Is the Earth to be Destroyed, or Only Purified?
By Rainbow
THAT there will be, sooner or later, a last great conflagration of this earth of ours, is a fact so plainly revealed in the Scriptures of truth, that none, I apprehend, who really believe their testimony, will be found disposed to question it. But while the fact itself is thus admitted, the time of its occurrence; whether pre or post-millennial; and the consequences of its occurrence; whether resulting in the final and utter destruction of this sin-smitten globe and its atmospheric heavens, or only in the purification of the one, and the reconstitution of the other, are questions in debate among the most pious and learned students of unfulfilled prophecy. . . . The only question I design to consider is this: whether, by reason of the conflagration predicted by St. Peter, this earth on which we now live will be completely and forever destroyed, or only subjected to such a process of purification and renovation, as shall fit it to be the abode of the redeemed to all eternity? Before we proceed, however, to the consideration of the question itself, it will be well if we try and dispose of two points connected with it, which have been the cause of much misunderstanding, and which might otherwise fatally embarrass our discussion. 1. In the first place, then, it is at once admitted that “a new EARTH”—a new materialism—is to succeed the final conflagration. This is quite clear, not only from St. Peter’s own language, “Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Pet. 3:13), but from Isaiah 65: “Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind” (verse 17); and also from the fulfilment of that promise as beheld by the seer of Patmos: “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.” (Rev. 21:1). As far as regards present inquiry, therefore, all proof that the new heavens and new earth are to be entered, is quite beside the question. Dr. Chalmers, in his memorable and magnificent sermon on “The New Heavens and the New Earth,” has said, “We are now walking on a terrestrial surface, not more compact, perhaps, than the one we shall hereafter walk upon, and are now wearing terrestrial bodies, not firmer and more solid, perhaps, than those we shall hereafter wear. . . . There will be a firm earth, as we have at present, and a heaven stretched over it, as we have at present; it is by the absence of sin, that the abodes of immortality will be characterized. There will be both heavens and earth, it would appear, at the next great administration—and with this speciality to mark it from the present one, that it will be a heaven and an earth ‘wherein dwelleth righteousness.’” All this may be admitted, and yet the question, Will the earth be destroyed, or only purified? remains untouched. In fact, in the very same sermon, Dr. Chalmers has admitted, that “by convulsions of the last day it may be shaken, and broken down from its present arrangements; and thrown into such fitful agitations, as that the whole of its existing framework shall fall to pieces, and with a heat so fervent as to melt its most solid elements, may be utterly dissolved.” It will be well, therefore, that this distinction should be kept clearly before the mind of the reader. That there shall be new heavens and a new earth is one thing, and a certain thing; but that they shall be identically the same as the heavens and the earth which are now, is another, and, may I be permitted to add? an uncertain thing. 2. Again, the philosophical question of “annihilation,” over which almost every writer on this question has somehow contrived to stumble, has really no connection with it. “The flood did not annihilate the earth,” says Dean Alford, “but change it; and as the new earth was the consequence of the flood, so the final new heavens and earth shall be of fire. . . . Of the time that the earth is to be annihilated, there is no trace.” (“New Testament for English Readers,” Vol. II, part 2, p. 850.) “It is a fact well known to chemists and philosophers, that fire does not annihilate, but only destroys or dissolves existing combinations of constituent or elementary parts,” observes Mr. Ogilvy, “which may be recombined under new and different forms, and invested with different properties; and there is no statement in Scripture which would lead us to suppose that the ‘fire which constitutes the agent employed in this Judgment shall differ in any manner from ordinary fire.” (“The Day of the Lord,” pp. 16, 17). It would be useless to multiply such quotations; we have been told ad nauseam that there is no such thing as annihilation. And yet a moment’s consideration might teach us that in reference to this question, as to another that might be mentioned, the use of the term is a mere quibble. That there is no such thing as absolute annihilation I am quite willing to concede, for as far as our limited human experience goes, there is not; and hence, it is probable (but not certain) that absolute annihilation is opposed to the unchanging laws of the universe. At the same time, however, it is very certain that relative annihilation, by which is meant the destruction of the forms of matter as distinguished from its essence, is the universal law of nature. Is an animal annihilated when dissolution takes place? Absolutely, no; relatively, yes. As so many atoms of matter it is as completely destroyed as if every atom that composed it had ceased to have any existence. Will the earth be annihilated? Absolutely, no; relatively, it is submitted, yes. And practically the difference between “absolutely” and “relatively” is not of the least importance. So much being premised, let us now turn to St. Peter’s celebrated prophecy: “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. Seeing, then, that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hastening 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? Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” (2 Pet. 3:10–13). On the evidence afforded by this passage, taken perhaps in connection with Revelation 21:1, the questions of a partial or universal conflagration, and purification or destruction of the earth must, I apprehend, be determined. If it can be demonstrated that the apostle’s language can be fairly interpreted as teaching nothing more than a partial and superficial action of the destructive agencies then brought into play; then, I conceive it will be found impossible to establish a contrary hypothesis. But if, as I submit, the apostle’s language, fairly and literally interpreted, is found to be altogether irreconcilable with such a theory, then it will follow that at least a relative annihilation does await this earth. St. Peter’s solemn prophecy, then, includes the three following particulars: 1. “The heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved,” and “pass away with a great noise.” 2. “The elements shall melt with fervent heat.” The emphatic statement is twice repeated. 