Contrary to popular teaching, it is the EARTH and not “heaven above the skies” that is the inheritance of the saints, and the scene of God’s work with the human race. The Bible promises that the earth will be blessed and filled with His glory. It is also stated that the EARTH is to abide for ever.
The following Bible quotations provide ample proof of these facts:
- “But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.” Numbers 14:21
- “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” Isaiah 11:9
- Psalm 72
- “One generation passeth away and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.” Ecclesiastes 1:4
- “Blessed be the Lord…who laid the foundation of the earth that it should not be removed for ever.” Psalm 104:1-5
- “Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast estalibshed the earth and it abideth.” Psalm 119:90
- “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.” Daniel 2:44
- “And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.” Daniel 7:27
- “The heavens, even the heavens, are the Lord’s; but the earth he hath given to the children of men.” Psalm 115.16
- “The meek shall inherit the earth.” Matthew 5:5
- “After this manner pray ye:…Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:9-10
- “…And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. And he (Christ) shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” Luke 1:32-33
- “And no man hath ascended up to heaven.” John 3:13
- “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:2-3
- “Whom (Christ) heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of the holy prophets.” Acts 3:21
- “If I go…I will come again.” John 14:3
- “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” Acts 1:11
- “And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.” Revelation 5:10
- “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” Revelation 20:6
- “They lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” Revelation 20:4
How can heaven be the eternal abode of the righteous, when it is so positively said that the meek shall inherit the earth and dwell therein for ever? If good men go to heaven at death, why did not David go there? If he did not go there why should we expect to go? He did not; for the Apostle Peter declares: “For David is not ascended into the heavens” (Acts 2:34), and it is said further, “And no man hath ascended into heaven, but he that came down from heaven” John 3:13
Now the everlasting inheritance in the earth, when God shall have blessed it and all nations upon it is the one gospel, which gospel was preached to Abraham: “And the Scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, “In thee shall all nations be blessed.” (This subject is covered fully in Series 4).
God’s promises of blessing and filling the earth with His glory have not yet been fulfilled. Can his word fail? Read on…
For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud…so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
According to these promises the earth is to be restored to the beautiful state it enjoyed before sin cursed it; and in that restored beauty and fertility will be an “everlasting sign that shall not be cut off” – a sign of the wisdom, goodness and power of God in removing the curse and giving blessings without end.
The Earth is to Abide for Ever
Some make a mistake in believing in the destruction of the literal earth. It is by failing to observe the different ways in which the earth is spoken in the Bible that this mistake is made.
That the earth is not to be destroyed is not only clearly implied in the above testimonies, but is declared in the following quotes:
- One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.” Ecclesiastes 1:4
- “Blessed be the Lord…who laid the foundation of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever.” Psalm 54:1-5
- “Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.” Psalm 119:90
Now those Scriptures that speak of the earth passing away also include heaven! The following passages will show that the earth sometimes represents the inhabitants of the earth and the heaven the rulers, a figurative use of these words drawn from the fact that the literal heaven rules the literal earth.
Heaven and Earth, Figurative and Symbolic
- “Give ear O ye heavens, and I will speak: and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.” Deuteronomy 32:1
- “Israel then shall dwell in safety alone; the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew.” Deuteronomy 33:28
- “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken.” Isaiah 1:2
- “Sing O heavens, and be joyful, O earth.” Isaiah 49:13
- “O earth, earth, earth, hear the Word of the Lord.” Jeremiah 22:29
- “Let all the earth keep silence before him.” Habbakuk 2:20
These testimonies will show that the words heaven and earth frequently apply to the rulers and ruled upon the earth; and they enable us to see that the Scriptures that speak of the passing away of the heavens are not a contradiction of those which declare that the heavens and the earth are never to be removed. The figurative and symbolic use of terms in relation to the heavens and earth finds a good explanation in the following from Dr Adam Clarke’s introduction to Isaiah’s prophecy:
- “By images borrowed from the world natural, the prophets frequently understand something analogous in the world politic. Thus the sun, moon and stars and heavenly bodies denote kings, queens, rulers and persons in great power; their increase of splendor denotes increase of prosperity: their darkening, setting or falling denotes a reverse of fortune, or the entire ceasing of that power or kingdom to which they refer. Great earthquakes and the shaking of heaven and earthdenote the commotion and overthrow of kingdoms and the beginning or end of the world their rise or ruin.
Sir Isaac Newton also says:
- “In attempting to understand the prophecies, we are in the first place to acquaint ourselves with the figurative language of the prophets. This language is taken from analogy between the world natural and an empire or kingdom as a world politic. Accordingly the whole world natural, consisting of heavens and earth, signifies the whole world politic, consisting of thrones and people, or so much of it as is considered in the prophecy. Great earthquakes and the shaking of heaven and earth are put for the shaking of kingdoms, so as to distract or overthrow them; creating a new heaven and earth and the passing away of the old one, or the beginning and end of the world for the rise and wane of the body politic signified thereby.”
Now with these explanations we shall escape the folly of believing that God will destroy the heavens and the earth, “which declare His glory and show forth his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1), and shall be able to see in such texts of Scripture as speak of heaven and earth passing away and the creating of new heavens and earth wherein dwelleth righteousness (2 Peter 3:4-13; Isaiah 65:17-19) the destruction of the kingdoms of men and the establishment in their place of the kingdom of God, in the former of which there is unrighteousness – hence the reason they pass away – and in the latter of which “dwelleth righteousness;” hence the reason they represent a kingdom that shall never be destroyed (Daniel 2:44).
Please see “Further reading” section below for further explanation of those verses as supposedly supporting the view of the heavens and earth being destroyed.
Further reading
Common concerns re: accepted ones will reign with Jesus on earth during the millennium