Good morning, everyone. I hope you're all having a very fine time here at the Feast here in north Idaho. I know for me one of the highlights of this week so far has been the ATV trip we all took on Friday. Not only was the ride just really a blast, but there were really great views in various spots along the way of seeing the mountains and such.
In fact, we stopped at a particular one of this view points and decided to take a group photo. So, everybody starts taking off their helmets and such. And, as you can imagine if you've been wearing helmets for a while, everybody has kind of "helmet-head" with their hair all flattened down and such. Steve Buchanan commented at that moment as we were taking all the helmets off. He said, "I'm kind of glad to have this thing off. If I wear this thing much longer, I'm going to start looking like John Pollock." (Laughter.) I was asking Steve before services if it was okay for me to share this story. And he said, "Sure, go ahead. John's already spoken this year." (Laughter.)
Brethren, when we think about the millennial timeframe that we're here picturing at the Feast of Tabernacles, one of the things that oftentimes comes to our mind is the idea of the earth and how it will be changed when the Millennium takes place. In other words, we look at the prophecies that describe the earth as being really a Garden of Eden type setting. We have the deserts blooming and fountains of water in them. We oftentimes think about that around this time of year because, again, there are very beautiful images it gives for us.
But we're also familiar with the prophecies of the Day of the Lord. And we know, by the time the Day of the Lord, is over the earth is basically destroyed. It's in absolute ruins. So, that brings across the question to us: How does the earth make this transition from this very ruined state at the end of the Day of the Lord to this utopian-type setting that we see in so many prophecies throughout Isaiah, Jeremiah and other places in the Bible? How does this transition take place? Well, I can tell you growing up in the Church of God myself—I've been in the Church of God basically all of my life—there are two different ideas I've heard preached throughout my life that kind of answer this question.
One of those is kind of the idea that basically mankind, those that survive through the Day of the Lord, will basically be utilized to clean up the mess. In other words, work parties will be sent out. In various ways, they'll help try to fix the problem. I've even heard sermons that speculated that maybe shellfish are used to help kind of clean up the oceans and such because that's kind of the function that they serve by being bottom feeders and cleaning up the garbage in the ocean. There are various theories of that nature. They speculated on lessons that could be learned in the process of this and such.
Now, the other philosophy I've heard preached is the idea that it's really just supernatural intervention. In other words, when Jesus Christ returns, He and the God-Family through supernatural means heal the earth. And it is more supernaturally transformed into the utopian state we see in many of the prophecies.
What we're going to do today is take a look at this subject and see which one of these two theories is correct. Because what we're going to find is one of them is very clearly laid out in the Bible and the other one is not feasible. But we're going to take a look at this whole subject. If you would like a title for today's sermon, it is:
New Heavens and New Earth.
Now notice how I make a point of how I spell that—New Heavens with an "s" on it. It's plural. New Heavens and New Earth, if you're looking for a title for this. And it will be towards the end of the sermon before we actually explain exactly why I used that particular title, but again, if you're looking for a title for the sermon, it is New Heavens and New Earth.
Now to understand this subject the first thing we have to look at is the state that the earth is going to be in at the end of Day of the Lord. Because to really see what it would take to fix all this, we have to understand how severe the condition is at the end of the Day of the Lord, what kind of state the earth is in.
But before we actually do that, let's take a look at a very common human weakness of our human nature, just us as being human beings that we tend to have when we look at things. As human beings, we tend to use our experiences (what we have experienced in our lifetime, however many decades our lifetime has been) as what you might kind of call a definition of normal. In other words, we tend to interpret everything through our realm of experience that we have lived because really what else do we have to use other than our own experience?
And we tend to make the assumption, whether we realize it or not, at times that things will continue on as they have as we've always experienced them. That tends to be a normal, just a natural human idea. Things as I've known them will continue on in the experiences that I understand of what I've experienced in my life.
So, to start off with, let's turn to 2 Peter chapter 3 and let's notice, again, this just natural weakness of human nature and how we look at things because we have to understand this to really wrap our minds around the magnitude of the condition of the earth through the Day of Lord. Again, 2 Peter chapter 3 and we're going to start in verse 1. He says:
2 Peter 3:1. Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder),
2) that you 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 Savior, (NKJ)
Now, notice he said, "When we're considering these events, we can't look for our own understanding. We can't look to our realm of experience. We have to look at what the Old Testament Prophets and what the Apostles told us about these things, the things that they recorded for us.
Now, continuing on in verse 3:
2 Peter 3:3. knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, (NKJ)
And notice what the scoffers think.
2 Peter 3:4. 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 creation." (NKJ)
In other words, the natural human tendency to think how I've understood things, how I've experienced them in my life, it's just going to continue on being in a similar manner. And that's just going to kind of continue on indefinitely. And the point he is making here is that as not been the case. Because we're going to see in the examples we're about to read, there have been numerous times in the history of the earth that there has been supernatural intervention. Things have not always been as we've experienced them in our lifetimes.
Picking up in verse 5:
2 Peter 3:5. For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, (NKJ)
Now, notice this here. He's saying that human beings willfully forget that God is the Creator, that God supernaturally made the earth that is around us today. To understand that all you have to do is kind of look at the world around us, particularly the scientific world. The Theory of Evolution is very oftentimes just accepted as if it's a scientific fact and even fiercely defended. The ironic thing is that oftentimes scientists, who are very logical, analytical in most other areas of their practice and require evidence to substantiate and basis their theories and such, will look at the theory of evolution and, again, defend that even though it is completely illogical and there is not evidence to back it up.
Just to illustrate that, I'd like to share with you a definition of atheism. I pulled this off of a friend's Facebook page. I just kind of liked how it was stated here. It says:
Atheism—the belief that there was nothing.
And nothing happened to nothing.
And then nothing magically exploded for no reason creating everything.
Then, a bunch of everything magically rearranged itself, for no reason whatsoever into self-replicating bits, which then turned into dinosaurs.
It makes perfect sense (laughter). Because, if you think about it, that's about how logical the Theory of Evolution is. It's this idea that things very slowly changed over long periods of time. And these malformed creatures, who didn't have all of the right parts yet, somehow survived long enough and lived long enough for all these slow changes to come about and to have what we are today. It's absurd!
But if you think about it, when it's saying that they willfully forget these things, the key is this: If we admit that there is a Creator, then that means that that Creator has the right to establish moral law over our behavior. Therein lays the problem. And that's why we find mankind willfully forgets. He finds all these manner of theories even when it's illogical and irrational because if we admit that there is a Creator, again that Creator has the right to govern our behavior.
Let's also continue on here in the middle of verse 5.
2 Peter 3:5b. … and the earth standing out of water and in the water, (NKJ)
Now what it's referring to here is the state of the earth in Genesis chapter 1, basically when re-creation happened. Because if you notice, if you read through the account of Genesis, which we won't do today, God actually has to separate the waters and create dry land because when the earth was in that destroyed state prior to the re-creation in Genesis it was basically ruined. It was covered with water.
Again, the point you're going to see going through here is things have not always been as we understand them. Initially, again there was this destroyed earth and God supernaturally intervened and made it inhabitable for man and made it a beautiful location.
Then notice here in verse 6:
2 Peter 3:6. by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. (NKJ)
That's a reference to Noah's flood. He's showing another major supernatural event that took place, because you have the earth that was basically in this ruined state. God supernaturally intervenes and makes it inhabitable and a beautiful planet. Later, He decided He wanted to wipe mankind out except for Noah and his family. And, again, this supernatural event happened and He did it in a worldwide flood.
Notice, also now in verse 7.
2 Peter 3:7. But the heavens and the earth, which now [exist,] are kept in store by the same word, reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. (KJV)
In other words, it's saying, "These other major events have happened, but the earth that we have today as we understand it, that's just going to exist until the Day of the Lord happens and all this destruction takes place." So, then we have to understand just because we've understood our context in our lives (however many decades that we've lived), things don't always continue on like that because the Bible tells us radical changes are going to take place.
Now let's jump over to verse 10. It says:
2 Peter 3:10. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which… (NKJ)
Notice the timeframe here is the Day of the Lord. And it's saying what we're about to read occurs "in which;" in other words, in the Day of the Lord.
2 Peter 3:10b. …the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
11) Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
12) looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? (NKJ)
It's showing massive destruction. Basically the earth will be in ruins by the time this is done. That's basically what this is telling us.
Now to understand this in greater detail, let's take a tour basically through the Day of the Lord and get a feel for the severity of the destruction that's going to take place. Like I said, ultimately where we're headed here is seeing how this is going to be resolved and healed. But let's first of all understand the severity that it's in.
And realize, also, as I mentioned before, we tend to look at things through our context as we've understood them because we tend to think things will always be as they are.
Think about how we understand natural disasters. Just to give a couple of examples—for example, Ken Marquardt mentioned, in his sermonette on the First Day here, the tornadoes in Joplin. And I'm sure a lot of us saw the footage on TV and you see the tornadoes there and the town was just destroyed. I'm sure you might have also seen the footage of the tsunami that hit Japan. In fact, I was talking to a lady here yesterday, here in this building, whose son actually was in Japan and took photographs of the devastation. She was actually showing me the photos of what Japan looked like after the tsunami hit where you see extreme devastation.
But understand how we tend to look at those things. We understand them as regional. We understand this tsunami was really severe in how it affected Japan or how Joplin was hit or Hurricane Katrina, the various events that we understand. And we see this massive devastation, but in our minds we know that's in one particular area and it didn't affect everything else. It affected that one particular area because that's how we understand natural disasters. When we think of volcanoes or earthquakes or various things, our mind comprehends it as that's in one area. That's not the entire earth.
Realize as we go through the Day of the Lord here, we're talking about global effects of every one of these. It's not just affecting a particular area as our minds know how to comprehend it. It's affecting the entire planet as a whole and that's hard for us to wrap our minds around. But realize that is what we're dealing with here.
So, let's turn over to Revelation chapter 8. We're going to start in verse 7.
What we're going to do here is just kind of walk through the events of the Day of the Lord with a particular focus here. Because what we're going to focus on are primarily the events of how it specifically affects the earth itself. Some of these events that are described here are more geared towards people and, again, that's not really our focus today. So, I'm going to focus more on specifically how this affects the planet itself.
So, I'll start with the First Trumpet in Revelation chapter 8 and verse 7. It says:
Revelation 8:7. The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up. (NKJ)
Now, when we think about this, a third of the trees…. Now, realize again, this isn't one particular area. This is a third of the trees on the entire planet are destroyed and all green grass. One of the first things that tends to come to mind for us is food supply and this definitely has an effect on that because fruit. Where do we get fruit from? Mainly that's from trees. If you wipe out one-third of the trees on the planet, you've significantly affected the food supply through things like fruits.
But there is a much more significant affect that happens from this as well. And that is the fact of the role that trees play, and even vegetation plays, in the production of oxygen. Because as human beings—humans and animals primarily—what we do is when we breathe in, we take in oxygen because we burn that. When we exhale, we put off carbon dioxide. Trees and a lot of plant life do the opposite. They take in the carbon dioxide; they put off oxygen. God made a nice neat little system where we support each other.
But let's notice what happens if you wipe out one-third of the trees on the planet. Now to help understand this, I would like to quote from some articles I pulled off the internet. And these first quotes will come from a website called www.about.com. The title of the article is "How Much Oxygen Does One Tree Produce?" And, again, what I'm going to read to you here are just some excerpts from this. It says:
The atmosphere of the Earth has a different composition from that of other planets in part due to the biochemical reactions of Earth's organisms. Trees and plankton play a big role in this. You've probably heard that trees produce oxygen, but have you ever wondered how much oxygen that is? You'll hear a range of numbers and ways of presenting them because the amount of oxygen produced by a tree depends upon the species of tree, its age, its health, and also on the tree's surroundings. According to the Arbor Day Foundation, "a mature leafy tree produces as much oxygen in a season as 10 people inhale in a year." Here are some other quoted figures regarding the amount of oxygen produced by a tree.
I'm just going to read to you a smattering of quotes that they added in here. And, now, what you're going to hear here is the figures kind of vary in how it's presented, but, again, it's the logic of what they mentioned. It depends upon what area of the world you're talking about, what kind of trees you're talking about, how healthy, how large they are. These are various factors, but the overall point I'm demonstrating here is the major role they have in oxygen production. But just to cover some of the quotes they mention here:
A single mature tree can absorb carbon dioxide at a rate of 48 lbs. /year and release enough oxygen back into the atmosphere to support 2 human beings.
The next quote:
One acre of trees annually consumes the amount of carbon dioxide equivalent to that produced by driving an average car for 26,000 miles. The same acre of trees also produces enough oxygen for 18 people to breathe for a year.
And the third quote:
On average, one tree produces nearly 260 pounds of oxygen each year. Two mature trees can provide enough oxygen for a family of four.
Now, as you noticed here, these figures kind of vary widely. And, again, that's because it depends upon where you are, what kind of trees we're talking about, how healthy they are and things of that nature.
But the point I'm trying to demonstrate here is that trees play a major role in the production of oxygen. So, if you wipe out one-third of the trees and all your green grass and such all over the planet, you have made a significant impact on the production of oxygen.
Now that doesn't immediately wipe out oxygen because it's being produced. It wipes out the production of it, but remember you've got all the other humans and other things that burn up oxygen and now there's less ability to basically replenish that. What you're going to find is oxygen is very important for sustaining life.
As Harold Lee mentioned yesterday, there are three major factors basically that enable the planet to sustain life. One is oxygen supply as most things have to breathe. As we're going to see later, even plants that take in carbon dioxide, they need the oxygen to even be able to produce that whole process. But you also need water to drink and you need food. What you're going to see as we go through this whole process of the Day of the Lord is that all three of these are very devastated.
Now, let's go down to Revelation 8 verse 8. This is the Second Trumpet.
Revelation 8:8. Then the second angel sounded: And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood.
9) And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. (NKJ)
Now notice it says a third of all basically marine life, all of your sea animals. That wipes out one-third of any seafood supply because in a lot of cultures, seafood is a major portion of their diet. If you wipe out one-third of that, I imagine you just had a major affect on, again, the ability to sustain life.
