TEXT: ISAIAH 65:17-25, 16:10-24, IIPT 3:10-13, REV 21: 1-3, ROM 8: 29-25
OUTLINE
◇ DEFINITION OF TERMS
◇ OBJECTIVES OF THE LESSON
◇ INTRODUCTION
◇ JESUS PROMISE AT HIS SECOND COMING
◇ THE PROMISE REVEALED BYTHE HOLY SPIRIT THROUGH THE APOSTLES
◇ THE DILEMMA OF A NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH
◇ CONCLUSION
(1) DEFINITION OF TERMS
--- DILEMMA: A difficult circumstance or problem.
--- NEW: Strange, unfamiliar or not previously known. Current or later, as opposed to former.
--- HEAVEN: (1) The sky in which sun, moon and stars appear or move. Also where birds fly. (2) The abode of God traditionally conceived as beyond the sky. (Duet 10:14, Ps 115:16)
--- EARTH: The ground, land as opposed to the sky.
(2) OBJECTIVE OF THE LESSON
--- To bring to understanding the true meaning of new heaven and earth of the old Testament and of the new Testament.
--- To emphasize that an obscure (difficult to understand) passages must yield to the clearer ones.
--- To nullify the belief that Christ second coming will be in different phases: which includes the coming to take secretly away of the righteous ones living on earth, and to raise the dead ones and taking them to heaven for seven years, where they will be given rewards and position. Also the remnants of people on earth will suffer tribulation and massive death. At the end of seven years years Christ and the righteous ones will return to Jerusalem and reign for a thousand years. This is according to the rapture theory of Hal Linsey, 1970.
--- To know the promise of Christ on his second coming.
(3) INTRODUCTION
--- Jesus has given the Christians all they need to know in His word about His second coming including the events that will take place.
--- Unfortunately, various denominations have misunderstood the subject of Christ second coming to mean that the earth will be purified with fire, renovated and reconstituted as the result of contamination of sin.
---- Many churches are advocating that Jesus second coming will be in phases, not one time event. They used the scripture written in figurative sense as evidence to demonstrate their beliefs. It is also noted that some have misconstrued that heaven will only accommodates one hundred and forty four thousand saints. The rest of the saints will occupy the new heaven and earth.
---- In this lecture we are going to look at every promise of Christ concerning His second coming both literally and figuratively.
(4) JESUS PROMISE AT HIS SECOND COMING
---- To take His prepared saints to a prepared place in heaven. (Jn 14:1-3)
---- To raise all the dead; good and evil openly. (Jn 5:28-29, Rev. 1:7)
---- To judge the world universally; the wicked and the righteous. (Mt 25:31-33&41)
---- Jesus admonished us to lay treasure in heaven where our hope is. (Mt 6:10, 19)
(5) THE PROMISE REVEALED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT THROUGH THE APOSTLES.
---- Jesus feet will not touch the earth but in the cloud at His second coming. The righteous dead will resurrect and the living will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. (1The 4:16-17, 1Cor 15:51-52)
---- To judge the living and the dead. (2 Thes 1:7-9, Act17:31, Rom 14:10-12, 2Tim 4:1)
---- To deliver the kingdom to the Father. (1Cor 15:24-26)
---- The righteous hope is in heaven. (Col 1:5)
---- Our inheritance is reserved in heaven. (1 Pt 1:3-5)
---- Our citizen is in heaven. (Phi 3:17-21)
---- Paul testified of the crown of righteousness for himself and all who longed for His coming. 2Tim 4:7-8)
(6) THE DILEMMA OF NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH.
( a) Isaiah 65:17-25, 66:10-24
Isaiah 65: 17 -25: *17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. 18 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. 19 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. 20 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. 21 They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 22 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. 23 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. 24 Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear. 25 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.*
Isaiah 66:10-24- *10 “Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn over her.*
*11 For you will nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts; you will drink deeply and delight in her overflowing abundance.”*
*12 For this is what the Lord says: “I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees.*
*13 As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.”*
*14 When you see this, your heart will rejoice and you will flourish like grass; the hand of the Lord will be made known to his servants, but his fury will be shown to his foes.*
*15 See, the Lord is coming with fire, and his chariots are like a whirlwind; he will bring down his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.*
*16 For with fire and with his sword the Lord will execute judgment on all people, and many will be those slain by the Lord.*
*17 “Those who consecrate and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following the one who is among those who eat the flesh of pigs, rats and other unclean things—they will meet their end together,” declares the Lord.*
*18 “And I, because of what they have planned and done, am about to come and gather the people of all nations and languages, and they will come and see my glory.*
*19 “I will set a sign among them, and I will send some of those who survive to the nations—to Tarshish, to the Libyans and Lydians (famous as archers), to Tubal and Greece, and to the distant islands that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory among the nations.*
*20 And they will bring all your people, from all nations, to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the Lord—on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels,” says the Lord* .