3. “The earth and the works that are therein shall162be burned up.” From Rev. 22:1, we may gather one further particular. In “the new earth,” which is to succeed the final conflagration, there shall be “no more sea.” I. The first particular mentioned by St. Peter is, that “the heavens shall pass away with a great noise.” And the question at once suggests itself, Of which heavens is the apostle here speaking? Does he refer to the sidereal heavens—the immensities of space studded with ten thousand systems of worlds, or merely to the aerial or atmospheric heavens which immediately surround this earth? That he speaks of the former—the sidereal—heavens, is, prima facie, in the last degree improbable. Of the ultimate destiny of the unnumbered globes that gem the firmament of God’s power, Scripture tells us absolutely nothing; and that this vast, illimitable universe should be involved in a common destruction, that “the street lamps of the city of God” should be all at once extinguished, and the glory of Jehovah’s power, wisdom, and goodness, suffer so dire an eclipse, is a supposition which reason instinctively rejects. “The wreck of nature,” restricting the word “nature” to this planet, is a revealed truth, but “the crash of worlds” is only a poetical embellishment. No; if destruction awaits this earth, as assuredly it does, that destruction is to be traced only to the presence of sin. But that sin has travelled beyond the limits of this groaning and travailing creation; that it has invaded and defiled other mansions of the Father’s house, is a proposition which, while there is nothing to establish, there is everything to render doubtful. Moreover, apart from any such general considerations, we may find, in the immediate context of the passage under consideration, what appears to be clear evidence that the apostle is here speaking of the aerial, and not of the sidereal heavens. In verse 5 of the chapter we read, “For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water.” Now the reference in this verse is not, as is sometimes supposed, to the deluge (the deluge is only mentioned in verse 6), but the original formation of this mundane economy, as it is recorded in Gen. 1. This is seen at once if we adopt Dean Alford’s translation, which will, I apprehend, be accepted as more exact than that of the authorized version by all who have critically examined the passage,—“For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were from of old, and the earth formed out of water and by means of water.” (“New Testament for English Readers,” in loco.) In Genesis we are told, “And God said, Let the expanse be in the midst of the waters, and let it be dividing between the waters and the waters. And God appointed the expanse, and it divided between the waters which are above the expanse, and the waters which are beneath the expanse. And it was so. And the expanse God called heavens.” (Gen. 1:6–8. Faber’s translation.) Thus, then, the aerial heavens were constituted by the division of the waters into two parts: “the waters which are above the expanse,” and “the waters which are beneath the expanse”; or, as St. Peter here expresses it, “the [atmospheric] heavens” as well as the “earth,” were “formed out from the water, and by means of water.” Plainly, therefore, “the heavens” mentioned in verse 5 are the aerial heavens, and no possible reason can be assigned for giving to the same word a different meaning in verse 10. These heavens, then, as the apostle informs us, “shall pass away with a great noise;” or, as the word signifies, the rush as of a bird or an arrow. And perhaps if this had been the only phenomenon mentioned, we might fairly have interpreted it as expressing only a relative truth, that is to say, according to the usual practice of Scripture, a description of appearances as if they were realities. But this is by no means the extent of St. Peter’s prophecy, for in verse 12 we are further told that “the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved.” The heavens—the atmospheric heavens—are to be dissolved, or suffer dissolution of their component parts. Let us see what that implies. That the atmospheric air which surrounds this earth to the height of some forty-five or fifty miles, is not an element, or uncompounded substance, as the ancients considered it, is doubtless well known to every reader of these pages. Essentially it is composed of two simple elementary gases, nitrogen and oxygen, in the proportions of nearly four parts of the former to one of the latter. (Carbonic acid and watery vapor are also present in the air, but in very minute quantities, comparatively.) These gases are not, however, chemically combined in the air, as are the oxygen and hydrogen in water, but only mechanically mixed and uniformly diffused throughout the whole mass of the atmosphere, partly by the winds and aerial currents, but mainly through the operation of a beautiful and mysterious law of nature, known as the diffusion of gases. In consequence of this law, when two or more gases are brought into contact, however different may be their specific gravity, they do not remain distinct and unmixed, as two or more liquids would do, but gradually become interfused and incorporated with each other. It is on the constancy of this law that all animal and vegetable life depends. An atmosphere all nitrogen could not support life at all, for oxygen is essential to its existence; and, on the other hand, an atmosphere all oxygen would be so stimulating, that animals immersed in it would become intoxicated, and speedily perish. Besides, oxygen is the great supporter of combustion, in an atmosphere of pure nitrogen, therefore, nothing would burn; while in an atmosphere of oxygen, any body once set on fire would burn with such inextinguishable fury so as to be absolutely beyond control. Such, then, is the constitution of our atmospheric heavens, and such the nature of their constituent elements; and when it is said that these heavens shall be “dissolved,” or disintegrated, the most simple and natural explanation that the language seems to admit of is, that the law of gaseous diffusion will be suspended, that the oxygen of the air, by reason of its greater specific gravity, will sink down to the earth, and then, oxygen being, as I have already said, the great supporter of combustion, we can easily understand that the first burning body brought into contact with it will set the world on fire. As another has said: “If the freeing of the elements—i.e., the separation of the oxygen, nitrogen, &c., which compose the atmosphere be universal, then the air is completely destroyed, it has passed away; its place is, to be sure, filled with flame or vapors, but this can no longer be called the air.” The expression, “The heavens shall be dissolved,” requires that the whole atmosphere shall be decomposed into its parts. Unless this be so, moreover, it cannot be included in “all these things shall be dissolved,” which it manifestly is. The fact that the air is to be decomposed, and that one of its great constituents is oxygen, renders inevitable not only the total destruction of the atmosphere by fire, but the destruction by fire of the whole earth. Thus, with literal exactness, “the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and pass away with a great noise.” But this is only the first scene, as it were, in the awful catastrophe.—Rainbow.