FEAST OF TABERNACLES--- EARTH TO VANISH AWAY?

 Earth Burned up at the Lord's Day?

Is the earth to Vanish Away at God's Day?

This appeared in a religious magazine in 2007 WILL THE EARTH BE BURNED UP? by E.T.Tennyson---- followed by my answer - Keith Hunt      Some will say, the Bible teaches that the earth will be destroyed, burned up. We can well understand this objection. This writer believed that too before THE TIME OF THE END! But now the Book is open and its pages are UNSEALED! This quotation - "the EARTH also and the works that are therein shall be BURNED UP" - is part of 2 Peter 3:10, and we have pointed out the glaring mistranslation of the English in the Authorized or King James Version of this text.      We have seen that the word EARTH (from the Greek term GE) means land, and that the words 'BURNED UP' mistranslate the Greek term KATAKAIO which means literally will-be-being-found or uncovered, and not burned up at all. Rotherham and other versions render it "discovered" rather than burned up, and it is clear that Peter is here speaking of the day of the Lord when the mighty whirlwind of Armageddon re-orbits the waters of the sea and the 140,000,000 square miles of LAND (not earth) will-be-being-found, discovered, or uncovered - not burned up at all! The original Greek of Peter's words translate in part as follows:  Yet will be arriving that day of the Master (Lord) as a thief, in which the atmosphere will-be beside-coming elements (mixed with water-elements of the sea), and boomingly, will-be-being-loosed (by the waterspouts of the whirlwind), and LAND (GE Greek - the 140,000,000 square miles of ocean bottoms - not earth) and the works in her will-be-being-found (KATAKAIO, Greek - uncovered - not burned up)." 2 Peter 3:10, see any Interlinear Word for Word English Translation. There is a vast difference between burning up the earth and uncovering 140,000,000 square miles of new LAND, and it is obvious that this was the theme of Peter's words and that he had no thought of a burned up earth! Peter believed the prophets, and he accepted their wards that "the earth abideth FOR EVER' (Eccl. 1:4), and that "God himself formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it TO BE INHABITED" (Isaiah 45:18)! We can rely on their words, not upon the words of the faulty English translations, and we can rest assured that our good earth will never be burned up!                              ................. MY ANSWER AND INVESTIGATION - Keith Hunt I did indeed go to the Greek/English INTERLINEARS. Here is how George Ricker Berry Ph.D. translates the Greek: "But shall come the day of (the) Lord as a thief in (the) night, in which the heavens with rushing noise shall pass away, and (the) elements burning with heat shall be dissolved, and (the) earth and the works in it shall be burnt up .... expecting and hasting the coming of the day of God by reason of which (the) heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, and (the) elements burning with heat shall melt. But a new heaven and a new earth according to his promise we expect in which righteousness dwells" (2 Peter 3:10 and 12). Then we have Jay P. Green Sr. and his Interlinear translation of the Greek, as followers: "But the day of (the) Lord as a thief in (the) night, in which the heavens with rushing sound will pass away, (the) elements and burning will be dissolved, and earth and the in it works will be burned up, these things then all being dissolved .... looking for and rushing the coming of the day of God, for which (the) heavens being set on fire will be dissolved, and (the) elements burning will melt. But new heavens and an earth, new according to the promise of him we look for, in which righteousness dwells" (2 Peter 3:10 and 12). Green also gives the word NUMBER above each Greek word corresponding to Strong's Concordance. The number of the words in this issue are numbers 2741 and 2618, for those who may like to look then up in Strong's Concordance of the Bible. Green also used as the Greek text of the NT, the "majority text" - the Greek MSS that have the MAJORITY SAME words found in the majority of the Greek manuscripts preserved today. Besides Strong's Concordance I also went to the THAYER'S Greek- English Lexicon of the NT under the numbered words of 2741 and 2618 as they are in Strong's Concordance.  I found no substantial difference from Strong's to Thayer's to Berry's  to Green's understanding of these Greek words and as they were translated in the OLD KJV and also the NEW KJV. The New KJV translates: "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, 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 .... looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat" (2 Peter 3:10 and 12). The Pishitta Bible by Lamsa reads: "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, when the heavens shall suddenly pass away and the elements shall separate as they burn, and the earth also and the works that are in it shall not be found .... Looking for and longing for the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being tested with fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which dwells righteousness" (2 Peter 3:10 and 12). The GOOD NEWS BIBLE read: "But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. On that Day the heavens will disappear with a shrill noise, the heavenly bodies will burn up and be destroyed, and the earth with everything in it will vanish (a footnote says: vanish - some manuscripts have :be found; others have "be burned up;" one has "be found destroyed").... as you wait for the day of God and do your best to make it come soon - the Day when the heavens will burn up and be destroyed, and the heavenly bodies will be melted by the heat. but you wait for what God has promised: new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness will be at home" (2 Peter 3:10 and 12). The Amplified Bible (leaving out what they put in brackets) reads: "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will vanish with a thunderous crash, and the elements will be dissolved by fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up .... While you wait and earnestly long