When Jesus, The Lord God, created the heavens and the Earth, He purposely intended them to be temporary. Thus, temporary they SHALL be! In a few books of The Bible before Revelation, He sowed some clues of His plan, yet many of us might miss them.
In Revelation, He also sowed a few clues about His planned, brimstone-lit lake of fire, but they gave us no clues about where it might be located. Let’s examine both of these sets of clues.
New Earth Clues
1. The first set of Biblical clues that this current Earth will be temporary is in Genesis 8:21-22, The Lord’s account to Moses about an unspoken thought He had while smelling the pleasant aroma of a sacrifice Noah had made to Him after the global flood event:
…Then The Lord said in His heart, ‘I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. While the Earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.
The first phrase of the last sentence (‘While the Earth remains…’) strategically indicates Earth will continue only for some unspecified timeframe. The reference to Earth’s seasons strategically infers the heavens will also continue, especially Earth’s sun that astro-physically controls Earth’s seasons.
2. The second set of Biblical clues of The Lord’s plan is Psalm 102:25-27 (author unknown):
Of old, You (Lord) laid the foundation of the Earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You will endure; yes, they will all grow old like a garment; like a cloak, You will change them, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will have no end.
The writer, in his day, could not perceive what both apostles Peter and John (see #4 below) were much later allowed to perceive via The Lord’s progressive revelations: that the current, universe will burn up, not wear out, per se, and will be replaced by a new Earth in a new heaven that John describes in Revelation 20 - 22.
3. The third set of Biblical clues of The Lord’s plan is in Isaiah 51:6, 65:17, and 66:22:
…For the heavens will vanish away like smoke, the Earth will grow old like a garment.
…For behold, I create new heavens and a new Earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. …the new heavens and the new Earth which I will make shall remain before Me, says The Lord.
4. The fourth and final written indications of The Lord’s plan for our current Earth and heavens to be temporary, are the explicit references John made to their disappearance in Revelation 20:11 and 21:1,5:
… Then I saw a Great White Throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the Earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.
…Now I saw a new heaven and a new Earth, for the first heaven and the first Earth had passed away.
… Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And He said to me, ‘Write, for these words are true and faithful.’
What in your own thinking about the Earth should these clues help to modify? Moreover, why are so many versions of The Bible flooded with words (like forever, eternal, everlasting, etc.) that actually refer to conditions or events on this current Earth that will not be permanent? For one clear example of this, see: Forever or Until Forever? (Poem).
See Part 2
Lake of Fire Location Clues
