Will God destroy the Earth or Just the Wicked?

Arthur

Earth Destroyed or Just the Wicked on the Earth?

Many believe that the planet earth as well as the wicked people on it will BOTH be destroyed.

God brought the Deluge “upon a world of ungodly people,” while preserving Noah and his family; in this way “the world of that time suffered destruction when it was deluged with water.” (2Pe 2:5; 3:6) Would you not agree that the reference here is not to the destruction of the planet but it is restricted to the human sphere, in this case the unrighteous human society? It was that “world” that Noah condemned by his faithful course.—Heb 11:7.

The pre-Flood unrighteous world, or human society, ended, but mankind itself did not end did it? Instead they were being preserved in Noah and his family.
Similarly, because of the ‘loud cry of complaint about Sodom and Gomorrah’ and their ‘heavy sin,’ God destroyed the cities and their inhabitants. (Ge 18:20; 19:13, 24, 25) In addition to natural forces, the Lord at times used human agents to accomplish a sentence of destruction.

“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 (notice how other Bibles render this expression ‘burned up’ TEV says; “will be made manifest,” NAB; “will be laid bare,” NE; “will be discovered,” NW].” (Note: The Codex Sinaiticus and Vatican MS 1209, both of the 4th century C.E., read “be discovered.” Later manuscripts, the 5th-century Codex Alexandrinus and the 16th-century Clementine recension of the Vulgate, read “be burned up.” However all the older and closer to the original used different terms, which is something to think about wouldn’t you say?

Does Revelation 21:1 (KJ) indicate that our planet will be destroyed? “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.”

Well to be correct, the explanation of these verses must agree with the context and with the rest of the Bible
If these texts (2 Peter 3:7, 10 mean that the literal planet Earth is to be consumed by fire, then if we apply the same reasoning the literal heavens (the stars and other heavenly bodies) are also to be destroyed by fire. Such a literal view, however, conflicts with the assurance contained in such texts as Matthew 6:10 0. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Prov. 2:21, 22, KJ: “The upright shall dwell in the land [“on earth,” NE], and the perfect [“blameless men,” NE] shall remain in it. But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.” (Notice that it does not say the blameless will return to the earth but that they “shall remain in it.”)

Proverbs 2:21-22 For the upright do inhabit the earth, And the perfect are left in it. And the wicked from the earth are cut off, And treacherous dealers plucked out of it! -- Young's Bible

Matthew 5:5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

Other Bible texts that indicate the earth itself will not be destroyed but only the unrighteous are: (Psalm 37:10, 11; 10. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.

Psalm 104: 5 Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever.

I do look forward to any other comments you might have on these points
Your Friend in the Truth
Arthur

james · Bear Cub Joined: 18 Sep 2007 Posts: 648

Welcome to this forum Arthur, very glad to have you here.

In Revelations 21:1 it is written in that John saw NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH, FOR THE OLD ONES HAD PASSED AWAY.

Steven3 · Lion King Joined: 10 Jul 2007 Posts: 1205 Location: UK

Hi Arthur
Welcome

eleven · Posted: Sat Nov 17, 2007 4:06 pm Post subject:

Ya know, "the end" is not something that I worry to much about. I figure if I can get thru today ok, tomorrow ain't much of a concern.

Geez, that sounds familiar. Where have I heard that before... Confused or disgusted

theseldomscene · Banned Joined: 17 Mar 2005 Posts: 7817

JESUS maybe?... Laughing

...that is pretty much my philosophy as well.... Laughing

eleven · Posted: Sat Nov 17, 2007 6:03 pm Post subject:

Silver Surfer · Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 10:51 am Post subject:

Yes, the earth will be destroyed also....as it has been effected by man's sin.

The Bible tells us that HellFire will be here on this earth.

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

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.

3:11 [Seeing] then [that] all these things shall be dissolved, what manner [of persons] ought ye to be in [all] holy conversation and godliness,

3:12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

3:13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

atoz

admin · Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 6:23 pm Post subject:

The Sun is going to burn out in some 5 billion years or so. But before that our global warming or an asteroid will probably knock us out.

If we're lucky, then some humans made it to other planets before then. If not, well our numbers up.

But from the Earth's point of view - everything just keeps ticking along. We're just a blip.

That's the big picture.

Silver Surfer · Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 7:16 pm Post subject: