the legal and evangelical administration could not stand in force together, therefore there was a necessity for the nulling of the one, in order to the establishing of the other.
4. That the removal of the law, to bring the more perfect administration of the gospel, doth prove the stability and immutability of the gospel, that it stands fast forever; there shall be no more shaking, no farther alteration in matters of religion to the end of the world. For thus it follows.” (Many Thanks to Bill Kuegler ; Commentary on Hebrews 12:26)
Jonathan Edwards (1739)
“Thus there was a final end to the Old Testament world: all was finished with a kind of day of judgment, in which the people of God were saved, and His enemies terribly destroyed.” (History of Redemption, vol. i. p. 445)
“We read, That “in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth,” and the church of old were to commemorate that work. But when God creates a new heaven and a new earth, those that belong to this new heaven and new earth, by a like reason, are the commemorate the creation of their heaven and earth. (“The Perpetuity and Change of the Sabbath” (The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol 2).
“The Scriptures further teach us to call the gospel-restoration and redemption, a creation of a new heaven and a new earth…. (“The Perpetuity and Change of the Sabbath” (The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol 2).
“The gospel-state is every where spoken of as a renewed state of things, wherein old things are passed away, and all things become new.” (“The Perpetuity and Change of the Sabbath” (The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol 2).
“And the dissolution of the Jewish state was often spoken of in the Old Testament as the end of the world. But we who belong to the gospel-church, belong to the new creation; and therefore there seems to be at least as much reason, that we should commemorate the work of this creation, as that the members of the ancient Jewish church should commemorate the work of the old creation.” (“The Perpetuity and Change of the Sabbath” (The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol 2).
John Locke (1705)
“That St. Paul should use ‘heaven’ and ‘earth’ for Jews and Gentiles will not be thought so very strange if we consider that Daniel himself expresses the nation of the Jews by the name of ‘heaven’ (Dan. viii. 10). Nor does he want an example of it in our Saviour Himself, who (Luke xxi. 26) by “powers of heaven” plainly signifies the great men of the Jewish nation. Nor is this the only place in the Epistle of St. Paul to the Ephesians which will bear this interpretation of heaven and earth. He who shall read the first fifteen verses of chap. iii. and carefully weigh the expressions, and observe the drift of the apostle in them, will not find that he does manifest violence to St. Paul’s sense if he understand by “The family in heaven and earth” (ver. 15) the united body of Christians, made up of Jews and Gentiles, living still promiscuously among those twp sorts of people who continueds in their unbelief. However, this interpretation I am not positive in , but offer it as matter of inquiry to those who think and impartial search into the true meaning of the Sacred Scriptures the best employment of all the time they have.” (Ephesians 2:9-10, in loc.)
Sir Isaac Newton
“The figurative language of the prophets is taken from the analogy between the world natural and an empire or kingdom considered as a world politic. Accordingly, the world natural, consisting of heaven and earth, signifies the whole world politic, consisting of thrones and people, or so much of it as is considered in prophecy; and the things in that world signify the analogous things in this. For the heavens and the things therein signify thrones and dignities, and those who enjoy them: and the earth, with the things thereon, the inferior people; and the lowest parts of the earth, called Hades or Hell, the lowest or most miserable part of them. Great earthquakes, and the shaking of heaven and earth, are put for the shaking of kingdoms, so as to distract and overthrow them; the creating of a new heaven and earth, and the passing of an old one; or the beginning and end of a world, for the rise and ruin of a body politic signified thereby. The sun, for the whole species and race of kings, in the kingdoms of the world politic; the moon, for the body of common people considered as the king’s wife; the starts, for subordinate princes and great men; or for bishops and rulers of the people of God, when the sun is Christ. Setting of the sun, moon, and stars; darkening the sun, turning the moon into blood, and falling of the stars, for the ceasing of a kingdom.” (Observations on the Prophecies, Part i. chap. ii)
John Brown (1853)
“‘Heaven and earth passing,’ understood literally, is the dissolution of the present system of the universe, and the period when that is to take place, is called the ‘end of the world.’ But a person at all familiar with the phraseology of the Old Testament Scriptures, knows that the dissolution of the Mosaic economy, and the establishment of the Christian, is often spoken of as the removing of the old earth and heavens, and the creation of a new earth and new heavens” (vol. 1, p. 170)
“It appears, then, that is Scripture be the best interpreter of Scripture, we have in the Old Testament a key to the interpretation of the prophecies in the New. The same symbolism is found in both, and the imagery of Isaiah, Ezekiel, and the other prophets helps us to understand the imagery of St. Matthew, St. Peter, and St. John. As the dissolution of the material world is not necessary to the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, neither is it necessary to the accomplishment of the predictions of the New Testament. But though symbols are metaphorical expressions, they are not unmeaning. It is not necessary to allegorise them, and find a corresponding equivalent for every trope; it is sufficient to regard the imagery as employed to heighten the sublimity of the prediction and to clothe it with impressiveness and grandeur. There are, at the same time, a true propriety and an underlying reality in the symbols of prophecy. The moral and spiritual facts which they represent, the social and ecumenical changes which they typify, could not be adequately set forth by language less majestic and sublime. There is reason for believing that an inadequate apprehension of the real grandeur and significance of such events as the destruction of Jerusalem and the abrogation of the Jewish economy lies at the root of that system of interpretation which maintains that nothing answering to the symbols of the New Testament prophecy has ever taken place. Hence the uncritical and unscriptural figments of double senses, and double, triple, and multiple fulfillments of prophecy. That physical disturbances in nature and extraordinary phenomena in the heavens and in the earth may have accompanied the expiring throes of the Jewish dispensation we are not prepared to deny. It seems to us highly probable that such things were. But the literal fulfillment of the symbols is not essential to the verification of prophecy, which is abundantly proved to be true by the recorded facts of history.” (vol. i. p.200).
David Chilton (1987)
“Moreover, the phrase heaven and earth in these contexts does not, as Owen pointed out, refer to the physical heaven and the physical world, but to the world-order, the religious organizations of the world, the “House” or Temple God builds in which He is worshipped.” (Days of Vengeance., p. 544)
Gary DeMar (1996)
“Jesus does not change subjects when He assures the disciples that “heaven and earth will pass away.” Rather, He merely affirms His prior predictions, which are recorded in Matthew 24:2931. Verse 36 is a summary and confirmation statement of these verses.(6) Keep in mind that the central focus of the Olivet Discourse is the desolation of the “house” and “world” of apostate Israel (23:36). The old world of Judaism, represented by the earthly temple, is taken apart stone by stone (24:2). James Jordan writes, “each time God brought judgment on His people during the Old Covenant, there was a sense in which an old heavens and earth was replaced with a new one: New rulers were set up, a new symbolic world model was built (Tabernacle, Temple), and so forth.”(7) The New Covenant replaces the Old Covenant with new leaders, a new priesthood, new sacraments, a new sacrifice, a new tabernacle (John 1:14), and a new temple (John 2:19; 1 Corinthians 3:16; Ephesians 2:21). In essence, a new heaven and earth.
The darkening of the sun and moon and the falling of the stars, coupled with the shaking of the heavens (24:29), are more descriptive ways of saying that “heaven and earth will pass away” (24:35). In other contexts, when stars fall, they fall to the earth, a sure sign of temporal judgment (Isaiah 14:12; Daniel 8:10; Revelation 6:13; 9:1; 12:4). So then, the “passing away of heaven and earth” is the passing away of the old covenant world of Judaism led and upheld by those who “crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Corinthians 2:8). “
“John Owen, the Puritan scholar, knows his Bible better than most of the rest of us, and he tells us exactly where the Old Testament foretells a ‘new heaven and earth.”
“Owen is right on target, asking the question that so many expositors fail to ask: Where had God promised to bring “new heavens and a new earth” The answer, as Owen correctly states, is only in Isaiah 65 and 66 – passages which clearly prophesy the period of the Gospel, brought in by the work of Christ.” (ibid., p. 495)
“Because of what may be called the ‘collapsing universe’ terminology used in this passage, many have assumed that St. Peter is speaking of the final end of the physical heaven and earth, rather than the dissolution of the Old Covenant world order.” (Last Days Madness, p. 540)
J. Marcellus Kik (1971)
“But what about the new heaven and the new earth? Will there not be a renovated material heaven and earth? When the Scriptures speak of a new heaven and new earth it is not a material concept, but a spiritual concept.”
“Just a little reflection will show that to take Revelation 21 and 22 in a literal way is to make utter foolishness of that which John revealed. In that figurative passage you cannot say that the “new heaven and new earth” is a material concept while the rest is to be taken in a figurative way. The “new heaven and new earth” is but the same as “the holy city” and “the Lamb’s bride.” (An Eschatology Of Victory, p. 254-256)
Samuel Lee
“All authorities concur in the declaration that “when all these things should have been done” “The End” should come : that “the mystery of God should be finished as he had declared to His servants the prophets” : it should be completed : time should now be no more : the End of all things (so foretold) should be at hand, and be fully brought to pass : in these days should be fulfilled all that had been spoken of Christ (and of His church) by the prophets : or, in other words, when the gospel should have been preached in all the world for a testimony to all nations, and the power of the Holy People be scattered (abroad), then should the End come, then should all these things be finished. I need now only say, all these things have been done : the old and elementary system passed away with a great noise; all these predicted empires have actually fallen, and the new kingdom, the new heaven and earth, the new Jerusalem–all of which were to descend from God, to be formed by His power, have been realised on earth ; all these things have been done in the sight of all the nations ; God’s holy arm has been made bare in their sight: His judgments have prevailed, and they remain for an everlasting testimony to the whole world. His kingdom has come, as it was foretold it should, and His will has, so far, been done; His purposes have been finished; and, from that day to the extreme end of time, it will be the duty, as indeed it will be the great privilege of the Church, to gather into its bosom the Jew, the Greek, the Scythian, the Barbarian, bond and free; and to do this as the Apostles did in their days–in obedience, faith and hope.’ “
John Lightfoot (1859)
“That the destruction of Jerusalem is very frequently expressed in Scripture as if it were the destruction of the whole world, Deut. 32:22; “A fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.’ Jer. 4:23; ‘I beheld the earth, and lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light,’ &c. The discourse there also is concerning the destruction of that nation, Isa. 65:17; ‘Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered,’ &c. And more passages of this sort among the prophets. According to this sense, Christ speaks in this place; and Peter speaks in his Second Epistle, third chapter; and John, in the sixth of the Revelation; and Paul, 2 Cor. 5:17, &c. (vol. 2, pp. 18-19)
“With the same reference it is, that the times and state of things immediately following the destruction of Jerusalem are called ‘a new creation,’ new heavens,’ and ‘a new earth.’ When should that be? Read the whole chapter; and you will find the Jews rejected and cut off; and from that time is that new creation of the evangelical world among the Gentiles.
Compare 2 Cor. 5:17 and Rev. 21:1,2; where, the old Jerusalem being cut off and destroyed, a new one succeeds; and new heavens and a new earth are created.
2 Peter 3:13: ‘We, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth.’ The heaven and the earth of the Jewish church and commonwealth must be all on fire, and the Mosaic elements burnt up; but we, according to the promise made to us by Isaiah the prophet, when all these are consumed, look for the new creation of the evangelical state” (vol. 3, p.453)
“That the destruction of Jerusalem and the whole Jewish state is described as if the whole frame of the world were to be dissolved. Nor is it strange, when God destroyed his habitation and city, places once so dear to him, with so direful and sad an overthrow; his own people, whom he accounted of as much or more than the whole world beside, by so dreadful and amazing plagues. Matt. 24:29,30, ‘The sun shall be darkened &c. Then shall appear the ‘sign of the Son of man,’ &c; which yet are said to fall out within that generation, ver. 34. 2 Pet. 3:10, ‘The heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat,’ &c. Compare with this Deut. 32:22, Heb. 12:26: and observe that by elements are understood the Mosaic elements, Gal 4:9, Coloss. 2:20: and you will not doubt that St. Peter speaks only of the conflagration of Jerusalem, the destruction of the nation, and the abolishing the dispensation of Moses” (vol. 3, p. 452).
John Owen (1721)
‘It is evident, then, that in the prophetical idiom and manner of speech, by heavens and earth, the civil and religious state and combination of men in the world, and the men of them, were often understood. So were the heavens and earth that world which then was destroyed by the flood.
‘ 4. On this foundation I affirm that the heavens and earth here intended in this prophecy of Peter, the coming of the Lord, the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men, mentioned in the destruction of that heaven and earth, do all of them relate, not to the last and final judgment of the world, but to that utter desolation and destruction that was to be made of the Judaical church and state
‘First, There is the foundation of the apostle’s inference and exhortation, seeing that all these things, however precious they seem, or what value soever any put upon them, shall be dissolved, that is, destroyed; and that in that dreadful and fearful manner before mentioned, in a day of judgment, wrath, and vengeance, by fire and sword; let others mock at the threats of Christ’s coming: He will come- He will not tarry; and then the heavens and earth that God Himself planted, -the sun, moon, and stars of the Judaical polity and church, -the whole old world of worship and worshippers, that stand out in their obstinancy against the Lord Christ, shall be sensibly dissolved and destroyed: this we know shall be the end of these things, and that shortly.” (Sermon on 2 Peter iii. 11, Works, folio, 1721.).
Stanley Paher
“Several Biblical references show that the phrase ‘heaven and earth’ is a figurative expression to denote the Jewish economy, its religious society and government.”
Luke 16:17 declares that it ‘is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fall.’ Again, the Jewish society is meant. In the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:18), Jesus declared, ‘Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one title shall in no wise pass away till all things be accomplished.’ All things needed to be fulfilled which had been written in the Psalms, Moses, and in the scrolls of the other prophets (Luke 24:44; see also John 17:4). The last of these temporal events would be the dissolution of the Jewish economy.” (p. 152)
Moses Stuart (1836)
(On Heb. 12:25-29) “That the passage has respect to the changes which would be introduced by the coming of the Messiah, and the new dispensation which he would commence, is evident from Haggai ii. 7-9. Such figurative language is frequent in the Scriptures, and denotes great changes which are to take place. So the apostle explains it here, in the very next verse. (Comp. Isa. 13:13; Haggai 2:21,22; Joel 3:16; Matt. 24:29-37). (Hebrews, in loc.)
Milton Terry (1898)
“That these texts may intimate or simply foreshadow some such ultimate reconstruction of the physical creation, need not be denied, for we know not the possibilities of the future, nor the purposes of God respecting all things which he has created. but the contexts of these several passages do not authorize such a doctrine. Isaiah 51:16, refers to the resuscitation of Zion and Jerusalem, and is clearly metaphorical. The same is true of Isa. 65:17, and 66:22, for the context in all these places confines the reference to Jerusalem and the people of God, and sets forth the same great prophetic conception of the Messianic future as the closing chapters of Ezekiel. The language of 2 Pet. iii, 10, 12, is taken mainly from Isa. 34:4, and is limited to the parousia, like the language of Matt. 24:29. Then the Lord made ‘not only the land but also the heaven’ to tremble (Heb 12:26), and removed the things that were shaken in order to establish a kingdom which cannot be moved (Heb. 12:27,28).” (Biblical Hermeneutics, p. 489).
Crispin H.T. Fletcher-Louis (1997)
“In this essay it is argued that the principal reference of ‘heaven and earth’ is the temple-centered cosmology of second-temple Judaism which included the belief that the temple is heaven and earth in microcosm. Mark 13 and Matthew 5:18 refer, then, to the destruction of the temple as a passing away of an old cosmology and also, in the latter case, to the establishment during Jesus’ ministry and at His death and resurrection of a new temple cosmology — a new heaven and earth.” (Eschatology in Bible & Theology InterVarsity Press, 1997, p. 145)
C.H. Spurgeon (1865)
“Did you ever regret the absence of the burnt-offering, or the red heifer, of any one of the sacrifices and rites of the Jews? Did you ever pine for the feast of tabernacle, or the dedication? No, because, though these were like the old heavens and earth to the Jewish believers, they have passed away, and we now live under a new heavens and a new earth, so far as the dispensation of divine teaching is concerned. The substance is come, and the shadow has gone: and we do not remember it.” (Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, vol. xxxvii, p. 354).
Holman Bible Dictionary
“Jesus as Doer of God’s Mighty Works This One who was raised, the same One who died, had performed the miracles of God’s kingdom in our time and space. John testified that in the doing of God’s mighty works Jesus was the prophet sent from God (John 6:14). He healed all kinds of persons, a sign of God’s ultimate healing. He raised some from the dead, a sign that He would bring God’s resurrection life to all who would receive it. He cast out evil spirits as a preview of God’s final shutting away of the evil one (Rev. 20). He was Lord over nature, indicating that by His power God was already beginning to create a new heaven and a new earth (Rev. 21:1). The spectacular impact of His mighty works reinforced and called to mind the power of His teachings. (J. Ramsey Michaels in the Holman Bible Dictionary.)
Isaiah 51:15-16 | Hebrews 12:25-29
Another example of “heaven and earth” being referred to the Covenant World of Israel, and not literal creation, is Isaiah 51:16, “And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.
Notice that God is speaking to Israel. He says he gave them his law, the Old Covenant, the same law Jesus is speaking about in Matthew 5:17-18, to establish heaven and lay the foundation of the earth!
Clearly God is not saying he gave the Old Covenant to Israel to create literal heaven and earth! Material creation existed long before Israel was ever given the Old Covenant.
Isaiah 51:16 And I have put my words in your mouth and covered you in the shadow of my hand, establishing the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth, and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’
Who is God speaking to in Isaiah 1:1-2, “…Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth.” The physical creation?
No, he is speaking to Israel. And who is the witness in Deuteronomy 4:26, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day”? Physical creation or Old Covenant Israel?
