The Highway Forums General Discussion Theology Discussion Forum What is the future of the planet according to Scripture?

Psalm 93:1b, "Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved."

Psalm 102:25-26, "Of old You founded the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. Even they will perish, but You endure; And all of them will wear out like a garment; Like clothing You will change them and they will be changed."

Pslam 104:5 seems to indicate that the earth is permanent. "He established the earth upon its foundations, so that it will not totter forever and ever."

So how do these passages correspond with 2 Peter 3:10 and 12? "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up." "looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat."

Will the heavens and the earth be destroyed or "changed" or are they permanent?

My understanding is that the physical earth will be permanent. The passage in 2Pet 3:10,12 is teaching that the earth, as we now know it, the "elements" (Gr: stoicheion something orderly in arrangement) will be "destroyed" (Gr: luo melted, dissolved or put off), i.e., it will be peeled like an orange; the "skin" will be burned up and then recreated into the "New Earth" (2Pet 3:13; Rev 21:1) where the glorified saints will dwell. Perhaps one could think of this as similar to how the earth was initially created "without form and void" (Heb: tohu and bohu) and then the elements of the earth were created to make it habitable for mankind. Paul seems to be referring to this recreation of the earth in Romans 8:18-22.

How does that sit with you?