Board index ‹ The End of the World

[Punny Penny]

Please describe the state of Planet Earth (not referring to some metaphysical mumbo-jumbo, NO, THIS earth) in the year AD 5000. I arbitrarily chose this year because I would suppose the Second Coming of Christ and all the events in Revelation must've surely occurred by then. You could re-phrase this question with: What is God's end game with the creation he started?

[jimwalton]

The second coming of Christ will not have surely come by then. Who knows how far away that is. With the way things are going, it's hard to imagine humanity not wiping itself out or poisoning the planet before too much time passes. Rather than things getting better, we are obviously not progressing to a Brave New World. Instead, we are sinking in violence and destruction.

God's end game? The Bible says things are going to get worse, there will be an increase in natural disasters, and that the persecution of Christians will escalate. It says the world will deepen in violence and political lunacy, but that a world leader will emerge who will unite the world in a false peace, politically stable on the surface, but churning behind the scenes. There will be a worldwide hatred of Christians, and many will be killed. When it seems that things can't get any worse, Jesus will return to establish his kingdom on earth, consistent with the OT prophecies. All people will be judged for what they have done on earth, and God will redeem creation to himself.

If all the events of Revelation have happened by 5000, those who are followers of God will live on the remade earth (heaven is not up in the sky, but here on earth). There will be cities and productive labor. We will enjoy life the way it was intended to be.

Is that what you're after? But whether or not this will have happened by AD 5000 is anybody's guess, and I wouldn't trust anybody's guess.

[Punny Penny]

> The second coming of Christ will not have surely come by then. Who knows how far away that is.

Exactly, who knows? You were contradicting yourself here, by assuming that 'surely' it will not have happened by then. But I get your point.

> With the way things are going, it's hard to imagine humanity not wiping itself out or poisoning the planet before too much time passes.

Do you actually think that could happen? Could Biblical prophecy be averted, if, let's say, a group of reckless statesmen would drop the world into a nuclear war and thereby killing every single human in the aftermath? A self-eradicated humanity would contradict what's described in Revelation, I think.

> If all the events of Revelation have happened by 5000, those who are followers of God will live on the remade earth (heaven is not up in the sky, but here on earth).

My mother is a Christian since her childhood and I asked her the exact same question a couple of months ago. She believes that the 'Bride of Jesus', all the followers of him throughout the ages, will reign over the entire universe in angelic spirit bodies. She further told me that our Earth will be ultimately destroyed, like ka-boom, the entire planet crushed into space dust, and that a new version of Earth had to be created. Do you agree with her?

> We will enjoy life the way it was intended to be.

What does that entail? What will be Mankind's mission by then? Will they have governments? Do they observe mosaic law? And the most important question IMO: Will everyone be immortal? Because then even a gigantic planet would eventually become overpopulated ... or will humans colonize space under the guidance of God, or something along these lines?

> But whether or not this will have happened by AD 5000 is anybody's guess, and I wouldn't trust anybody's guess.

Yeah true, but I appreciate any constructive input!

[jimwalton]

> You were contradicting yourself here

No I'm not. Sorry I wasn't clear. When I said "surely," I meant we can't guarantee that it would have come by then, not that there's no way he will have come back by then. Ha. I wasn't even thinking that there are two ways to understand "surely". What I was saying is that we don't know when Jesus is coming back, but we can't guarantee that it will have happened by AD 5000.

> Do you actually think that could happen?

North Korea is toying with nuclear irresponsibility; various nations mess around with chemical weapons; diseases are on the increase, and viruses are evolving more resistance to our containments of them. Meanwhile people seem to show more hatred of each other rather than brotherly love, and violence seems to be on the increase. If I remember the statistics right, more people were killed during the 20th century than in all other previous centuries combined. Can humanity wipe itself out or poison the planet? Revelation speaks of massive decimations of life and environment (Rev. 8.8-9ff.).

> Could Biblical prophecy be averted?

No, the prophecy will stand. History will show it to be sure. Nuclear war is a possible fulfillment of Rev. 8.7. It wouldn't kill every single human in the aftermath. You're right that a self-eradicated humanity would contradict Revelation. I was speaking in generalizations, not in absolutes.

> She believes that the 'Bride of Jesus', all the followers of him throughout the ages, will reign over the entire universe in angelic spirit bodies.

That's from Revelation 20.4—the Millennial Reign of Christ. This is, like, the only verse in the Bible that specifically speaks of the Millennial Reign, and people have built whole scenarios on this one verse, but inferring pieces of other texts into this one. It's a pretty iffy thing to do. There are different interpretations of the Millennial Reign, but no, I don't think we'll reign as angelic spirit bodies. That's an interpretation that is never specifically stated.

> She further told me that our Earth will be ultimately destroyed, like ka-boom, the entire planet crushed into space dust, and that a new version of Earth had to be created. Do you agree with her?

That's from Revelation 21.1, where all it says is that the first earth had "passed away." The "boom" interpretation is out there, but that's not what I think will happen. The language here certainly suggests that a new heaven and new earth replace the old, but it sounds more like transformation than annihilation to me. The earth will be renewed and restored, not blown up and re-created, in my opinion.

> What does that entail?

Meaningful labor, loving relationships, creative culture, health and well-being, fun, worship, the arts and knowledge. Will they have governments? Yes (Luke 19.11-19). Do they observe mosaic law? No, that will have been fulfilled (Matthew 5.17-18).

> Will everyone be immortal?

Yes. Eternal life. Would the planet become over-populated? No. The Bible doesn't say anything about having more babies in the afterlife. Might the new earth be bigger than the old? That's possible, in the renewal, that God could change its size. Will humans colonize space? Wow, that's a fun possibility to speculate, isn't it?

> Yeah true, but I appreciate any constructive input!

When will all this happen? Jesus said it's not able to be figured out (Matthew 24.36, 42).