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Post by Admin on Sept 2, 2024 11:44:06 GMT -5
Henry Hammond (1605-1660) shared Lightfoot’s basic approach to the new heavens and earth. This fundamental agreement is evident in his A paraphrase, and
annotations upon all the books of the New Testament published in 1653.
His comments on 2 Peter 3, Revelation 21:1-4 and Romans 8:19-21 expose a metaphorical
understanding of the new heavens and earth. Still, when one scrutinizes Hammond’s exposition, it becomes evident that Hammond does not simply mirror Lightfoot in every exegetical particular. Hammond’s interpretive nuances will introduce a new plot line into the story of the new heavens and earth, a plot line absent from Lightfoot’s account.
Before investigating the details of Hammond’s exegesis of certain texts, it will be advantageous to attend to his exegetical method, a method he explains in his introduction to the book of Romans.
There, Hammond takes the time to instruct the reader about two historical realities that the New Testament authors constantly had in mind when writing to the churches. Consequently the interpreter of Scripture must likewise keep them central or risk misunderstanding the segments of the epistles. The first reality was the persecution of the church by the Jews in the time of the Apostles and the second was
Henry Hammond, A Paraphrase, and Annotations Upon All the Books of the New Testament
Briefly Explaining All the Difficult Places Thereof / by H. Hammond (London : Printed by J. Flesher for
Richard Royston ..., 1653), Early English Books Online, Union Theological Seminary Library. A
paraphrase with annotations was a common method of writing biblical commentary. The paraphrase was
typically written as a gloss alongside the text with the annotations written at the end of each chapter to allow for further interaction with specific issues—doctrinal, historical, linguistic, etc.—raised by the text. the appearance of Gnosticism. Of the two, the former reality will greatly inform Hammond’s exposition of 2 Peter 3 with its promise of a new heavens and earth.49
Jewish persecution of the church followed hard upon the resurrection of Christ, in
part because of the apostles’ refusal to require adherence to the Mosaic law and in part
because of their mission to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. Hence the apostles felt the
necessity of both defending their actions and encouraging the church to persevere amidst
these troubles. This encouragement took the form of reminding the Christians of the benefits of persevering. These benefits included the advantage of developing certain Christian virtues and the promise of eternal life in heaven. Yet a more tangible, earthly motivation for faithfulness amidst Jewish persecution is not lacking in the apostolic writings. That motivation consisted of Christ’s promise that he would return to own and protect and secure those who should cleave fast to him, and to that end to come in an eminent and notable manner, and that speedily, to the destruction of the obdurate Jews, and, at the same time, and by that means, to the deliverance of all his faithful servants the persecuted Christians.
Hence many of the New Testament statements regarding Christ’s return are not to be
taken as statements about the bodily return of Christ at the consummation of all things;
they are statements about the impending downfall of Jewish nationalistic hopes. It is this
Hammond posits two presuppositions for interpreting the New Testament epistles: 1) the
epistles were written to established churches and therefore certain doctrines were assumed to be known already, allowing casual allusion to them by the author, and 2) the epistles were written to support and stabilize the churches against false teaching. Hammond concludes from this that “It is consequently to be resolved, that the best way to interpret the difficult parts of all these Epistles, is to learn and consider by the stories of those times, what was the state of those Churches, what the oppositions which they then met with, what the dangers that were most cautiously to be prevented.” The “stories of those times” especially included Jewish persecution of the church and Gnostic teaching. reality upon which “are founded many interpretations of several passages, as in the process will appear.”
One of those passages affected was 2 Peter 3.
Hammond’s commentary on 2 Peter opens with some introductory comments largely given over to defending Petrine authorship of the letter. Part of that defense includes arguing that the letter was written before the destruction of Jerusalem. That imminent destruction was what Peter has in mind as he prepares his readers for the soon approaching day of the Lord.
Hammond’s dating of the book prior to Jerusalem’s destruction is a stance that significantly informs his explanation of chapter 3 and its reference to the new heavens and earth.
In order to grasp Hammond’s treatment of the new heavens and earth mentioned
in 2 Peter 3:13, it is necessary to summarize Hammond’s paraphrase of the entire
chapter.
Peter is calling to mind for his readers that which the Old Testament prophets,
New Testament apostles and Christ had taught them; a day was coming soon when Christ
would return to judge the Jews for their unbelief while delivering faithful Christians from
this judgment (3:1-2). Prior to that day of judgment, many would defect from the faith,
doubting the promises of its arrival due to the constancy of all things since creation (3:3-
4). Peter disposes of the idea of creation’s steadfastness by reminding the “Atheistical
“But the other passages of the coming of the
day of the Lord as a thief, and the like, belong all to that judgment on the Jewes, expressed in like phrases by Christ, Mat. 24. and by the Apostles in their Epistles, and not to the day of universal doom or destruction of the whole world….”
Hammond states that the end of the corporeal world is mentioned only in 3:7—“But the heavens
and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” 2 Peter 3:13 reads, “Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” scoffers” of the Noahic flood which engulfed the whole world.
He then proceeds to answer the scoffers’ questioning of the coming of Christ. The scoffers err in thinking that the promise of Christ’s return “must be instantly performed, as soon as Christ is gone to heaven, or else twill not be performed at all.”
God’s relationship to time is vastly different from humanity’s relationship. Decades seem long to humans, but a millennium is but as one day with God. Even so, any perceived delay on God’s part is due to his desire that many of these scoffers will yet be moved to repentance before the day of
destruction arrives.
In spite of this sense of delay, Christ shortly will return to judge the Jews and destroy Jerusalem. Christ’s promise that the temple would be destroyed would soon come to pass (cf. Matthew 24:1-2). In light of this fast-approaching dissolution of Jerusalem, Peter urges his readers to holy living and to anticipating the deliverance the Christians would enjoy from that judgment. Rather than judgment, Christians anticipate a new heaven and earth, that is to say “a new, a Christian state, in which all provision is made by Christ for righteousness to inhabit, according to the promise of Christ, concerning the purity that Christ should plant in the evangelical state….” Hammond obviously is not thinking of the new heavens and earth in in terms of the material world but in terms of spiritual categories.
Hammond cites Acts 3:19 in connection with this point: “Repent ye therefore, and be
converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.”
Hammond argues that in this verse the phrase does indeed refer to the physical planet, to all that was destroyed by the Flood and which will one day be destroyed by fire.
However, that literal interpretation of 3:7 does not hold in the verses that follow according to Hammond. Verses 10 and 12 tell of the heavens, earth and elements dissolving and melting. In those verses, the terms are to be taken figuratively to represent “the whole city of Jerusalem, temple, and palace, towers, and buildings of the city, not one signified by one, another by another, but all by all together, and proportionally to that, the new heavens and new earth are a Christian people, ver. 13.”61
He goes on to add that the fiery destruction of the heavens, earth and elements is the
devastation brought by the Roman army upon Judea and Jerusalem during the Jewish
War, culminating in the burning of Jerusalem and the Jewish temple.
Hence Hammond moves from the heavens and the earth being the entire earth (verse 7), to a metaphor for Jerusalem (verses 10, 12), to a metaphor for a Christian people (verse 13). This metaphor is the new heavens and earth anticipated by Peter.
Hammond is aware that other scholars had expounded this chapter in a manner
different from his own. He acknowledges that some think Peter envisions the end of the
2 Peter 3:7: “But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store,
reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”
. Hammond does not comment on whether the world will be renovated or annihilated. He simply notes that “by perpetual tradition” it is held that the world and its creatures will be destroyed.
world while others view it as a renovation of the world prior to the commencement of the
millennium.
These interpreters misunderstand not only Peter’s words, but also Paul’s
treatment of this subject in his epistles and Jesus’ discourse on the Mount of Olives.
Hammond argues that Peter, Paul and Jesus agree in that they all understood the second
coming of Christ to signify a coming to execute judgment on the rebellious Jews rather
than to bring an end to the world or prepare it for a millennium. He maintains that the
whole epistle of 2 Peter was written to encourage steadfastness of belief among believers
in Christ in light of the imminent return of Christ in judgment. Hammond believes the
cause of the two false interpretations was the “hideousness of those judgments, which fell
upon that people of the Jews….”
These judgments were unparalleled in Jewish history, leading the prophets—“who use tropes and figures, and not plain expressions, to set down their predictions”—to employ images of cosmic changes in the heavens and on earth in order to express its severity.
Once the destruction had fallen, then “peaceable days of serving Christ” would arrive, a new heaven and earth. Hence, for Hammond, the new heavens and earth are a Christian people serving Christ in peaceable circumstances, a state of affairs that commenced in the first century following Jerusalem’s devastation by the Roman armies.
Though he is not dogmatic about it, Hammond does not attempt any explanation of how the persecution of the church under the Roman Empire for over two centuries comports with the
“peaceable days of serving Christ” that supposedly began with the demise of the Judean province.
