Romans – God’s Timeline III: A Three Act Structure

 

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The Second Heavens and Earth

The disruption of the world left the heavens in a broken, fractured state. The fact that we live in relation to the second heavens at present should indicate to us that “heaven or hell” is not a plausible theory upon our death. It is nothing short of a blatant lie that “heaven” is, at present, some happy shrine of everlasting bliss, where the dead live in harmony and dogs and cats live together. The disruption greatly decimates the earth, but the earth itself is only a type of the spiritual realities which plague it (1 Cor. 4:9, Eph. 6:11-12.) The heavens, too, are a chaotic mess right now.

The clearest evidence to this fact is simply that the Adversary is still in heaven at present. In Revelation, we read of a great war which breaks out in heaven between Satan and Michael. Observe Rev. 12:7-9–

And a battle occurred in heaven. Michael and his messengers battle with the dragon, and the dragon battles, and its messengers. And they are not strong enough for him, neither was their place still found in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, the ancient serpent called Adversary and Satan, who is deceiving the whole inhabited earth. It was cast into the earth, and its messengers were cast with it.

The fact that Satan’s place was not “still found” in heaven tells us that, prior to this fight, he is still in heaven. He is not said to “descend” from heaven until the outcome of this war, when he is cast into the earth. The notion that Satan is “currently in hell,” preying on your downfall, is entirely unscriptural.

We do receive plenty of information concerning the second heavens, but it is vicarious. We receive far more information on the second earth, which is the stage for the vast majority of the text, beginning with its establishment in Genesis 1:3-2:3.

That this earth is the second in God’s creation resolves many problematic discrepancies between the evidence we have which demonstrates a much older land and water, with a much richer history, than would be if the earth were simply created in six days. We do not know how long this earth lasted, nor do we have a confirmation as to whether or not there was life on the first earth (though, if some prevalent geological theories concerning the period of dinosaurs holds any merit, we could say there was, though we cannot assert that any human is created until day six of Genesis 1.)

The six days of creation establish the critical themes and motifs which will play a vital role throughout the rest of the story. I wish to particularly stress the third day, where God does not “create” land, but parts the waters so that the dry ground may appear. The ground is not said to be “non-existent” – just not apparent.

If we recall the theme of the seas in the text, which is to denote chaos and disorder, we see that God sets statutes for the chaos, that the solid foundation on which we stand each day can sustain us. Yes, the very creation of the earth shows God’s use of “chaos” to effect a great outcome (in this case, the stage for His human race.) Today, two-thirds of the earth is covered with water. The atmosphere carries elements of water. There is even water buried deep in the earth’s mantle. The precipitation cycle highlights water in a gaseous state, and the frozen poles highlight its solid state.

Yet, with such an abundance of water, there is simply not enough here to permanently destroy the world to the extent of the first, and even the second world-wide flood. This information will tie in momentarily, but we will return to it when we cover the flood in relation to the purpose of the flood.

Where Are We Running?

This earth and this heaven that exist now are not God’s final set-piece. Jesus explicitly tells us in Matt. 24:35–

Heaven and earth shall be passing by, yet My words may by no means be passing by.

Please, let’s not mince words. Sit down and think about this! This heaven and earth will end, folks, and we’re not getting any younger, here. This is the time to recognize such a fact, especially if the Son and Prophet of God claimed it, not once, but on at least two other occasions (Mark 13:31, 21:33.) David further affirms this for us, in Ps. 102:25-26–

Beforetime You founded the earth,
And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
They shall perish, yet You shall stand.
All of them shall decay like a cloak;
Like clothing, You shall change them, and they shall pass by.

And God further affirms this Himself in Is. 51:6–

Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
And look to the earth beneath,
For the heavens, like smoke, they shall be dissolved away,
And the earth, like a cloak, it shall wear out,
And its dwellers, they shall die like a gnat;
Yet My salvation, it shall remain for the eon,
And My righteousness, it shall not be undone.

We may ask: how must this heaven and earth ‘dissolve?’ Many of us know that, upon the second deluge, God placed a rainbow in the sky as a continual reminder that He will not flood the earth a third time (Gen. 9:12-16.) As such, some other calamity must occur, by which the second earth perishes.

Well, I kind of spoiled it for you earlier, and throughout the Romans study, so I can’t pretend that this is a surprise for you. Let’s revisit 2 Peter. After telling us that the old earth was deluged by water, he continues in 3:7, saying–

Yet the heavens now, and the earth, by the same word, are stored with fire, being kept for the day of the judging and destruction of irreverent men.

Pop quiz! When you create a “heaven and earth” that you wish to destroy, but you pwomised your little baby creatures that you wouldn’t flood anything anymore, what do you do??

Why, you blow it up, of course!

This should come as no surprise to anyone, but the heavens and earth which are “now” are stored with fire. This has never been so apparent as the present, where the atomic bomb has made its advent. In recent years, I had the privilege to watch Christopher Nolan’s epic, Oppenheimer, which, as the title implies, is a biographical narrative of J. Robert Oppenheimer’s creation of the atomic bomb with a small crew of physicists during WWII, called “The Manhattan Project.”

