The Heavens Will Pass Away

Peter is not usually considered a writer of prophecy, not like Paul and the apostle John. But he definitely wrote about future events in II Peter 3:10-13. This prophetic passage has long perplexed me. Maybe you, too.

The key concept is in verse 10: “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare” (NIV).

While it might seem that this prophecy is predicting the end of the world, it is actually predicting events at the end of the age we live in, transitioning into the Millennial age. This fact is evidenced by Peter’s opening statement, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.”

The outpouring of the wrath and the judgment of God will accompany the second coming of Christ. God’s judgment is portrayed in many other prophetic passages. Revelation mentions “the winepress of God’s wrath” (Rev 14:19; 19:15). The seventh trumpet and bowl both describe the judgment of God as hailstones, lightning, and earthquakes (Rev 16:17-21). The army of the man of lawlessness will be annihilated (2 Thes 2:8; Rev 17:12-14), at Armageddon. The nations will be judged (Joel 3, et al).

Peter adds a somewhat unique perspective of this time of judgment: “the heavens will disappear… the elements will be destroyed… the earth and everything done on it will be laid bare.” Those descriptions seem pretty universal and quite final – an absolute, ultimate inferno. It seems to be in line with what most of us have heard taught our entire life, starting with children’s Sunday School. God destroyed the world once by flood, the next time will be by fire. Is that what Peter is describing? Maybe, But I don’t think so. 

What Peter is actually prophesying is a crucible, not an inferno. Rather than utter destruction, Peter is predicting that the old world, with all of mankind’s inventions, will be judged by fire, melted and poured into a new mold for the Millennial Kingdom.  “We are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells” (verse 13). That kingdom follows the return of Jesus, when He will rule on earth for 1000 years. The government will be upon His head. His kingdom will be marked by two key ingredients – righteousness and peace. And to set the stage for that kind of a kingdom the works of mankind must be exposed and “laid bare” before the righteous judgment of God. 

Peter had to use terms he was familiar with to describe concepts of our modern technological world. (The same is true in the prophecies recorded by John in Revelation.) When Peter wrote of the heavens and celestial bodies (elements), I don’t think he had in mind the sun, moon, and the stars of this galaxy and the whole universe. If those were to disappear by fire, I would imagine that planet Earth, too, would be pulverized. No, Peter was predicting something in the last days that was in the sky, in the heavens. Celestial objects of some kind. The last line of verse ten seems to confirm that the heavenly objects may be related to mankind’s inventions, “the earth and all its works will be laid bare.” 

This prophecy is speaking of man-made celestial objects. Satellites, for the most part. Thousands of them. Possibly also planes, rockets, missiles, and space exploration. Satellites enable the cyber, digital world we live in – the internet, cloud storage, artificial intelligence, spying, scamming, spoofing, hacking, social media, cyber-security, identity theft, fake news, fraud, malware, pornography, et al. Do you think that King Jesus, for one minute, would allow any of that technology to carry over from this evil age into His kingdom age? It won’t happen. Technology -- the world adores it, God abhors it. Peter’s prophecy aligns with Revelation 13 – the false prophet (which is a prophetic description of the electronic age) will be thrown into the lake of fire along with the beast, before the Millenium (Rev 19:20).

This may come as a shock and a disappointment to many Christians. But all those celestial bodies, and all the technology that goes with it, will be dissolved, burned up, melt away. Perhaps by a mega-sunburst creating a magnetic field that fries all the electronics in the heavens and on earth. Somehow, by the almighty hand of God. 

We need to envision a righteous kingdom that is devoid of electronics. The new earth, the world of the millennial kingdom, will be cast in a totally different mold than what we live in today. It will not just be a continuation or carryover of the Industrial era and the age of Electronics. I imagine it will be much more agrarian, and much more relational. Evil will not have rampant access to the minds and hearts of mankind living in that age. Perhaps the Amish have a head start on the rest of us here in America. But if there will not be computers, planes, and automobiles, I at least would like to have a tractor. 

