God's purpose for the earth

What does the Bible show to be God's purpose regarding the earth?

Matt. 6:10: "Let your kingdom come. Let your will take place, as in heaven, also upon earth."

 Ps. 37:29: "The righteous themselves will possess the earth, and they will reside forever upon it."

Matthew 5:5  :  "Happy are the mild-tempered , for they shall inherit the earth"

2 Peter 3:13 : " We are awaiting new heavens and a new earth , and in these righteousness is to dwell ".

See also Ecclesiastes 1:4; Psalm 104:5.

Is there a possibility that, since the nations show little regard for God's purpose, they might completely ruin the earth for habitation anyway?

Isa. 55:8-11: "[The utterance of Jehovah is:] As the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. . . . My word . . . will not return to me without results, but it will certainly do that in which I have delighted, and it will have certain success in that for which I have sent it."

Isa. 40:15, 26: "Look! [From the standpoint of Jehovah God] The nations are as a drop from a bucket; and as the film of dust on the scales they have been accounted. . . . 'Raise your eyes high up and see [the sun, the moon, and the billions of stars]. Who has created these things? It is the One who is bringing forth the army of them even by number, all of whom he calls even by name. Due to the abundance of dynamic energy, he also being vigorous in power, not one of them is missing.'" (The nuclear power developed by the nations is fear inspiring to men. But billions of stars employ nuclear power on a scale that is beyond our ability to comprehend. Who created and controls all these heavenly bodies? Can He not prevent the nations from using their nuclear weapons in a way that would hinder his purpose? That God would do this is illustrated by his destroying the military power of Egypt when Pharaoh sought to stop the deliverance of Israel.—Ex. 14:5-31.)

Rev. 11:17, 18: "We thank you, Jehovah God, the Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and begun ruling as king. But the nations became wrathful, and your own wrath came, and the appointed time . . . to bring to ruin those ruining the earth."

Will God himself destroy the earth by fire?

Does 2 Peter 3:7, 10 (KJ) support that view? "The heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in  store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition ["destruction," RS] of ungodly men. . . . The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up ["burned (burnt) up," RS, JB; "will vanish," TEV; "will be made manifest," NAB; "will be laid bare," NE; "will be discovered," NW]." (Note: The Codex Sinaiticus and Vatican MS 1209, both of the 4th century C.E., read "be discovered." Later manuscripts, the 5th-century Codex Alexandrinus and the 16th-century Clementine recension of the Vulgate, read "be burned up.")

Does Revelation 21:1 (KJ) indicate that our planet will be destroyed? "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea." 

See also Revelation 11:18.

To be correct, the explanation of these verses must agree with the context and with the rest of the Bible

If these texts (2 Peter 3:7, 10 and Revelation 21:1) mean that the literal planet Earth is to be consumed by fire, then the literal heavens (the stars and other heavenly bodies) are also to be destroyed by fire. Such a literal view, however, conflicts with the assurance contained in such texts as Matthew 6:10, Psalm 37:29 and 104:5, also Proverbs 2:21, 22. Furthermore, what effect would fire have on the already intensely hot sun and stars? So the term "earth" in the above-quoted texts must be understood in a different sense.

At Genesis 11:1, First Kings 2:1, 2, First Chronicles 16:31, Psalm 96:1, etc., the term "earth" is used in a figurative sense, referring to mankind, to human society. Might that be the case at 2 Peter 3:7, 10 and Revelation 21:1?

Note that, in the context, at 2 Peter 3:5, 6 (also 2:5, 9), a parallel is drawn with the Flood of Noah's day, in which wicked human society was destroyed, but Noah and his household, as well as the globe itself, were preserved. Likewise, at 2 Peter 3:7 it says that the ones to be destroyed are "ungodly men." The view that "the earth" here refers to  wicked human society fully agrees with the rest of the Bible, as is illustrated by the texts cited above. It is that symbolic "earth," or wicked human society, that is "discovered"; that is, Jehovah will sear away as by fire all disguise, exposing the wickedness of ungodly human society and showing it to be worthy of complete destruction. That wicked society of humans is also "the first earth," referred to at Revelation 21:1 (KJ).

