Across the world, in this the 21st Century, believers are beginning to understand what the apostles and earliest church fathers believed. It is a simple faith of liberty in Christ, empowered to love one’s neighbours. The empowering faith sets folk above and not beneath, to give victory over sin and sickness; to heal families and restore righteousness in our communities. And all this without laying any heavy burdens on people’s backs.
Often our western way of thinking is not a helpful pair of glasses to have on when we read the Bible. We need to think more like Jesus, a Hebrew and His followers Peter and Paul, also very much Hebrews in their wrriting. They use a lot of picture language to describe spiritual truth. That will help us into greater liberty.
The apostle Peter writes in his second epistle about “the last days” and the “new heaven and earth” to believers in the first century prior to 70AD. He writes with expectancy of impending judgment on ungodly men. With our non-Hebraic mindsets, we think Peter is speaking of the elements melting as the physical globe of the earth, maybe via nuclear disaster or some other modern cataclysmic event. But this is not so. Peter’s last days are not the last days before the world ends. The last days Peter speaks of were known to his readers as the end of the Old Covenant age, or “the end of the age”.
Also, their concept of heaven and the land (not the whole earth, as we will see), were limited to the promised land and the Holy Temple (originally tabernacle of Moses) in which God dwelt. When Peter speaks then, of a new heaven and earth, we see it is a realm in which righteousness dwells. It doesn’t mean this world will melt, but that the elements of the temple system were destined to be destroyed in 70AD. And this did happen. Peter uses the metaphor, “melt”. The new earth is the new creation in which ALL things have become new, immediately after the ascension and, in fulfilment of all the festivals, “those all things” moved through the Pentecost reality at the time of the Pentecost shadow, and then festivals of Trumpets, Day of Atonement then Tabernacles all followed in line – no longer as shadows – but in the fulfilment of all the law as Jesus had promised. That this happened between the cross and 70AD is now history.
We note here that tabernacles did not come into fullness until the Day of Atonement was completed. That means all are now a reality and not just depictions as shadows.
If we don’t believe that the Day of Atonement with its finality of judgment has already come, then how can we believe that we have a “tabernacle” or presence with God in Christ? We are still waiting for the fulfilment of the law.
Without this understanding, that the work of the cross is finished and the enemy has been finally judged and is in torment, as per Revelation 20:10, we will continue to live in cycles of faith and striving followed by failure until we truly believe that the Kingdoms of the earth are now subject to the Kingdom of our Christ. In other words, we will continue in sin struggles, sickness and depression in a religious way. We are not made for torment, but peace. That is the Kingdom’s atmosphere because the King Jesus reigns in our hearts. If we don’t have that peace, the King is not enthroned there yet.
If we look closely at the Greek grammar in context of what the apostles wrote, we can see how we have missed the point.
For example, in reading the New Testament, it must always be remembered that the Koine Greek word “γῆ” (ge) can mean one of two things, either “the land”, meaning Israel, or “earth”, where things are planted. The context generally gives the writer’s original intention. However, to assume earth means the whole world as in our planet is incorrect. In that case the word “kosmos” would have been used. Often, translators and even modern readers have erred in this regard and assumed meanings vastly different from the contextual intent.
The classic example is in a belief that this planet, earth, is to be annihilated in an end to “time”. Actually, there is no end of time mentioned in the Bible. “Time of the end” holds a very different meaning. It means the same as “last day”, and in many, but not all cases, “The Day of the Lord”. (The Day of the Lord in the Old Testament spoke of the ancient judgements that ancient nations, including Israel and Judah experienced).
But in the apostles’ writing, speaking of “the end”, we have to ask, “end of what?” Not the planet earth, but of the material land of promise, which was only a shadow of the Kingdom of God to come. We see this in Galatians, Peter’s epistles and the Book of Revelation.
Likewise, the old heaven was to give way to the new heaven. But that doesn’t mean heaven itself would literally “melt”. Cosmic imagery is used because it suggests the grandeur of divine retribution and justice for those who had been victims of a wicked generation. Since we know that the heaven of God’s dwelling doesn’t need renewing, we must think Hebraically to find out what the old and new heavens actually are.
This is important, because the new heaven is what the believer can operate from now.
The “old heaven” was the temple where God temporarily dwelt during the centuries of the Old Testament. The new heaven, as prophesied and promised would be in people’s hearts, transforming them into righteous humans in the perfect image of God in Christ. It’s just what most people would acknowledge today, is needed in this failing world. So the new heaven and land surpasses the old covenantal temple with its land on the outside and God within. Now the temple is within people as Jesus said, the kingdom of God is within you.
So the old heaven and new heaven contrast is of the temple made with human hands and the new creation temple in people’s hearts. The Kingdom of God, likewise is part of this same expression in that it is no longer a theocratic political nation (promised land) but the Kingdom of God is within all believers. We can carry that “land” (Galatians 4:26) within us with all its promises of health and provision to serve our communities.
Notice that the new earth never comes before the new heaven. While they come together, the heaven is always mentioned first. The reason they come together is because this speaks of the promises of God to individuals and all people. He puts a new heart within us, seating us in the (new creation) heavenly place, this enabling our promised land (ge). It is not a new heaven and physical earth, but a far greater spiritual reality with which we can affect the physical reality.
This is important, not only because we are meant to care for our environment, the earth and its various creatures and peoples, but we now, being reconciled to God our Father, have an opportunity of the dignity of being without sin governing our lives and relationships. Our old nature had a default to sin with a striving to be good. Our new creation nature is a default to righteousness with the occasional sin being taken instantly from us when we repent.
Humanity’s original mandate was to extend the Garden of Eden out into the rest of the world / earth and subdue it. The planet will not blow up and bust. As humanity learns what it means to live in Christ, the earth’s groaning will decrease because the sons of God will be manifest and exercising loving dominion over creation.
