Sorry, I thought I was clear enough. My position is that all those verses like in Isaiah 24, Jeremiah 4, etc. which describe a desolate, empty, uninhabited Earth refer to the destruction that happens in "the day of the Lord" when He comes "as a thief in the night" according to Peter, when the heavens and earth pass away and burn up, leaving behind nothing but a bunch of ashes on a desolate rock for a thousand years, after which New Jerusalem descends to our little planet as the new "capital" of the Universe which will be recreated as the New Earth.
Those verses have nothing to do with a previous creation and also do not fit anywhere in the Jesuit Futurist interpretation of prophecy, which describes non-stop human activity on Earth from now into eternity.
Thanks for the clarification; however we must respectively disagree with your conclusions. Let us examine some of your “
proof” text which you believe imply that the earth will become desolate and devoid of life for a thousand years.
We begin with
2 Pet 3:10
“
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” (
2 Pet 3:10)
The “
heavens” and the “
earth” here mentioned do not refer to
the literal heavens and earth, but rather to
the symbolic heavens and earth, that is,
the “
heavens”
here mentioned represent the ecclesiastical heavens, the ruling powers, both religious and political, but more particularly the spiritual controlling powers presently in control,
Satan, and the fallen angels with him.
It is these ruling powers both religious and political which will pass away with a great noise (in turmoil and confusion)
as well as, the elements (of society),
which will melt with fervent heat (in great conflict which is even now beginning to brew, in tumult, strife, human passion and wrath leading eventually to anarchy),
in which both the earth (the social order as now presently organized under Satan’s control)
and the works (pride, rank, race, selfishness)
that are in it will be burned up (swallowed up, dissolved).”
These are the “
heavens and earth”, which shall, perish, which are reserved for
the “
fire” (trouble)
of the Great Day,
the Day of His Vengeance, the Great Time of Trouble (i.e.
Armageddon), which the Scriptures inform us will be burned up, dissolved, this in order to make way for
the NEW “
heavens” and “
earth” (
2 Pet 3:13)
new spiritual powers, Christ’s Kingdom, our Lord taking the place of Satan, and his body the Church, taking the place of the fallen angles, a new religious order or system, one based upon truth and righteousness. A
NEW “
earth”,
a new social order, reorganized on the basis of love and justice.
“
Though the earth be removed (the present organization of society be dissolved),
and though the mountains (the kingdoms and governments)
be carried into the midst of the sea (into the restless anarchist masses);
its waters (peoples, the discontented masses)
roar and be troubled (as is evident even now),
the mountains shake with its swelling (the governments troubled, worried concerned by this uproar).” (
Psa 46 :1-3) nevertheless we shall not be moved nor alarmed for we have been forewarned of these events in advance and know that they are necessary in order to make way for the new order of things, the Lord’s Kingdom.
Let us now examine Jeremiah’s prophecy.
“
I beheld the earth, and indeed it was without form, and void; and the heavens, they had no light. ‘I beheld the mountains, and indeed they trembled, and all the hills moved back and forth. I beheld, and indeed there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens had fled. I beheld, and indeed the fruitful land was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down At the presence of the Lord, By His fierce anger. For thus says the Lord: “The whole land shall be desolate; yet I will not make a full end. For this shall the earth mourn, And the heavens above be black, Because I have spoken. I have purposed and will not relent, nor will I turn back from it.” (
Jer 4:23-28)
This has nothing to do with the idea of the earth being desolate and without life following the Lord’s Second Advent; this was a prophecy by Jeremiah concerning the impending trouble coming upon Israel. Let us go back a bit and consider the context from which these statements are made. In
Verses 1-4 the Lord states:
“
If you will return, O Israel,” says the Lord, “Return to me; and if you will put away your abominations out of my sight, Then you shall not be moved [but they did not heed, and were scattered abroad].
And you shall swear, ‘The Lord lives,’ in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; the nations shall bless themselves in Him [the gentiles who received Christ did just that],
and in Him they shall glory.” For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:
“Break up your fallow ground, And do not sow among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your hearts [“circumcision is that of the heart,” Rom 2:29],
You men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Lest My fury come forth like fire, And burn so that no one can quench it, Because of the evil of your doings.”
Jeremiah recognized such repentance was not forthcoming, and predicted the consequences (
Verses 7–13). The Babylonians worked this vengeance in Jeremiah’s day, and the Romans in Jesus day. Then Jeremiah expressed the sad conditions in Judaism in terms drawn from Genesis. "
I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light" (
Verse 23).
Here the prophet was using a
metaphor (a term or phrase applied to something to which it is not literally applicable, but nevertheless suggest a resemblance.)
This would be similar to the
Prophet Joel when speaking of the Day of the Lord, the Day of Darkness (the great time of trouble) when he mentions the coming of a people, “
great and strong (the Lord’s great army, the unrestrained anarchist masses of mankind),
the like of whom has never been; nor will there ever be any such after them, Even for many successive generations.” (
Joel 2:1, 2)
“
They come from a far country, from the end of heaven (from all four corners of the earth),
even the Lord, and the weapons (instruments)
of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.” (
Isa 13:5)
“
A fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns; the land is like the Garden of Eden before them, And behind them a desolate wilderness; surely nothing shall escape them.” (
Verse 3)
The land is like the Garden of Eden before them, that is to say prior to their coming in which they rape and pillage the land destroying everything in their wake, the land was like the Garden of Eden viz. when once you were safe in the comfort of your own home, when there was law and order, when you had running water, electricity, and could simply go to the store if you were hungry. Those days will be longed for.
This reign of anarchy is analogous (i.e. corresponds in some particular; is similar or comparable)
to the earth being “
without form (order) and void”.
We will take a look at
Isaiah 24 in my subsequent post.
