The Destruction of this Planet

[keras]

The Destruction Of This Planet. Not going to happen:

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the Day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 2 Peter 3:10-12

In this prophecy, it seems that there is coming a day when God is going to destroy the Earth by fire. But is that what is really meant here? Many think these three verses say that God will totally destroy the world.

If God is going to destroy the Earth, then it really doesn’t matter what we do with the natural resources of the planet. And if we use up a resource that causes a plant or animal species to go extinct, who cares if God is going to remove the whole planet anyway and take us to heaven, right? Well, let’s look into this:

If it can be shown that Peter is not prophesying the literal destruction of the Earth here, then it abrogates any theological argument that God will one day actually eliminate this world, whether by fire or any other means.


N.T. Wright gives this commentary regarding the passage in question from 2 Peter:

‘Here, at the end of this passage, we have a statement which in older translations of the Bible came out one way, but which, with all the biblical manuscripts we now have, certainly should be changed. In the older versions, this passage ends with the warning that ‘the earth and all the works on it will be burned up.’ A cosmic destruction: the end of the physical world! Is that really what Peter wrote?

In some of the best manuscripts of the New Testament, including two of the very best, the word for ‘will be burned up’ isn’t there. Instead, there is a Greek word which means ‘will be found’, or ‘will be discovered’, or ‘will be disclosed’. Perhaps ‘will be found out’ would be a better way of getting at the truth of the meaning.

What I believe has happened is this: Several early scribes, faced with ‘will be found’, thought to themselves, ‘That can’t be right! It makes no sense! Surely he meant “will be burnt up”. And so the translators put in their opinion’.


And look at the difference it makes! In conformity with the rest of the New Testament, Peter is not saying that the present world of space, time and matter is going to be burnt up and destroyed. The REBible says: .....brought to judgment.

What will happen, as many early Christian teachers said, is that actual literal fire will come upon the whole earth, as so comprehensively prophesied throughout the Bible, not to totally destroy, but to test everything out and to purify it by burning up the Lord’s enemies, Malachi 4:3, and to test His people; 1 Peter 4:12, 1 Corinthians 3:13-15 The earth will remain forever; Eccl 1:4, Ephesians 3:21, Psalms 78:69, Isaiah 45:18

Peter’s concern throughout the letter is with the judgment of humans for what they have done, not with the rest of Creation, although it seems that much will be dramatically changed on the forthcoming great and terrible Day of the Lord’s fiery vengeance and wrath and the world will never be the same again. Zephaniah 3:8

 

[BABerean2]

The Destruction Of This Planet. Not going to happen:

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the Day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 2 Peter 3:10-12

In this prophecy, it seems that there is coming a day when God is going to destroy the Earth by fire. But is that what is really meant here? Many think these three verses say that God will totally destroy the world.

If God is going to destroy the Earth, then it really doesn’t matter what we do with the natural resources of the planet. And if we use up a resource that causes a plant or animal species to go extinct, who cares if God is going to remove the whole planet anyway and take us to heaven, right? Well, let’s look into this:

If it can be shown that Peter is not prophesying the literal destruction of the Earth here, then it abrogates any theological argument that God will one day actually eliminate this world, whether by fire or any other means.


N.T. Wright gives this commentary regarding the passage in question from 2 Peter:

‘Here, at the end of this passage, we have a statement which in older translations of the Bible came out one way, but which, with all the biblical manuscripts we now have, certainly should be changed. In the older versions, this passage ends with the warning that ‘the earth and all the works on it will be burned up.’ A cosmic destruction: the end of the physical world! Is that really what Peter wrote?

In some of the best manuscripts of the New Testament, including two of the very best, the word for ‘will be burned up’ isn’t there. Instead, there is a Greek word which means ‘will be found’, or ‘will be discovered’, or ‘will be disclosed’. Perhaps ‘will be found out’ would be a better way of getting at the truth of the meaning.

What I believe has happened is this: Several early scribes, faced with ‘will be found’, thought to themselves, ‘That can’t be right! It makes no sense! Surely he meant “will be burnt up”. And so the translators put in their opinion’.


And look at the difference it makes! In conformity with the rest of the New Testament, Peter is not saying that the present world of space, time and matter is going to be burnt up and destroyed. The REBible says: .....brought to judgment.

