THE ANNIHILATION OF THE EARTH

By Ryan Hicks

While many people believe that at one time the earth will be totally destroyed or annihilated and that a new earth will be created to take its place, the Bible simply doesn't teach such a thing. Now this obviously sounds ridiculous considering God created the earth to be eternal (Ps. 104:5; Eccl. 1:4; See "The Earth Abideth For Ever").

THE EARTH WILL BE RENEWED, NOT DESTROYED!

Isaiah 65:17
17  For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered not come into mind.

Isaiah 66:22
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.

The Hebrew word translated "new" in both of these verses is chadash (2319) which means new, refreshed, fresh, renewed. In no case does it imply a totally new earth, rather a re-created or restored earth. This is like the earth was restored and made new (in the sense of having been renewed) after Lucifer's Flood (Gen. 1:2; Ps. 104:6; 2 Pet. 3:5-7) in the six days of restoration (Gen. 1:3-2:25; Ex. 20:11). These verses are simply showing us that the earth will be restored to a third perfect habitable state (See The Three Ages of the Heavens and Earth).

2 Peter. 3:13
13   Nevertheless we according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

Revelation 21:1
1   And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

The Greek word translated "new" here is kainos which means new (in quality), different (in character), renewed. It is used in 2 Cor. 5:17 in reference to a born-again man being a renewed creature, but has no reference to there being a new man (in the sense that the person that was renewed was replaced with a different person). It is also used in reference to the "New" Testament in Mt. 26:28. In this case it also refers to the fact that the New Testament is a renewed Testament or covenant based largely on the Old Testament, but with new laws and promises. It is not a totally new covenant, because it incorporates many of the Old Testament laws into its contract with man (Mt. 19:18-19; 22:37-40; Rom. 13:9; 1 Pet. 1:15; etc.). So from these two examples and the fact that "the earth abideth for ever" (Eccl. 1:4) prove that the earth will be renewed, but it will never be annihilated to make room for a totally new earth.