p. 103 | Renovation of the Earth by John Norton Loughborough

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Feb 16, 1915

Renovation of the Earth

By John Norton Loughborough

To Be Dissolved by Fires of the Last Day—But Will Not Be Destroyed—Restored to Original Perfection, It Becomes Our Eternal Abode

By JOHN N. LOUGHBOROUGH

I FIND in my scrapbook an article with the above title, showing the elements that may be used in the renovation of the earth. The name of the author is not given; but the article was credited, where I found it, “Lectures on Prophecy.” I pass it on. It may be of interest to readers of the Signs of the Times.

“Very fearful, indeed, is the scene which Peter (2 Peter 3:10) brings before us. But then, I beg you to examine, and see it is not a universal destruction of which he speaks. Its purport is the destruction of the ungodly, the sweeping away of the banded enemies of God, the uprooting of all His foes, the breaking in pieces of all combinations against Him. And after this is accomplished, the earth is to be put on a new plane of beauty, in which not one discordant element shall again appear .

This destruction was once accomplished by a Flood. It will be again by fire. In the Flood, the apostle says, the earth ‘perished.’ Moses says it was ‘destroyed.’ How did it perish? How was it destroyed?—Simply in reference to its state for a time as a habitable globe. No other destruction was wrought by the Flood. None other will be by the fire.

The Earth to Be Purified

“The earth is to be purified from the banded enemies of our Lord and His Christ. Its imprisoned fires are to be let loose. Earthquakes shall rend it. Volcanic eruptions shall change it. ‘The heavens [that is, the atmosphere] shall pass away with a great noise,’ is very descriptive, but it does not at all convey the idea of a universal destruction. The apostle’s description very strikingly reminds one of the terrors attending the eruptions of the great volcanoes. ‘One cannot,’ says Bishop Berkeley, ‘form a juster idea of the noise emitted by the mountain [Vesuvius], than by imagining a mixed sound made up of the raging of a tempest, the murmur of a troubled sea, and the roaring of thunder and artillery, confused together. Though we heard this at the distance of twelve miles, yet it was very terrible.’ Dick says, ‘In 1744 the flames of Cotopaxi rose three thousand feet above the brink of the crater, and its roarings were heard at the distance of six hundred miles.’ ‘Here is an account of an eruption of Kilauea, Hawaii: ‘The lava rolled on sometimes sluggishly and sometimes violently. It swept away forests in its course, at times parting and inclosing islets of earth and shrubbery, and at other times undermining and tearing away masses of rock and vegetation on its surface. Finally it plunged into the sea with loud intonations. This burning lava, on meeting the waters, was shivered like melting glass into millions of particles, which were thrown up in clouds that darkened the sky, and fell like a storm of hail over the surrounding country. Vast columns of steam and vapors rolled off before the wind, whirling in ceaseless agitation, and the reflected glare of the lavas formed a fiery firmament overhead. For three weeks this terrific river disgorged itself into the sea, without abatement.’—Dana’s Geology, United States Exploring Expedition, page 190.

The New Heavens and the New Earth Appear

“The intense heat of this fountain and stream of lava caused an influx of air from every quarter. This created terrific whirlwinds, which constantly stalking about, like so many sentinels, bade defiance to the daring visitor.’—American Journal of Science, September, 1852, page 258.

“Now, you have but to enlarge this scene. You have but to suppose the imprisoned fires that glow beneath the surface of the earth, to be let loose, in order to realize the terrific reality of the event sketched by Peter. And so perfect is the preparation for this, that Mr. Lyell says: ‘When we consider the combustible nature of the elements of the earth, so far as they are known to us, the facility with which their compounds may be decomposed and enter into new combinations, the quality of heat they evolve during these processes; when we recollect that water itself is composed of two gases, which by their union produce intense heat,—we may be allowed to share the astonishment of Pliny that a single day should pass without a general conflagration.’—‘Principles of Geology,’ volume 2, page 451.

The Slumbering Forces Break Out

“As yet He who formed these elements, restrains them. He will do so until His designs are accomplished. They are powerless against Him. When the appointed time has come, those restraints will be removed. He who kindled those fires, will summon them to their work. He will let loose the imprisoned elements. The instrumentalities that have slumbered so long will come forth to their mission.

“When this is done, the new heavens and the new earth appear, and a new order of things is set up. And so Paul teaches when he says: ‘Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of Thine hands: they shall perish; but Thou remainest.’ But how perish? The next verse answers: ‘And as a vesture shalt Thou fold them up, and they shall be changed.’ Heb. 1:10–12. Aye, that is it—‘changed.’ The curse shall be lifted. The blight of sin shall rest upon the works of God no more.

Restored to Original Beauty

“Now all creation is subject to unholy uses. The sun shines on the evil, as well as on the good. The moon and the stars look down on wrong and oppression and crime. The sighing of the prisoner, the down-trodden, and the oppressed, goes forth on every breeze. The earth nourishes those who defy its Maker and theirs. The rains fall on the lands of those who are rebels against God, and tyrants over man. All the courses of nature minister to those who harden themselves in opposition to His will; and the very air that bears life and blessings upon its wings, is returned in cursings to Him who bade it blow. The earth was made teeming with wondrous beauty. Now thorns, thistles, and noisome weeds infest it. Tempests sweep across it, earthquakes rend its bosom, pestilence and disease go forth through every land, and decay and death reign everywhere with resistless sway; but in all these respects it shall be changed. From all these evils it shall be cleansed. It shall be restored in beauty equal to that which first adorned it.”