Hammond revisits the topic of the new heavens and earth in his exposition of Revelation 21:1. He observes that the chapter division between Revelation 20 and 21 is
misplaced since the subject matter of 21:1-22:5 is an enlargement on certain events
mentioned in chapter 20. In light of Hammond’s belief that Revelation 21:1 is an
expansion on the previous chapter, an overview of his understanding of chapter 20 will
aid in appreciating his comments on the new heavens and earth found in chapter 21.
Consistent with many of his contemporaries but differing from Lightfoot,
Hammond held that the thousand years of Revelation 20 started with the ascendancy of
Constantine to the throne of the Roman Empire.67
His ascension to power effectively
bound the power of Satan from inflicting persecution on the church. Satan’s binding
began a literal one thousand year period which Hammond describes as “a tranquillity and
flourishing estate of Christianity for some time, though not forever.”68
These days will
come to an end when, on account of moral laxity in the church, God will release Satan to
trouble the church once again. Hammond identifies this troubling of the church with the
rise of the “Mahomedane religion” in Greece, adding further that the city of the saints
which is surrounded by Gog and Magog is Constantinople.69
Yet God will destroy Gog
and Magog—“ ‘tis to be expected in God’s good time.”70
Hammond notes that the worship of Mohammed was begun just two hundred years earlier in Constantinople’s chief church, the Church of Sophia
In his annotations on this chapter, Hammond mounts an argument against the
millennialists of his day to prove the point that the thousand years of chapter 20 have
already passed and are not a future glorious state of the church.
He points out that “here is no mention of any new reign of Christ on earth, but only of them that were beheaded living and reigning with Christ.”
Those who were beheaded (Revelation 20: 4) refers to Christians who maintained their witness for Christ, some even to the death, during the times of persecution under the Roman Empire. Their living again—contra the millennialists—is not to be taken as the bodily resurrection of “the same particular persons, or individual members of the Church, that had formerly been slain” but is to be taken as signifying “the Church in the perpetual succession of Christians.”
With Constantine came the reviving of the church so that it lived and reigned with Christ in
that the outward circumstances of the church changed from trouble to prosperity.
As mentioned above, Hammond’s paraphrase and annotations on chapter 21 divulge his belief that the chapter is a further description of the thousand years mentioned in the previous chapter.
The new heaven and earth of Revelation 21:1 is a figure of
Hammond later comments that the ‘first resurrection’ is “figuratively used to express the
flourishing condition of the Christian Church for that thousand years wherein the Christian professors in opposition to idolatrous heathens, and Gnostic Christians have safely and out of their graves to live again here in tranquility upon the earth.”
The fact that John sees the new Jerusalem descending from heaven to the earth convinces
Hammond that Revelation 21 describes the church on earth rather than in heaven. He maintains that this
movement from heaven to earth is “a key to interpreting this chapter.” Hammond does consider the
possibility that chapters 20 and 21 run consecutively, thus putting the new heaven and earth of chapter 21 after the thousand years of chapter 20. He decides against that possibility, arguing instead that it is not speech for “that flourishing estate of the Christian Church for a thousand years” in which idolatry vanishes.
Although Hammond thinks the meaning of the new heaven and earth of
Revelation 21:1 and 2 Peter 3:13 is essentially the same, the event described by the two
texts is not the same. The new heavens and earth of 2 Peter 3 and the new heaven and
earth of Revelation 21:1 both signify an alteration in the church’s external circumstances.
In Peter’s letter, the new heavens and earth is a new situation for the church that would
shortly emerge following the destruction of Jerusalem, putting an end to the “old Judaical
mode”.
In John’s vision in Revelation 21, the new heaven and earth is a flourishing
condition of the church that commenced at the succession of Constantine almost 250
years after the destruction prophesied by Peter. Thus there were two fulfillments of the
promise of a new heavens and earth, one initiated in the first century that presumably
would last in perpetuity, and one in the fourth century that would last one thousand
years.
It is in this second fulfillment that Hammond goes beyond what Lightfoot had
proposed.
unusual in the Scriptures that “two visions should belong to the same matter.” Hence he takes chapter twenty-one to be a further description of the state of the church that began with Constantine’s rule. He settles on this position because he thinks the main design of the book of Revelation is to provide hope to the seven churches in Asia who were the initial recipients of the vision. In spite of the current experiences of these churches, a day was coming when the church would enjoy peace and stability, a situation realized soon after Constantine’s conversion
78 Hammond does not every comment on the duration of the new heavens and earth that
commenced in AD 70 but since he describes it as the end of the “Judaical mode” and the beginning of the evangelical state, one could conclude that it would continue until Christ’s Second Advent.
Hammond does not ever equate the new heavens and earth passages with any
incidents or states of affairs at the consummation of human history and his treatment of
Romans 8:19-22 follows in the same trajectory. As was noted earlier, this Pauline text
was commonly understood as describing the release of the physical creation—the
heavens and earth—from its bondage to corruption following the deliverance of the sons
of God at the last day. Although the passage spawned various questions that produced
differing answers, the identity of “the creature” was generally agreed upon.
It was the entirety of the physical creation excepting rational beings—humans and angels.
However, displaying his commitment to keep in mind the stories of the Jewish
rejection of Christ and their persecution of the early church when studying epistles,
Hammond interprets the meaning of the creature in light of the impending doom on the
Jews. He maintains that Paul is speaking directly to Roman Jews in chapter eight and
when he comes to verse nineteen, Paul briefly adumbrates the hope of the creature, the
creature being none other than the Gentiles. The Gentiles anxiously await the response of
the Jews to the gospel of Christ.
For thousands of years they had continued in a path of The question of the identity of the creature, as well as other questions raised by interpreters about Romans 8, will be treated at length in chapter 3.
Hammond enlarges on the expectation of the Gentiles in his annotations section. He insists that the phrase “must be understood according to the sacred
prophetick dialect.” That is, the Gentiles desire and hope for something “they doe not distinctly know or think of.” So Gentiles desire deliverance from their idolatry because they desire their own good even though they do not know the exact means by which that is achieved. Hammond writes, “And so here it is not at all necessary to the verifying of this speech of the Apostle, that the Gentile world all this while, (or even at the time, wherein he spake) should either know Christ, or what ‘twas, to be the sons of God, or that the revelation of this by the preaching of the Gospel to the Jews, tended so particularly to their advantage.
But, as the Gospel of Christ was the collection of all those advantages that they aspired to, and as being the sons of God ] was the believing [sic] on Christ, when he was preached, so the Apostle, that knew, that upon the having preach over all the cities of Jewry (and so made discovery, who of them would repent and believe the Gospel” who would be finally contumacious) the Gospel should immediately be preached to the Gentiles, and so the blessed thing in the world befall them, the satisfaction to all their desires and blind idolatry and unwilling subjection to Satan’s desires.81 Wishing to be free from bondage to Satan, the Gentiles eagerly await the response of the Jews to the gospel in hopes that they (Gentiles) too will be rescued from their bondage to Satan and made to be children of God and heirs of eternal life.
Paul’s own ministry gives proof to this longing of the Gentiles because wherever Paul preached, the Gentiles were “very forward to receive the Gospel, when they hear it, while ye Jews generally reject it….”
The Gentile world is eager to deliver true sons of God into the kingdom of God. The “manifestation of the sons of God” (Rom. 8:19) is not an end of the age event; rather, it was a discovery of who were genuine sons of God among the Jews of the first century. This discovery followed the preaching of the Gospel by the apostles to the Jewish nation. As Christ was preached to the Jews, many did not believe, thus proving they were not truly sons of God, while others did receive the message of Christ, revealing just the opposite. Only after the rejection of Christ by the groanings, may truly say, that the expectation of the Gentile world attended and waited for this.”
. Hammond lays the responsibility of Gentile vanity on Satan rather than the Gentiles themselves. Gentile ignorance of the true God was a condition foisted upon them by Satan. The paraphrase of verse 20 reads thus: “For the heathen world hath for these many years been (for the generality of them) enslaved to Satan, and, by him, to that wretched miserable estate of ignorance and Idolatry, and all those vain and unclean bestial worships, and so as many as have
gone on in those vile courses have been involved also under that desperate impossibility (as to the eye of man) of recovering to the least degree of bliss, And all this, not (absolutely) willingly, or upon their own free choice, but by the devils imposing it on them, as an act of religion, a concomitant, and effect of their Idol-worships…in which he commanded all these villanies.” Hammond cuts across the grain of the usual interpretation of this text by arguing that it is not God who put the creature into subjection to futility by abandoning them to their idolatry but rather it is the devil “who by God’s permission (in just punishment
for their Idolatries) had, and exercised such power among the heathens, and engaged them in all
wickedness.” In worshipping false gods, the Gentiles were worshipping the devil, and the devil took full advantage of his power over them by inducing them to believe faulty notions and practice vile sins, even the sin of human sacrifice.
majority of the Jewish people did the apostles turn their focus to the Gentiles. The
Jewish rejection would become the means for the Gentiles to receive the gospel and that
is why Paul says the Gentiles are eagerly waiting for the revelation of what Jews truly
were sons of God, because only then would the Gentile hope of also being adopted as
sons of God be realized.
It is now apparent that Hammond and Lightfoot reached similar conclusions
regarding several themes. Both accepted the idea that the millennium spoken of in
Revelation 20 was a literal thousand years that had already been completed centuries
earlier, though they did not agree on the timing of its commencement. Both denied that
the new heavens and earth concerned the material world’s renewal after the final
judgment but rather explained it as a metaphor describing new conditions for the church
after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE, and, in the case of Hammond, another set of
conditions after the rise of Constantine. Both adopted a non-standard approach to
Romans 8:19-22 by identifying the creature with the Gentile world rather than with the
physical world, thereby placing the fulfillment of the passage in the distant past instead of
the future. The burden of the final section of this chapter will be to determine how John
Owen’s interpretation of the new heavens and earth meshes with his two contemporaries.[/font]
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Post by Admin on Sept 2, 2024 16:05:49 GMT -5
One Day Is With the Lord as a Thousand...
Most Misunderstood Verses
By Dr. Jeff Meyers
Bible Text: 2 Peter 3:8
Preached On: Sunday, August 25, 2024
Website: www.fbcopelika.com
Online Sermons: www.sermonaudio.com/jeffmeyers
All right, tonight I'm gonna encourage you to turn to 2 Peter chapter 3. If you are new to
us on Sunday evenings in this season of life whether it's here on campus or online,
whatever it may be, we are walking through a series of studies entitled "The Most
Misunderstood Verses in the Bible. Now I have selected personally what I consider kind
of the top 10 or so. Trust me, there are more than 10 misunderstood verses in the Bible
but kind of our goal, kind of our purpose is to take passages of scripture that, generally
speaking, have been communicated, have been taught, or have been said to say a certain
thing, that when you peel away the layers, you begin to look at it in context, it usually
doesn't say what we think it says. In fact, tonight is another one of those passages that
when you pull it out as a single solitary verse, it very feasibly and somewhat easily could
say what most people say that it says but when you look at it in context, we're going to
discover that, once again, it probably does not say what we think it says.
Now, in just a moment, we're going to walk through a format. We've been utilizing the
same format each and every Sunday evening when we gather, no matter what the text.
But tonight, 2 Peter 3, verse 8. I guarantee you, you've heard this verse, even if you didn't
know where it was located in your Bible. It begins with, "But." That ought to be your first
warning sign right there. Why? Because anytime you see that conjunction "but" it is
either connecting or contrasting an idea previously communicated with what's about to be
communicated. So anytime you get a verse that begins with "but" you cannot pull it out
in isolation, you cannot select it as just a separate teaching on and of itself. It says,
8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the
Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
That's a very famous verse. In fact, oftentimes you hear that when people talk about
walking through difficulty, struggles, seasons of life. They'll say, "Well, you know, a day
with the Lord, a thousand years, a thousand years is a day. You know, what seems like an
eternity to you is just a wink from him." And I understand that. However, tonight when
we talk about what is quote taught, generally speaking, let me share with you how this
verse is utilized the majority of the time, that what you and I know as the quote creation
narrative in Genesis chapter 1 does not necessarily necessitate a literal 24-hour day. Now
let me unpack that for a moment. When you go to Genesis chapter 1, we have what we call the creation narrative. There are six days of the creation narrative in chapter 1. The
seventh day, as we'll address in a moment, begins in chapter 2. There are numerous
approaches to that creation narrative. Some we might put on one side of the spectrum,
others on the other, however, there is one that I want to address tonight that relates to this
verse and it's what we often call the day-age theory. You say, what is the day-age theory?
Well, as you walk through Genesis chapter 1, we know that on day 1, the Lord said, "Let
there be light." He separated the light from the darkness. It was a day. We know that day
2 was a firmament. We could go through the course of all six descriptions there in
Genesis chapter 1. And so based on 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 8, what is generally taught is
that when the Lord said let there be light, or when the Lord said let there be animals, or
when the Lord said let there be vegetation, or whatever it may be, that based on 2 Peter 3,
8, there's room for flexibility. It may not have been a literal 24 hours. Why? Because a
day with the Lord as if a thousand years and a thousand years as if a day. And so
oftentimes people come and say, well, it could have been a thousand. There are even
some people that stretch out a little further into epics and such. So generally that is what
is taught that this verse is about or gives commentary on what we know as the creation story.
So why is this a problem? Four reasons that 2 Peter 3:8 as a commentary on the Genesis
creation narrative is a problem. The first one is this: this passage utilizes a simile, the
word "as." It is not attempting to redefine the word day. Now, we hear this all the time
and the classic illustration is I'm hungry as a horse. Well, you're not literally saying that
you're a horse. You're just making a comparison using the word "as" or sometimes we
use the word "like" when making a simile. It is a comparison. It is time where we're
taking two objects that appear to have no relationship at all to each other and we give
them a relationship in illustration. So again, one of the big struggles is it says that one day
is as a thousand years and a thousand years is as one day. That word "as" is critical to the
story. Here's where it gets interesting. The term "day," okay, the term "day" in the book
of Genesis, a little word by the name of yom, yom is actually used 410 times outside of
Genesis chapter 1. It's always used as a 24-hour day. Every single time. Now this ought
to be our first hint tonight. Why is it that within the book of Genesis, that's 50 chapters,
that 49 of those chapters, this word means a day but in one of those chapters, it doesn't
have to mean a day. You see what's happening here? In other words, one of the things
that we do is we go back and we begin to do a word study, and one of the biggest
problems we've got is that we're taking Genesis 1, we're going into 2 Peter 3, and we're
making a simile in 2 Peter 3, give us a commentary on Genesis chapter 1. If this word,
means more than, quote unquote, 24 hours, why is it never utilized as such in any other
place in what we know as the book of Genesis, even when it's used over 410 times? Now,
this is where I think it gets a little bit interesting, thus, one would never conclude that
Adam waited at least 1,000 years or more before the arrival of Eve.
Now, I want you to think about the chronology of the Genesis narrative. Genesis chapter
2 verse 16, the Lord makes it very clear to Adam that it's not good that he is alone. By the
way, ladies and gentlemen, the Bible says it is not good that man be alone. It does not say
it's not good that a woman be alone. You ladies, you can be alone. Us guys, we need
some help, seriously. So therefore it says, it's not good that man be alone, which means
that even though sin had not entered the garden, I guarantee it was already a wreck and a
mess, okay? The Lord said, "It's not good that you're alone, I will bring a helpmeet."
Then it goes on to say that they will reside in what we know as the Garden of Eden.
Here's what's fascinating about the Christian narrative, is that Adam had been breathing
the life, he'd been navigating the garden, he'd been, in fact, most people believe that what
we know is the character of Eve and by the way, her name Eve was not given to her till
after they fell into sin; her name Eve meaning the mother of the living actually was after
they ate of the forbidden fruit. Her name prior to that was woman. He just said, "The
woman that you gave me." That being said, most people believe it was probably about six
days. We do not know for sure but I can promise you this, it was at least one. Why is that
important? Because there's not one of us today that would ever believe God came to
Adam and said, "It's not good that you're alone, buddy. You've got to wait a thousand
years, then I'm going to take care of you." Well, but if it meant a thousand years in the
chapter prior, why does it not mean a thousand in the chapter present? Do you see the
struggle that we have here?
So when you go into 2 Peter 3, verse 8, it talks about one day as a thousand years and a
thousand years as one day, when we take that passage, and as you're going to see here
tonight, unfortunately, force it into the Genesis narrative, it creates a series of problems.
And finally, why is this a problem? Because this teaching gives liberty to make a word's
meaning based on preconceived ideology. Now this is where you and I struggle because
whether we realize it or not, every one of us tonight is wearing a pair of glasses. Some of
you are wearing bi and trifocals, and I'm not being literal, I'm being metaphorical here.
And here's why, because in the glasses of your life, one of the lenses is called experience.
You cannot help but have it, correct? You know, one of the things that I share with young
couples that are getting married, I had the privilege of doing it just this week, sweet
couple going through that stage of life about to get married. I said, one thing you cannot
prevent is that each one of you is bringing 20 plus years of individual experience into this
relationship and you cannot pretend that that doesn't exist. It's real. So every one of you
here tonight has a lens of experience. I've got one for you, every one of you has a lens of
what people taught you growing up whether good, bad, or evil. You cannot help it. I'll
give you, hopefully, a humorous illustration. Growing up when I did, my formative years
were in the decades of the '70s and the '80s, okay? Why is that significant? Because every
coach that I had and every friend that I had, either the dad, the coach, or the uncle, were
all Vietnam vets. Every one of them. Now, I have an appreciation for everybody who has
served, but let's just go ahead and say it, those that came back from Vietnam did not
come back the same. And the things that my coaches did to us back then, they'd be put in
prison today. Guaranteed. Right? In fact, I'm going to go ahead and say it because I've
just got the stage and I don't care, I thought every man in his 30s was crazy. All right? I
mean, I had a good friend of mine, I used to spend the night at. His dad was a helicopter
pilot in Vietnam. In the middle of the night, he'd have night terrors and start running
through the house. I thought everybody's dad did that. I just thought that was normal,
right?
