What a joy it is to know we have God that keeps His word and provides to all who love Him, His final message of Elijah –enjoy!
The Renewal of the Earth.
Looking forward to the disintegration of the earth, the Apostle Peter says: “…we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” 2 Pet. 3:13.
And John the Revelator, permitted in prophetic vision to see beyond as well as before the millennium, writes: “…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. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them [whereas during the thousand years, they dwell with Him (Rev. 20:4)] and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. 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.
Tract 9 page 19
“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. 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 athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son. 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.” Rev. 21:1-8.
Since the prophets and the Revelator, too, saw the first earth and the first heaven pass away and new ones replace them, anyone would be as foolish as he would be dishonest to gainsay and oppose this plain truth, thereby deceiving himself and confusing others. So the need is very urgent that all give careful consideration to the ensuing
Further Sound Reasons.
Were the earth not to be laid waste at the beginning of the millennium, what need would there be of making “all things new”? Rev. 21:5. If, furthermore, during the millennial age the saints were not to dwell in heaven, then there would be no need of having the “new Jerusalem” (Rev. 21:2, 10) there. And if, still further,
Tract 9 page 20
the saints then live on earth, the Voice of Prophecy would not say they lived “with Christ,” but rather that Christ lived with them. And finally, if they reign with Him on earth, where they are to live forever, prophecy would not say that they “reigned with Christ a thousand years,” but rather that they reigned with Him forever.
Said John, as he looked forward to the time that Christ will live and reign with them on earth: “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever.” Rev. 11:15. “And the kingdom and dominion,” declares Daniel, concerning the saints’ reigning with Him, “and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, Whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.” Dan. 7:27.
In heaven the redeemed shall reign with Christ only a thousand years, whereas on earth He shall reign with them forever and ever: for “the heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s: but the earth hath He given to the children of men.” Ps. 115:16. “For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God Himself that formed the earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else.” Isa. 45: 18.
Tract 9 page 21
Seeing that the Scriptures say much about “the heaven,” also about “the heavens,” made new the responsibility, therefore, of ascertaining the difference between heaven and heavens rests upon every seeker of truth. Pursuant to this end, we must consider first
The Heaven in the Beginning.
“Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters,” spoke the Lord, upon creating the earth, “and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven.” Gen. 1:6-8.
In the beginning, “the Lord God had not,” let us remember, “caused it to rain upon the earth” (Gen. 2:5), and water was “above the firmament” as well as “under the firmament”; and the firmament, He called “Heaven.” Gen. 1:7, 8. These divided waters could not be the water in the clouds, which now serves to water the earth, for the upper waters were not in the midst of the firmament, as are the clouds, but above it. So just as the earth was surrounded by the firmament, so also was the firmament surrounded by the water.
The earth was, in other words, twice enveloped, as shown in the illustration, — first by the firmament; then by the water.
Tract 9 page 22
Since both the firmament and the water were transparent, and the water formed just a thin blanket round the firmament, the sun’s rays shone on the earth just as brightly then as they do now. And since, too, the rays of the sun at that time hit
Tract 9 page 23
the water before they were cooled off by passing through the heavy sheet of atmosphere, they were hotter when they reached the water above the firmament than they are now under the firmament when they reach the earth. Being first diffused by the water, the rays made it hot; in turn, by circulating round the firmament, the hot water warmed the earth evenly everywhere — at the poles as well as at the equator.
The only variation in temperature was incident to presence of light (day) and absence of light (night). Consequently, then, as now, the night was cooler than the day. But as this condition no longer prevails, obviously at some time a cataclysm caused
The Breakdown of Earth’s Heating System.
In the beginning, the now frozen regions of the poles flourished with vegetation and abounded with animals which geologists now find preserved in the ice. Who, then, could doubt that the water “above the firmament” was the earth’s heat-equalizing system?
But as soon as the water, in fulfillment of Noah’s prediction, began to come down, — in fact, even before it had any chance to descend to the lower places of the earth, — this natural thermostatic system was quickly broken down, and the rain, as it fell on the earth, froze so suddenly in the polar regions that the animals while yet alive froze with it: they evidently had not time even to swallow
Tract 9 page 24
their food, as is actually established by various archeological exhumations.
The earth, now being without its heat-equalizing system, is affected with intense heat whenever the sun is in such a position as to send its rays through the least thickness of atmosphere as is the case at noonday, when the sun shines straight down instead of on a slant; and with even intenser heat whenever there is a density of atmosphere, such as is caused by humidity and low altitude; whereas conditions opposite to these, bring an opposite extreme.
The fluctuating, uncomfortable atmospheric extremes brought about by the flood, are just another of the results of the curses which followed man’s unbelief in divine warnings and reproofs, and his disobedience to God’s commandments.