Prophecy Proves God's Providence

Most people think that the purpose of prophecy is to foretell the future, to give advance warning, direction, or guidance – primarily, if not exclusively. I suppose I used to be in that camp. It escaped my attention how often the meaning of a prophecy was not even known until years later, or centuries later? In fact, some prophecies were not even recognized as prophetic until after the fulfillment came to pass.

So, a second purpose for prophecy, an unsung purpose, must be acknowledged. Prophecy proves God’s providence. God wants mankind to know, unequivocally, that what has come to pass is by His design, by His plan, not by chance or happenstance. By seeing His providence in the rearview mirror, so to speak, He makes it clear that He is sovereign. That His dominion will rule from beginning to end. That He is deserving of glory, honor and praise.

God said of Himself, through the prophet Isaiah, “Remember history. From the beginning I tell you what the end will be, letting you know what is going to happen. I will do exactly what I set out to do. If I said it, I will most certainly do it. Once I have planned it, it’s as good as done.” (Isa 46:8-11, paraphrased). 

Consider some examples. Joseph’s prophetic dream of eleven sheaths of grain all bowing down to his sheath (Gen 37:7) was fulfilled years later, in Egypt, when his brothers bowed down to him, and he promised to provide for them (Gen 50:20). The prophecy that the Messiah would be born of a virgin (Isa 7:14) was probably not even recognized as a messianic prophecy until after the virgin birth of Jesus (Mt 1:23). But it is a key prophetic proof of God’s providential plan of redemption. Then there was the oft-repeated prediction that Jesus told His disciples, that He would be killed and then rise again on the third day. They never understood the second half of that prophecy, not until after the resurrection. The miraculous fulfillment then became the cornerstone of their life’s mission. 

Prophecy finally finds meaning when history fulfills it and interprets it. Until that time the interpretation of the prophecy may remain latently unrecognizable, or it may be zealously misconstrued. In fact, many times God never meant for the prophecy to be understood until the time of its fulfillment. And speculation only misleads and deceives. That is so true of end-times prophecy. History is the best interpreter of prophecy. The unsung purpose of the prophecy, then, is to prove God’s sovereign hand in current, unfolding events which He long ago prophesied. 

I want to apply this principle to interpreting two prophecies about the last days, interpreting them not by speculation but rather, by historical fulfillment. The first prophecy is the little horn in Daniel 7:8, 11-12. Speculators suggest that the little horn points to the Antichrist, but that is so misleading. The first four beasts in the vision were empires. History confirms that, and identifies them. The fifth beast, the little horn, is also an empire, most certainly. The empire which God foretold would arise out of the ten horns of the Roman empire and defeat three of those horns to establish its own unique authority. That is an amazing prophecy of America, which could not be understood until its fulfillment. America arose as a “revived Roman Empire” across the sea, a melting pot of European immigrants. When time came for it to form into its own empire it defeated three of those “horns” – England, France, and Spain. That interpretation, in light of history, is almost undeniable, and it proves God’s providence in raising up America as the last great empire of the end of the age. But there is more to the story, more to the prophecy, yet to be fulfilled. That little horn empire, America, will be destroyed, utterly destroyed – not just brought to an end like the other four empires in the dream, but completely destroyed. And that will happen while Christians are still inhabitants of the empire, not after an early rapture. The providential plan of God included not only America’s rise to riches and power, but it also includes its final fate. 

A second prophecy to consider is the seven trumpets in Revelation 8-9. Prophecy speculators suggest that the seven trumpets are judgments of God that will occur during a seven-year tribulation. Once again, that is so misleading. The trumpets are prophesied as signs to warn mankind that the time of God’s judgment is drawing very near. Much like God warned the world in Noah’s day, for 120 years, that judgment was coming, He prophesied what the warning signs would be at the end of this age. Since the time that John wrote the Revelation mankind has been clueless to interpret or identify what those trumpet warnings might be. Not until they began to be fulfilled. Without going into detail, the descriptions of each trumpet and bowl (which occur concurrently, not consecutively) describe a specific event. Five of these have already occurred, beginning with World War 1, followed by World War 2, the nuclear age, climate change, and the Iraqi war of 1990. History confirms this interpretation, for those who have eyes to see. God’s providential plan for the last days has already begun to unfurl. We are now waiting for trumpet/bowl #6 to occur, which is easily identifiable as the battle of Armageddon. When history interprets prophecy, it always proves God’s providence. The ramifications of this interpretation are manifold, but consider just two. The trumpets are not going to occur during a seven-year Tribulation, they are already occurring. That pretty much blows up the hoax of a Tribulation period. Secondly, the rapture of the faithful, then, will take place when Jesus returns to defend Israel in the Battle of Armageddon, just prior to the 7^th trumpet and bowl. (“at the last trumpet”). 