During this film, I was surprised to learn that one of the physicists, named Edward Teller, calculated the very frightening possibility that a nuclear explosion would unravel the fabric of the atmosphere. The fear was, simply, that a large, exothermic reaction would heat up the atmosphere to such a degree that the elements which are, at present, beneficial to us, would become like lighter fluid. The heat of the nuclear bomb may light the carbon, nitrogen and oxygen in the atmosphere, creating a chain reaction which would diminish that thin medium between heaven and earth.

While mankind has not, as of yet, created anything with such devastating power (and, if we have, the top 1% has been smart enough not to use it,) God has no such limitations, having created the periodic table. He can, and will, make use of the pseudo lighter fluid in His atmosphere. Energy within the earth, and throughout all of space, will internally combust, and this third dimension will, once again, be reduced to rubble.

This process verified by Peter later on in 2 Pet. 3:10, 12–

Now the day of the Lord will be arriving as a thief, in which the heavens will be passing by with a booming noise, yet the elements shall be dissolved by combustion, and the earth and the works in it shall be found.

…the heavens, being on fire, will be dissolved, and the elements decompose by combustion!

And, again, God further affirms this Himself in Is. 51:6 –

Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
And look to the earth beneath,
For the heavens, like smoke, they shall be dissolved away,
And the earth, like a cloak, it shall wear out,
And its dwellers, they shall die like a gnat;
Yet My salvation, it shall remain for the eon,
And My righteousness, it shall not be undone.

The evidence is sound. Verse after verse proclaiming that the heavens and earth as we currently know them will implode. They are not a resting place for the dead. They will implode. Poof! Gone. Bye bye, second heavens.

The Third Heavens and Earth

For behold Me creating new heavens and a new earth, And the former shall not be remembered, Nor shall they come upon the heart.

There are, then, two universal cataclysms which separate the three heavens and three earths. The first is the disruption, in water, and the second is an implosion, by fire. The disruption is followed by restoration, and the implosion is followed by judgment. In Revelation 20:9, fire descends from heaven and destroys a rebellion generated by Satan at the end of the 1,000 year millennium of Christ’s reign on this earth. After this scene, the great white throne is presented to the reader, in verses 10-15. This is, narratively, the event which prepares for the final heaven and earth.

Aaaaand what follows? A new heaven and a new earth. I believe this, because there are verses that directly state this. Here we have 2 Pet. 3:13:

Yet we, according to His promises, are hoping for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness is dwelling.

There will be a third heaven and third earth. We may first ask, what will this third heaven look like? The third heaven is given its fullest revelation by the apostle Paul, briefly mentioned in 2 Cor. 12:2, 4–

I am acquainted with a man in Christ, fourteen years before this, (whether in a body I am not aware, or outside of the body, I am not aware -- God is aware) such a one was snatched away to the third heaven… he was snatched away into paradise and hears ineffable declarations, which it is not allowed a man to speak.

The term “ineffable,” in Greek, is arrêton, “UN-GUSHED.” It is, literally, the opposite of gushing. These declarations are unspeakable. It is unclear, per the verbiage, whether it is literally or lawfully impossible for Paul to reveal what he saw. There is, indeed, a good chance that he witnessed the completed body of Christ, a reality so far removed from his own that words could not properly convey the image. To make any claims beyond that which Paul provides here concerning the third heaven would be as speculative as any claim made to the first heaven. God intentionally keeps this information a secret (He seems to like surprises.)

In other words, to answer the question: beats the hell outta me. But it’s there! That Paul calls it the third heaven is no accident, and gives much weight to our current study.

We have more detail concerning the third earth, which is described in more detail by John in Rev. 21-22. We will not, at present, engage in a long study of these chapters, for that would take too long, and would not contribute much to our current study. However, I will note that the first detail we are given in Revelation’s prophecy concerning the new heaven and new earth is thus:

And I perceived a new heaven and a new earth, for the former heaven and the former earth pass away, and the sea is no more.

The sea is no more. Well, I’ll be damned! It’s almost like there’s a theme going on here. Keeping in mind our motif, that the sea represents chaos, we are confronted with the full, God’s-eye view of these three earths. Chaos progressively recedes throughout the course of the story, until it vanishes completely during its resolution. At the end of the second earth (y’know, before it implodes and all,) righteousness is dispensed through the millennial kingdom. Post-Judgment-Day, when the new heavens and earth arrive, righteousness will not only be ruling affairs, but dwelling in individuals on the earth (Rev. 21:2-4.)

*   *   *

With the three heavens and three earths considered, it is apparent that we have a simple and informative structure – one which any fan of a good story is acutely familiar:

A three act structure.

Yes, for all its bells and whistles, the Bible is, at the end of the day, indicating the simplest story structure there is.

1.    There is an introduction, a first earth (Gen. 1:1, Deut. 32:4, Is. 45:18.)

2.    There is an immediate conflict, followed by a second earth (Gen. 1:2-31.)

3.    There is a resolution, followed by a third earth (Rev. 20:9-22:16.)

Of course, there are more structures and more complex narratives within this three-act structure (billions of plot points, low-balling that figure.) But this is a rigid basis by which we may apprehend the more complex topics to follow. By starting with the material basis for the story, we can apply the more abstract concepts of time without becoming too lost in the sauce, as it were.

So! How many more articles before I actually start discussing the eons? More on this in the next one.

- GerudoKing