But another thing it's had is also this majorly affects the oxygen production. I'm going to quote to you from an article from National Geographic. This is from the June 7, 2004 issue. It says:
One-half of the world's oxygen is produced [by the ocean] via phytoplankton photosynthesis. The other half is produced via photosynthesis on land by trees, shrubs, grasses, and other plants.
So, it's saying the ocean is not just a source of water and seafood and such. It plays a very significant role in producing oxygen for the plant.
Now, if you look at the last two Trumpets we've just talked about, we've wiped out one-third of the trees and one-third of the ocean. Basically what we've done now is wiped out one-third of the oxygen supply—production of oxygen I should say—for the entire planet. As we're going to see as we go through this, this has a major affect on everything.
So now, let's jump down to verse 10. This is the Third Trumpet.
Revelation 8:10. Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.
11) The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter. (NKJ)
Realize this isn't just going to just kill a lot of men who are drinking this water. Animals need water. Plant life needs water. Trees need water. If you have one-third of the water supply poisoned, you're going to affect all of those things. And when you're wiping out more trees and more plant life, you're wiping out more oxygen production. As you can see, this is totally eroding the earth's ability to sustain life.
Now let's jump down to verse 12 here, to the Fourth Trumpet.
Revelation 8:12. Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night. (NKJ)
So, basically something like one-third of the light supply to the earth is taken away. Now, realize light is very pivotal in the process of photosynthesis. That's basically how plant life takes in energy from light and basically converts that into energy for the plant to grow, to thrive and such. You're basically taking one-third of that way. That's going to majorly affect any kind of crops that are going for food supply. It also turns around and affects oxygen.
Let's notice a quote from this as well. This is from a website called www.ehow.com. It's from an article "What Effect Does Sunlight Have on Green Plants?" Now I'm just going to read you an excerpt here. We're kind of jumping into a subject. It says:
As explained above, a by-product of photosynthesis is oxygen. In other words, without sunlight needed for photosynthesis to occur, plants would not take in carbon dioxide and produce oxygen. Because humans and most other organisms breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide, without photosynthesis, all the oxygen would be used up and the air would be filled instead with carbon dioxide. In fact, plants also use oxygen in cellular respiration, so, without the oxygen that they produce, plants would be unable to survive.
Even the plants that take in carbon dioxide and produce oxygen for us, if they don't have an oxygen supply themselves, they can't survive. So, as you can see, when you start eliminating all the oxygen, you're going to kill off the earth and basically everything in it. That's what takes place here.
Now, we're going to skip over the Fifth and Sixth Trumpets because those are primarily aimed at mankind rather than the planet. Let me get to the Seventh Trumpet. As you know, when the Seventh Trumpet sounds that's when the First Resurrection takes place. But we also have the Seven Last Bowl Plagues. So flip over to Revelation chapter 16. Now, we're going to skip the First Bowl Plague, because, again, that's malignant sores upon human beings, and pick up with verse 3.
Revelation 16:3. Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living creature in the sea died. (NKJ)
Now, notice this isn't just part of the sea. This is the whole thing. This is every ocean all over the planet is turned into blood. It's just like the blood of a dead man. Well, the blood of a dead man coagulates. Basically it becomes thick. That's going to kill off everything that's in the ocean. So, seafood is gone. The whole concept is gone. And there are no shellfish left. Remember I mentioned before that they talked about using shellfish to kind of clean it up. They're all dead. They're all gone.
But, more than that, remember one-half of the earth's oxygen supply comes from the ocean, from your phytoplankton. If it all turns to blood, you've killed off all of that. That's one-half of the production of oxygen on the planet. And you just think about this. As this has been going on, when the waters were poisoned, we've killed off more than one-third of the trees now because the waters and all the other plant life have needed that. The production of oxygen on the earth is just dropping and dropping and dropping. So, as it gets burned up, there's nothing to replace it. So, as you can see, again, its ability to sustain life at all is just dwindling.
Now, let's turn over to verse 4. It says:
Revelation 16:4. Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. (NKJ)
See now we're affecting the fresh water.
Revelation 16:5. And I heard the angel of the waters saying: "You are righteous, O Lord, the One who is and who was and who is to be, because You have judged these things.
6) For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. For it is their just due." (NKJ)
What he is saying now is it's not just the ocean that has been turned to blood. It's all the fresh water too. Most things that are alive do not last very long without hydration, including people. You can go without food for a while and lose weight, but, if you're relatively healthy, you can last a good while. Without hydration, you don't last very long. And that's not only true of human beings. That's true of animals. That's true of plant life. Most everything requires water at some level.
And if you think about this, if all of it is turning to blood, not only are you killing off lots of human beings, but trees, plants, grass (all of those types of things) depend upon hydration. So they all just start dying. It's all going to start drying up.
And notice now what is going to happen in the Fourth Bowl. Because, when you think about everything drying and getting dry (wilting and dying because of that), combine that with what happens in verse 8.
