Revelation Chapter 21:1 Renovation of The Earth By Fire

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The ages to come the third and eternal prefect state (21:1-22:5).
(1) New Heaven and New Earth (Isa. 65:17; 66:22-24; 2 Pet. 3:13).

1. And 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 saw a new heaven and new earth; meaning

This will be the result of the renovation of the heavens and the earth by fire (2 Pet. 3:10-13).
The New Heavens and New Earth are mentioned in v 1; 2 Pet 3:13; Isa. 65:17; 66:22-24).

Renovation by fire Earth made prefect the third time: End of day of the Lord (Rom. 8:21; Heb. 1:10-12; 12:26-29; Rev. 20:11-21:1 Isa. 66:22).

2 Pet. 3:10 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.

But the day of the Lord will come; meaning

The day of the Lord is the Millennium from the second advent to the rebellion of Satan at the end of that period (Rev. 19:11-20:10). The day of the Lord cannot come until the Lord comes to reign (Isa. 2:12; 13:6, 9; 34:8; 61:2; 63:1-6; Jer. 46:10; Ez. 30:3; Dan. 2:44, 45; 7:13, 14; Amos 5:18; Joel 2; Oba. 15; Zeph. 1:8, 18; 2:2, 3; Zech. 14; Mal. 4; Mt. 24:29-31; 25:31-46; 1 Th. 5:2; 2 Th. 1:7-10; 2:1-12; Jude 14; Rev. 19:11-21; 20:1-10).

as a thief in the night; (1 Thess. 5:2).

This expression is used only in v 2-4; 2 Pet. 3:10; Rev. 3:3; 16:15. Each time it refers to the day of the Lord coming as a thief, except Rev. 3:3; and here it refers to judgment on the local church Sardis, which see. Christ's coming is also referred to as a thief (Mt. 24:43).

in the which the
In the day of the Lord the renovation of the earth will take place not at the beginning of it but at the end (v 7; Rev. 20:7-15).

heavens shall pass away, meaning

The atmospheric heavens, not the starry space or the planet heaven.
Pass away ---change (3:10)
Gr. parechmai, pass away; pass from condition to another. it never means annihilation. Used 75 times of.
1. Passing of time Mt. 7:28; 9:10; 11:1; 13:53; 14:15; 19:1.
2. events coming to pass Mt. 24:6; Lk. 21:7; Jn. 14:29; Acts 27:9.
3. The unchangeableness of God's Word---heaven and earth will be changed but, not the Word of God Mt. 5:18; 24:34, 35; Mk. 13:31; Lk. 16:17; 21:32, 33.
4. People passing by certain places Mk. 6:48; Lk. 18:37; Acts 16:8).
5. Denoting neglect Lk. 11:42; 15:29.
6. The coming of persons Lk. 12:37; 17:7.
7. Never passing up duty Lk. 25:29.
8. Danger passing away Mt. 26:42.
9. Sins passing away 2 Cor. 5:17, 18.
10. Dying Jas. 1:10.
11. Passing away of the heavens and the earth (2 Pet. 3:10; Rev. 21:1), or the changing of them, like old things passing away and all things becoming new at the new birth (2 Cor. 5:17, 18).

In this last usage it means they will be:

1. Purified by fire (v 7, 10-12)
2. Delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God (Rom. 8:21)
3. Changed to a new state (Heb. 1:10-12)
4. Re-creation or renewed to their original perfection (Heb. 12:25-28; Isa. 65:17; 66:22-24; 1 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21:1).
5. cleansed of all the curse and its effects (Rev. 22:3).

 

[BanjoPicker]

2 Pet. 3:10-13
As it reads, not convey the idea that the present Heaven and Earth will be annihilated. Fire does not cause anting to cease to exist. Fire merely changes something from one condition to another or renovate and cleanse, as the case may be. Peter shows that there will be a renovation of the Earth by fire and that the future renovation will blot out the Earth any more than did the destruction of the world by water in the beginning.

 

[BanjoPicker]

2 Pet. 1-13 This passage teaches the time of the renovation to be "against the day of judgment and perdition of the ungodly men" This day of judgment is at the end of the Millennium Rev. 20:11-15. It is further stated to be when "the day of God" begins, which is after the Millennium when God becomes all in all after Christ reigns during the Millennium for the purpose of putting all enemies under His feet. Peter states that in the New Earth "dwelleth righteousness", which could only be after the Millennium, for sin, death, enemies, rebellion, continue during the Millennium (Isa. 65:20; 1 Cor. 15:24-28; Rev. 21).