I cannot remove those experiences. I cannot remove those coaches. I cannot remove those
educators, those teachers out of my life, good, bad, or indifferent. That's a lens in my life.
But you know what the biggest lens is? The lens of what you want it to be. Boy, it's
powerful, isn't it? How many times do we just want something to be because we want it
to be? And one of the things that I often talk about when we talk about biblical
interpretation, there's a big fancy word, we call it hermeneutics. I know it's a big word.
Here's what it basically means. It basically means an educated academic in scientific
study of scripture. So if somebody says, oh, we're doing a hermeneutical study of
scripture, all that really means is they're bringing all the information and knowledge to
the table that they possibly can. Here's what I call it, hermeneutical gymnastics. In other
words, we make the Bible jump and spin and dance around and do what we want it to do
versus what it actually does.
Let me apply this to 2 Peter 3, verse 8. There is a large contingency of individuals, both
not only without but also within the church, that just cannot wrap their heads around,
cannot conceive that everything that we see in the known universe took place in six 24-
hour days. They just can't do it. They just can't fathom it. And because they can't wrap
their mind around it, they can't allow the Bible to say it. And so what do they do?
Hermeneutical gymnastics. Take a passage like 2 Peter 3, verse 8 and say, aha, this gives
us room and this gives us liberty. Now tonight is really not about the creation, I promise,
but I want to throw out a quote-unquote thought to you. For those of you that struggle
with each one of those days being 24 hours, if you believe that God is omnipresent,
meaning he's everywhere, if you believe that God is omniscient, meaning he knows
everything, if you believe that God is omnipotent, that he can do anything he wants,
anytime he wants, then why'd it take him so long? Why did he not do it in 24 seconds? In
other words, I think 24 hours is giving an all-powerful, all-present, all-knowing God quite
a bit of liberty. The struggle is, we're on this side of the fall. We're on this side of Eden.
Everything that we experience, those glasses, everything that we're exposed through, we
filter through, we've never seen it, we've never experienced it, and there's no way it could
happen on this side. And you're absolutely right.
So tonight, let's take the proverbial glasses off and ask this question: what does this
passage actually teach? So back to 2 Peter chapter 3, we're going to do something
revolutionary, please note my gift of spiritual sarcasm, we're going to read verse 8 in its
context. We're going to go back up to verse 1, read 10 verses, and see what it says in the
context, not just in isolation. It says,
1 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir
up your pure minds by way of remembrance: 2 That ye may be mindful of
the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the
commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: 3 Knowing this
first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own
lusts, 4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the
fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of
the creation. 5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of
God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and
in the water: 6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with
water, perished: 7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the
same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment
and perdition of ungodly men. 8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one
thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand
years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some
men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any
should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 10 But the day of the
Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass
away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the
earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Now what does this passage teach? Well, in context, 2 Peter chapter 3 has nothing to do
with the creation narrative at all. In fact, the context is what you and I collectively refer to
as, quote, the second coming. Notice what it says in verse 3, there will come scoffers who
claim it's not really going to happen. You go down to verse 10, it says, but the day of the
Lord, if you go in your Old Testament, that term, the day of the Lord, is reserved not just
for what we know as the second coming, but for the judgment of God, the wrath of God
on those that have rebelled against and rejected God. So therefore, in context, we have to
default that this is not a creation commentary, this is a second coming commentary.
Now, let's do a little contrast here. A time period of a thousand years. Yes, it uses a simile
here, but there is a passage in your Bible that involves a second coming that explicitly
mentions a thousand years. If you'll turn to the right a few pages, in fact, go to the end of
your Bible, Revelation chapter 20. We're three chapters from the end of the Bible We
discover there's a passage that, if you have a study Bible, if you have one of those Bibles
that either above the line, below the line, or between the lines, gives a little insight,
commentary, maybe a few footnotes, whatever it may be, a lot of times they'll say this is
a passage regarding the quote, millennium. Why would they use that word? Because
that's the Latin word for a thousand years. That's all that it is, okay? Hence, since Jesus
Christ, it's been two millennia. I'm going to begin in verse 1 of chapter 20 and here's what
I want you to do, take a mental note or if you like to mark in your Bibles, actually mark
in your Bibles every time you hear the word one thousand years. It says,
1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the
bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the
dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a
thousand years, 3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up,
and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till
the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a
little season. 4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment
was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for
the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not
worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark
upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with
Christ a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the
thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and
holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death
hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall
reign with him a thousand years. 7 And when the thousand years are
expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Now when you go back in the Old Testament, you know what the Bible says? It says out
of the mouth of two or three witnesses let it be true. In fact, one of the verses that we
addressed in the study was in Matthew chapter 18, that famous passage where it says
where two or three are gathered in my name there am I in the midst of them. And you
look at the context of that passage and it deals with if somebody has sinned against you,
you go to them privately, if they will not hear you, you take a witness. A witness is
somebody who's been exposed to or has experienced the same thing that you have. Then
if they will not hear that, you quote take it to the church or the larger body. Why is that
important? Because a decision to, shall we say, discipline somebody in Matthew 18 is
based on two people who tell the same story. You realize seven verses in Revelation 20,
six times, six times it used the word one thousand years.
Now here's what's fascinating about the passage we just read in Revelation. In that
context, what do you discover? Satan is bound, Jesus is reigning, and things are great.
But if we were to continue to read, we discover that at the end of the thousand years,
Satan is loosed for a little season, there's one last what we might call, quote, rebellion.
Why is this important? Because the term one thousand years is a critical time period in
scripture, but not regarded to Genesis, in regards to Revelation. And so here we are in
2nd Peter 3, we've got a passage that talks about a thousand years but in context, it's not
Genesis, it's Revelation.
So what is so critical about this communication? This is where in my world it's gonna get
a little fun. I'm gonna have a good journey. You're welcome to come along with me. You
ready? All right Genesis chapter 2. In Genesis chapter 2, we have what we know as the
seventh day of the creation narrative. In the first six days, you have light and darkness,
you have the firmament, vegetation, you have the greater light, the lesser light, the stars
also, the animals, you have Adam and Eve, well actually just Adam, but humanity there
on day six. When you get to day seven, what happens? The Lord rests. Now that's
important. Why? Because last time I checked, if you're an all-powerful, all-knowing, allpresent God, you don't get tired. So he actually purposefully rests. And then you hear
Jesus in the New Testament make this statement, that man was not made for the Sabbath
but the Sabbath was made for the man. So in other words, when you go back to Genesis
chapter 2, and you have this famous seventh day of, quote, rest, it is not because God was
tired. It's not because he needed to get ready for the next work week. In fact, we discover
that he did so to teach us and to show us something that we needed to learn, not that he
needed to experience.
And here's where I find it fascinating. In Exodus chapter 31, there's an entire chapter in
your Bible regarding Sabbath days. Now, did you notice I said plural there? Days, not
day. In fact, most of us, when someone asks you, what is the Sabbath day? You would
say, well, that's from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. It's been celebrated in the
Jewish community for years, for literally millennia. However, what we discover in
Exodus 31 is there are more days of Sabbath than just Friday to Saturday. In fact, many
of what we call the Jewish feasts whether it's Passover, unleavened bread, feast of
tabernacles, etc., there are some kind of Sabbaths that are utilized and celebrate typically
on the front of in the back end. This is why in John chapter 19 verse 31 it's critical the
what we call the Passion narrative or the account of the crucifixion of Jesus. Remember
the famous story where they go and break the legs of the thieves on both sides of Jesus
but no need for him because he's already breathed his last breath? Remember they put the
sword in, water and blood comes out? Remember why they were in such a hurry?
Because the Sabbath day. But according to John chapter 19 verse 31 it says that Sabbath
day was a holy day. In other words, it wasn't Friday to Saturday. It was matched up with
what we know as Passover and unleavened bread.
You say, why is that all important? Because in Genesis 31, or Exodus 31, I want you to
hear what it says about the Sabbaths. The Sabbaths are a sign. Now I want you to hold on
to that thought for a moment. Signs are very rare in the Bible. You say, what is a sign? A
sign is something that only God can accomplish and man cannot replicate. Okay, that's
what a sign is. So I'll give you an example on the other side of the script. Remember
when Moses goes back into Pharaoh, says, let my people go, and everybody's having this
debate and discussion, and remember that Pharaoh takes the stick, puts it down, it
becomes a snake. You know that Pharaoh's guys did the same thing, right? That's not a
sign. We might call it a miracle, we might call it something amazing, but it's not a sign
because humanity was able to duplicate it.