What will happen, as many early Christian teachers said, is that actual literal fire will come upon the whole earth, as so comprehensively prophesied throughout the Bible, not to totally destroy, but to test everything out and to purify it by burning up the Lord’s enemies, Malachi 4:3, and to test His people; 1 Peter 4:12, 1 Corinthians 3:13-15 The earth will remain forever; Eccl 1:4, Ephesians 3:21, Psalms 78:69, Isaiah 45:18

Peter’s concern throughout the letter is with the judgment of humans for what they have done, not with the rest of Creation, although it seems that much will be dramatically changed on the forthcoming great and terrible Day of the Lord’s fiery vengeance and wrath and the world will never be the same again. Zephaniah 3:8

2Pe 3:5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water,
2Pe 3:6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.
2Pe 3:7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.


2Th 1:7 and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels,
2Th 1:8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2Th 1:9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,
2Th 1:10 when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.


Heb 11:15 And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return.
Heb 11:16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.


Gal 4:26 but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.


Rev_3:12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.

Rev_21:2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Rev_21:10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

.

 

[Petros2015]

Hmm... well, eventually if nothing intervenes with the laws of Physics that God put in place...

 

[BABerean2]

Hmm... well, eventually if nothing intervenes with the laws of Physics that God put in place...

You have just revealed one of the greatest proofs that Full-Preterism cannot be true, because we cannot now be living in the eternal New Heavens and New Earth.

.

 

[Petros2015]

You have just revealed one of the greatest proofs that Full-Preterism cannot be true, because we cannot now be living in the eternal New Heavens and New Earth.

Oh that's good. For a minute there I thought I was the only one with a mortal body.

 

[Petros2015]

If God is going to destroy the Earth, then it really doesn’t matter what we do with the natural resources of the planet. And if we use up a resource that causes a plant or animal species to go extinct, who cares if God is going to remove the whole planet anyway and take us to heaven, right?

I think it still matters -

Luke 16:10

10 Whoever is faithful with very little will also be faithful with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.

Though I am taking it somewhat out of context (I always found that a strange parable in general) I expect that we are to be good stewards with what we have not not abuse the temporary world we find ourselves in.

 

[Handmaid for Jesus]

The Destruction Of This Planet. Not going to happen:

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the Day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 2 Peter 3:10-12

In this prophecy, it seems that there is coming a day when God is going to destroy the Earth by fire. But is that what is really meant here? Many think these three verses say that God will totally destroy the world.

If God is going to destroy the Earth, then it really doesn’t matter what we do with the natural resources of the planet. And if we use up a resource that causes a plant or animal species to go extinct, who cares if God is going to remove the whole planet anyway and take us to heaven, right? Well, let’s look into this:

If it can be shown that Peter is not prophesying the literal destruction of the Earth here, then it abrogates any theological argument that God will one day actually eliminate this world, whether by fire or any other means.


N.T. Wright gives this commentary regarding the passage in question from 2 Peter:

‘Here, at the end of this passage, we have a statement which in older translations of the Bible came out one way, but which, with all the biblical manuscripts we now have, certainly should be changed. In the older versions, this passage ends with the warning that ‘the earth and all the works on it will be burned up.’ A cosmic destruction: the end of the physical world! Is that really what Peter wrote?

In some of the best manuscripts of the New Testament, including two of the very best, the word for ‘will be burned up’ isn’t there. Instead, there is a Greek word which means ‘will be found’, or ‘will be discovered’, or ‘will be disclosed’. Perhaps ‘will be found out’ would be a better way of getting at the truth of the meaning.

What I believe has happened is this: Several early scribes, faced with ‘will be found’, thought to themselves, ‘That can’t be right! It makes no sense! Surely he meant “will be burnt up”. And so the translators put in their opinion’.


And look at the difference it makes! In conformity with the rest of the New Testament, Peter is not saying that the present world of space, time and matter is going to be burnt up and destroyed. The REBible says: .....brought to judgment.

What will happen, as many early Christian teachers said, is that actual literal fire will come upon the whole earth, as so comprehensively prophesied throughout the Bible, not to totally destroy, but to test everything out and to purify it by burning up the Lord’s enemies, Malachi 4:3, and to test His people; 1 Peter 4:12, 1 Corinthians 3:13-15 The earth will remain forever; Eccl 1:4, Ephesians 3:21, Psalms 78:69, Isaiah 45:18

Peter’s concern throughout the letter is with the judgment of humans for what they have done, not with the rest of Creation, although it seems that much will be dramatically changed on the forthcoming great and terrible Day of the Lord’s fiery vengeance and wrath and the world will never be the same again. Zephaniah 3:8

I think the people of the world do not understand what the day of the Lord is going to entail.If they understood, there would be less carnality in the church imho. It will be the end of the world as we know it. Our Father is going to shake the Earth so vigorously that it will move out of it's orbit. At least, that is the way I understand these verses.
Isa. 13:12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.