Consistently, Jesus' expression at Luke 21:33 ("heaven and earth will pass away, but . . . ") must be understood in the light of the parallel statement at Luke 16:17 ("it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than . . . "), both of which simply emphasize the impossibility of the situations presented.—See also Matthew 5:18.

Will the righteous be taken to heaven and then returned to earth after the wicked are destroyed?

Does Revelation 21:2, 3 support that view? It says: "I saw also the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God and prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: 'Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them.'" (Does the fact that God will "reside" with mankind and "be with them" mean that he will become a fleshly Being? That cannot be, because Jehovah told Moses: "No man may see me and yet live." [Ex. 33:20] Consistently, then, the members of the New Jerusalem will not return to earth as physical beings. In what sense, then, could God "be with" mankind and how would the New Jerusalem 'come down out of heaven'? No doubt an indication is found in Genesis 21:1, which says that God "visited" Sarah, blessing her with a son in her old age. Exodus 4:31 tells us that God "visited" Israel by sending Moses as a deliverer. Luke 7:16 says that by means of Jesus' ministry God "visited" his people. [All from KJ and RS] Other translations use the expression God "turned his attention" to his people [NW] or 'showed concern' for them [NE]. So Revelation 21:2, 3 must mean that God will 'visit,' or be with, mankind by means of  the heavenly New Jerusalem, through which blessings will come to obedient humans.)

Prov. 2:21, 22, KJ: "The upright shall dwell in the land ["on earth," NE], and the perfect ["blameless men," NE] shall remain in it. But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it." (Notice that it does not say the blameless will return to the earth but that they "shall remain in it.")

Has God's original purpose for the earth changed?

Gen. 1:27, 28: "God proceeded to create the man in his image, in God's image he created him; male and female he created them. Further, God blessed them and God said to them: 'Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is moving upon the earth.'" (Thus God indicated his purpose to have the earth filled with the offspring of Adam and Eve as caretakers of a global paradise. After God had magnificently designed this earth for human habitation, making it unique among all the planets that man has examined with his telescopes and spaceships, did the Creator simply abandon his purpose, leaving it forever unfulfilled because of Adam's sin?)

Isa. 45:18: "This is what Jehovah has said, the Creator of the heavens, He the true God, the Former of the earth and the Maker of it, He the One who firmly established it, who did not create it simply for nothing, who formed it even to be inhabited: 'I am Jehovah, and there is no one else.'" (See also Isaiah 55:10, 11.)  See also Matthew 5:5 and 2 Peter 3:13, quoted above.

If no one is ever going to die in God's New Order, how will all the people fit on earth?

Keep in mind that when God expressed his purpose for the earth he said: "Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth." (Gen. 1:28) God gave man the ability to procreate, and when His purpose in that regard is fulfilled He can cause procreation to cease on earth.

 What kind of people will God favor with endless life on earth?

Zeph. 2:3: "Seek Jehovah, all you meek ones of the earth, who have practiced His own judicial decision. Seek righteousness, seek meekness. Probably you may be concealed in the day of Jehovah's anger."

Ps. 37:9, 11: "Those hoping in Jehovah are the ones that will possess the earth. . . . The meek ones themselves will possess the earth, and they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.

See also Matthew 5:5.

Satan does NOT stay on his own lane.

Whenever a criminal is caught red-handed, he almost always blames the Devil for his actions and expects to be left off the hook because of that. At the other extreme, some people claim that Satan is not to be blamed at all for people's misdeeds. They say Satan stays on his own lane before being toyed with by people.

What does the Bible say?  

In the Garden of Eden, God blamed both man and the Devil (Genesis 3: 1-24). Man was to blame for disobeying the orders of God, "the Most High" (Psalm 83:18) because of Satan, a fallen angel (Job 1:6 ; 2:1 & 38: 4-7). You don't disobey your parents because of your older sibling, do you?   

However, God didn't absolve the Devil (who was created before Adam and Eve and is therefore older) from all blame (Genesis 3: 14-15). Revelation 12:9 calls Satan "the original serpent . . . who is misleading the entire inhabited earth", including Adam and Eve. 1 Peter 5:8 says " the Devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking to devour someone" and James 4:7 urges us to oppose him to make him flee from us. These verses show that Satan DOESN'T stay on his own lane. He was wandering about the earth in Job 1:7 & 2:2. Those who stumble others will end up worse than someone thrown into the sea with a milestone hung round his neck (Luke 17:2). Accordingly, Satan will be destroyed along with those he manages to deceive (Revelation 20: 7- 15). 