So let me walk you through some of the signs that we have in the Bible. Remember the
famous rainbow? Oh yeah. Remember Noah gets off the boat after 15 months, steps foot
on dry land. What did God do? Put a rainbow in the sky and he said, "This will be a sign
to you that I will not destroy the earth by water again." That's an important statement
when what we just read in 2nd Peter, he's gonna destroy it by fire just never by water
again. He puts a rainbow and he calls it a sign.
There's a story in the Old Testament where one of the servants of the Lord is struggling
with trusting the Lord and he says, "OK, I'm going to put a fleece out tonight, God, and
tomorrow I'll know that this is your will if the fleece is dry but the ground is covered with
dew." That happens. He said, "Okay, we're going to reverse it." The next day, the fleece
was wet, the ground was dry. What does the Bible say? That was a sign. Only God can do that.
Let's make our way to Isaiah. "Behold, I give you a sign. A virgin shall conceive and give
birth." That is a sign. Humanity can't pull it off, only God can.
Here's the biggest one though. Matthew chapter 12, a bunch of people that are pushing
back against Jesus saying, "Hey, we want to see a sign from you." Now isn't that
interesting? He's walked on water. He's multiplied food. He's healed the lame, the sick,
the blind. He's raised somebody from the dead and they said, we want to see something
only God can do. Remember what Jesus said? "I'm only going to give you one sign. As
Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man
will be in the heart of the earth three days, three nights." Here's what Jesus said, "The
only sign I'm going to give you is when I'm raised from the dead."
Now think about how many miracles Jesus did and only one of them is called a sign.
Why is that important? Because in Exodus 31, the Sabbath day is called a sign. It is
something that God has done that cannot be duplicated by humanity. Now let me work
through that on an everyday every week basis. What we know as the Sabbath on a regular
occurrence sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. Very limited mobility, in fact in Israel
today one of the things that I find humorous is that when you go to a hotel, they actually
have what they call Sabbat or Sabbath elevators. If you've never experienced this, you
don't want to be caught doing too much work on the Sabbath day, i.e. pushing the button
for the floor that you need. So what does it do? It goes up every floor and opens, goes to
the next floor, opens, goes all the way to the top, and it does it all day long because you
don't want to do too much work. Okay?
Now, why is that fascinating to me? Well, because you actually are walking, and that's a
whole other story. But nonetheless, when we talk about the Sabbath, let's go to the
wilderness. Remember what happened with the manna? When the Lord provided manna,
what did he say? He said, "Go out every morning and get as much as you want." Now, by
the way, the Bible says that while they're in the wilderness, this is free of charge, this has
nothing to do with St. Peter, it says that their clothes didn't get old and their shoes didn't
wear out, which means they never gained weight. That's right. And what did he tell them?
"Eat all you want." How is manna described? It's round, sugary, and brownish cream.
Donuts. All you can eat without gaining weight. It's a great thing.
So the Lord says, "Go eat all you want but at the end of the day, if you've stored up too
much and you don't eat it, the next day it'll be eaten by worms." So what we know as
manna, which by the way translates into angel's food, if you did not know, the Lord did a
miracle that every day you had enough for that day, but you could not carry it over to the
next day except for the day before the Sabbath. And here's what the Lord said, "On the
day before the Sabbath, go and get two days' worth and it will still be good." Man can't
pull that off. Only God can.
Now the reason I went to such extremes on this is what we know as the Sabbath day in
Genesis 2 is a day of rest. We just read a passage in Revelation chapter 20 where the
saints of God are at rest for a thousand years and it is called a sign. So in context, thus, a
quote day can reference a thousand year time period, but just not in the book of Genesis. I
do believe we have evidence that in context, this day as if a thousand years, thousand
years as if a day, I think there is some contextual evidence that it really does mean a day
turns into a thousand, a thousand is referenced in a day. The problem is it's about the end
of your Bible, not the beginning, which leads to this concern: the true lack of support for
the Genesis narrative versus what we know as the book of Revelation. So if we're going
to discuss something of this nature, we've got to have some confirmation. I mean, what is
just one idea versus another.
I want you to turn back to the gospel of Matthew for just a moment. Matthew chapter 17
and what I want to try to do tonight is have a little fun. One of the things that I love to do
in Bible studies is make this statement, could it be? Now when I say could it be, don't
write it in concrete, but get out your ballpoint pen. Could it be? Could it be that this
famous passage regarding the thousand years in 2 Peter 3:8 isn't about Genesis and the
creation narrative, could it be that the Lord has actually constructed time from Genesis to
today to be laid out where there actually is this day, this Sabbath, that is more than 24
hours, that is set aside for the, quote, rest of humanity? Not for the Lord, but for
humanity. Matthew chapter 17. This is the famous story of the transfiguration of Jesus.
You say, what does that mean? We're not going to read the whole thing. But basically,
Jesus takes Peter, James, and John, takes them up on the mountain, and it says that he
transfigures before them. His raiment becomes brighter than white, okay? It's a good
picture of almost Revelation 1 where Jesus is as the sun, and by the way, in Malachi
chapter 4, it calls Jesus the sun, S-U-N, of righteousness.
Now, some things to note about Matthew 17. Peter, James, and John go up on this
mountain, Jesus shows up, two people are with him, Moses and Elijah, and they did not
have name tags. They just knew who it was. Is that because in that heavenly arena, we
just know who everybody is? Or was it based on the conversations that was being had,
they would know it was Moses or Elijah? I'll let you discern that next time. But all that
being said, it's an incredible event. I want you to notice how the 17th chapter of Matthew
begins. "After six days, Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John, his brother, and brings them
up into the high mountain apart." Does that strike you odd? Matthew chapter 17 is a story
of Jesus demonstrating what we might call his second coming appearance. He does so
after six days.
So let me ask you back in Genesis, when was the original Sabbath given? After six days.
Now, here's where it gets real fun. Where do you and I live today in comparison to
Genesis? Now there was a man years ago by the name of Bishop Ussher. I don't know if
you've ever heard of Bishop Ussher but have you ever known somebody who had more
time than they had sense? Bishop Ussher was one of those guys and here's what he did.
He decided in his spare time, I don't know who has this much time, he decided to go all
the way through your Bible, particularly the Old Testament, and he dated everything.
Now, if you've read the Old Testament, you know it does not do like we do. I wish it
doesn't do this. I wish it said this, "In the year 990 BC, Solomon built the temple." It
doesn't say that. What does it say? It says, Solomon built the temple ten years after the
earthquake and three years before the whatever. Again, in the fifth year of the reign of
this king and the third year of this governor. That's a whole lot of stuff to put together.
And Bishop Ussher went back and he said, "You know what? We're going to put all this
stuff together and we're going to figure it all out." You know what he discovered? He
discovered, give or take a few years, that what we know is the story of Adam and Eve,
the Garden of Eden, Cain and Abel, was about 6,000 years ago, give or take a few.
You say, "Well, give or take, that leaves room for error." Well, it's at times like this that I
think we should default to those who have the fewest errors. You say, "The fewest
errors?" In the book of Romans chapter 2, you know what it says the one advantage of
the Jewish people are? They've had the scriptures for thousands of years. In other words,
when we talk about the Apostle Paul, Saul of Tarsus, you do realize when it says he
opened up the scriptures and he taught them Jesus, he wasn't opening up the gospels. He
was opening up Isaiah. He was opening up Jonah. The scriptures of the Old Testament.
You say what does that have to do with anything? Well, if anybody knows what year it is,
it's probably the Jewish people and you know what year they claim it is right now? 5784.
Now, I don't know about you, but that's pretty close to 6,000, right? In other words, if you
just go back and take a strict chronology of the Bible, Ussher says it was about 6,000
years ago. The Jewish calendar says it was roughly 5,800 years ago. I'm just going to say
for the sake of conjecture, that's pretty close to what we're talking about here tonight. And
after six days. You know, in the book of Hebrews, chapter 3 and 4, 12 times it challenges
us to enter into his rest. Yes, the rest of the Lord that we have on a daily, regular basis,
but if you look at it contextually, it's also talking about this rest that happens one day.
So what's the concern here? Back to 2 Peter 3, verse 8, is what I call the inadvertent
default to verse 3 and scoffers. We can discuss a thousand years a day, Revelation,
Genesis all day long, but here's what it says, that knowing this first, "there shall come in
the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts." What does that mean? Making it say
what they want it to say because of their desire for it to say that. Now, let me give the
scoffers some credit. We, I hate to put my name in that term, but we collectively, the
church, we've given them a whole lot of ammunition. For those of you that do not know
this illustration, you need to know it. In 1988, there was a man who wrote a book called
"88 Reasons Jesus is Coming Back in 1988." Everybody bought it. Then guess what
happened? Well, New Year's came and 1989 came. The same man wrote a book, "89
Reasons Jesus is Coming Back in 1989." And people bought it. There are multiple
groups, entities, denominations and such that have predicted and mispredicted what we
know as the second coming hundreds and hundreds of times.
