THE END: The Regeneration of Creation

Read 2 Peter 3:10-13.

The day of the Lord is the great prophetic period of the end times. It is not a 24 hour day, but encompasses the era from the rapture of the church to the end of the current creation.  As we use the word, “day,” in the sense of, “The Civil War took place in Lincoln’s day,” meaning a wider period of time—that is the usage here. It is a day of judgment, seven years of tribulation—the fearful judgments described in Revelation 6-19, and the establishment of the kingdom of God on earth by force with Christ’s return and the battle of Armageddon, His reign and the gathering and blessing of Israel, a final rebellion ending with the Great White Throne Judgment, and the dissolution of creation.

This all begins “as a thief in the night,” with Christ taking the church into heaven—suddenly, unexpectedly. The world will not be looking for the judgments to come.  The saints, however, will not be taken unaware. We will be noting the signs of the times, (see 1 Thess.4:13-5:11), preparing for the rapture. The wicked will be unprepared for the doom that will descend.

How does it all end?  That is what Peter turns to next. After the Millennium and the Great White Throne Judgment, he speaks of the regeneration of creation. In ancient mythology, there was a bird called the Phoenix, that at the end of its life would consume itself in fire and then rise from the ashes reborn. Similarly, this old creation will come unglued at the command of God who holds it together. The fission of the atoms will unleash incredible heat—imagine nuclear explosions of an incalculable number. God will purge all the sin from the old creation and then regenerate new heavens and a new earth.

How should we live in light of that?  Don’t give yourself to the stuff around you—it won’t last. It’s going up in smoke. Give yourself to the eternal. Store up treasure in heaven where it endures forever!

THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST

And the LORD shall be King over all the earth.  (Zechariah 14:9a)

The next event on God’s prophetic calendar is the rapture of the church.  At any moment, God could remove all born-again believers from the earth, before He pours out His wrath on a Christ-rejecting world.  No prophecy remains to be fulfilled before the rapture.  It is imminent.   Sometimes the rapture is confused with the second coming of Christ to earth.  In the rapture, the dead in Christ are raised and the living saints are translated.  Then, seven years of tribulation—a time of horrific judgments—begins.  At the climax of this cataclysm, Christ comes back with His church to commence His kingdom reign on earth.   The second coming is what Zechariah describes in chapter fourteen.  

He calls this time “the day of the LORD” (v.1).  This is not a 24-hour day, but a period of prophetic significance, signifying the end of human history.  Man has had his day—now God has His.  This is the day the Jews anticipate will usher in the Messianic kingdom.  This time is portrayed in Scripture as a time of awesome judgments.  Here, it mentions the “spoil” of battle, for Jesus said it would be a time of wars and rumors of war.  The culmination of this bloodshed will be at the battle of Armageddon (v.2-3).  From the West, the Beast—the Antichrist—will bring the combined might of the United States of Europe; Russia and her allies will descend as vultures from the North; armies numbering in the millions will march from the Orient; and the Arab and African nations sweep up from the South. They all converge in the Middle East for War. Jerusalem will fall and the Jews will be on the verge of extinction, when Christ will appear with heaven’s armies to conquer.

Jesus will set foot precisely where He departed—from the Mount of Olives (v.4-5).  The angels told the disciples who watched Jesus ascend that when He returned He would come to the same spot!  That mountain overlooks the Eastern Gate—the sealed Golden Gate of Jerusalem. It overlooks the valley of Jehoshaphat—scene of the judgment of the Gentile nations.  Here, Jesus wept over the city that rejected Him and said, “You shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’” (Matt.23:39)

The first time He came it was in weakness, as a babe in a manger, but He will come the second time in power, as a King on a stallion.  Christ returns with the angelic host and the raptured church.  We are coming to reign with Him as His Bride.  The earth will quake at His arrival.  A valley created will provide an avenue for those still in Jerusalem to escape.  God will keep His covenant with Israel.  

The Lamb of God will be the light (v.6-7).  This marks the dawn of a new day and dispels the darkness of sin.  As Malachi puts it, “The Sun of Righteousness is risen with healing in His wings.” 

The earthquake that splits Olivet will also open the stores of water beneath Jerusalem (v.8).  These life-giving waters flow out of the rebuilt Temple according to Ezekiel.  The desert will bloom.  The paradise Adam lost, will flower again under Christ’s rule (v.9).  Today the name  of Jesus is profaned, His cause is scorned, and His rule is rejected—but not in that day!  Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!

CODE BLUE

Blow the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day of the LORD is coming, For it is at hand….   (Joel 2:1)

Our world is sick with sin.  The immune system of a godly heritage that once offered protection to America against this plague has weakened to the point our nation is being overwhelmed by evil.  Unless we turn to God, our condition is terminal, our demise perhaps imminent.  A cascade of catastrophe can overwhelm a country.  Our vital signs indicate distress!

I have been in the hospital numerous times—in fact, my first job was at St. Joseph’s Hospital—and heard the call, “Code Blue! Code Blue!”  A patient was in a crisis situation—resuscitation was required immediately, or the patient’s next room would be in the funeral home.  Sometimes, it is too late, the person too far gone—they cannot be revived.

The Jews of Joel’s era had come to such a critical condition.  God tells His prophet to sound the alarm—a spiritual “Code Blue” call goes out.  The parallels to America today should be obvious. We have an emergency.  Our nation needs intervention—stat!

Joel’s “Code Blue” alarm is phrased as “The Day of the Lord.”

The first chapter contains a PREVIEW OF THE DAY OF THE LORD.  Joel’s focus is on the Day of the Lord—a time of retribution for the Gentiles and of redemption for the Jews.  The first chapter presents a preview of the Day of the Lord.  These were literal events in history which preview future events in prophecy—a portrait of Divine judgment is painted.  The devastation we read about was caused by a locust plague.  It reminds us that when the Day of the Lord comes it will be a day of retribution.  The intent of the suffering was to bring them to repentance. Their distress was meant to drive them to their knees.

The preview of the Day of the Lord, given in chapter one, brings us to PROPHECY OF THE DAY OF THE LORD in the second chapter of Joel.  Joel’s, “Code Blue” extends beyond his day, to that future Day—a judgment previewed by historical experiences, that issues in a judgment prophesied in eschatological events.   Joel had described a plague of locusts that would devour the land in the first chapter of his prophecy.  In chapter two, he describes an invasion of a massive army like a locust plague which decimates the land.  If the Jews are not led to repent of their sins by the insect invasion, something much worse is coming—infantry, not insects, from the north (v.20).  As the locust plague was devastating in its scope, so the horror Israel faces in her future will exceed any previous terror.  Jesus described it as a time of tribulation—not just for Israel, but the world—that if it were any longer all life would perish (see Matthew 24:21-22).  Wars and rumors of wars mark the course of the last days and lead ultimately to Armageddon.  Beyond the cataclysm of World War III and its bloody campaigns, there is a demonic locust invasion from the abyss during the Day of the Lord (see Rev.9:1-12).  Ultimately, Israel’s suffering leads them to cry out to God.  Scripture tells us that as the Great Tribulation comes to a crescendo of conflict, the Jews in Jerusalem will face certain genocide, but Christ will come again with the armies of heaven and obliterate Israel’s foes.  Get ready!  Jesus is coming soon!