Revelation 16:8. Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch men with fire. (NKJ)
This is an intense heat that is being added to a planet now where everything is dying and is dry. It's going to produce lots of fires.
Also, read verse 9.
Revelation 16:9. And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory. (NKJ)
To notice how severe this particular feat is let's look at a couple of other Scriptures. Turn back over to 2 Peter chapter 3, where we started off. 2 Peter chapter 3 and we're going to read in verse 10.
2 Peter 3:10. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, (KJV)
Now, notice the subject here is the Day of the Lord. "In which," in other words, these events happen during the Day of the Lord.
2 Peter 3:10b. … the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; (NKJ)
That's how hot this is.
2 Peter 3:10 continued. … both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. (NKJ)
Because massive fires are going to take place! Think about that.
If you saw on the news at all this summer, you might have noticed on the national news that there were a lot of wildfires in Texas. One of the reasons that that happened is we had a severe drought and intense heat for most of the summer. Texas is normally pretty warm in the summer but this year was off the charts. Most all the summer it was ranging between 100° and 110° pretty much every day. We broke the national record for as long as they've been keeping records for the number of days in the summer with over 100° heat. It also didn't rain for months on end. So anything that sparked a fire, it just spread like wildfire because there was nothing to stop it because everything is dry and it's just easy to be consumed. That's why you probably saw those fires hitting on the national news because that's how severe they were.
Well, what we saw in Texas is nothing in comparison to what this is going to be. This is scorching the elements and melting them with fire. This is going to be way more severe than anything we can really wrap our minds around.
Let's notice one other Scripture just to back up this point. This is Isaiah 24. This is one that Ken Marquardt read to us on the first day. Isaiah chapter 24 and we'll start in verse 1. It says:
Isaiah 24:1. Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty and makes it waste, Distorts its surface and scatters abroad its inhabitants. (NKJ)
This is clearly the Day of the Lord when the earth is being destroyed and people are being wiped out.
Now jump down to verse 6.
Isaiah 24:6. Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, and those who dwell in it are desolate. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left. (NKJ)
Notice he's talking about people being scorched with fire. But, again, just think about what this does to the planet itself. Again, we're in a situation where there is no usable water so that just causes the vegetation to just be dying from lack of hydration. And now you have intense heat. That's going to start massive fires that just burn everything. Basically what is left when this is done is a lot of charred remains. That's what we're going to be looking at.
Turn back over to Revelation chapter 16. Let's just wrap up here in the Day of the Lord. We left off with the Fourth Bowl and we're going to skip over the Fifth and Sixth and go down to the Seventh, which starts in verse 17
Revelation 16:17. Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, "It is done!"
18) And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth. (NKJ)
In other words, this is far beyond anything the Richter scale has ever measured! This is more severe than anything we have ever seen or can comprehend.
Continuing in verse 19:
Revelation 16:19. Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath.
20) Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. (NKJ)
Notice this basically drowns islands and it flattens mountains. This is an earthquake beyond our ability to comprehend. This is going to flatten anything that is not charred. And what is not already destroyed is going to be wiped out from this earthquake.
Notice in verse 21.
Revelation 16:21. And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great. (NKJ)
Notice through all of these mankind never repents. On top of all these things happening, they are always shaking their fists at God through the entire events.
Notice the state the earth has to be in. There is no usable water. The majority of oxygen has been used and is basically not being produced. And another thing that fires do is they consume oxygen. So, when everything is so hot and melting with fervent heat, that's even burning up more what oxygen supply is left. There is not much left to reproduce any oxygen. The ocean is gone. Water is gone, as far as usable. And most of your trees and anything else is all burned up. There is just a tiny amount of oxygen available. And if you can look at all of this, it is obviously a miracle performed by God that anybody survives this, that human being are able to still be around at Christ's return when you look at these conditions.
Now, turn over to Jeremiah chapter 4. Harold read this particular verse to us yesterday. I’m just going to reiterate here the severity of the condition of the earth when all this is done. It's Jeremiah 4 and verse 23.
Jeremiah 4:23. I beheld the earth, and indeed it was without form, and void; (NKJ)
And, as Harold mentioned yesterday, this is the same wording that is used in Genesis chapter 1. "The earth became without form and void," as we're all familiar with in verse 2 of Genesis 1. This is the exact same wording. So, he's basically saying that the earth is going to be in the same kind of condition it was in at re-creation—just totally destroyed.
Jeremiah 4:23b. … and the heavens, they had no light.
24) I beheld the mountains, and indeed they trembled, and all the hills moved back and forth.
25) I beheld, and indeed there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens had fled.
26) I beheld, and indeed the fruitful land was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down at the presence of the Lord, by His fierce anger.
