In Lev. 26 we come to our Lord's pronouncements of judgement upon Israel's Covenant disobedience. This is a list of things that YHWH said He would do if Israel broke Covenant...which they did. In v. 19 He says that, "I will break the pride of your power; I will make YOUR heavens like iron and YOUR earth like bronze". Now would He really make the heavens(sun, moon and stars) like iron, and the earth like bronze, or is this biblical imagery?
Clearly He is speaking to Israel, and He is saying that it's THEIR heaven and THEIR earth. He's making it personal for them. It relates to them.
Let's look at how Jacob understood the dream of Joseph in Gen. 37:9-10:
Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, "Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me." 10But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, "What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?"
Notice Jacob's reaction. "Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?".
Jacob understood the meaning of the dream. Jacob's rulership, would bow down to Joseph's rulership.
The Heavens symbolized rulership.
Look at Isaiah 1:1-2
[U]The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem[/U] in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Hear, [U]O heavens, and give ear, O earth[/U];
for the Lord has spoken:
“Children have I reared and brought up,
but they have rebelled against me.
With whom is our Lord speaking? Certainly not the literal sun moon and stars, or the grass of the field. He is speaking of Israel. This is judgment against their breaking the covenant. This was the Old Covenant. The Old Heavens and Old Earth represented Israel. It was the Old Covenant, which the writer to the Hebrews said was becoming obsolete.
In speaking of a new covenant, [U]he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.[/U] (8:13)
Many of you will agree that we are in the New Covenant! That's odd...especially when you say that we aren't in the New Heavens and New Earth, which is the New Covenant.
Peter discusses the New Heavens and Earth in his 2nd epistle. Let's take a look at it.
This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles,
The reason I pause here is to remind us all that Peter's bible was the OT. So, this language of Heaven and Earth is very familiar to him. Biblical Imagery is not something that preterist, full or partial, or not preterist have created against "2000 years of Church History". He says that what he is saying had been written about before by the OT prophets.
knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
He said that scoffers would come in the last days. Pleas take a read of [URL="http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=acts+2%3A14-20"]Acts 2:14-20[/URL]
The writer to the Hebrews says that they were in the last days. (Heb. 1:2)
But let's look at these scoffers. "Where is the promise of his coming?" They must of heard our Lord's words when He said that He would come in their generation. You may think that they didn't understand that He didn't mean their generation but anothers, I think that's a stretch though.
Look at Peter's comparison of Noah's days with his days. He says that the heavens and the earth then perished with water, and then says that this world will be stored up for fire.The old earth, full of the ungodly was not destroyed was it? Remember the biblical imagery that Peter was used to. What was destroyed was the state of man, it's rulership, it's authority, not the physical earth. What was set up in it's place? Another rulership...that of Noah's. Many say that the world will be destroyed by fire, but is that what he really means? No! YWHW says in Gen. 8:21 after He had destroyed the earth;
And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “[U]I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done[/U]
Never again, or again?
[U]But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. [/U]
Reminds me of what our Lord said in Matt. 24:42-44
As Calvinist, many of you will say, "But He's speaking to the believers!" "This verse is intended for it's original hearers". You're right! Peter is comforting those believers because they were partners in the tribulation. The Day of the Lord would come and then the heavens will pass away. Isn't that what the Lord said in Matt. 24?
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
He says all that would happen with in that generation! The scoffers heard it, and the believers heard it. Why don't you?
Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
What's being dissolved here is not the actual heavens and earth, but the Old Covenant. Remember Hebrews? It was becoming obsolete, it was vanishing.
But also, What promise? Where was Peter getting his info from? Where had he read about this? Isaiah 65 and 66 no doubt.
Let's look at that for a second.
“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create;
for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping
and the cry of distress. No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a hundred years old,
and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed. They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain
or bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord,
and their descendants with them. Before they call I will answer;
while they are yet speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain,” says the Lord.
Look at that whole chapter if you can. YHWH is not pleased with Israel. They would later become "not my people"(Hosea 1, 2 and Romans 9), while those who were not His people, would become His people.
I just want us to notice some simple thing in this passage. People are building homes, planting vineyards, being sinners, having children...and DYING!
for the young man shall die a hundred years old,
and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.