This adverse derangement of Nature’s thermostat, with the resultant uncomfortable condition on earth, both of which cry out not only for a new earth, but also for a new heaven, turns our attention to
The Solar System.
Inspiration declares that the sun was created on the fourth day of the week of creation, and astronomical science has discovered that in our solar system there are besides the planet Earth eight other planets depending on the sun for light, heat, and life-giving energy. (The probability is that three more planets will be
Tract 9 page 25
discovered, for according to Genesis 37:9 and other facts, there must needs be twelve major planets in our solar system.) During the week of creation, consequently, God must have created not only the earth but also the entire solar system. Otherwise, the planets in existing without benefit of the sun’s life-sustaining influence, would necessarily have suffered an uninhabited and altogether useless existence. Inspiration, moreover, says also that in the week of creation, God created the earth, sun, moon, and “the stars also.” Gen. 1:16.
Without a sun, our solar system would have been but a planetary assemblage without a controlling unit, left to careen and hurtle headlessly through space, only to endure, at the merciless caprice of fortuitous circumstance, an unending succession of accidental collisions. Created and set in motion together, though, by the Hand that sustains them, all the planets safely follow the sun as it sweeps through space at the tremendous velocity of 400,000,000 miles a year.
Our heaven and earth, therefore, being a unit in the solar system, then both their passing away and their being renewed necessarily involve the entire system. Not only our heaven, consequently, but also
The Heavens Need to be Renewed.
Each one of the planets in our solar system being surrounded by its own firmament
Tract 9 page 26
or heaven, there are, consequently, as many heavens (firmaments) as there are planets in the system. To these planetary “heavens” apply the following scriptures:
“For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black.” Jer. 4:28. “And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.” Isa. 34:4.
“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.” 2 Pet. 3:10.
“They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed.” Ps. 102:26.
“For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make, shall remain before Me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain.” Isa. 66:22.
As a result of sin on earth, causing all creation to groan (Rom. 8:22), the whole solar family has suffered. The foregoing scriptures show that not only the earth, but also the heavens, have waxed old
Tract 9 page 27
under the curse of sin; that sin is a contagious disease with far-reaching results; that “whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it” (1 Cor. 12:26); that God is to make an absolute riddance of sin and consequently that He will make void not only the earth, but also the entire solar system; and that while making the earth new, He will make new the solar system also!
“What do ye imagine against the Lord? He will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time.” Nah. 1:9. “And He said unto me Write: for these words are true and faithful.” Rev. 21 :5.
“Behold,” He says further, speaking in view of the day that He will execute “an utter end,” “I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” Mal. 4:5. Hence Jesus’ words: “Elias truly shall first come, and”
Shall “Restore All Things.” Matt. 17:11.
Though lost through sin, all created in the beginning will be restored in “the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.” Acts 3:21. Having created the sea before the beginning of sin, then to do away with it after the extinction of sin, as some teach
Tract 9 page 28
that He is to do, would certainly not be His restoring “all things,” but rather His doing away with them, and would imply that in the beginning He made a mistake in creating the sea thus belying His pronouncement “that it was good.” Gen. 1:10. Since, moreover, the serpent, not the sea, caused Adam and Eve to sin (Gen. 3:1-7), and since the serpent is to be in the kingdom restored (Isa. 65:25), why, then should God do away with the sea?
“God is jealous,” declares the prophet Nahum in his vision of the time of the end “and the Lord revengeth; the Lord revengeth, and is furious; the Lord will take vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserveth wrath for His enemies. The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the Lord hath His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.
The mountains quake at Him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at His presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before His indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by Him. The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and He knoweth them that trust in Him. But with an overrunning flood
Tract 9 page 29
He will make an utter end of the place thereof and darkness shall pursue His enemies. What do ye imagine against the Lord? He will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time.” Nah. 1:2-9.
“…I saw” says John the Revelator, likewise after beholding the desolation of the earth, “a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.” Rev. 21:1.
When was there no more sea? — When the first heaven and the first earth passed away. The scripture does not say that there shall not be any more sea in the earth made new. It simply says that “there was no more sea” while the heaven and the earth were in their removed state — “passed away.” In other words, the first part of the verse envisages a “new heaven and a new earth,” whereas the last part foretells of no more sea before the “new heaven” and the “new earth” are made.
Thus on the absolute finality of His Own Word the Lord is to bring all things to an end, even to drying the rivers and the seas while He is making clear riddance of sin.
Since along with our heaven and earth, therefore, our whole solar system is to pass away, not only the saints from earth, then, but with them also the sons of God
Tract 9 page 30
from the whole system, shall live and reign with Christ in the Heaven of heavens for a thousand years! O what a privilege! What an opportunity! What a gathering that will be!
**********************************************
Leave a Reply