NEW HEAVEN & NEW EARTH = NEW COVENANT
Old Heaven & Earth = Old Covenant
Apocalyptic Language is exaggerated, hyperbolic expressions used to describe a nation's rise or fall in terms of its universe, sun, moon, stars, earth as shining, glowing, collapsing, darkening, shaking, dissolving, melting, falling…
The Bible speaks of the darkening of the sun, moon, and stars in connection with judgment. This language occurs in the prophets to refer to the historical judgment of nations. Sun, moon and stars are related to people, nations, leaders. Apocalyptic Language is very figurative and exaggerated language when speaking of a nation's fall is likened to a that nation's universe collapsing; it's lights going dark, black, doomed.... When a nation is doing well, Scripture says it is shining, bright; just like we would say of a successful actor, musician- They're a shining star or shooting star, rising star. And of a failing celebrity, we say their fading, falling star, lights are out, a darkening star.
In Genesis 1:14-19 God gave the HEAVENLY lights to mark the seasons and govern the day and night.
In Gen 37:9-11 Story of Joseph's dream regarding his family
9 Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.”
10 So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?” 11 And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
Joseph dreams of the sun, moon and stars bowing down before him. This represented his family, the nation of Israel. In Biblical times and today, the sun, moon and stars are symbolic of nations, i.e., The USA flag has 50 stars; Japan has a sun; and Muslim flags have a moon and star. When someone or a nation is prospering, it said that they are a shining star, a bright a light. But when things are going down hill, it is said to be dark, gloomy, falling. This collapsing universe and great grand catastrophe language is known through Scripture as apocalyptic language. It is not Literal but highly figurative and symbolic. The prophets of God would use this terrifying language typically against a nation that has come under God's judgment. Jesus used it against the Pharisees and Jewish leaders of His day 30-33ad of Jerusalem’s destruction in that 1st century generation which really did take place in 70AD by God’s servants, THE ROMAN ARMIES! Btw YHWH owns everything and uses everything even wild animals, the weather, natural disasters and foreign nations and their armies to do His will!!!
{Isaiah 13:9-13 Judgment on Babylon 539 B.C.
9 See, the day of the LORD is coming —a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger— to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it. 10 "The stars of HEAVEN and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light.11 I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless. 12 I will make man scarcer than pure gold, more rare than the gold of Ophir. 13 Therefore I will make the HEAVENs tremble; and the EARTHs will shake from its place at the wrath of the LORD Almighty, in the day of his burning anger.
Isaiah 34:4 judgment on Edom 703 B.C.
3 Their slain will be thrown out their dead bodies will send up a stench; the mountains will be soaked with their blood. 4 All the stars of the HEAVENs will be dissolved and the sky rolled up like a scroll; all the starry host will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like shriveled figs from the fig tree.5 My sword has drunk its fill in the HEAVENs; see, it descends in judgment on Edom, the people I have totally destroyed. 6 The sword of the LORD is bathed in blood, it is covered with fat— the blood of lambs and goats, fat from the kidneys of rams. For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah and a great slaughter in Edom.
***If the sky rolled up and all the stars of heaven were dissolved in 703 BC, why do we still see a sky with stars??? It wasn't LITERAL LANGUAGE; just apocalyptic language. Learn the difference and the Bible will come alive to you like never before!
Ezekiel 32:1-8 Judgment on Egypt 568 B.C.
In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, take up a song of mourning over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him,
‘You compared yourself to a young lion of the nations,
Yet you are like the monster in the seas;
And you burst forth in your rivers
And muddied the waters with your feet
And fouled their rivers.’”
3 This is what the Lord God says:
“Now I will spread My net over you
With a contingent of many peoples,
And they will lift you up in My net.
4 I will leave you on the land;
I will hurl you on the open field.
And I will cause all the birds of the sky to nest on you,
And I will satisfy the animals of the whole earth with you.
***Notice how God is getting personal with Egypt and levels His apocalyptic description of BLOOD DEATH DARKNESS DESTRUCTION upon Egypt by His prophet! GOD IS BASICALLY TELLING EGYPT THAT HE IS GONNA DO SOME SERIOUS ASS KICKING ON THEM!!! JUST IMAGE THE AMOUNT OF BLOOD NEEDED TO RISE TO THAT of MOUNTAINS and what this prophecy brought to the hearts and minds of Egyptians!? All hyperbole!
Joel 2:10-11 Judgment on Judah 586 B.C.
GOD WIPES OUT EGYPT’S HEAVEN AND EARTH
Isaiah 13:6
Wail, for the day of the Lord is near; as destruction from the Almighty it will come!
7 Therefore all hands will be feeble,
and every human heart will melt.
8 They will be dismayed:
pangs and agony will seize them;
they will be in anguish like a woman in labor.They will look aghast at one another;
their faces will be aflame.
9Behold, the day of the Lord comes,
cruel, with wrath and fierce anger,
to make the land a desolation
and to destroy its sinners from it.
10 For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light;
the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light.
11 I will punish the world for its evil,
and the wicked for their iniquity;
I will putan end to the pomp of the arrogant, and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless.
12 I will make people more rare than fine gold, and mankind than the gold of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will make the HEAVENS tremble, and the EARTH will be shaken out of its place, at the wrath of the Lord of hosts in the day of his fierce anger.
GOD WIPESOUT EDOM’S HEAVEN AND EARTH
Isaiah34:1-6
Draw near, O nations, to hear, and give attention, O peoples! Let the EARTH hear, and all that fills it; the world, and all that comes from it.
