We continue with the subject of,

The Millennium and the End of Sin

Having we hope thoroughly considered the subject of where our Adventist friends believe Satan will be during the Millennium, we now would like to consider what they believe to be,

The fate of the earth

Our Adventist friends say:

“The earth will be burned completely with a purifying fire…and that during the time that the saints are reigning in heaven the earth will be desolate for a thousand years.”

The scriptures say nothing about the saints reigning in heaven during this time, but rather to the contrary state that they will be reigning (ruling, governing) on earth. This of course does not limit the scope of their reign to the earth alone, but merely to the work to be accomplished during this time.

“And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.” (Rev 5:9, 10)

It is during this time that as kings and priest of God and of Christ that they will as part of the great Mediator aid in the work of restitution and the reconciling (bringing into agreement or harmony) the residue of man to God.

Now we ask, how shall they accomplish this work of reconciliation if supposedly during this time the earth is burnt to a crisp (?), and there are no men left alive to reconcile?

We will address their next two statements in in regards to the earth becoming desolate and the cleansing of the earth in reverse order.

In regards to “The Cleansing of the Earth”, Adventist say:

“Describing the day of the Lord, when all traces of sin will be eliminated, Peter said, “The heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10).

The fire that destroys the wicked purifies the earth from the pollution of sin. Out of the ruins of this earth God will bring “a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away” (Rev. 21:1). From this cleansed, re-created earth—the eternal home of the redeemed—God will forever banish mourning, pain, and death (Rev. 21:4). Finally, the curse sin brought will have been lifted (Rev. 22:3).”

It is evident that our friends are attempting to force a literal interpretation to the apostle’s statement here in 2 Peter Chapter 3.

Note: it is important here not to confuse the teachings and beliefs of our Seventh Day Adventist friends with those beliefs which we have just reviewed in the previous posts espoused by the author, Michael Bradley in his article entitled “War in Heaven”, the two do not share the same beliefs.

In the description quoted above by our Adventist friends it appears that they are describing what they believe transpires at the end of the thousand years when supposedly they believe the second resurrection takes place, the resurrection of the wicked, quote:

“When God returns to earth to cleanse it, He begins what is known as the second resurrection, the resurrection of the wicked. This is when all those who rebelled against God, who refused Jesus and sided with Satan, will be brought back to life to be judged (Revelation 20:5).”

We will get into this resurrection a little later in this study, but for now we are dealing with what Adventist believe the fate of the earth will be.

Understand Adventist don’t believe that the physical earth (the planet itself) is going to be destroyed here, only the face of the earth. As stated, they believe in a literal interpretation of 2 Pet 3:10 in which “The heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up“.

Our Adventist friends interpret the “heavens” mentioned here, which are said to be on fire and dissolved in Verse 12 as representing the atmospheric heavens, the earths atmosphere.

As this verse is interpreted in the “Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary + Bible Students’ Source Book”, the literal heavens, the atmosphere will perish with “a great noise”. It is stated that Peter probably used these words “to represent the sound made by roaring flames”.

“And the elements will melt with fervent heat”

“It is probable, although not certain, that Peter here speaks of the physical elements of which our world is composed, matter that will “melt” under the cleansing fires of the last day.”

“Both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.”

“That is all earthly things, the works of man and of nature”

Although it’s true in some instances that a statement can carry both a literal as well as a symbolic meaning the difficulty is in distinguishing between the two and determining when to apply which. Unfortunately, the majority of believers in the professing church are merely “tares” or nominal Christians, Christians in name only, and thus not begotten of the spirit, they remain natural men and as such are subject to the natural man’s ability to comprehend and to understand, even as it is written:

“The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Cor 2:14).

Thus, the tendency amongst these is to attempt to force a literal interpretation (as they do with most prophecies, especially the book of Revelation) even when it is clearly evident that what is seen is to be taken symbolically. They have no other choice as they lack spiritual discernment. The mysteries (the hidden truths) of the kingdom being hidden from them, hidden in parables and dark sayings, symbolism’s, types and pictures even as our Lord so states:

“… seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.” (Rom 2:14; Matt 13:11, 13)

In our next post we will take a look at 2 Pet 3:10 again this time as it should be properly interpreted.