History interprets prophecy, not speculators.  And fulfilled prophecy proves God’s provide

Eyes But Do Not See, Ears But Do Not Hear

A woman opened the door and called out for Steve. She was an audiologist, and I was there for an appointment, by my wife’s insistence. I looked around the waiting room and there was no one else waiting. I asked her, “Did you say Dave?” She smiled at me ever so slightly and said, “Yes, I did.” I proceeded to take some hearing tests, one of which was to repeat words that were spoken over the headset, 25 in all. I said to myself, “Aced that one. Carol was wrong, my hearing is just fine!” Later, as we went over all the results the doctor told me that I had missed over half of the word recognition. She said, “With a hearing aid in your best ear, I think you can carry on a conversation without having to pretend that you are hearing what the other person is saying.”

Just a couple years later I went in to have my eyes checked, to get glasses if I needed them. Once again, at Carol’s insistence. The Ophthalmologist looked into my eyeballs before doing the vision test. He rolled his chair back, crossed his arms and said, “There is not a thing I can do for you at this time. You have such bad cataracts in both eyes that nothing can help.” When I went to see the Optometrist, her assessment was the same. She asked me, “Are you still driving? If so, I don’t know how you can see anything. One of your eyes has only a small pin hole in the cataract through which you are able to see anything.” The morning after the first cataract surgery I woke up and went into the bathroom to wash my face, forgetting all about the surgery from the day before. I looked in the mirror, and I was totally caught by surprise. I kid you not, my jaw dropped and I took a step back, gazing at the image in the mirror. “Who was this old man in the mirror looking at me?” I was startled, almost shocked at who I was seeing -- in full color and clarity.

In both cases, I came to realize that I had no clue how bad off I was. Clueless, and oblivious.  I presumed that I could hear just fine, that I could see just fine. “I don’t need any help, thank you.”

Christians, in these last days before the coming of the Lord, are in the same condition I was in. They think they see, and hear, and understand God’s prophecy clearly, but they have not a clue how misconstrued their understanding really is. We are in the midst of grave deception and flat-out denial. Very much like the Jews in Jerusalem in the days leading up to the Babylonian exile.

The word of the LORD came to Ezekiel: “Son of man, you are living among a rebellious people. They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious people.” (Ez 12:2, also Jer 5:21).  God’s chosen people rebelled against the prophecies of Ezekiel and Jeremiah. They could not believe that they were deserving of God’s judgment. They believed they would live in peace and the blessing of God, that the prophecies of doom and destruction were not immediate, but way off in the distant future. They chose to believe the lies of the false prophets.

It sounds a lot like these last days, if you ask me. If the shoe fits, wear it. Biblical prophecy desperately needs to be re-examined so that Christians can see and hear clearly what is actually coming to pass, very soon. We must stop believing that America is above reproach, blessed of God, and will not be destroyed prior to the coming of the Lord (as prophesied in Daniel 7:11, and again in Rev 18:8). We need to see and hear clearly that the Day of the Lord involves judgment prior to redemption and restoration. We need to quit believing the deception that Christians will be raptured, blissfully, before a seven-year tribulation period (which in itself is also a hoax, totally). A lie doesn’t become truth just because it is believed by the majority.

Regarding End-Time prophecies, Christians in America think they hear and see so clearly. What they are hearing is man’s opinions, not facts. And what they see is a masterfully constructed mirage, not truth. They think they know and understand God’s declared plan for the future but are clueless of how far askew they have been led to believe. Like Jeremiah wrote at the end of chapter 5, they are in for a horrible and shocking realization. They love to believe the lies, and they glory in the authority of their favorite preachers. But they do not have a clue what is coming in the end.