by Andrew Corbett | May 6, 2014 | Bible Prophecy, Eschatology |
The Bible’s Prophetic Program Culminates With “a new heaven and a new earth.” What might this mean? What are the implications of this? Does it have bearing on how we live today?
¶ Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
Revelation 21:1
But what does this mean? The implications of how we understand this Bible prophecy are slightly enormous. I was recently discussing with another pastor some issue of concern we shared about a potential environmental hazard. I ventured that we needed to take some action. He responded by expressing doubts that a pastor could achieve any change. Then he said, “…besides, this earth will soon pass away soon since the Bible says a ‘new earth’ is coming, so ultimately it doesn’t really matter!” How we understand what the Bible means when it refers to a ‘new heaven and a new earth’ may well determine how we treat our ‘existing’ earth and the type of legacy we will leave for generations to come.
by Andrew Corbett | Apr 26, 2013 | Bible Prophecy, Book of Revelation, Eschatology |
Wars, earthquakes, floods, and famines have long been considered the traits of what many believe to be the Biblical description of the “end times”. Added to this is what many understand to be the predictions of increased apostasy, the rise in persecution, the deterioration of society’s morals, and the increased compromise and lukewarmness of the Church. And surely, if these are the characteristics of what the Bible describes as the last days, we must be in the last days, right? But are we? And if we are, so what? And if we aren’t, then what? But are we in what the Bible describes as the ‘end times’?
by Andrew Corbett | Jun 19, 2010 | Bible Prophecy, Book of Revelation, Eschatology, Hermeneutics |
The dividing line between Classical Preterists and Full Preterists is how the Biblical references to the New Jerusalem are understood. Full Preterists, who argue that all of the Book of Revelation is fulfilled, contend that the New Jerusalem has already (spiritually) come ‘down’. Classical Preterists, who argue that only Revelation chapters 1-19 are fulfilled, on the other hand, contend that the expression New or Heavenly Jerusalem, while indeed alludes to the New Covenant, will one day have its full expression after the Second (Physical) Resurrection.
Full Preterists approach the Book of Revelation as if it is all fulfilled. Naturally then, the reference to the New Jerusalem coming down out of Heaven described in Revelation 21 is considered fulfilled.
by Andrew Corbett | May 24, 2010 | Bible Prophecy, Book of Revelation, Eschatology |
Has the Law been accomplished? Presumably. Christ said earlier in Matthew 5:17 that this was one of the reasons why He came: to fulfil the Law. But has “heaven and earth” been done away with? How we understand this statement has a great bearing on how we understand the statement in 2Peter 3:12.
by Andrew Corbett | Jul 8, 2009 | Bible Prophecy, Book of Revelation, Eschatology |
The Book of Revelation has variously been described as so mysterious that it simply cannot be understood. But this has not stopped some from speculating about what its symbolims means. Such speculation is based on the assumption that the Book of Revelation is uniquely symbolic. But what are the implications of the idea that Revelation is written with consistent Biblical symbolism in how we understand its message?
In fact, it can be shown that the Book of Revelation is saturated in Old Testament imagery and symbolism. Understanding this should help us to avoid abusing this profound Book with ridiculous speculation that forces such contemporary events as the European Union, the United States, modern Iran, and computer technology into the text.
The United States of America is not mentioned or even referred to in the Book of Revelation!
by Andrew Corbett | Apr 27, 2009 | Bible Prophecy |
It seems that the Christian response to the claim of rapid climate change is polarised between the extremes of outright denial on the one hand and apocalyptic alarm on the other. And these responses often have more to do with theological biases rather than real science…
DENIAL…
There are a large number of Evangelical Christians who simply reject the claim that the Globe is unusually warming. Their denials often downplay the cries of scientists alarmed about the current global warming trends. These Christians scoff at such alarmism and dismiss these weather patterns as merely normal cyclical trends that have carried on this way for centuries if not millennia.