13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

Just imagining this makes my stomach cramp. Elder brother how does the REBible render these verses?

 

[mkgal1]

N.T. Wright gives this commentary regarding the passage in question from 2 Peter:

‘Here, at the end of this passage, we have a statement which in older translations of the Bible came out one way, but which, with all the biblical manuscripts we now have, certainly should be changed. In the older versions, this passage ends with the warning that ‘the earth and all the works on it will be burned up.’ A cosmic destruction: the end of the physical world! Is that really what Peter wrote?

In some of the best manuscripts of the New Testament, including two of the very best, the word for ‘will be burned up’ isn’t there. Instead, there is a Greek word which means ‘will be found’, or ‘will be discovered’, or ‘will be disclosed’. Perhaps ‘will be found out’ would be a better way of getting at the truth of the meaning.

What I believe has happened is this: Several early scribes, faced with ‘will be found’, thought to themselves, ‘That can’t be right! It makes no sense! Surely he meant “will be burnt up”. And so the translators put in their opinion’.

Thanks for sharing this quote from N.T. Wright.

In the same book - following this quote it says:

"The day will come, then, and all will be revealed. All will be judged with fire. That is the promise which Peter re-emphasizes here over against those who said, at or soon after the end of the first Christian generation, that the whole thing must be a mistake since Jesus had not, after all, returned. Many in our own day have added their voices to the 'deceivers' of verse 3, saying the early Christians all expected Jesus to return at once, and that since He didn't we must set aside significant parts of their teaching because, being based on a mistake, they have come out wrong. But this merely repeats the mistake against which Peter is warning - and, in fact, this is the only passage in all first-century Christian literature which addresses directly the question of a 'delay'. It doesn't seem to have bothered Christian writers in the second century or thereafter. They continued to teach that the LORD would return, and this might happen at any time (hence: 'like a thief', in verse 10, picking up an image from Jesus Himself).

The misunderstanding, both ancient and modern, seems to have come about partly because 'at any time' could of course mean 'therefore perhaps today or tomorrow', and partly because there really were things which Jesus did say (in Mark 13 and elsewhere) would happen within a generation. But those events concerned the destruction of the Jerusalem and the Temple, which did indeed happen within a generation of Jesus' day (AD 70, to be precise).​

From:
The Early Christian Letters for Everyone: James, Peter, John, and Judah
By N. T. Wright ~ page 120​

 

[keras]

Thanks for sharing this quote from N.T. Wright.

In the same book - following this quote it says:

Very good quote, it points up how people are unaware of the well prophesied, soon to happen Day of the Lord's fiery wrath against the nations. Secular people and Governments seem to be more aware than Christians about this.

. Elder brother how does the REBible render these verses?

A little differently, but clearer than your Bible version:
Isaiah 13:12-13 I shall make humans more scarce than fine gold, more rare than the Gold of Ophir.
I shall make the heavens shudder and the earth will be shaken to its foundations, at the wrath of the Lord of Hosts; on the Day of His blazing anger. Revised English Bible
It will be very scary, but we Christian must stand firm in our faith and trust in the Lord's protection, as He promises.

 

[mkgal1]

Very good quote, it points up how people are unaware of the well prophesied, soon to happen Day of the Lord's fiery wrath against the nations.

That's not what I read as the take-away in this (what I'd previously quoted):

N.T. Wright wrote:

"The misunderstanding, both ancient and modern, seems to have come about partly because 'at any time' could of course mean 'therefore perhaps today or tomorrow', and partly because there really were things which Jesus did say (in Mark 13 and elsewhere) would happen within a generation. But those events concerned the destruction of the Jerusalem and the Temple, which did indeed happen within a generation of Jesus' day (AD 70, to be precise)."

This is lengthy (over an hour) - but it's not a simple task to untangle what's been twisted and distorted into a pretty large ball of yarn:

N.T. Wright sermon

 

[Original Happy Camper]

WHAT ABOUT REV 21

Revelation 21 King James Version (KJV)
21 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is a thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.