We continue with the subject of,

The Millennium and the End of Sin

The New Earth? And who Adventist believe will dwell there

Who will live on the New Earth?

According to our Adventist friends:

“The “saints” will live with God in the New Earth. In Isaiah 35:9-10 we are told, “But only the redeemed will walk there, and those who the Lord has rescued will return.”

We believe a more thorough examination of this text from Isaiah including a more thorough look at the context from which it was taken will show that this particular text DOES NOT apply to the saints, but rather to Israel and to mankind in general. The best way to accomplish this is to review the previous chapter as well as this sets the grounds for our examination being it opens with the dissolution of the old (or present) “heavens and earth”.

Excerpts here are taken from Brother Shallieu commentary on Isaiah.

Isaiah Chapter 34

Judgment on the Nations

VERSE 1 “Come near, you nations, to hear; And heed, you people! Let the earth hear, and all that is in it, the world and all things that come forth from it.”

Notice the format. The primary application of Verses 1–3 is natural (literal), and the primary application of Verses 4–7 is spiritual (symbolic).

VERSE 2 “For the indignation of the Lord is against all nations, And His fury against all their armies; He has (past tense) utterly destroyed them, He has given them over to the slaughter.”

God is addressing the world. His purpose is to gather all nations to Armageddon and then to Jacob’s Trouble to pour upon them His indignation.

Notice that the prophet states this matter with a certainty as though it were already accomplished. It is spoken as already fulfilled even though it has yet to have taken place. Nevertheless, we are assured of its certainty no less by the word the Lord Himself. That which the Lord has spoken, shall it not come to pass? Compare Isa 46:10 and 55:11.

VERSE 3 “Also their slain shall be thrown out; Their stench shall rise from their corpses, And the mountains (kingdoms or nations) shall be melted (dissolved) with their blood.”

There will be literal carnage in Jacob’s Trouble. In fact, so many will be slain of the forces of Gog that it will take seven months to bury the dead. A crew will be employed to bury bodies and bones in the designated cemetery. (Ezek. 39:12-15)

VERSE 4 “All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, And the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; All their host shall fall down as the leaf falls from the vine, and as fruit falling from a fig tree.”

The ecclesiastical heavens (The nominal Church, the present religious ruling powers) will be rolled together as a scroll, Papacy and Protestantism being the two ends of the scroll.

“All their host shall fall down, as the leaf falls off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.”

Why is this illustration used?

To show a decadent condition. In the illustration, the leaves and the figs are dried up and ready to fall with just a little whisper of wind (turmoil or strife); they part easily from the vine or tree. In other words, the nominal systems are ripe (or overripe) for judgment.

VERSE 5 “For My sword shall be bathed in heaven; Indeed, it shall come down on Edom, And on the people of My curse, for judgment.”

“Idumea” is another name for Edom (a type or picture of Christendom, Mystic Babylon, i.e., the church nominal). The “sword” is a symbol of judgment. God’s sword of judgment will be sated (fully satisfied) in the ecclesiastical heaven. Violence and trouble will result from Babylon’s fall.

“Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore.” (Rev 18:21)

Esau, who sold his birthright for a mess of pottage to satisfy his hunger, was thenceforth called Edom (Gen 25:30). “Esau” represents nominal Christianity, whose adherents are nominally the Lord’s but whose interest is more in pleasure and natural things. The nominal Church had the great honor and privilege of association with Christ in glory, but it pursued earthly things. Edom alludes to Esau’s and/or nominal Christianity’s having sold their birthright for worldly pleasure and gratification.

We continue with Verse 6 in our next post.