Bereansearching Bible Studies

Introduction: God’s Wrath on Judgment Day Will Be Made Manifest by the Universe Being Destroyed

There are many verses in the Bible that refer to that Great Day, the Day of the LORD’s Wrath and Vengeance, which will be Judgment Day for all mankind for its sin and wickedness. Judgment Day will be manifest with this whole creation being destroyed by fire (as is described in the verses below).

Nonetheless, after that complete destruction of this creation (this universe) God will provide His Elect (those saved from the just penalty for their sins by the Person and Work of The LORD Jesus Christ) with a entirely new creation to inhabit for eternity wherein will dwell righteousness, as we read in 2 Peter 3:11-13, “[Seeing] then [that] all these things shall be dissolved, what manner [of persons] ought ye to be in [all] holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on 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, wherein dwelleth righteousness.“

Note: The Apostle Paul was hearkening us back to  Isaiah 65:17-19, “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice for ever [in that] which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.“

“The Heavens Shall Be Rolled Together as a Scroll“

There are two verses in the Bible that specifically mention the Heavens being “rolled together as a scroll”, they are Isaiah 34:4 and Revelation 6:14. However, we first need to see how those verses fit in the larger context by which God is describing Judgment Day. Judgment Day is described explicitly using consistent language throughout the Bible, perhaps most notably in the book of Isaiah, notably the entire 24th Chapter, but also:

Chapter 34:1-17, “¶Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it. For the indignation of the LORD [is] upon all nations, and [his] fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter. Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling [fig] from the fig tree. For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment. The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, [and] with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea. And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. For [it is] the day of the LORD’S vengeance, [and] the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion. And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever. But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness. They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none [shall be] there, and all her princes shall be nothing. And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, [and] a court for owls. The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest. There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate. Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them. And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.“

Revelation 6:12-17, “¶And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?“

Note how the last two verses above (Revelation 6:16&17) are in complete and absolute harmony with what we find in Isaiah 2:19-21, “And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made [each one] for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.” as well as Hosea 10:8, “The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.” And is not this entirely consistent with the very last words of the Lord Jesus Christ on the way to the cross, foretelling the future, where Jesus said in Luke 23:30, “Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.”

Other verses that provide a similar insight regarding the destruction of the heavens is found in Psalm 102:24-26, “I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years [are] throughout all generations. Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens [are] the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:” and Isaiah 51:6, “Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.“ (Note that the last words regarding smoke are veiled references to the burning fires of Hell.)

“The Sun and the Moon Shall Be Darkened”

Isaiah 24:23, “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.“

Ezekiel 32:7, “And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD.“

Joel 2:31, “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.“

The Apostle Peter in behalf of God, reiterates this warning, talking about Judgment Day quoted this verse from Joel in Acts 2:20, “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:” And the Apostle Peter prophesied again in 2 Peter 3:10-12, “¶But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. [Seeing] then [that] all these things shall be dissolved, what manner [of persons] ought ye to be in [all] holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?” And the Apostle Peter was again hearkening us back to Isaiah 64:1&2, “¶Oh that thou (God) wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence, As [when] the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, [that] the nations may tremble at thy presence!“

And note the harmony with what we see in Micah 1:2-4, “Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord GOD be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple. For, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth. And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, [and] as the waters [that are] poured down a steep place.“

And then again in Nahum 1:2-6, “God [is] jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and [is] furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth [wrath] for his enemies.The LORD [is] slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds [are] the dust of his feet. He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth. The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and allthat dwell therein. Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured outlike fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him.”

However, as we read immediately next in Nahum 1:7, “The LORD [is] good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.“

Revelation 6:12, “And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;“

Ezekiel 32:7, “And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD.”

Also Habakkuk 3:11, “”The sun [and] moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of thine arrows they went, [and] at the shining of thy glittering spear.” Note that the “glittering” is the word “barak” and this is another reference Judgment Day. To learn about Barak the man, please see: “Barak, the son of Abinoam“.

The above verse in Joel is also entirely consistent with what Jesus said in:

1. Matthew 24:29, “¶ Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:“
2. Mark 13:24-26, “¶But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.“
3. Luke 21:25, “And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;“

Isaiah 13:9-11, “Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for [their] evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.” and just one verse later in Isaiah 13:13, “Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.“

All of Isaiah Chapter 24, excerpted below, can rightly be entitled: Judgment on the Earth

Isaiah 24:1, “¶Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroadthe inhabitants thereof. And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him. The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word. The earth mourneth [and] fadeth away, the world languisheth [and] fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.“

 Isaiah 24:17-23, “Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth. And it shall come to pass, [that] he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake. 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. 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.“

Conclusion

God has been extremely kind to give the world warning! God is forthright and explicit!…Judgment Day, the Day of God’s Wrath, is most assuredly coming and Judgment Day is Coming Soon! The heavens as we now know them will be rolled back as a scroll and the former lights of the heavens, God’s Celestial Timekeepers, will be permanently darkened and all the elements of this creation will be dissolved by the fire of God’s Wrath.

Note: With respect to being timekeepers, we read the following in Psalm 104:19-23, “He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down. Thou makest darkness, and it is night: wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep [forth]. The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God. The sun ariseth, they gather themselves together, and lay them down in their dens. Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labour until the evening.” When Judgment Day comes, “there should be time no longer“, as we read in Revelation 10:6, “And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:“

However there is still the hope of Salvation through The Person and Work of the LORD Jesus Christ. God promises to make a new creation in the aftermath, wherein the old one will be forgotten, as we read in Isaiah 65:17, “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.” and Isaiah 66:22, “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.“

Finally, in Revelation 21:5 we read, “And he (Jesus) that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.“

So then dear reader, let us all heed this admonition from the Apostle Peter, as we read again in 2 Peter 3:11-13, “[Seeing] then [that] all these things shall be dissolved, what manner [of persons] ought ye to be in [all] holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on 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, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” And, notably, the Apostle Peter was hearkening us back to what we are told in Psalm 102:25&26, “Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens [are] the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:“

A Key Admonition from God: “Be Ye Holy“!

The Apostle Peter made a similar point of being holy in 1 Peter 1:15, “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” which also hearkens us back to Leviticus 19:2, where God said to Moses, “Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God [am] holy.” and Leviticus 20:7&8, “Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I [am] the LORD your God. And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I [am] the LORD which sanctify you.” (see also Leviticus 11:44&45 and Leviticus 20:26).

These verses are not telling us to be holy in and of ourselves, but, in Christ, the believers are made holy. Therefore we are being told to put our faith in Christ and we will be viewed as being holy, by being spiritually clothed in the robes of Jesus Christ’s righteousness.

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