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What the Bible says about Earth Burning Up in God's Judgment
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Genesis 19:28

Compare two far-apart scriptures, ones which really are not that distant, considering they both deal with the concept of God's judgment. In the first one, Abraham “looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace” (Genesis 19:28).

In the second passage, smoke attends the fall of another great city, Babylon:

After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for His judgments are true and just; for He has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of His servants.”

Once more they cried out, “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.” (Revelation 19:1-3, ESV)

Judgment forms the backdrop of both passages, and, in both cases, smoke is present. One of the underlying concepts behind smoke is God's judgment. In fact, one Hebrew noun for “smoke” is closely associated with the noun “anger,” as illustrated in Psalm 74:1: “Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?”

God also links judgment with smoke in Nahum 2:13: “'Behold, I am against you,' says the LORD of hosts, 'I will burn your chariots in smoke.'” It is only appropriate, then, that fully 22% of the scriptural references to smoke appear in the book of Revelation, since that book narrates the visions the apostle John saw regarding the Lord's Day—the Day of the Lord (Revelation 1:10)—a day of judgment.

Smoke and judgment fit hand and glove for at least two reasons:

First, smoke is evanescent; it is short-lived, ascending, dispersing, quickly becoming rarefied. In Psalm 102:3, the psalmist writes: “For my days pass away like smoke . . ..” God, speaking through the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 51:6, assures us that “the heavens will vanish away like smoke.” As smoke is short-lived, so is God's wrath. In Isaiah 10:25 (ESV), God tells us that “in a very little while My fury will come to an end.” Like smoke, God's judgment is intense but short-lived.

Second, not only is smoke an apt image for the brevity of God's judgment, but it is also a good image of the fate of those judged and found wanting. In Psalm 37:20, David assures us that the wicked shall perish “like the splendor of the meadows, [they] shall vanish, into smoke they shall vanish away.” In Hosea 13:3, the prophet, speaking of those who offer human sacrifices, concludes: “Therefore they shall be like the morning cloud and like the early dew that passes away, like chaff blown off from a threshing floor and like smoke from a chimney.” Poof! And they are gone.

Charles Whitaker
Clouds (Part Two): God's Cloud as His Chariot

2 Peter 3:10-13

Even though this comes on the heels of explaining God's longsuffering, nevertheless, the end will still come, and it will catch the world by surprise. I John 2:17 likewise tells us, “And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”

The original heavens and earth came to an end due to God's judgment on the rebellious angels. The re-created world ended in the Flood because of His judgment on the wickedness of mankind. Soon, our world will be burned up in God's judgment, replaced by new heavens and a new earth (Revelation 21:1-8), in which righteousness dwells. That is remarkable in itself—when has the world ever been described as being where righteousness dwells?

This will be a brand new thing. Because our minds are still affected by this world, even the called of God may have a hard time imagining a righteous reality. Simply put, we have become desensitized to unrighteousness. Even though we are—hopefully—not directly participating in it, our minds have still adjusted to what we observe around us; to some degree, we have all adapted to the deviant perspectives of our culture.

As a result, we, too, might scoff at times—not at the promise of Christ's return, but at the ideals of righteousness. We know that we must allow God to make Christ's righteousness our own, yet when we see someone working toward this, our carnality may scoff instead of appreciating a place where some of His righteousness dwells. Christ's righteousness in others may seem unrealistic to us, just like His return seems unrealistic to unbelievers.

Peter gives a powerful description of the violence and dissolution that lies just ahead, adding tremendous gravity to his eventual question. All that we recognize of this world will be burned up. The ungodly will perish. The things that we see on a daily basis will dissolve—the cultures, the cities, the systems that man has developed. With this fiery end in mind, Peter asks, “What manner of persons ought we be in holy conduct and godliness?”

This world is passing away, and everything that is part of this world is of limited duration and meaning. What matters are those things that relate to holiness, godliness, and the next world. All the rest will disappear.

When Christ returns, our response to God throughout our lives will matter. Our house, car, and other physical accoutrements will not. The quality of our relationships with others will matter. Our popularity will not. Our character will matter. The trivia and fickleness of the culture will not. The reflection of God in our lives and our example of His eternal life will matter, but the glitz and glamour of this world are just so much smoke waiting to dissipate. Through God's Spirit, we have been given the discernment to evaluate what will matter when Christ returns and what is simply vanity and grasping for the wind.

As Christ suffers long with us, is our whole heart focused on the repenting that we still need to do? Or are we among those walking according to our own lusts? Are we putting far off the day of doom, as Amos says (Amos 6:3), because much of this world does not seem too bad to us? Or are we earnestly longing for Christ's return, fervently praying, “Your Kingdom come”?

David C. Grabbe
How Much Longer Do We Have?


 




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