Will God Ever Destroy the Earth? (Part 1)

Hi Cousin,

Your dad had asked me whether I thought God would ever destroy the Earth. I told him that I thought the Bible said He would, and that He would then create a new one. But I didn't know off the top of my head where it said that.

In December, one of our Bible readings in church was from 2 Peter, where it mentions the earth being destroyed. I recalled our conversation, and when I got home, looked up all the verses I could find on the topic.

Psalms 102
²⁵ Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,
   and the heavens are the work of your hands.
²⁶ They will perish, but you will remain;
   they will all wear out like a garment.
You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,
 ²⁷but you are the same, and your years have no end.

Isaiah 51
⁶ Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
   and look at the earth beneath;
 for the heavens vanish like smoke,
   the earth will wear out like a garment,
   and they who dwell in it will die in like manner;
 but my salvation will be forever,
   and my righteousness will never be dismayed.

Isaiah 65
¹⁷ For behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.

Isaiah 66
²² For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before Me, says the LORD, so shall your offspring and your name remain.

Mark 13
³¹ "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

Luke 21
³³ "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

Matthew 5
¹⁸ "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

Hebrews 1
⁸ But of the Son he says,
   "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
   the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
⁹ You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
   therefore God, your God, has anointed you
   with the oil of gladness beyond your companions."
¹⁰ And,
   "You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,
   and the heavens are the work of your hands;
¹¹ they will perish, but you remain;
   they will all wear out like a garment,
¹² like a robe you will roll them up,
   like a garment they will be changed.
But you are the same,
   and your years will have no end."

2 Peter 3
⁷ But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.¹¹ Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people 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 destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!
¹³ But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

Revelation 20
¹¹ Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.

Revelation 21
¹ Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.

I know there are Old Testament passages that refer to the Earth as permanent. How do we make sense of that?

Well, here are my thoughts:

The passages the refer to the earth "standing forever" are all within the context of poetic writings -- writings which sometimes include figurative language. Books like the Psalms and Ecclesiastes contain figurative descriptions of things, where the intention for the words is limited to conveying an impression to the reader, not providing precise, literal accuracy.

For example, consider Psalm 139:15 where the Psalmist says he was "woven together in the depths of the earth." Read in context, it goes along with the idea expressed in the text leading up to it, that God's work of creating a child inside his mother is so secret and hidden from man that it might as well be in "the depths of the earth." It is unlikely the writer really meant to say that babies are formed underground. It is also unlikely he meant to say that human bodies are literally woven. The writer took what we call "poetic license."

Figurative language is one of the literary tools the writers of the Psalms and Ecclesiastes were using to communicate their message, which is completely legitimate. And, incidentally, accepting that detracts nothing from the fact that these passages are still the inspired word of God. The presence of figurative language needs to be kept in mind if one is to understand passages like these accurately and not read into them something beyond what was actually intended. Interpreting figurative passages as being literal in meaning is illegitimate because it inaccurately assesses of the intent of the writer.

Applying this to our current topic, if I encounter a passage in Scripture that appears to contradict teachings found elsewhere in Scripture -- like some passages that say the earth is permanent, and others that say it will be destroyed -- and if, in context, a figurative interpretation is plausible and reasonable, I'm going to lean towards concluding the passage was intended to be figurative, or only true in a relative sense.

On this particular issue, regarding the earth's fate, I could be wrong. However, if I am, I'm left with what I think is an even more substantial task: coming up with alternate meanings for unambiguous statements in Scripture that God will eventually destroy the earth -- statements which, from their context, are clearly not intended to be figurative (with the possible exception of the ones from Revelation).

And to clarify what I was trying to express to you and your dad when we spoke, I see no logical reason to accept the contention that the earth's destruction and recreation would mean God's purposes had been thwarted. Logic does not dictate that since God intended man to live on the earth, destroying earth would mean God's intention hadn't been fulfilled. That's akin to saying, if I buy a car, and at a later date, decide to replace it, my purposes have been circumvented. I just don't see that. I have a car to get me from place to place; that's its purpose. Getting a new car doesn't prevent me from accomplishing that purpose. In fact, depending upon the car I replace it with, my purposes might actually get accomplished better!

Similarly, God made the earth to provide a home for his creatures. Making us a new earth is not going to thwart his purposes, any more than perfecting our resurrected bodies is going to thwart his purposes. In fact, if I correctly understand the passages above, destroying the earth and creating a new one is exactly what God purposes to do.

Mike