The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
(Isaiah 24:19-23) KJV
Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.
The earth is moved exceedingly? Since I first began to think that the Bible is teaching us that the earth is stationary I have wondered about this passage, and there are a few others like it. If the earth moves, how can it be stationary?
The context goes on to help us understand that we are not really talking about the planet earth moving, as it would if it orbited the sun. We really are talking about the surface of the earth physically moving, even though the foundations of the earth are stationary at a fixed point in space.
The reason for believing this goes back to the creation of gravity on the second day. God created an instance of gravity, call it a singularity if you like, at a specific point in space, which, it just so happened, was in the midst of the great deep. This point, which is analogous to the scriptural label the “foundations of the earth,” does not move, although it is said that it shakes. We are looking at a model of the earth in which, as a precursor to the tribulation, the continental land masses move to reform something similar to the original continent Pangaea. Once this has happened, a giant meteor, possibly the planet Mercury, will impact the earth. This will cause a chain reaction which will eject magma plumes from the core. These will lift up the entire surface of the earth about 4,000 Km into the air. This will take place as the stars fall from heaven and completely wipe out all life in the oceans.
Out of this will come a new earth and a new heavens. When all is said and done the radius of the new earth will be about 10,975 Km. The moon and sun have been darkened and one-third of all of the stars fell from heaven, so the skies will look completely different. It is accurate to say that this is a new earth and a new heaven, but it is not the final earth and heaven which will come later, when the Millennial Kingdom passes away with the rest of this physical realm. When the prophets of old prophesied the new heaven and the new earth they were speaking of the Millennial Kingdom. In a similar way to the prophesy of the coming of the messiah it was in two parts. They didn’t realize that they were prophesying of to birth of Jesus Christ and his time upon the earth. That’s why the Jews traditionally reject Jesus. They are looking for a conquering King, not a lowly child in a manger. in a similar way they prophesied [a] new Jerusalem and a new earth and heavens, but not [the] new Jerusalem, which will come down from heaven and replace the earth.
But back to reality, ironically I just saw today that a group of earth scientists have made an announcement that next year, 2018, will be a busy year for earthquakes. Apparently they have been plotting a trend of how many earthquakes there are that are at least 7 on the Richter scale. We are due for an increase. Isn’t that interesting, it’s almost as if someone knows what’s coming…
Matty (Headwind) 