The World On
Fire
A friend said to Mark Twain: "I am worried. The world is coming to an end."
"Don't be worried," replied the famous humorist. "We can get along without it."
Mark Twain may not have known it, but he spoke the truth. We can get along without it, because God has arranged to fashion a new world by fire. The Apostle Peter wrote: "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 in it will be laid bare" (2 Peter 3:10).
This time of burning was foreseen by the prophets as the great and terrible day of the Lord when the earth would quake, the heavens tremble, the sun become dark, and the stars withdraw their shining. It would be a day, said the prophet, when "a fire devours" and "a flame burns." Over and over again the prophets used the word "fire."
Many times in the Bible the word "fire" is not the fire of combustion as we commonly know it. The Bible teaches that God uses fire as a cleansing and purifying agent. When we read that the Holy Spirit came as "tongues of fire," we do not suppose these were literal fires but rather a representation of the character of the Holy Spirit as a cleansing agent. Fire can be considered also an agent of purification. When the prophets speak of fire in the world's judgment, or when
Page 247
Peter mentions fire at the end of the age, it is not likely that they refer to the fire of combustion. It could be the fire of fission, the release of nuclear power by the splitting of the atom. This is only speculation, of course, but it could be the elemental and creative form of fire used in the beginning and to be used again in the "new beginning" to bring into being a new earth.
The Fire of Judgment
Certainly it will be a fire of judgment upon the wicked world. The book of Revelation is occupied largely with details of these judgments, centering on the unloosing of the seven seals (Chapter 6), the blasting of the seven trumpets (Chapter 8), and the pouring out of the seven vials (Chapter 16). These are no doubt symbolic representations of the series of judgments that conclude the present age. It is when these judgments are over that Christ is to come in all His splendid glory. His coming is likened to a flash of lightning (Matthew 24:27), to chariots like a whirlwind (Isaiah 66:15), to eyes of flaming fire (Rev. 1:14), to a voice like a roaring lion (Joel 3:16). It is called in the Bible "the great and terrible day" when men shall creep into clefts and ravines and call for the mountains and rocks to "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne; and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" (Rev. 6:16-17). It is interesting to note that the last prayer of mankind will be not to the true and living God, but to the rocks and the mountains. Even then man's heart will be in such revolt against God that he will turn to idols instead of to God.
Page 248
The Purifying Fire
However, it will be not only a fire of judgment but a fire of cleansing and purifying. Among the vast number of promises in the Bible is the promise of a new world. This is the promise that wrong shall be made right, evil shall be made good, the corrupt shall be made clean, and the curse shall be changed into a blessing. The fulfillment of this will be in the new heavens and the new earth. This is what Peter described when he wrote: "We, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwells righteousness" (2 Peter 3:13). But we are in danger of being robbed of the comfort of this promise by two things, according to Peter. First, by the presence of the unending cycle of evil, disappointment, sickness, injustice, and death, which could obscure this great hope for a new world. So the Apostle said: "I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance" (2 Peter 3:1). Second, by the presence of scoffers who ask: "Where is the promise of his coming?" This scoffing is based on their contention that "since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning" (2 Peter 3:4). The scoffer says this is a world of natural law, therefore divine intervention is unlikely. But the scoffer is guilty of monumental ignorance in his supposition that "all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation."
God intervened in human affairs through the flood in the past, and He will intervene in the future. God intervened in human affairs by the cross of Christ to let the world know of His great love for man, "not willing that any should perish," and He will do so again in the events surrounding the second coming of Christ. In the past the instrument of intervention was water, but in the future it will be fire.
Page 249
The Threefold Change to Come
In 2 Peter 3 the Apostle described a threefold change to occur at that time. First, "The heavens will pass away with a great noise." This probably refers to the atmosphere surrounding the earth. It does not mean they will pass out of existence, but that they will change. They will be reconstructed for the habitation of the new man who will have a new body. Even the climate will change to accommodate this new man.
Second, Peter says: "The elements shall melt with fervent heat." Here "elements" means that which is rudimentary, or the first step. When it applies to matter, as it does here, it refers to the rudimentary structure of matter in terms of atoms. All matter consists of atoms. All elements can be changed by heat. It is commonly supposed that this is the heat of combustion or burning, but it could be the heat generated by separating the proton and neutron in the nucleus of the atom, thereby releasing the tremendous heat energy in nature by which the present heaven and earth will be changed into the new heaven and new earth. We really do not know. We can only conjecture in the light of the knowledge of modern science.
In dealing with the future in terms of Biblical prophecy we are not entitled to make dogmatic assertions. We are entitled, however, to make reasonable assumptions in the interpretation of future events. With the incredible amount of information available to a modern interpreter, he is in a position to make these reasonable assumptions, which promise to bring great enlightenment in his understanding of the Scripture. Thus today we are in a position to understand such
Page 250
Scriptures as Peter's description of the new heavens and earth to an extent that was not possible a generation ago.