 

[BanjoPicker]

The ideas that generally prevail that the world is coming to an end, that the coming of Christ will end all things on the Earth, that the present Heaven and Earth will be annihilated and cease to exist that the New Heaven and New Earth never existed before, that all men are to be glorified and that none will exist in a natural state after the Millennium that we will spend eternity in Heaven, that men animals will not multiply and continue on Earth forever are all unscriptural. The New Heaven and the New Earth eternal conditions and atmospheric heavens and the Earth will be purified by fire, resulting in new or renewed ones, as pictured in Rev. 21, 22; Isa. 65:17; 66:22-24; 2 Pet. 3:10-13.

 

[BanjoPicker]

The time of the renovation of the Earth and the elements will be after the Millennium, the Battle of Gog and Magog, and the casting of Satan into the lake of fire, and during the great white throne judgment at the end of the Millennium 2 Pet. 3:7. This statement in this passage further indicates that the final judgment will take place in Heaven where God's throne is and which will not take place until after the renovation. Then the throne of God and His capital city, the New Jerusalem, will come to the New Earth to be forever with men. The time of the renovation of the Earth is made clear from Isa. 66:22-24 mentions the wicked in He11 during the New Earth. The wicked are not resurrected and judged until after the Millennium Rev. 20:5, 7-15 much less cast into the lake of fire, This shows the renovation of the Earth will be after the Millennium.

 

[BanjoPicker]

Rev. 21-22 proves conclusively that the New Earth will be after the Millennium, as is clear from a study from these chapters along with Rev. 20:1-15. It was not until after the 1,000 years reign of Christ and His saints, the last rebellion of Satan and man against God, the destruction of the rebels, and the last resurrection and final judgment that John said "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away . . . and there shall be no more death, neither sorry, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."
The present Heaven and Earth will not pass out of existence. This idea is the result of a superficial reading of 2 Pet. 3:10-13 and Rev. 20:11; 21:1. That this doctrine is not taught in these passages is clear from a study of the words and expressions in them in conjunction with other passages on the same subject that are more clear.

 

[BanjoPicker]

He further reveals three definite periods of the Earth: first, the world (kosmos) "that then was," before Adam which was destroyed and which destruction affected the atmospheric heavens and Earth; second the restoration of kosmos and the heavens and the Earth "which is now" since the six days of Gen. 1:3-2:25; third, the renovation of the heavens and the Earth, with the result of a New Heaven and a New Earth, or Eternal Prefect State and the continuation of all life in them forever. The kosmos that now exists will never be destroyed by the future fire, as was kosmos (social system) by water in Gen. 1:2.
These facts alone prove that the atmospheric heavens and the Earth, "which are now," will never cease to exist but will merely be renovated by fire and exist in a renewed state; wherein dwelleth righteousness. This is proved by a study of different words found in 2 Pet. 3:10-13. It does not state that the present kosmos or social order is reserved unto renovation. But the Earth and elements only, or just the parts that require it. As it is made clear by other passages below.

 

[BanjoPicker]

A. This renovation will end the day of the Lord and begin the day of God 2 Pet. 3:10-13. " In which [day of the Lord] the heavens shall pass away." The Greek word for pass away is parerchomai and means to go by or away from in the sense of from one condition to another. It never means cessation of existence. It is used over seventy- five times as follows: for the passing of time Mt. 7:28; 9:10; 11:1; 13:563; 19:1; of events coming to pass Mt. 24:6; Lk. 21:7; Jn. 14:29; of the infallibility of the Word of God, showing that it would be easier for Heaven and Earth to be changed than for the Word of God to fail Mt. 5:18; 24:34, 35 Mk. 13:31; Lk. 16:17; 21:32, 33; of people passing by certain places Mk. 6:48; Lk. 18:37; to denote neglect Lk. 11:42; 15:29; and of the coming of an individual Lk. 12:37; 17:7. Thus we see from the various uses that it never conveys the idea of passing out of existence. As used in 2 Pet. 3:10, it means passing from one condition to another, as clearly expressed in Heb. 1:12; 12:27, 28. This "change" is to take place with "a great noise."

 

[BanjoPicker]

B. "And the elements shall melt with fervent heat" 2 Pet. 3:10, 12. The Greek word for elements' in these two verses is stoicheion meaning something orderly in arrangement, element principle or rudiment and it always refers to the foundation principles of the question involved. It is used in Gal. 4:3, 9; Col. 2:8, 20; 2 Pet. 2:10, 12 in reference to the principle of sin and of the present world system, such as the meaning also includes the things which man has made that must be destroyed before the Earth can be purified and loosed from its present state of bondage and corruption Rom. 8:18-25.