A Young man shall DIE a hundred years old. How in the world is their death in Heaven as you understand it?
Continuing to Isaiah 66
“For behold, the Lord will come in fire,
and his chariots like the whirlwind,
to render his anger in fury,
and his rebuke with flames of fire.
For by fire will the Lord enter into judgment,
and by his sword, with all flesh;
and those slain by the Lord shall be many.
“Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one in the midst, eating pig's flesh and the abomination and mice, shall come to an end together, declares the Lord.
“For I know their works and their thoughts, and the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my glory, and I will set a sign among them. And from them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands far away, that have not heard my fame or seen my glory. And they shall declare my glory among the nations. And they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations as an offering to the Lord, on horses and in chariots and in litters and on mules and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, just as the Israelites bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. And some of them also I will take for priests and for Levites, says the Lord.
“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.
From new moon to new moon,
and from Sabbath to Sabbath,
all flesh shall come to worship before me,
declares the Lord.
Look at this judgment that our Lord pronounces. Does it not look familiar? Yet after all of that, He sets up the New Heavens and the New Earth! There's more to it though. His glory is to reach the nations. Their continues to be procreation, and evangelism!
Now I'm of the mindset that John is speaking of the same thing as Isaiah. Why would he not be?
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. ”And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
Ahh...the Beautiful Church. The New Covenant...the New Rulership/Government.
[I]"And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." [/I]
Rev. 21:9,10 say that the Bride is the city. Hebrews 12:22-23 states:
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,
He says that this was 2000 years ago.
[I]And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. [/I]
Paul says that we are citizens of heaven in [URL="http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Eph.+2%3A19"]Eph. 2:19[/URL]. He says that heaven dwells within us in [URL="http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Eph.+2%3A22"]v. 22[/URL]
John 1:14 says that the Lord tabernacled with us. 2 Cor. 6:16 says that we are the Temple of the Living God and states further what John has written here.
[I]
“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people."
[/I]
Also see [URL="http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Leviticus+26"]Lev. 26:11-12[/URL]. The same thing is said to Covenant Israel, if they were to be obedient.
[I]He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. [/I]
It seems clear from Isaiah's passage that their was actual death in the New Heaven and Earth. Here it says that their is no more death. What are we to do? Examine scripture.
The Lord told Adam that if he ate from the tree that he would surely die. What happened? He ate from the tree, but did he die? Depends on our understanding of death. He did not physically die that day did he? Nope. But their was a spiritual death.
What does the Lord say in John 11:25-26?
[I]“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”[/I]
Do you believe this? Paul died, Peter died, James died, Stephen died, Gordon Clark, Dr. Bahnsen, My Grandmother...ALL died. Yet our Lord says that they lived. "Death has been swallowed up in victory"! It has lost it's sting.
We no longer hunger or thirst because Christ, our shepherd, leads us to ‘springs of living water’ (Rev 7:16-17; 22:17; Jn 4:13-14; 6:35).
[I]
“Behold, I am making all things new.”[/I] is connected to what Paul was saying to the Corinthians.
2 Cor. 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
We no longer hunger or thirst because Christ, our shepherd, leads us to ‘springs of living water’ (Rev 7:16-17; 22:17; Jn 4:13-14; 6:35).
I welcome you all to this New and Better Covenant...and if we are in this New and Better Covenant, then the former has passed away, and has become obsolete. And if we are in this New Covenant, then we are in the New Heavens and New Earth.
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. ”Thus says the Lord,
who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the Lord of hosts is his name:
“If this fixed order departs from before me, declares the Lord, then shall the offspring of Israel cease from being a nation before me forever.”
Thus says the Lord:
“If the heavens above can be measured,
and the foundations of the earth below can be explored,
then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel
for all that they have done,
declares the Lord.”
Matthew 26:28
for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Mark 14:24
And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.
Luke 22:20
And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
1 Corinthians 11:25
In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
2 Corinthians 3:6
who has made us competent[1] to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
Hebrews 8:8
For he finds fault with them when he says: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,
Hebrews 8:13
In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
Hebrews 9:15
Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
Hebrews 12:24
and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
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