The third change Peter describes is in the earth. He says" "The earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." Whatever is not suited for the new life of the new world will be destroyed. This is what some call the end of the world, but the world will never end. It will only be changed into a better world.
The process of change that will produce the new heavens and earth is seen in these words: "Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat" (2 Peter 3:11-12).
It is remarkable that two thousand years ago a divinely inspired writer should have used the term "dissolve," which has become suddenly fraught with modern meaning through contemporary science.
"Dissolved" was the same word Jesus used when Lazarus stood before Him in front of his burial tomb, bound in grave clothes. Jesus said: "Loose him, and let him go" (John 11:44). And when the things of nature "shall be dissolved," they shall be loosed from their grave clothes of disease, death, and poverty. All nature will be let go into a new and glorious state of existence.
Every one of us has dissolved a tablet in a glass of water. What took place? The tablet disappeared, but it was not destroyed. Instead of a solid, it became a liquid. It changed its appearance but not its substance. It assumed another form of existence. This happens every time you take an aspirin.
Some such dissolving as this will take place — not destruction or extinction, but a change into new forms, conditions, and occurrences. The catalyst could well be a fire, such as that
Page 251
of nuclear fission. Great geological, zoological, chemical, and astronomical changes will take place, but what is of even greater importance is the new order of things. Great moral and spiritual changes will occur because it will be a new world "wherein dwells righteousness."
What is wrong with the world is sin in human nature and the curse in physical nature. "Cursed is the ground for thy sake . . . thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread" (Genesis 3:17-19). This will all be changed! The dissolving, loosing process will produce the change in physical nature as well as the change in human nature. Righteousness will be the determining characteristic of the new world.
The Bible says: "Behold, I make all things new" (Rev. 21:5). God will do this by means of fire. This leads us to ask these questions: Why a new heaven and new earth? Why fire? Why judgment? Why cataclysmic change? Why not instead of these things the continuation of human progress producing a golden age?
The answer lies in the fact of sin and God's redemptive purpose. Sin cannot be destroyed or changed by any scientific process. Just as there had to be a cross and its Golgotha to end sin in the heart, so there must be another divine event to end evil in the world. There is no easy way for redemption to be accomplished. Man, as well as God, must suffer. Man must feel the awful price paid for sin. This time it will be worldwide in both physical and human nature. The new heavens and earth will emerge from a world on fire. Every vestige of sin and corruption must be destroyed. Even matter will be purified. Every aspect of the primeval curse of sin must be obliterated. The world must be let loose and freed from the restrictions and limitations imposed upon it by
Page 252
the curse of sin. There must be universal riddance of all evil in man and nature, so that no handicaps are carried over into the structure and composition of the new world.
Preparing for the Future
The future belongs to those who prepare for it, and we are instructed to prepare for it. Peter wrote: "So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him" (2 Peter 3:14).
The Bible says: "The world passes away, and the lust thereof: but whoever does the will of God abides forever" (1 John 2:17). Recently I talked with a famous architect who said that his buildings would last for an eternity. I had to smile, for he has built only for an hour. Our world will disappear like a child's castle of sand on the beach. The pride of power, the pomp of wealth, the beauty of art, the cunning of skill — all will go. The sea of flame will overwhelm and devour everything without exception. The whole world will become again one molten mass.
Then God will take the molten mass and reshape the earth and the heavens into His own design.
Meanwhile the Bible teaches that Satan and the Anti-Christ will also be destroyed by fire. The Bible says that Satan will first be bound, then released, and cast into the lake of fire. "And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years" (Rev. 20:2). "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever" (Rev. 20:10). In this manner the originator of evil and sin will be forever banished from God's universe, never to trouble man again.
Page 253
I believe the earth will be consumed by fire, not only because God said it, but because science has created weapons that can do it. Pliny said that it was a miracle to him that the world escaped burning for a single day.
The Bible teaches that all of this will happen when it is little expected. The dread hour will come as a thief in the night. It was not expected in Noah's day that the world would be destroyed by water. The people argued with Noah, saying that all things had continued as they were from the days of their first father Adam, and so they would always be. They thought Noah was a fool, going up and down the land proclaiming judgment to come and frightening the people.
Man has not changed. Man still rejects the testimony of the Scripture. He continues in sin and rebellion against God. He will do so up to the very moment when the sound of the trumpet will convince him that the Lord is come and that the day of judgment for ungodly men has arrived.
Today our world is mad in its obsession with pleasure, sex, and money. Its ear is too dull to hear the truth. Most men's eyes are blind. They do not want to see. They do not want to hear. They hurry to their doom. "When they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction will come upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape" (1 Thess. 5:3).
Yet God longs for men to be saved. "The Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). God is at work to get men to stop their downward plunge in sin. He has sent His Holy Spirit to convict, His preachers and prophets to warn. His Word is printed in nearly every language. Man is without excuse.
