Is Heaven a Place on Earth? (Part 6)

What Happens at the End?

Two passages of great significance to the renovated earth adherents are 2 Peter 3 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17, which we now proceed to examine. Most critics point out that the bodies of the saints rise from the graves and join their spirits in the air, “and thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:17). Certainly, this description does not sound like we will be coming back to a reconstructed earth. In fact, the hint is that we shall not.

But those who hold the opposing view have an explanation. Below is what Chambers writes in his book, Bring on Heaven!:

After the Day of Judgment, and after the regeneration of the world (Matt. 19:28), God’s church (i.e., the new Jerusalem) will come down from the present throne-room heaven to the new earth (Rev. 21:1-2). This will be our final, eternal home. But we won’t be alone. God will come too, and He will dwell with us (Rev. 21:3-4; 22:3-4), as He has always purposed (164).

Notice, according to these words, that: 1) We meet Christ in the air and go to God’s current throne room; 2) but after the new earth has been prepared, we will come down to the earth to dwell; 3) God will come with us; and 4) This is the way He always planned it. What about meeting the Lord in the air? Chambers adds: 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 says “nothing about where we’ll spend eternity. It just tells us who we’ll spend it with” (165).

The theology is as incorrect as the grammar. The relative pronoun should be whom—not who. But imagine thinking that the earth is so important that God is going to forsake His perfect dwelling place to come to earth! Now, proponents of this ideology are generally quick to point out that God is not going to annihilate or discard the earth. But what is going to happen to the old Heaven? Will it be annihilated and discarded? Will a “Gone Fishing” sign be posted there? Will it be put up for sale? What will become of it? Surely, it will not be annihilated.

Another Suggestion

Josh Pappas of the Lavergne Church of Christ also discusses the passage. He points out correctly that 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 does not say where the Christians go once they meet Jesus in the air. He believes that once the saints meet Him, they will bring Him back to the new earth, which apparently was renovated in a hurry. Yes, they will welcome Jesus into the new Jerusalem. The situation is likened to the way Jesus was received into Jerusalem. People went out to meet their King and escorted Him into the city. This scenario works as far as it goes, but some things are dissimilar.

First, when Jesus went into Jerusalem, He did not enter into a throne room. Second, many rejected Him and were hostile toward Him when He arrived in the city. This rejection does not exist in the proposed second welcome to the new Jerusalem. In the first situation, Jesus knew He would be crucified because of sin; in the second, apparently those who rejected Jesus have already been judged, although one might well ask, “When did that occur?” Was it while Jesus was in the air with the saints and the earth was being reconstructed? Or is it after they bring Jesus down to the new Jerusalem? How do all these events fit together?

Having provided a brief (too brief) explanation of what might occur after 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17, Pappas then claims that the passage cannot be used in an honest way to refute his concept of the new heavens and the new earth. Most of us are not willing to give up so easily. Although the text does not technically say where Jesus and the saints go next, absolutely nothing indicates that they return to earth. And no one is dishonest for saying so.

Previously, Pappas attempted to explain Romans 8:18-25 (see the July 9, 2023 article on that subject). After he completed his interpretation of the passage, he confidently asserted that what he taught was the “only faithful interpretation” of it. Apparently, we are supposed to take his word for that assessment. Some of these adherents do not appear to lack chutzpah.

2 Peter 3

The main verse used to justify renovation is 2 Peter 3:10: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat, both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.” Some manuscripts have a different word for “burned up”—one that is difficult to translate in this text. The majority of manuscripts have katakaio (“burned up”), but some manuscripts have heurisko, which is usually translated “find” or “found” in its 178 New Testament appearances, including 2 Peter 3:14.

But “found” does not make much since in 2 Peter 3:10; so “laid bare” has been suggested, as has “manifested.” What manuscripts are in favor of this awkward choice? Does anyone want to guess? Don’t be shy; just say it. That’s right—Codex Sinaiticus (א), Codex Vaticanus (B), and a few others.

Why are we not surprised? These are the two manuscripts that totally unjustifiably omitted Mark 16:9-20. It is remarkable that brethren would rely on them to try to make a case for the renovated earth. Will they defend these two manuscripts and next try to convince everyone that Mark 16:9-20 does not belong? No one should attempt to build a theological position based on א and B.