27) For thus says the Lord: "The whole land shall be desolate; yet I will not make a full end. (NKJ)
In other words, there will be people who survive through all of this because God miraculously wants them to make it. And He enables people to survive through this.
Jeremiah 4:28. For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black, because I have spoken. I have purposed and will not relent, nor will I turn back from it. (NKJ)
Brethren, when you look at the severity of the condition that this is going to be in, as I've mentioned before, really the only way that mankind survives and lives through this condition is because God supernaturally enables that to happen. There is no drinkable water left on the planet. There is basically no food supply. Most everything has been killed off or burned up. And there is very little oxygen left on the earth. It's not able to sustain life at this point.
When you understand the totality of that, it's not a logical argument to say, "This is all going to get fixed by Jesus Christ coming back and putting humans to work, to start work parties to fix it all." If there is not supernatural intervention very quickly, mankind would not be able to survive because the earth is in a condition so severe it cannot sustain life for any length of time.
So, how does this whole transition come about? How do we go from this ruined wrecked state to this utopian world, again, where we have the Garden of Eden and you have springs of water in the desert and all the happy things that we talked about? Because all that we've talked about so far is kind if depressing, if you think about how severe it is. How do we get to this positive picture now where things look so good?
Well, that's described for us in detail in Ezekiel chapter 47. Ezekiel chapter 47 and we're going to start reading in verse 1.
Ezekiel 47:1. Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; (NKJ)
This is a vision that Ezekiel's having of the Millennium.
Ezekiel 47:1b. … and there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east; the water was flowing from under the right side of the temple, south of the altar.
2) He brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me around on the outside to the outer gateway that faces east; and there was water, running out on the right side.
3) And when the man went out to the east with the line in his hand, he measured one thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the water came up to my ankles.
4) Again he measured one thousand and brought me through the waters; the water came up to my knees. Again he measured one thousand and brought me through; the water came up to my waist.
5) Again he measured one thousand, and it was a river that I could not cross; for the water was too deep, water in which one must swim, a river that could not be crossed.
6) He said to me, "Son of man, have you seen this?" Then he brought me and returned me to the bank of the river.
7) When I returned, there, along the bank of the river, were very many trees on one side and the other. (NKJ)
Notice trees are now popping up on each side of this, full grown trees, miraculously.
Ezekiel 47:8. Then he said to me: "This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed. (NKJ)
This is water that God is supernaturally causing to heal whatever it touches.
And in verse 9:
Ezekiel 47:9. "And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. (NKJ)
In other words, this supernaturally intervenes and just starts creating life wherever it goes.
Ezekiel 47:9b. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes.
10) "It shall be that fishermen will stand by it from En Gedi to En Eglaim; they will be places for spreading their nets. Their fish will be of the same kinds as the fish of the Great Sea, exceedingly many.
11) "But its swamps and marshes will not be healed; they will be given over to salt.
12) "Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine." (NKJ)
Notice this. He's basically just describing healing waters that are put out from the Temple here. They go out and whatever they touch they heal. They make fish basically populate the water. They clean the waters. They make trees sprout up and they're giving fruit. It is a miraculous healing that is basically turning the earth into a Garden of Eden type state.
Now, notice here in this prophecy it tells us that these rivers are flowing to the east. Now, let's turn over to Zechariah chapter 14 and what we're going to notice here is that this river is actually flowing in two directions. Zechariah chapter 14 and verse 8:
Zechariah 14:8. And in that day it shall be that living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and half of them toward the western sea; in both summer and winter it shall occur. (NKJ)
Notice it's not just going to the east. It's also going to the west because it's basically going out and encircling the earth and that's what is going to be healing this and creating the earth in a totally new state.
Now, let's notice what this is doing. This is not just restoring the earth to the state made like we know it today. In other words, putting it back to the state where it was prior to the Day of the Lord happening. This is a totally new creation. This is a totally new thing that God is doing here.
Turn with me to Isaiah chapter 43 and we'll see this directly stated. Isaiah 43 and we'll start reading in verse 18. It says:
Isaiah 43:18. "Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old.
19) Behold, I will do a new thing, (NKJ)
This is totally new what He's pulling off here.
Isaiah 43:19b. … now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
20) The beast of the field will honor Me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My people, My chosen. (NKJ)
Now notice what He is saying here is this is not just restoring it back to the condition it was prior to all this destruction. This is a new thing He is doing here. Because what we're going to go through here now is a number of Scriptures describing in detail what the earth is going to look like. What we're going to see is the descriptions are very different from what we understand today. Again, it's a very idyllic, Garden of Eden type setting, different than what we experience today and what we have seen in our everyday life on the earth today.
So turn with me over to Isaiah chapter 35. Again, we're just going to take a tour here through a number of prophecies to see a picture of what the earth is going to look like during the Millennium. Isaiah chapter 35 and verse 1:
Isaiah 35:1. The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose; (NKJ)
Notice we have the deserts, which are normally more dry and desolate areas, blossoming and looking beautiful.
