Biblical truths pertaining to the end of the world have been so distorted by superstition and satanic deception that in the minds of many serious people they have become almost repugnant. How many thousands of sincere people have been horrified when they thought of this traditionally terrible calamity that had been imaginatively pictured to them by overenthusiastic evangelists! Not many years ago a noted clergyman sought to encourage humanity by announcing that the end of the world would not come for fifty million years. Doubtless many noble religionists felt greatly relieved by this statement, and rejoiced that such a calamitous event would not befall the earth in their day.
But what a different viewpoint of this subject we obtain when we examine the biblical record apart from the influence of Dark Age creeds. In the sacred Word we find that the end of the world is held out as something to which all should joyfully look forward. Indeed, when all the Bible prophecies relating to the subject are fully understood, it will be found that when Jesus taught his disciples to pray, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10), he really was instructing them to pray for the end of this present evil world, and for a better one to take its place.
THE EARTH ABIDETH FOREVER
The many hallucinations in the minds of the people concerning the end of the world are not taught in the Bible at all. What the Scriptures say on this subject has nothing whatever to do with the burning up or destruction of the literal earth. Concerning this physical planet on which we live, the Prophet Isaiah says, “Thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited.” (Isa. 45:18) Another of the Bible prophets tells us that “the earth abideth for ever.” (Eccles. 1:4) Jesus, in his sermon on the mount, said, “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matt. 5:5) These passages all indicate that it is not God’s purpose ever to destroy the earth itself, but that it is to be used as a home for man.
The word “world” is used in the Bible very similarly to the way we often use it today, meaning not the earth, but the associations of people upon the earth—society in general. If, for example, we should read that the world was greatly shaken by a global war, we would not understand it to mean that literal mountains are being toppled over, or that the crust of the earth is in any way affected. The Bible uses language in this same manner when foretelling the distressing events to take place at the end of the present age; events by which the existing social order is to be destroyed to make way for the kingdom of the Messiah.
The term “world” is also used in the Bible to denote an age. Several worlds, or ages, are mentioned in the Bible. We are told, for example, of a world that ended at the time of the Flood—yet the earth itself was not then destroyed. The Bible also speaks of another world that began after the Flood, and which is to be destroyed during the Second Presence of Christ. And there is still another world that will begin with the end of the present one. This latter world will continue on indefinitely into the future. It is this third world that is to be established through the operation of the Messianic kingdom.
These worlds, all of which are thus seen to function on the literal planet, Earth, are subdivided by the Apostle Peter into their spiritual and material aspects, under the symbols of “heaven” and “earth.” (See II Peter 3) It is plainly evident that the apostle’s language as used in this chapter is pictorial rather than literal; for we would be forced to the absurd conclusion that the Creator intends to destroy his entire universe if we insisted upon a literal meaning, because the Apostle Peter makes it plain that the heavens as well as the earth will pass away with a great noise.
In this same prophecy, the apostle uses the symbol of fire to describe the destructive influences which will bring to an end the present evil order of things, and purge and prepare the way for the establishment of God’s kingdom—the “new heavens and new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.”
Peter also tells us that the elements will melt with fervent heat. That this does not have reference to the elements of the literal earth is evident from the fact that Paul uses this same word when he admonishes the Christian not to be entangled again with the “weak and beggarly elements” of this world.—Gal. 4:9
NATIONAL SYMBOLISMS
An interesting example of the fact that the word earth, when used in the Bible, does not always mean the literal planet upon which we live, is found in Daniel 7:23. Here the prophet tells about a great and terrible beast that devours the whole earth. This would be a tall story indeed, if it were intended to be understood literally; for where would this gigantic beast stand while devouring this planetary morsel? As a symbol, however, it conveys a very meaningful lesson—the beast, as well as the earth, is symbolic.
All are familiar with the fact that many nations of the past and present are symbolized on their coat of arms by beasts of various kinds. The reigning pharaohs of Old Egypt used a lion to indicate their authority of rulership, and England today uses the lion on her standard for the same purpose. Then there are the Chinese dragon, the Russian bear, and the American eagle. These are illustrations to show the figurative application of the characteristics of living creatures to nations.
The Bible employs a similar symbolic method to designate various great world powers of history. Hence, in the passage cited above, the symbolic earth—organized society—is pictured as being devoured by a beast. It is an apt portrayal of a selfish ruling-class organization appropriating the resources of society for its own selfish use. Many people of the world recognize these conditions, and see that the illustrations aptly fit the nations represented. Why, then, should we experience any special difficulty when we find similar symbolisms in the Bible? It is the way God teaches us.
The term mountain also is often used in a symbolic sense in the Bible, and when so used it denotes a kingdom—either one or more of the kingdoms of this world, or else the Messianic kingdom of the next age.
The sea, when used pictorially in the Scriptures, represents the masses; and the roaring of the sea, the restless, discontented condition of these masses. (See Isa. 17:12,13) One of the Bible prophecies relative to the progress of events now taking place on the earth tells of the mountains being carried into the midst of the sea. This, indeed, is a fitting illustration of the fact that many of the strongest kingdoms of the earth already have fallen into the hands of the clamoring masses, and that other mighty mountains of civilization will likewise be engulfed as the rising tide of discontent surges more and more persistently against their bulwarks.
An example of the scriptural use of these striking symbolisms, portraying the disintegrating processes by which the present world is being destroyed, is that of Psalm 46:2-6. Here the Lord’s prophet says, we will not “fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.” Manifestly, this could not be understood literally, because if the literal earth were actually removed or destroyed there would be no mountains left to be carried into the sea, and no sea into which the mountains could be carried. Later in the chapter, the prophet interprets, in part, his own symbolic statements when he says, “The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved.” And then, reverting to symbolic phraseology again, he continues, “He [the Lord] uttered his voice, the earth melted.”—vs. 6
That this melting of the earth does not mean the destruction of this literal planet on which we live, is further evidenced in the closing verses of the chapter, where the prophet shows that the moving and melting have reference to the destruction of the war-thirsty governments prior to the establishment of God’s kingdom. That the literal earth is not destroyed is shown in verse ten of the psalm, where we read, “Be still, and know that I am God: . . . I will be exalted in the earth.”
In this prophecy of the forty-sixth Psalm, there is a most unusual example of the varied way in which the term earth is employed in the Scriptures. In verse two, the earth is said to be removed; in the sixth verse, it is described as being melted; yet in the tenth verse, as we have seen, it still exists, and God’s name is exalted in it. In this new order, God’s name will be exalted throughout the whole earth. Surely, then, we should rejoice in the many evidences around us today that denote the near approach of the time when Christ shall be king, and the reign of sin and death shall end! Many of these signs will be examined in the next chapter.