 

[BanjoPicker]

C. The Greek word for melt is luo, meaning to loose, put off, unbind, untie or set free, and is so translated in Mt. 21:2; Lk. 19:30, 33; Jn. 1:27; 11:44; Acts 7:35. It is translated "dissolve" in 2 Pet. 3:11 and 12. These passages show that all that is to happen to the atmospheric heavens and the Earth in this renovation is the loosing of them from the present bondage into a new state, as in Rom. 8:21-23. This loosing will be done by fervent heat, which is the best method of renovation and cleansing known to man. If the English word "dissolve" in this passage means cesation of existence, as is generally held concerning this passage, why not give it the same meaning in Psalm 75:3; Isa. 14:31; 24:19; 34:4; 2 Cor. 5:1? It can be seen from these passages that this is not the idea. This word further expresses the idea of a change in the heavens and the Earth into a new and better state wherein everything is good and worthy of the presence of God among men forever.

 

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D. "The earth [ground] also and the works that are therein shall be burned up" 2 Pet. 3:10. The Greek word for works is ergon, meaning work, toil, deed, labour, and the acts of men. It is used of religious works as well as of other kinds of works. The Greek word for burned up is katakaio, meaning to burn down to the ground and wholly consume by fire. It has reference to the things of man on the Earth, which he has made, that will not be permitted in the New Earth and the Eternal Prefect State. These things will be burned up or destroyed by fire. This fact is made clear from the next verses written by Peter, "seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved [loosed] . . . the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved [loosed], and the elements [sinful things of this world system] shall melt Greek teko, meaning "to liquify or melt] with fervent heat" 1 Pet. 3:12. The Greek word for melt here is not the same Greek word translated melt in 2 Pet. 3:10 where it means to loose. The whole passage 2 Pet. 3:10-13 is simple when we consider that it merely records the act of loosing the heavens and the Earth from all effects of the curse and corruption and making everything clean and pure for man forever. The result of all this will be the fulfillment of the promises to man of a "new heaven and new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness" 2 Pet. 3:13; Isa. 65:17; 66:22-24; Rev. 21-22.

 

[BanjoPicker]

Rev. 20:11 is often misconstrued to men that the Earth and the heavens we now have cease to exist, but this passage does not teach this. The meaning of the Greek word pheugo, translated "fled" is to flee away, to shun, or to vanish. It is used both in a figurative and literal way. That its usage here is figurative is clear from its usage in Rev. 6:14 and 16:20 where, if taken literally as some would do in island and mountain under the sixth seal and again under the seventh vial. This could not be the case for they are all eternal as proved by other Scriptures on the subject. The Bible teaches that the islands Ps. 72:8-10,17; 97:1-6; Isa. 42:1-4, 8-12; 51:5; 60:9; 66:18-24, mountains Gen. 49:26; 125:1; Isa. 42:10-12; 52:7; Nahum. 1:15; Hab. 3:6, the Earth Ps. 78:69; 104:5; Eccl. 1:4, and the heavens are all eternal and therefore could not cease to exist Ps. 89:22; 119:89.

 

[BanjoPicker]

Examples of figurative language concerning things being shaken may be seen in Ps. 18:7; 60:2; Isa. 44:23; 54:10; 55:12; 64:1-3. The language of things passing away in Rev. 6:14; 16:20; 20:11, is all figurative of the shaking of the heavens and the Earth at the time of God's wrath before and after the Millennium. This passage Rev. 20:11 pictures the same renovation of the Earth as 2 Pet. 3:10-13. The actual heavens and the Earth are pictured as if they had passed away and no place was found for them, but the language being figurative merely pictures the renovation of them and the taking away of the things which God is to destroy in them before they can be made new in character.

 

[BanjoPicker]

Rev. 21:1 is also misconstrued by those who teach that the present heaven and Earth will cease to be. The correct meaning hinges upon the right understanding of the word new. The Greek for this is kainos meaning renewed or new especially in freshness and character, but never new in existence. It is in direct contrast to the Greek neos meaning new in existence. A contrast between the two words is found in Matt. 9:16, "men put new wine [neos, newly made wine] into new bottles [kainos, freshened or renewed wineskins] and both are preserved." This same contrast can be seen wherever the two words are used. Compare Matt. 13:52; 26:28, 29;27:60; Mark. 1:27; 14:25; 16:17; 2 Cor. 3:6; 5:17; Gal. 6:15; Eph.2:15; 4:24; Heb. 8:8, 13; 2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 2:17; 3:12; 5:9; 14:3; 21:1, 2, 5, where kainos (renewed or new in character or freshness) is used with 1 Cor. 5:7; Col. 3:10; Heb. 12:24 where neos (new in age) is used. Thus, the expression "new heaven and new earth," in 2 Pet. 3:3; Rev. 21:1 has reference to the present heavens and the Earth being made new in character renewed and loosed from the old curse. The Old Testament word khaw-dawsh used in Isa. 65:17, 66:22, of the same New Heaven and New Earth means the same as the Greek kainos. This simplifies the meaning of Peter's doctrine of renovation.

 

[BanjoPicker]

The Scriptures further reveal the extent of this renovation and show that many things will not be burned by fire. Only those things that are not made new as the beginning of the Millenium will be renovated by fire at the end of that time. There is not one passage in the Bible which shows the extinction of any species of living creatures that God has created.

On the other hand, there are scores of passages teaching that creatures created by God will replenish the Earth eternally. This is required in order to have an everlasting covenant with all flesh, as in Gen. 9:12. Did God intent to cause men and animals to live on Earth for only a few thousand years and then be destroy them altogether? This idea would destroy the very eternal plain of God and the purpose of His dispensational dealings, which is to rid the Earth of all rebellion and to continue man on the Earth to replenish it forever as Adam was to have done before he fell. The "whole creation" that was created by God at the time of Adam will remain forever, and all that will be done is to deliver that creation from the present bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty and manifestation of the sons of God (Rom. 8:18-25).

 

[BanjoPicker]

The Millennial Kingdom, with its every phase of activity except the curse and its effects will go on forever, and not be burned up by this fire of renovation, see the many Scriptures on the Millennium above which prove that the literal city of Jerusalem the temple, are all eternal. In Heb. 2:26-28, we have a definite Scripture stating that some things are to be destroyed and removed while others are to "remain." If further states that we shall receive a "kingdom which cannot be moved." These verses do not only refer to things after the renovation of the Earth as being immovable, but also to things before the renovation for we shall receive the kingdom at the beginning of the thousand years, and reign throughout eternity. Even through the renovation the kingdom will continue with its peoples, rules, system of government and material equipment (Isa. 9:6, 7; Dan. 7:18-27; Lk. 1:32, 33; Rev. 11:15).

 

[BanjoPicker]

In Heb. 1:10-12, we have another statement to the effect that all that is to happen to the Earth and heavens is a "change," not the annihilation of them. Can we conceive of God sending His Son to this Earth to put down all rebellion and then, after Christ accomplishes this in the thousand years, God annihilates the Earth and all things there in? Just what is to be destroyed is in God's own hands, and how it is to be done can certainly be left in the hands of Him who never fails or makes a mistake and who has the best interests of His creatures at heart. Are not the natures of animals changed and many other things fully restored at the beginning of the Millennium? Cannot God destroy some things with fire and not touch other things in the Earth?

 

[BanjoPicker]

The God that caused this kind of miracle with the three Hebrew children and the burning bush can certainly do the same thing with the whole creation and the things that are left can remain without even the smell of fire upon them. "Our God is a consuming fire" and can do all things, whether we can fully understand them or not. one can rest assured that the judge of the whole Earth shall do right and not one of His humblest servants need have fear in his august presence. In the rebellion of Satan and all mankind on the Earth Rev. 20:7-10 fire will consume the wicked rebels but the camp of the saints which will be earthly Jerusalem will remain forever without being touched and the natural people who do not rebel will be privileged to continue on Earth and have dominion over it, as did Adam before he fell.

 

[BanjoPicker]

The renovation will simply change and remove certain things and leave other things to remain is clear from the following Scriptures: "The creature [creation] itself shall be delivered [not annihilated] from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God" Rom. 8:21. "Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the work of thy hands . . . And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed" Heb. 1:10-12. "Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also the heaven. And this word, yet once more signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, THAT THOSE THINGS WHICH CANNOT BE SHAKEN MAY REMAIN. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom WHICH CANNOT BE MOVED, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and Godly fear: for our God is a consuming fire" Heb. 12:25-28. The Earth abides forever Eccl. 1:4; Ps. 104:5, so it cannot be annihilated by the fire of 2 Pet. 3:10-13. It will be purified only and will be renewed to a perfect state for the third and last time.