for the coming of the day of God by reason of which the flaming heavens will be dissolved and the elements will flare and melt with fire (Isa. 34:4)" (2 Peter 3:10 and 12). The NIV Bible reads: "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare (a footnote says - Some early MSS read "will be burned up") .... as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming (footnote says ' Or as you wait eagerly for the day of God to come) That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness" (2 Peter 3:10 and 12). WHERE DID THE IDEA OF "DISCOVERED" COME FROM? So what about the idea put forth above by E.T. Tennyson. That it will be a time to "discover" the earth, the 140,000,000 square miles of LAND ... will-be-being-found, discovered, or uncovered, from the sea. Where did such an idea come from? Possibly or a start from reading the translation of the NT by FENTON. It reads: "But the day of the Lord will approach like a thief, when the skies will pass away with a crash, and their constituents will be dissolved by heat; while the earth and what is upon it will be RE-ORGANIZED ...." (2 Peter 3:10). BUT YET Fenton in a FOOTNOTE says: "Some of the old MSS read, 'will be made-known,' 'burnt up,' 'laid bare' " It is the EMPHATIC DIAGLOT (1942 edition) that gives the more emphatic (pun intended) answer: "But THE DAY of the Lord will come as a Thief, in which the HEAVENS shall pass away with a rushing sound, and the Elements burning intensely shall be dissolved, and the earth and the WORKS in it shall be burned up ...." (2 Peter 3:10). A footnote says for "burned up" - VATICAN MANUSCRIPT - discovered. AHHHH, it is the VATICANUS MSS, the CORRUPT (kept on a forgotten back shelf in the Vantican Library for centuries - even the Catholic Church thought is worthless) MSS brought out by some guy, in the 1800s,  who thought it the cat's meow. The false ideas from a corrupt and false MSS from the dusty back shelf of the Vatican Library has given rise from some few fellows about the idea Peter was talking about the land beneath the sea being "discovered" during the Day of the Lord. What Peter was saying here had NOTHING to do with land BENEATH the SEA being discovered and coming forth. Peter was telling his readers about the JUDGMENT to come on the earth and the heavens above the earth, the judgment of the LAST DAY, the time period of the DAY OF THE LORD, spoken about in about three dozen prophecies in the Old testament prophetic books, and the judgments given in the book of Revelation, which is a book in the MAIN on the time period of the DAY OF THE LORD, OR THE LORD'S DAY, or THE DAY OF GOD'S WRATH upon the earth and the nations of the earth. The book of Revelation gives such HORRIFIC events to be manifested on earth and in the heavens that indeed the overall concept of it all is, the heavens and earth BURNING UP, and being CONSUMED by fire, hail, and brimstone. The works of darkness and much of the physical form of the earth being indeed dissolved by fire of one sort or another (some from mankind themselves and some from God's miracle interventions). When you understand the important Bible tool that writers used "general statements" many times (see on this Website the in-depth study under "General Statements"), then you can understand what Peter was saying and teaching. Indeed he was NOT teaching that the Day of God would mean the entire earth and heavens would disappear and be no more, hence no 1,000 reign of christ and the Kingdom of God on earth. No, he was simply giving the overall general statement of the many prophecies of the Bible, that the Day of the Lord would come SUDDENLY and would be CATASTROPHIC in nature for much of the earth and the heavens above it.  Prophecy teaches this very clearly. The Day of God will be a JUDGMENT DAY - it will be horrific in blazing power from God, that can be described in simple words as the earth and heavens burning up. So much power of destruction will be manifested that the general statement of the heavens and earth burning up is the best and overall correct way to describe it. Peter was saying that this time is coming, and Christians need to spiritually be preparing for it, that they will be counted worthy to either live through it, if alive at the time, or be in the new earth and new heaven that will come AFTER the destruction during the Day of the Lord and the judgments on the nations of the earth. We are to live and do what is holiness so fiery judgment does not dissolved us, burn us up, so we can be in the glorious 1,000 years of Jesus' reign on earth, when He comes not only to burn up much of the earth but to also build a new heavens and a new earth where righteousness will reign in abundance. As the prophet said, "The earth shall be full of the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea beds." The sea beds will still cover much of the earth during the 1,000 years of the Kingdom of God on earth. The land of the sea beds will still be under the seas, but the depth of the knowledge of God will be so deep on the nations restored, it will be like as deep as the sea is over the sea beds. There will be, according to the prophets of old, a new heaven  and earth, coming out of the old one, that will during the Day  of the Lord, have much that is burnt up. The phrase "new heaven  and new earth" can indeed be applied to the 1,000 year Kingdom of God coming to this earth when Jesus returns. There will be a  RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS. The prophet Isaiah spoke a great deal about this new heavens and new earth when the Messiah would come in GLORY and POWER. You need to study the in-depth study on this  blog called "Armaggedon and the New Age." God speed that wonderful day, yes the horrific Day of Judgment of the Lord's Day, judgment upon the sinning nations, but also the great time beyond that - the Kingdom of God as it will cover all peoples on a restored earth and heaven, a new heaven and earth as it will materialize during that Sabbath day rest of one thousand years.  See many of the other studies on this blog concerning END TIME PROPHECIES.                            ..................... Written FEBRUARY 2007