Isaiah 35:2. It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, even with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the excellence of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the excellency of our God. (NKJ)
Now, skip down to about halfway through verse 6. It says:
Isaiah 35:6b. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert. (NKJ)
Notice this is very different from what we experience today.
Isaiah 35:7. The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water; in the habitation of jackals, where each lay, there shall be grass with reeds and rushes. (NKJ)
Let's turn over to Isaiah 51 and verse 3.
Isaiah 51:3. For the Lord will comfort Zion, he will comfort all her waste places; he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; (NKJ)
Notice it's a Garden of Eden type setting even in the deserts. Where we are used to thinking of things being dry and more desolate and dead-looking, this says they are going to be lush and green like Garden of Eden.
Isaiah 51:3b. … joy and gladness will be found in it, thanksgiving and the voice of melody. (NKJ)
Turn over to Isaiah chapter 55 and we'll start reading in verse 12.
Isaiah 55:12. "For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13) Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off." (NKJ)
Now, let's turn back over to Isaiah chapter 41. Isaiah chapter 41, we're going to start in verse 18.
Isaiah 41:18. I will open rivers in desolate heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.
19) I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia tree, the myrtle and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the cypress tree… (NKJ)
Now, cypress trees, typically you find them in very wet areas. And this is talking about them growing in the desert. Again, this is a totally different picture than what we understand today.
Isaiah 41:19b. … and the pine and the box tree together,
20) That they may see and know, and consider and understand together, that the hand of the Lord has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it. (NKJ)
In other words, this wasn't brought about by the efforts of men. It wasn't work parties cleaning this up and planting trees and making all this happen. This was supernatural intervention that God used through the healing waters to bring about this Garden of Eden utopian environment. That's how all of this came about.
What role does mankind play in this, again, basically in establishing the Millennium and all that takes there? Because there are Scriptures about men being used to basically build up the desolated areas and such so what role does mankind play in this? Let's look at a few Scriptures to answer that question.
Turn with me over to Isaiah 54 and verse 3.
Isaiah 54:3. For you shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited. (NKJ)
What we're going to see here is mankind basically plays two major roles in this. One is repopulating the earth because, again, the vast majority of the population of mankind is going to be wiped out by the time the Day of the Lord is done. It will be a small percentage of what we see today. So, as mankind is repopulating this, they are also building up cities again. They're basically repopulating and redeveloping civilization.
Because, as you can imagine, by the time the Day of the Lord is done, there is nothing going to survive that. They are no buildings and cities and things that are going to survive all of that devastation. Because when you wipe out—and again, all the oxygen supply; you burn things with fire; you have a massive earthquake that levels things; and then you have these huge hail storms—and anything that is not charred or leveled from earthquakes is pounded with huge hail storms. There's nothing that survives that. So, after this earth is healed then, it's basically going to be a completely rebuilding process. And that is what mankind is going to be doing, helping to build cities, after God has intervened and made the earth a beautiful place to be again.
Let's notice a couple of other Scriptures that will mention this. Turn over to Isaiah 61 and verse 4.
Isaiah 61:4. And they shall rebuild the old ruins, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations.
5) Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the foreigner shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. (NKJ)
Notice again what it is referring to is the desolated areas where everything has been wiped out and there are no cities. Yes, the earth is healed now, but you have to go back and build up the cities. You have to build up places to live and civilization again. This is the role that mankind is going to play.
Let's turn over to Ezekiel chapter 36. Ezekiel chapter 36 and we'll start reading in verse 33.
Ezekiel 36:33. 'Thus says the Lord God: "On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will also enable you to dwell in the cities, and the ruins shall be rebuilt.
34) "The desolate land shall be tilled instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass by.
35) "So they will say, 'This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the wasted, desolate, and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.' (NKJ)
Now, notice the earth is completely healed and it is this beautiful Garden of Eden setting. It's the millennial images that we all think about of the deserts blooming and there being lots of water and everything is lush and green. It's a very beautiful place to be. And, again, it's completely different from what we have experienced in today's world.
Now, let's get to the point where we can address why I chose the title that I did. And notice, when I started this off, I said, "The title for this sermon is New Heavens and New Earth." And I made a point that heavens has an "s" on it. It's plural. What we're going to see here is there is a distinction in terminology used in the Bible.
I'm sure we're all familiar with the new heaven (singular) and new earth talked about in Revelation chapter 21. So let's flip over to Revelation chapter 21 and take a look at this. Revelation chapter 21 and verse 1:
Revelation 21:1. Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. (NKJ)
Now, if you notice the picture here, he says, "There is no more ocean anymore." Well, if you follow the timeline of when this is, this is after the Second Resurrection has been done; this is after the Third Resurrection has been done. And basically everyone who lived as a human being has wound up in one of two states. They either have been made into God-beings and they're spiritual, or, if they didn't make it and they refused to live God's way, they've been thrown into the Lake of Fire and they've been destroyed. There are no more physical human beings anymore. This New Heaven and New Earth are spiritual things because if we read on in this chapter (which we won't take the time to do), it's talking about the New Jerusalem, the Bride of Christ. This is all very much a spiritual picture. There is nothing physical about this. It even mentions there is no sea anymore.