DID YOU NOTICE THESE THINGS ABOUT JESUS' BIRTH?

 

1. The genealogies of Jesus Christ in Matthew 1:1-16 & Luke 3: 23-38 diverged from David to Jesus Christ. One passed through Solomon (Mt 1:6) and the other through Nathan (Luke 3:31). Both Solomon & Nathan were David's sons by Bathsheba (1 Chronicles 3:5). Joseph (Jesus' stepfather) has 2 "fathers", Jacob & Heli (mentioned at Matthew 1:16 & Luke 3:23 respectively). The "fathers" have different ancestors all the way to David, & therefore can't be the same person. One of them must be Joseph's FATHER-in-law (or Mary's father).

2. Both Mary & Joseph were from the tribe of Judah. Though they were based in Nazareth, both had to travel to Bethlehem to "register in their own city" (Luke 1: 26,27 & 3: 1-5). Jesus had to be both biologically (through Mary) & socially (or patrilinearly, through Joseph) from Judah (Micah 5:2).

3. There were 2 towns named Bethlehem in Israel then. One was in the tribe of Judah (Ruth 1:1) in Judea (Matthew 2:1), while the other was in the tribe of Zebulun (Joshua 19:10-16) in Galilee (Matthew 4:15). That's why Micah 5:2 was specific. 

4. On the 40th day of his birth, Jesus' parents offered a "poor man's offering" of 2 turtledoves (Leviticus 12: 6-8; Luke 2 : 21-24). This is well before the astrologers came with their costly gifts.  

5. Jesus was almost 2 years old when the astrologers came from the East. Shortly after they left, Jesus' parents had to flee to Egypt with him. Note that his just-6-months-older cousin , John the Baptizer, (who was also in Judea) (Luke 1: 36-40) escaped the massacre of "boys aged 2 years & under" (Matthew 2:16) without having to relocate. There must have been official birth (& death) registration records to guide the soldiers against the desperate mothers' understandable lies. 

6. The star did not lead the astrologers to Jesus in Bethlehem directly, but first took them to murderous Herod (who would have killed Jesus, but for God's intervention) in Jerusalem. Note that the angels and the shepherds did not tell Herod about Jesus earlier. Satan must have used the star to endanger Jesus. 

7. There are 2 other persons named Jesus in the Bible apart from Jesus Christ (Luke 3:29 ; Colossians 4:11). Therefore, it is not a sin to name your son Jesus (as long as you don't call him MESSIAH or CHRIST). 

8. Mary was not sinless ; she did purification after childbirth like any other Jewish woman (Leviticus 12: 6-8; Luke 2 : 21-24 ; Romans 3:23). It was the Holy Spirit that shielded Jesus from contamination in the womb (Luke 1:35). 

9. Zechariah's doubting of Angel Gabriel's message (despite the precedent of Abraham and Sarah) led to his being made dumb for some time. Mary's doubt was understandable because no virgin had ever given birth without sex before. Hence, the angel patiently explained things to her. 

10. Mary wasn't a virgin for life. After giving birth to Jesus, she had 4 sons & at least 2 daughters for Joseph (Matthew 1:25 & 13: 53-56).

THE FATHER, THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT (MATTHEW 28: 19,20)

A man and his wife become "one flesh" (Genesis 2:24). Yet ,they remain 2 separate individuals and "the head of a woman is her husband" (1 Corinthians 11:3). Similarly, the oneness of God and Jesus (John 10:30) means unity of purpose and does not make them the same person or equals. Jesus is the "beginning of all creation" (Revelation 3:14), God's first creature, whom he used to create everybody and everything else (Colossians 1: 15-16). He is one of the angels God made before he created the earth (Job 38:4-7 ; John 17:5). God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit appeared as separate individuals at Jesus' baptism (Matthew 3:16-17). Jesus Christ himself said, "The Father is greater than I" and called his Father "the only true God" (John 14:28 ; 17:3). Jehovah himself said, "Besides me there is no God" (Isaiah 44:6 ; Psalm 83:18).1 Corinthians 11:3 also says, "the head of Christ is God".