2 For the Lord is enraged against all the nations, and furious against all their host; he has devoted them to destruction, has given them over for slaughter.
3Their slain shall be cast out, and the stench of their corpses shall rise; the mountains shall flow with their blood.
4 All the host of heaven shall rot away, and the skies roll up like a scroll. All their host shall fall, as leaves fall from the vine, like leaves falling from the fig tree.
5 For my sword has drunk its fill in the HEAVENS; behold, it descends for judgment upon Edom, upon the people I have devoted to destruction.
6 The Lord has a sword; it is sated with blood; it is gorged with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams.
For theLord has a sacrifice in Bozrah, a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
YESHUA DESCRIBES JERUSALEM’S SUN, MOON, STARS, HEAVEN AND EARTH TURNING TO BLOOD,DARKENING, FALLING…
Matthew24:29-35 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the HEAVENS will be shaken. 30Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with aloud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
32 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 35HEAVEN AND EARTH will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
Mark13:24-31 “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in THE HEAVENS will be shaken. 26 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
28 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 30 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 31 HEAVEN AND EARTH will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
Luke 21:25-33 “And there will be sign sin sun and moon and stars, and on THE EARTH distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26 people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of THE HEAVENS will be shaken. 27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
29 And he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. 30 As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. 31 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 32 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. 33HEAVEN AND EARTH will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
ACTS2
19 And I will show wonders in the HEAVENS above and signs on THE EARTH below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;20 the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.
Again, this is NOT literal language but apocalyptic. HELLO! There's still a sky outside. LOL. The passage above says star[S} plural falling to the earth. Stars were leaders like a movie star or actor star.
Haggai 2:
21 “Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I am about to shake THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH, 22 and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and overthrow the chariots and their riders. And the horses and their riders shall go down, every one by the sword of his brother.
Noticed how the shaking of heaven and earth is the fall of nations, kingdoms, chariots, riders or armies by judgment! It is not the physical earth or the HEAVENS rocking but apocalyptic language of God describing a kingdom being judged. God took the Babylonians, and would take down the Persians, then Greeks and Romans.
In the Hebrews 12 passage, the context is superiority of the New Covenant over the Old. In fact, the entire book is the superiority of Christ, The Gospel, The New Covenant over the Old. The old HEAVENS AND EARTH of The Old Covenant was being shaken and removed; and the New Covenant which is everlasting and CANNOT BE SHAKEN was being brought into full effect by 70AD, the destruction of the symbol of the OT, Jerusalem and the Temple.
** Isaiah poetically and prophetically describes The Lord’s deliverance of Israel from Egypt through the Red Sea. He recounts how The Lord gives His Word to Moses thus creating the covenant world or people of God; the world or Heaven and Earth of Israel.
GOD CALLS THE HEAVENS AND EARTH AS WITNESSES AGAINST ISRAEL.
He is basically referring HEAVEN and EARTH to THE COVENANT made with His COVENANT People Israel.
Deuteronomy 4:25-27
After you have had children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time—if you then become corrupt and make any kind of idol, doing evil in the eyes of the Lord your God and arousing his anger, 26 I CALL THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH AS WITNESSES AGAINST YOU THIS DAY THAT YOU WILL QUICKLY PERISH FROM THE LAND THAT YOU ARE CROSSING THE JORDAN TO POSSESS. You will not live there long but will certainly be destroyed. 27 The Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the Lord will drive you.
Deuteronomy 30:18-20
I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.
19 THIS DAY I CALL THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH AS WITNESSES AGAINST YOU THAT I HAVE SET BEFORE YOU LIFE AND DEATH, BLESSINGS AND CURSES. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Deuteronomy 31:27-29
For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you have been rebellious against the Lord while I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die!28 ASSEMBLE BEFORE ME ALL THE ELDERS OF YOUR TRIBES AND ALL YOUR OFFICIALS, SO THAT I CAN SPEAK THESE WORDS IN THEIR HEARING AND CALL THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH TO TESTIFY AGAINST THEM.29 For I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly corrupt and to turn from the way I have commanded you. In days to come, disaster will fall on you because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord and arouse his anger by what your hands have made.”
**Moses speaks to the assembly of COVENANT Israel and calls them HEAVENS AND THE EARTH.
ALSO, The Olivet Discourse is said in the context of Yeshua stating that the temple is coming down in "this generation (30-70AD)" along with Him saying heaven and earth will pass away and His Words will not pass away.
**Notice how Jesus says that until heaven and earth pass away, the law will not pass away; not even a small iota or dot. Well, if the law has passed, then that means heaven and earth passed first.
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams;
The writer of Hebrews says says that he and the presence of Christ represented the last days.
**The age that was ending was the 1st covenant age Old Covenant Age.
Notice how the formation of Israel was symbolized as the creation of “Heaven and earth,” and so its removal is symbolized as heaven and earth being destroyed, removed or passing away.
***Noticed how the shaking of heaven and earth is the fall of nations, kingdoms, chariots, riders or armies by judgment! It is not the physical earth or the heavens rocking but apocalyptic language of God describing a kingdom being judged. In the Hebrews 12 passage, the context is superiority of the New Covenant over the Old. In fact, the entire book is the superiority of Christ, The Gospel, The New Covenant over the Old. The old heavens and earth of The Old Covenant was being shaken and removed; and the New Covenant which is everlasting and CANNOT BE SHAKEN was being brought into full effect by 70AD, the destruction of the symbol of the OT, Jerusalem and the Temple.
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