So it says, "knowing this, the last days there will come scoffers, they're walking after
their own lusts, saying where is the promise of his coming?" Now I know that in Matthew
chapter 24 Jesus made it very clear that nobody is going to know the day or the hour. I
get it. But he did know we'd know the season. In other words, we know that when leaves
start turning brown, it may not feel like it, but Fall's around the corner, correct? We know
that no matter what the temperature is, when you begin to see that old brown grass turn a
little bit green, spring is around the corner. Now, we don't know the exact day or hour
where it's all going to manifest, but we do know we're quote, unquote, getting close.
Well, two things to think of. Number one, we live in a day where people are very scoffish
about the second coming. Why? Because we've missed it, we collectively, so many times.
And secondly, well, if you look at the calendar and you take this concept of a thousand
years as if a day, we're past 6,000. Yeah, we, the Gentiles, the Gregorian calendar can't
get anything right. But the Jewish people, they've still got a couple hundred years of leeway.
Why is this important? Why is this critical? I'm going to close tonight with an illustration
that you may not think has anything to do with this but has everything to do with it. You
privilege of being around that I would absolutely claim just to be God-given sheer
geniuses. You ever met somebody that's never forgot anything? The individual, now this
is where it gets humorous, the man who supervised my dissertation never forgot
anything. That's not good if you're the student. I just want you to know that, okay? And
he regularly reminded me that I was wrong. But nonetheless, one of those individuals that
now, as he's over the age of 90, still has a sharp mind. Just a sharp, brilliant guy. I'll never
forget the conversation I'm about to share with you. It has everything to do with what
we're about to talk about. I'm going to go back in time about 25 years. Here's a group of
men sitting around a table, doctoral seminar. Our professor was at the head of the table.
Now, I want you to know, and I'm not going to, we called him Papa Bear. That was our
nickname for him. Okay. Because kind of like Papa Bear, he sat at the end of the table
and told all his cubs where we were wrong. Okay. But one day, I don't even know how it
came to be because you're dealing with all kinds of theological, biblical stuff, we came up
with, or the topic came up of what we know as abortion, and we know from a biblical
perspective, we know where life stands and we get all that and and we've got all the
talking points and we've got all that. But I'll never forget what my professor did. He
removed himself from the Papa Bear position. You say, "What do you mean the Papa
Bear position?" I'm not gonna illustrate it for you, but we would walk into class and he'd
be leaned back with his feet up on the table but if he ever sat up straight, you'd better pay
attention. And he made this statement, he said, "Gentlemen," he said, "I agree with you
on every talking point about the biblical theological response of abortion, but hear me
very clearly." He said, "though abortion is wrong and though it's ungodly, etc.," he said,
"the main issue has nothing to do with babies and everything to do with old people." We
looked at him like he'd lost his mind. And he said, "Once you recklessly, unapologetically
kill a child that contributes nothing and takes everything, then you can excuse taking the
life of an older person who contributes nothing and takes everything." He said, "Hear me
clearly, abortion is wrong, but it's a means to another travesty where we start authorizing,
endorsing, promoting, and legalizing euthanasia for those who offer nothing and consume everything."
I've never forgotten that, number one, because I've never thought of it in that light. And
number two, is because what he said that even though the main thing is the main thing,
there may be a secondary issue. You say, "The secondary issue?" Back in 2 Peter chapter
3, there's scoffers, there's this term about a thousand years here, there, where does it fit,
but I wanna go back to verse 9. It says, "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as
some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should
perish, but that all should come to repentance." You know, oftentimes, there are people
that struggle with the text of scripture, and I understand but one of the things they
struggle with is, why is it that God would bring judgment? Why is it that God would have
a finish line, an end date, say, this is it? Why doesn't God give them another chance? You
know, you go back to the famous story of Noah, by the way, in Matthew 24, that's the
one story Jesus compared to the end times. Do you know it took Noah 120 years to build
that boat? And by the way, for those of you griping that you have to take too much
ibuprofen in the morning, he was 500 years old when he started. 120 years he builds that
boat. According to Hebrews 11, he was a preacher of righteousness. What does that
mean? He told them every day, "It's going to rain, it's going to rain, going to rain, going to rain." 120 years later, the boat closes and people are mad God didn't give them another chance.
God is longsuffering, not willing that any should perish. Give them 120 years. You look
at the famous story of Pharaoh, and by the way, that's an Exodus, I'm not going to go
through all 66 books, I promise. Remember the famous story of Pharaoh? The first five
plagues, it said he hardened his heart. On the sixth one, you know what God said? "I'm
going to harden it for you. I'm done." You remember the Israelites going to captivity in
Babylon? "Oh, woe is me, we can go back." God said, "I'm sorry, you're going to be there
for 70 years." One of the most frightening verses in all the Bible. It's found in Matthew
chapter seven. It says, one day the door to heaven's going to be shut up and there's going to be
people who actually cry out, "Why did we not get in? We did this and we did that. We
said these things and we didn't do those things."
See, verse 3 says there's scoffers. It's not just out there. Sometimes it's in here. People
say, "Eh, you know, God's a God of grace. He's going to give you one more chance. He's
going to give you one more opportunity." I've got news for us: there's coming a day based
on this passage, there's coming a day where heaven is shut up and there's no more
entrance. That's it. You know what our problem is? We always think God's got to give us
one more chance. Can I ask you a question? How many has he already given you? Now,
for those of you that are already believers, okay, don't make this an eternal issue, make
this a temporal issue. What's God calling you to do that you've told him no 1,000 times?
500 times? One time, it doesn't matter. And here's what I've said, or people have said,
"Well, if God would just give me one more chance." Let me ask you, how many times
does he give you that one more chance and you say, "I just need one more. I just need one
more. I just need one more." And we get mad because God finally says enough's enough.
You know what this passage says? We don't know if it's 5784. We don't know what year
it actually is, but we do know this, we know there's coming a day where God says, "I'm
done," and we have the opportunity to enter into his rest or enter into much the opposite.
That's why the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 6, today is the day of salvation. Whatever God
has called us to, do not wait till tomorrow because we're not guaranteed it, and this stuff
may take place before it arrives.
Let's pray with our heads bowed, our eyes closed. Tonight as we come to this time in our
service, you might be that person, even tonight on a Sunday night, that has never realized
their need for Jesus, the severity of their sin, and the reality of calling out for him for
salvation. The Bible is so gracious. It says whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be
saved. Aren't you grateful that there are no physical expectations placed on it? Aren't you
grateful the Lord doesn't say, "Okay, I need you to check off these 10 boxes and then
maybe, just maybe, I'll let you in." He says, "No, if you just call out, if you're just willing
to admit you've got a sin problem that you can't solve yourself, religion's not going to fix it,
throwing money's not going to fix it, good deeds ain't going to fix it, if you're just willing to
admit that the blood of Jesus Christ shed on Calvary in an empty tomb is the only way to
solve it," he said, "if you'll confess it, if you'll admit it, I'll save you and I'll give you a
seat in the heavenlies." If it were not so, according to John 14, he says, "I'd have told you,
but it is so." Maybe tonight's the night. where you cry out. Maybe tonight's the night
where you finally say, "Okay, enough's enough. Jesus, I've got a sin problem, you're the
only one who can fix it, and I'm asking you to do so." Some of you may scoff at that and
say, "It can't be that simple. Surely it's gotta be more difficult than that." 2 Corinthians
11, the Apostle Paul said, "I marvel that you've removed yourself from the simplicity that
is Christ Jesus." Jesus himself brought little children up and said, "If you don't have the
faith of a child, you're going to miss it." But for most of us, at least I hope, there's already
been that time. We've called on the Lord and we know we're seated in the heavenlies. We
know that one day it's reserved for us and that is great. But I want to bring it back to the
everyday. Let me ask you this question. What is it that God has called you to do or to
stop or to change that you're saying, "I'll do it tomorrow. I'll do it next week. I'll do it
when this happens. I'll do it when this occurs." According to the passage we just read,
even though it's about all the second coming stuff, we're not guaranteed to know the exact
timeframe, but when it ends, it ends. And maybe tonight is a night of making that step of
faith, trusting the Lord in that situation, maybe even walking out of here with a new
direction, a new purpose for what the Lord has for your life.
Heavenly Father, as we come to this time in our service, Lord, your word is amazing.
There's so many layers to it and it doesn't just address in times, it doesn't just address
from Genesis to Revelation, it addresses the every aspect and even the mundane aspects
of our life. And God, my simple prayer, is that whatever your Holy Spirit decides to do
with your word in our lives that we would heed, we would listen, and we would respond
in the affirmative. God, you're so good to us. You're so good to us. You gave us tonight.
You gave us the opportunity. You gave us the privilege of saying, okay, it's time to get on
board. It's time to make it right, whatever it may be. May we simply trust you tonight.
May tonight not necessarily be about, quote, walking forward down an aisle, may it be
walking out of here knowing that we're believing, doing, and living as you've called us to
and not saying one more day, one more month, or until this happens or until that. God,
thank you for your grace. May we not take it for granted and may we not expect that it'll
be waiting for us tomorrow if we say no today. It is in the name of Jesus Christ we pray,
amen.
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