1 Corinthians 8: 6 says,"There is actually to us one God, the Father,... and there is one Lord, Jesus Christ". See also 1 Timothy 2:5. After his 1,000-year reign (Revelation 20:1-6), Jesus Christ will hand over the kingdom to his God and Father (1 Corinthians 15:20-28).

What about the Holy Spirit? 

* The Holy Spirit , "the power of the Most High", came upon Mary and overshadowed her while she was pregnant with Jesus (Luke 1:35). 

*It came upon Jesus during his baptism (Matthew 3: 16-17).

*Jesus blew on his disciples and said, "Receive the holy spirit" (John 20:22-23).

*The holy spirit is known but not seen by Christ's disciples (John 14: 16-17) and will remind them and us about all the things Christ said (John 14:26).

*After the 120 disciples received the holy spirit at Pentecost, it was Peter and the other apostles (not the holy spirit) who spoke verbally to the people (Acts 2:1-36). 

* The holy spirit didn't write a single book in the Bible, lay hands on anyone or travel to visit anyone as Paul and the other disciples did. "Men spoke from God as they were moved by holy spirit" (2 Peter 1:21 ; 1 Peter 1:11-12). See also Exodus 31: 1-3; Numbers 11: 16-30; Judges 14:19 ; 15:14 ; Psalm 51:11 ; Ezekiel 37: 1-10; Luke 11:13 ; Acts 2:4; 5:32 ; 7:55-56 ; 8: 14-17 ; 10 : 44-48 and 19: 1-7 . The holy spirit can be distributed among many persons without any loss to the person doing the impartation (e.g. John 20: 22-23 ; Acts 8: 14-17 ; 10 : 44-48 and 19: 1-7) . God says, "I will pour out SOME OF MY SPIRIT on every sort of flesh" (Acts 2:17). 

Therefore, the holy spirit is God's active force that He uses to achieve His purposes (Luke 1:35). While Jehovah God (Psalm 83:18) and Jesus Christ are in heaven (Acts 7:55-56), the holy spirit is inhabiting many persons (including God and Jesus) in both heaven and the earth. 

The "jinxed" single mother who produced the Messiah.

Mary got pregnant without having sex, but God convinced Joseph to marry her (Matthew 1:18-25). They later had at least 6 children together (Matthew 13:53-56). Therefore, she is not the single mother I have in mind.

The woman I am talking about is Tamar, Judah's daughter-in-law (whose story is recorded in Genesis chapter 38 in the Bible).

Judah had 3 sons : Er, Onan and Shelah. Er (the oldest) was Tamar's first husband. After God killed Er for being wicked, Judah told Onan (the second son) to marry the still-childless Tamar in order to raise up offspring for his late brother. Onan had nothing to lose, since he could still marry any other woman he likes along with Tamar. Polygamy was allowed then. However, he "wasted his semen on the ground so as not to give offspring to his brother". God killed him too for this. He could also have declined marrying her (as Ruth's nearest male in-law did and allowed someone else, Boaz, to marry her) - Ruth 4:1-10; Deuteronomy 25.5-10. Onan was killed for being a dog in the manger.

Judah told Tamar to go back to her father's house until Shelah grows up, but he didn't really intend to "waste" his only remaining son on a "jinxed" woman (since he didn't know it was God who killed the two sons). 

When Tamar saw that Shelah had grown up without her being sent for and that Judah (now widowed like her) was going to pass through her area on his way to a feast, she veiled her face and sat by the roadside like a prostitute. Judah fell into the trap and got her pregnant. She collected his seal ring, cord and rod as security (for the goat he promised to send) before the act. Thereafter, she left the streets and couldn't be located to return the items when the goat was ready. 

The items identified Judah as the owner of the pregnancy and saved her from being hanged for "prostitution" (i.e. sleeping with another man without having been given a "discharge certificate" by her late husband's family). Judah acknowledged being in the wrong for neither letting Shelah marry her nor telling her to find another man outside their family. He didn't sleep with her again after that, let alone marry her.

She gave birth to twin boys, Perez and Zerah. Perez became an ancestor of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1: 3,16; Luke 3:23, 33). God understands extenuating circumstances (1 Samuel 16:9; Psalm 7:9) and didn't condemn her for her unusual action in getting herself a child. Shelah too lived and prospered (1 Chronicles 4:21-23) while Onan did not leave any child behind. He didn't have any child from an earlier woman.  