The Context

Consider the context of 2 Peter 3 and see why “burned up” is the better choice. 2 Peter 3:6-7 discusses the world at the time of Noah perishing in the flood, but the next time the heavens and the earth were reserved for fire. The Greek word is Pur [4442], from which we get pyromania. It is without exception translated fire all 74 times it is used, including its connection with brimstone in Revelation 21:8 and hell [Gehenna] in Mark 9:47 (cf. Jude 7).

Next is 2 Peter 3:10, which states that the elements shall melt with fervent heat. The Greek word for elements [4747], according to Strong, refers to “the letters of the alphabet as the elements of speech” or “the elements from which all things have come, the material causes of the universe.” These elements are mentioned again in verse 12.

They shall all melt [3089]. This word is used once each in verses 10, 11, and 12. The first time it is translated “melt” (in the KJV); the other two times it is rendered “dissolved.” Why the difference? The Greek word is luo, and its basic meaning is “loosed.” Its precise definition depends on the context. By itself it is only used 43 times, but it may join with a preposition, such as apo (69 times). The ASV (1901) translated it “dissolved” in all three verses, as do the NIV and the ESV. The NAS chose “destroyed” in all three verses.

Literally, the elements will be “loosed.” Whatever binds them together will no longer do so. They will be loosed with “fervent heat,” which comes from a Greek word [2741], which the Word Study New Testament literally means “being set on fire,” which also appears in verse 12. Now which makes more sense when we come to the last verb of 2 Peter 3:10—that it would agree with all these other words that have to do with fire—or mean something somewhat vague? Obviously, the verb translated “burned up” is the better manuscript choice.

But continuing in the text, we next come to a new word in 2 Peter 3:12. It is translated “melt,” but it is not the same word as “dissolved,” used previously. This Greek word is only found once in the entire New Testament. According to Strong, it means “to make liquid.” In other words, it means to become liquid by virtue of the melting process. Even if Sinaiticus and Vatican were correct in verse 10 (which is highly doubtful), it would not change the clear concept that is presented here. Imagine all the elements being so hot that everything just melts down. Instead of there being primordial ooze, from which life came, there will be end-of-the-world ooze from the universal meltdown.

There is no renovation that will occur; this physical universe ends. There will be two—and only two—dwelling places, which will last forever: Heaven and Hell. They are spiritual realms, but both are real; both are eternal. In one there is love, fellowship, worship, and safety. In the other one, there is misery and suffering.

New Earth, New City

In 2 Peter 3:13 Peter writes that Christians “look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” Many preachers have quoted this verse for years with the understanding that it was a figurative expression to describe heaven. In one of John’s visions, he says, “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea” (Rev. 21:1). If the new heaven and the new earth is literal, then doesn’t it also stand to reason there is no more literal sea? So much for scuba diving.

Verse 2 combines two images: 1) the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven, 2) but prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Both images continue. John is told: “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife” (Rev. 21:9). He was then carried away “in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God” (v. 10).

Among the marvelous descriptions is the one in verse 16, which states that the city is a cube, with length, width, and height being 12,000 furlongs (or 1,500 miles). This would be a plot of ground 2,250,000 square miles, which is more than eight times the size of the state of Texas. Is this city, with those dimensions, going to be on the earth—or will it be the new earth? For most of us, these dimensions are as symbolic as the phrase, new heavens and a new earth.

One word we did not mention from 2 Peter 3:10 is found in the part that says “the heavens will pass away with a great noise.” Other verses use the phrase, pass away. Matthew 24:35, for example, has Jesus saying, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” One would have to try hard to make those words mean something other than their obvious meaning. Revelation 21:1 also mentioned that “the first earth had passed away.”

Some think that Isaiah 65:17 and 66:22 are talking about the same thing as 2 Peter 3 and Revelation 21, but Wayne Jackson offers the following explanation:

In this instance, this is a symbolic description of the Messiah’s reign during the Christian Age. As man lives upon the earth and partakes of the blessings of the heavens, so these expressions become figures signifying his environment. Hence, the “new heaven and the new earth” is merely descriptive of the new realm that will replace the Messianic period (Hicks, ed. 381).

Looking further at the context of Isaiah 66 assures the reader of the truth of the above comments. As we often have sung (and continue to sing):

This world is not my home; I’m just a-passing through.
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door,
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore.