35. The Earth's Last Destruction God's Purpose for Man

Chapter 35
The Earth's Last Destruction

Earth's First Destruction

When God created the earth (Gen 1:1) before His creation of Adam and Eve, He created the earth with the purpose of housing mankind who would be created in His image.  God would then fellowship with His beautiful creation of mankind.  Sadly, Adam and Eve fell to the temptation of Satan, and as such, caused the fall of mankind.  The result was that evil came upon the earth. 

With the earth’s first destruction, God brought on a global flood, meaning the Noahic flood. God caused waters to come up from deep within the earth and from the windows of heaven above which were filled with water, and they burst open above the earth, leaving the earth with a global flood.  This destruction destroyed all flesh that roamed upon the earth - man and beast alike. The only survivors were Noah and his family who entered into the ark that God had commanded Noah to build in preparation for the flood.  Noah also brought pairs of animals aboard before the flood as God had commanded.  Following the flood, after the waters receded and the ark landed upon dry land, God covenanted with Noah, promising that He would never again destroy the earth by means of a flood. He sent a rainbow as the sign of His covenant. The earth was restored.

Now, at the end of time, God has revealed that the earth will be destroyed one more time.  This time, however, it will be destroyed by fire.

Earth’s last destruction

Under the Old Covenant, the prophet Isaiah prophesied in his vision of a future new heaven(s) and a new earth (Is 5:17; Is 66:22).  Several hundred years later, the Apostle John had a similar vision where he saw the heaven(s) and the earth pass away – and a new heaven(s) and new earth appeared.  It was an earth that had no seas, meaning oceans – large bodies of water (Rev 21:1).  The Apostle Peter also prophesied the earth would be destroyed – but not by flood as the first destruction, but by fire as a means of judgment upon the earth (2 Pet 3:5-6).

The Cleansing of the 1st and 2nd Heaven

To understand this destruction and judgment a little more clearly, we need to go back to chapter 29 on "heaven."  We have learned that Scripture tells us that there are three heavens (2 Cor 12:2).  The first heaven consists of the air we breathe and the surrounding atmosphere.  The second heaven covers the vast area of the sun, moon and stars, all of which are located under the dome, and the third heaven where God reigns from His heavenly throne.  Satan and his fallen angels have roamed the first two heavens, seeking whom they may devour.  As such, the first two heaven are filled with sin and destruction.  It is these two heavens that need to be cleansed from all evil. God tells us that this time He will do His cleansing of the heavens and the earth by fire.

 2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in 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.

Earth and its surrounding heaven have been filled with sin and every form of evil since the time of the fall of Adam and Eve.

• All evil has to be cleansed before God can bring down the New Jerusalem (the Holy City in the 3rd heaven) to the earth.  Keep in mind that by this point of time, those who disobeyed God during the Millennial Period were already judged into the Eternal Lake of Fire at the Great White Throne judgment. 
• In addition, Satan and all of his fallen angels were cast into the Eternal Lake of Fire.
• Thus, the first two heavens are free of demonic destruction; however, the residue of evil still lingers. 

As such, the earth needs to be cleansed, but this time God will purified it by fire to cleanse it for His eternal presence.  The Apostle Peter tells us that this final destruction of earth will be destroyed with fervent heat by fire.

II Pet 3:7-13 But the heavens and the earth which now exist are kept in store by the same word, reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men…but 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, but the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up… nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

At the end of the Millennial Period, Satan will be released from the  Bottomless Pit for a short period of time.  This length of time is unknown.  Along with his release, Satan's wicked angelic hosts who had joined him will also come out.  Together, they will all go through the whole earth to deceive those who were not faithful to Jesus during His 1000-year reign.  As such, Satan will gather these people - as the sands of the sea - to fight against God again for the throne of the world.  Satan just doesn't give up! 

Again, Satan will be defeated, along with all of his angelic hosts, but this time they all will be cast into the Eternal Lake of Fire - forever.  In addition, all of the natural survivors of the Millennium Period who sided and fought with Satan will also be judged into the Eternal Lake of Fire - forever.  How many of the natural people will be left upon the earth who followed after Jesus?   We do not know! And how God will preserve these natural people left is also unknown when the earth is destroyed.  One thing certain, He will save or rescue them in a way only He knows. 

Taking all of the promises of Scripture to where God promises those who follow after Him throughout the Old and New Testament, we know that God has never let His faithful down.  Also, knowing that there are fourteen plus raptures and transportations throughout scripture (see chapter on Rapture of the Church), this leads one to wonder if these natural surviving people from the Millennial Period could be raptured, but not resurrected to heaven before the fire destruction of the earth takes place.  God can then return them back on the earth when it becomes new.  This however, is pure conjecture because only God knows.  What we do know it that there will be nations of people as we go into Eternity Future who are saved because the following verse tells us they will come to the Holy City of God to bring Him glory and honor.  

Rev 21:23-26 And the city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it, and the Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there).  

How Will God Destroy the Earth By Fire?

When God destroyed the earth by water in the global flood, He did not completely annihilate it – He restored it.  At the end, will God completely destroy the earth by fire...or maybe destroy it to restore it. This we do not know. It could be such that God will destroy and cleanse the heavens where the demonic hosts have roamed?  We do know that the evil inhabitants (the disobedient to Christ's rule and reign during the Millennium) will have already been destroyed by fire when they were condemned to the Eternal Lake of Fire with Satan and his fallen angels.   Then if the obedient to Christ natural surviving people were raptured out of the earth, then the earth and the heavenlies will be changed and cleansed by fire to rid itself of the final evil destructive residue of Satan. 

Again, like the period of Eternal Past, we know very little of what happened.  Eternity Future seems to be the same.   We do know by scriptures that God will shake the earth, there will be earthquakes, causing fire and brimstone to where the ocean floors (tectonic plates) will open up and the waters will be swallowed up into the earth.  All small islands will disappear as the earth sucks up the massive waters.  As such, even hell, in the core of the earth could be filled with water.  How God will do this will be totally up to Him. 

Heb 12:26-27 …whose voice then shook the earth, but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” Now this, “Yet once more, indicates the removed of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.

Will the dome be broken to allow all that chaos to the earth?  While the Bible is silent on that, we can only speculate.

All oceans will leave the earth

The Apostle John tells us that all massive oceans will leave this earth, meaning all salt water will be gone (Rev 21:1).  Inside our earth is presently filled with hollow caverns that could easily house all of the massive ocean waters of the world. 

After talking to several geologists regarding the earth’s and ocean's caverns, their common claim was that if all the salt water of the ocean waters were swallowed up in the earth, there is enough cavern space in the earth to house it all. Then the salt within those waters, which are filled with impurities, would be filtered away in the soil. The soil of the earth would then act as a filter as the waters provide clean fresh water in the earth. We would then have reservoirs of pure water for everyone for eons of millennials to come.  The earth then could be restored to the time of Adam and Eve. 

Just speculating - Along with small ocean islands disappearing, the mountains of the earth would lower to the ocean floors, filling out the land to level out the earth.  This, again, would level out the earth to where it was before the Noahic flood (Is 40:4-5). 

The earth will be made anew and God will be ready to bring heaven down to earth so that He can dwell with mankind forever. 

Click here to view Chapter #36 - Eternity - The Final Dispensation