Beware of the snare of Balaam (2).

Balaam himself was a victim of obstinacy and greed. He "loved the reward of wrongdoing" (2 Peter 2:15; Jude:11). 

When Balak first sent his messengers to him, God told him not to follow them to curse Israel (a nation He has blessed) and he complied. When Balak later sent a more powerful delegation with mouth-watering promises, Balaam refused to take God's earlier "No" for an answer and asked the delegation to stay overnight for him to learn what else God will say. God grudgingly allowed him to go with them and waylaid him before warning him to say only what He tells him to say there. 

Thrice , Balak built 7 altars and offered 7 bulls and 7 rams on them. Each time, Balaam stepped aside to seek God's face and God made him bless Israel instead of cursing them. This annoyed Balak and he sent him away . (Read Numbers chapters 22-24). 

Balaam "loved the reward of wrongdoing", though he was too smart to curse Israel so as not to be struck down by God. So he sponsored Moabite and Midianite women to lure Israel into sin so that God will punish them Himself (Revelation 2:14; Numbers 31:15,16). Though his plot succeeded, God led Israel to attack Midian and he was killed there (Numbers 31:1-8).

The Bible says at 1 Timothy 6:10, " The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows". Greediness is idolatry (Ephesians 5:5; Colossians 3:5). 

Though Balaam was not an Israelite, he enjoyed God's favour until the love of money led him astray. (Contrast Balaam with Job, another non-Israelite who found favour with God till the end of his life). May we not end up like Balaam.

"OBEY GOD AS RULER RATHER THAN MEN" (ACTS 5:29)

The Bible exhorts husbands to love their wives, wives to submit to their husbands, children to obey their parents and everyone in general to submit to people in authority (Ephesians 5: 21-33 & 6:1-9; Romans 13:1-7). Are there no limits to these laws? 

🔯 The first man Adam loved his wife so much that he ate the forbidden fruit she offered him. God blamed him for listening to the voice of his wife to the detriment of keeping His laws (Genesis 3:17-19). Listening to your wife is not a sin (as can be seen in the cases of Abraham at Genesis 21:8-13 and the Shunammite woman of 2 Kings 4:8-10) but don't go against God's laws.   

🔯 Jezebel was a very caring wife. She told Ahab, " Why are you so sad that you refuse to eat?" and got him Naboth's vineyard after killing Naboth and his sons (1 Kings 21:1-29 ; 2 Kings 9:26). Ahab was the worst human being as at then, "egged on by his wife Jezebel"(1 Kings 21:25). At the end of the day, the couple, their 70 sons and all of Ahab's relatives in Israel were wiped out (1 Kings 21:20-26 & 22:37-40; 2 Kings 9:22-37 & 10:1-11,17). Even their daughter Athaliah , who had married away into Judah's royal family (2 Kings 8:16-18,24 and 11:1), killed most of her own children and grandchildren before being executed (2 Kings 11:1-16). Contrast Jezebel with Abigail, who used godly wisdom to save her family from annihilation (1 Samuel chapter 25). 

🔯 The young prophet at 1 Kings 13 disobeyed God's clear commands and paid dearly for it because an older prophet said,"An angel told me to bring you to my house to eat and drink". How can God tell you to do something, an "angel" (or demon) will "tell" somebody to make you do the opposite and you will obey the human being? Why not pray to God for confirmation? Deuteronomy 13:1-3 warns us against prophets who try to make us disobey God ,even if their signs or portents come true. Eve ignored God's command and listened to the serpent (the Devil in disguise) - Genesis 3:1-7; Revelation 12:9. God did not spare her for being fooled by a fallen angel. "Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness" (2 Corinthians 11:14-15).

 

📣 Nobody should be so important or dear to you to make you offend God. No wonder Jesus said at Matthew 5: 29-30, "If your eye or hand is making you stumble, tear it out and throw it away from you. It is better for you to lose one of your body parts than for your whole body to land in hell". Since our bodies are God's temples which are not to be destroyed ( 1 Corinthians 3:16-17), Jesus is telling us to abandon evil associations (1 Corinthians 15:33) here. Where no Bible principle is violated, obey your superiors and consider the feelings of your equals and subordinates. But never displease God to please ANY human being.