However, there are three Scriptures in the Bible that refer to New Heavens with an "s" and a New Earth. And, if you read the context of each one of them, what you're going to see is it is very much talking about human beings living and about there being flesh on the earth. So, these are obviously in a different context than what is being referred to here in Revelation chapter 21.
To cover this, turn over to Isaiah chapter 66. And we're going to look at all three of these Scriptures that I mentioned. Isaiah chapter 66 and let's notice the context being referred to here. Verse 22:
Isaiah 66:22. "For as the new heavens… (NKJ)
And notice that is plural.
Isaiah 66:22b. … and the new earth which I will make shall remain before Me," says the Lord, "So shall your descendants and your name remain.
23) And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me," says the Lord. (NKJ)
Notice we're talking about fleshly human beings. And we're talking about them keeping the Sabbath. Well, the Sabbath was made for man. That's something that God created when He created man as it tells us in the beginning of Genesis because He knew we needed that. We needed to be commanded to take the Sabbath, to take one day out of seven and focus on God and draw closer to Him. He didn't need it as a Spiritual Individual prior to all that. Even the New Testament tells us "The Sabbath was made for man."
If we're looking at a context where there are fleshly human beings and they are keeping the Sabbath, this is not the same thing as Revelation chapter 21 where it is all spiritual and there are no physical human beings.
Turn with me over to Isaiah chapter 65, just a page over here. We're going to notice the second Scripture where this is particularly mentioned. And, again, notice the context that we're going to read here.
Isaiah 65:17. "For behold, I create new heavens [plural] and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.
18) But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
19) I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people; the voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, nor the voice of crying. (NKJ)
But now notice the context as we go on.
Isaiah 65:20. "No more shall an infant from there live but a few days, nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days; for the child shall die one hundred years old, but the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed.
21) They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22) They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people, and My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23) They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth children for trouble; for they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them. (NKJ)
Notice we're covering an entire context here of human beings and what they're doing and the role that they are going to play. We're obviously not in a setting where it is all spiritual and there are no physical human beings like it is in Revelation chapter 21. Because in that state we know, obviously, everybody has either been turned into God-Beings or they have been burned up in the Lake of Fire and there is no physical anymore. This is telling us in great detail what all the physical human beings are going to be doing because what this is referring to is the re-creation of the earth at the beginning o the Millennium. He said, "I'm doing a new thing. This is basically a new creation that I'm doing here, making rivers in the desert and springs of water." That's what was being referred to here and you can see that by the context, again, of physical human beings there.
Let's go back to the third mentioning of this over in 2 Peter chapter 3. We've been here a couple of times already, but we've never read the exact Scripture we're going to ultimately go to here. 2 Peter 3 and, again, we'll start in verse 10 just to make sure we get the entire context. I know we've read this a couple of times already but I want to make sure we follow with this here.
2 Peter 3:10. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
11) Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
12) looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? (NKJ)
As we covered previously here, this is describing the state of what the earth is going to be like at the end of the Day of the Lord—total devastation. And notice the next verse.
2 Peter 3:13. Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens [plural] and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. (NKJ)
Again, if you follow the context of all three references where it mentions "New Heavens" plural, it's referring to the physical heavens and a physical earth. This is not a spiritual fulfillment in this regard. This is the healing of the earth at the end of the Day of the Lord in making the utopian earth that we look forward to in the Millennium.
So, Brethren, as we keep this Feast of Tabernacles and we look forward to the fulfilling of these particular Scriptures and we talk about and reminisce and look forward to the days of there being rivers in the desert and springs of water and this Garden of Eden type setting, let's realize that it's God who is going to bring all this about. It's not mankind. It's not work parties of men cleaning up the mess and learning lessons from that. I guess there are lessons for us to learn, but this has to come about through supernatural intervention. It's through healing waters.
And basically this is going to bring about, as He mentions a new earth—a new creation—something totally different than what we understand today. Because we don't understand the earth as being a Garden of Eden setting and we don't understand the deserts going away. We have areas like Death Valley and the Sahara Desert and others that are very desolate. What this is telling us is it's not going to be like that anymore. We're going to have cypress trees growing in those areas. It's going to be very fertile and very moist and wet and just a great Garden of Eden type setting.
So, as we look forward to that, let's realize that we can look forward to:
New Heavens and a New Earth in which Righteousness Dwells.
Transcribed by kb May 28, 2012