*21 “They will bring them, as the Israelites bring their grain offerings to the temple of the Lord in ceremonially clean vessels.*
*22 “As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me,” declares the Lord, “so will your name and descendants endure.*
*23 “From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me,” says the Lord.*
*24 “And they will go out and look on the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; the worms that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.”*
---- The promise here indicates physical things; like long life before death comes, building house and dwell in it, planting and ripping, God's comfort, protection, Nations proclaiming the glory of God, Israelites from other Nation assembled in Jerusalem in the Holy mountain and all will come and bow down before Me. ( *Isaiah 2:2-3). “2 It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, 3 and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.)“
---- Does this sound spiritual? Of course no! (1Cor15:42-44: 42) “So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.)“
(b) EXEGESIS OR EXPLANATION OF THE TEXT
(a)---- Isaiah the prophet of Judah used both prose and poetry (figurative speech) in his prophecies.
---- The new heaven and earth is the symbolic description of Messiah's reign during Christian age; which is “Christian dispensation” as against the “Jewish dispensation” that will pass away.
---- Christians are new creature. ( *2Cor 5:17- Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.)* . Rejoicing in the church ruled by Christ is symbolized as the new Jerusalem that spread like a peaceful river encompassing the Jews and Gentiles.
Jerusalem and its temple which was the pride of Jewish religion will be no more. The reason there was a devastating destruction of it by the Roman authority in Ad.70. Earlier, Christ had instructed the Christians dwelling there, the sign of that will occur and their consequent flee to the mountain for safety. ( *MT 24:15-19: 15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, 18 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 19 And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days!)*
——Jerusalem is also here figured as body of people not literal city. ( *Isa 66:10-13: 10 “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her; 11 that you may nurse and be satisfied from her consoling breast; that you may drink deeply with delight from her glorious abundance.”*
*12 For thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip, and bounced upon her knees. 13 As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.”*).
( b) (11Pt 3:10-13) *10 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.*
*11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness,*
*12 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!*
*13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.*
—- Peter employed the expression of new heaven and earth figure of speech borrowed from Isaiah to indicate the “heaven" where in the righteous will dwell. This was the promise of Christ and His apostles. The difficulty to understand the scripture must yield to the clearer ones. The material heaven and earth will completely be aunhilated or devolved with fire. (Rev 20:11: *11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.)*
( c) Rev 21:1-3: *1 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. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 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.”*
---- John who was exiled or banished by the Roman authority to Island of Patmos had a vision of glorified Christ. God revealed to him in a type of Jewish literature that uses symbolic imagery to communicate hope or victory to Christians who were in the midst of persecution.
---- He figure Jerusalem as a city and a bride and also a tabernacle. (Which is God dwelling place). All of these indicate "The church "
---- He also figure the new heaven and earth as indication of "heaven" Which Christ promised ( *Jn 14:1-3: 1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”)* . Also thought of in term of the new Jerusalem, the heavenly city as the new heaven and earth.
( d) Rev 7:1-9: *1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, 3 saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” 4 And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel: 5 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad, 6 12,000 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh, 7 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 from the tribe of Levi, 12,000 from the tribe of Issachar, 8 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 from the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed. 9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.*
---- Here the twelve tribes of Isreal is indication of God's people in any dispensation of time. Twelve itself stands for religion. 12×12×1000=144, 000.
That is the symbolical number complete body of God's community (Jn 14:1-3: 1 *“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”)*
The number represents the complete and total redeemed on earth at anytime of history.
The true interpretation of 144,000 are the great multitude, the triumphant saints past, present and future who passed beyond earth to heaven in verse 9. 144000= All the saved past, present and future.
(7) CONCLUSION
---- It is better to stop confusing ourselves and follow the clearer scripture presented by Christ and the apostles concerning the destiny of man; which is heaven for the righteous ones and hell for the evil ones.
---- Many get confused that the earth will abide forever as in (Eccl 1:4). But the Hebrew term "Olam" can be used for temporal span. Example (Exo 12:14; We no longer celebrate the remembrance of the delivery of the first born of Israelites from the destroying angels.
Also (Num 25:13) The levites are no longer the priesthood family that was meant forever.
---- Consider (Rom.8:19-25) that is misunderstood; which states God's deliverance of all creation. Note that Material creations are mearnt for destruction (Rom 1:20, Col 1:15, 2Pt 2:12, Rev 20:11 21, 2:1)
The creation Paul meant here are the righteous humanity in general (Mt 16:15 ,Col 1:22)
—- Many defend the new heaven and earth with (Mt.5:5) “Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth “
We are not permitted to interpret the scripture because it’s inspired by God “(2Pt.1:20). Therefore Psm.37:11 which is the root of the said scripture says “But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace”
This shows that the children of God who humbly obey God, with their brevity of life will not center on material possession but heaven. They will enjoy to the greatest what life has offered them. (Jn.10:10)
---- The 1000 year or mellinial reign of Christ and the righteous ones in Jerusalem, is false because Christ kingdom is not of this world (Jn 18:36). His legs will never step into this earth.
---- His second coming will be openly for every Eye to see him (Rev 1:7)
---- His coming again is once for all time to pass judgement to all human (2Cor 5:10, Heb 9:27)
Posted by Bro-Uwem-Essiet
Aug. 18, 2024, 10:54 a.m.