Category Archives: The World

The World in Prophecy: A World to Come

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The word ai?n of age is also used of the age to come, the world to come, forever.

Ai?n is often used in the sense of forever

“ … For yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.’”
Mtt 6:13 WEB

Or again when Jesus warns of speaking evil of the Holy Spirit of God, He says,

“but whoever may blaspheme against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin.”
MK 3:29 WEB

That is to say, that is a sin that lasts into the age of the ages. Similarly, of Jesus it was said.

“and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. There will be no end to his kingdom.”
Lk 1:33 WEB

There will be an End to this Present Age

That was described the last post on “The World in Prophecy: This World will Pass Away.” In the parable of the tares/weeds in Matthew 13, Jesus says,

“The enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels.”
Mtt 13:39 WEB

So also He says.

“As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.”
Mtt 13:40 KJV

Matthew 24 is among other things, in part about the end of this world, this age of wickedness.

“ … the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? What is the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?””
Mtt 24:3 WEB

And there is a world to come

“Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in that which is to come.”
Mtt 12:32 WEB

When in Hebrews chapter one the author describes man finally achieving rulership over ALL things, says,

“For he didn’t subject the world to come, whereof we speak, to angels.”
Heb 2:5 WEB

No, it is to be subject to forgiven and saved and glorified mankind. There is an age to come. If you loose something here because of serving Christ, do not worry about it.

“but he will receive one hundred times more now in this time, houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land, with persecutions; and in the age to come eternal life.”
Mk 10:30 WEB

That is to says, age unending life. This is commonly called “Heaven.”

A key to reading many prophecies

Is that a prophecy about this present earth? Or is that a prophecy about “… new heavens and a new earth, in which dwells righteousness.” 2Pe 3:13 WEB

Many confuse prophecies of the new heavens and the new earth, with this present earth, and come up with a heaven on earth which will never be.

And Jesus will be with His own all the way.

“ … “Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.”
Mtt 28:20 WEB

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

The World in Prophecy: This World will Pass Away

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Entropy, described in the previous post on “The World in Prophecy: Ruined by Rebellion,” assures that this will finally happen.

Peter says it will happen this way

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.”
2Pe 3:10 WEB

Man’s situation will be in the end intolerable, and Jesus will intervene.

“7 … when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, 8 giving vengeance to those who don’t know God, and to those who don’t obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus,”
2Thes 1:7-9

Isaiah gives us more details

No one will be able to escape, unless God is with him.

“17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are on you, O inhabitant of the earth. 18 It shall happen, that he who flees from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he who comes up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble.”
Isa 24:17-18

The earth will be moved out of its place, and torn apart in this final phase of the universe passing away.

“19 The earth is utterly broken, the earth is torn apart, the earth is shaken violently. 20 The earth shall stagger like a drunken man, and shall sway back and forth like a hammock; and the disobedience of it shall be heavy on it, and it shall fall, AND NOT RISE AGAIN”
Isa 24:19-20 WEB (emphasis added)

Psalms prophetically tells us this universe will be
put away like an old coat

“25 Of old, you laid the foundation of the earth.
The heavens are the work of your hands.
26 They will perish, but you will endure.
Yes, all of them will wear out like a garment.
You will change them like a cloak, and they will be changed.”
Psa 102:25-26 WEB

“Wear out like a garment.” Yes, entropy. Then the new will come. This of course is also quoted in Hebrews 1.

The prisoners will gathered together

“21 It shall happen in that day, that Yahweh will punish the host of the high ones on high, and the kings of the earth on the earth. 22 They shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison; and after many days shall they be visited.”
Isa 24:21-22 WEB

Jesus tells us that,

“31 “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32 Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ”
Mtt 25:31-32 WEB

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

The World in Prophecy: Ruined by Rebellion

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There are many things which are beautiful and nice about our present world. Even so most of us are soon aware that something is wrong, or more than one thing is seriously wrong in this present world.

It hasn’t always been like this

In a way we even sense this inside us. Man was once in a perfect place, and had a perfect job, tending a beautiful and bountiful garden. Our ancestor’s rebellion against God’s instructions changed all of this, so,

“17 … cursed is the ground for your sake. In toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18 Thorns also and thistles will it bring forth to you; and you will eat the herb of the field.”
Gen 3:17-18 WEB

And that was just the beginning.

Sin ruins things

Sometimes things can go back and forth because of our stubbornness or repentance.

“33 He turns rivers into a desert,
Water springs into a thirsty ground,
34 And a fruitful land into a salt waste,
For the wickedness of those who dwell in it.
35 He turns a desert into a pool of water,
And a dry land into water springs.
36 There he makes the hungry live,
That they may prepare a city to live in,
37 Sow fields, plant vineyards,
And reap the fruits of increase.
38 He blesses them also, so that they are multiplied greatly.
He doesn’t allow their cattle to decrease.”
Psa 107:33-38 WEB

It is sin that pollutes our world

“4 The earth mourns and fades away, the world languishes and fades away, the lofty people of the earth do languish. 5 The earth also is polluted under the inhabitants of it; because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore has the curse devoured the earth, and those who dwell therein are found guilty: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.”
Isa 24:4-6 WEB

God looks for and tries to encourage repentance

“8 if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do to them. 9 At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; 10 if they do that which is evil in my sight, that they not obey my voice, then I will repent of the good, with which I said I would benefit them.”
Jer 18:8-10 WEB

In Physics these laws of decay are called “entropy.”

Entropy in everyday terms means that things run down, decay, fall apart. In Rom 8:20 Paul says that the world was subjected to this frustration, this futility, this vanity/emptiness, by God’s decision. But He says that one day

“that the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of decay into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.”
Rom 8:21 WEB

Entropy is not an eternal law, but a temporary dilemma of our present universe because of sin. We have become a part of a cosmic rebellion.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

The World in Prophecy: An Evil World System

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All of us like to be liked. We wish everyone liked us.

But there is a world system which is evil.

Satan is allowed to tempt us and to try to seduce us. He is allowed to offer such rewards as a temporary existence here may carry. Satan said of what he offered Jesus, that

“I will give you all this authority, and their glory, for it has been delivered to me; and I give it to whomever I want.”
Lk 4:6 WEB

Jesus rejected this offer. The beast will accet the offer, Rev 13:2. As Jesus went to the cross He said,

“Now is the judgment of this world. Now the prince of this world will be cast out.” John 12:31 WEB

That system that Satan has cobbled together is evil to the core. Jesus kingdom is not of this system.

… “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would fight, that I wouldn’t be delivered to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from here.”
Jn 18:36 WEB.

We are a bred living for the wrong things.

The people of this world are very astute in living for this present world. In fact they are better at living for this world, than Christians are in living for the world to come. A certain rich man had a dishonest manager, who very cleverly skinned his employer. The rich man could only admire his shrewd behavior.

“His lord commended the dishonest manager because he had done wisely, for the children of this world are, in their own generation, wiser than the children of the light.”
Lk 16:8 WEB

It is comparing the children of this age with the children of the age to come.

This Age is in rebellion against God.

“This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil.”
Jn 3:19 WEB.

It does not even want to know that it’s ways are evil.

“The world can’t hate you, but it hates me, because I testify about it, that its works are evil.”
Jn 7:7 WEB

The world system, the media, many large corporations,
many governments, the whole thing,

is not of God. It does not know God, it is against God.

““He who is not with me is against me, and he who doesn’t gather with me, scatters.”
Jn 12:30 WEB

“… If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love isn’t in him.”
1Jn 2:15 WEB

The world system is NOT your friend.

James goes further.

“… don’t you know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ”
Jas 4:4 WEB

In the end, this will all have to be answered for.

But God wants to redeem us, to the extent of offering His One and Only Son to suffer in our stead, “that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” Jn 3:16 WEB

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

The World in Prophecy: Being Reconciled to God

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Now the World will be Judged by the Lord God

He will judge the world in righteousness.
He will administer judgment to the peoples in uprightness.
Psa 9:8 WEB

The Hebrew word here is tebel, the inhabited world. It cannot be avoided, and God is the judge of not only His own people, but also of the nations.

“ The earth is Yahweh’s, with its fullness;
The world, and those who dwell therein.”
Psa 24:1 WEB

Here is eretz earth and tebel the inhabited world. Further, not all judgment is future. Our sins can also bring judgment on us within history, and this is taught in both the Old and New Testaments. The Lord speaks of sending ancient Assyria to punish wicked nations.

“5 Ho Assyrian, the rod of my anger, the staff in whose hand is my indignation! … 7 … it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off not a few nations.”
Isa 10:5 WEB

Then when God is through using Assyria, He will then deal with their sins, Isaiah 10.

God rules the nations

This idea doesn’t just begins in the New Testament. God is pictured as ruling, and desiring to draw a sinful world to Himself.

“… the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and that he sets up over it whoever he will.”
Dan 5:21 WEB

And this God who rules over heaven and earth, how does He interface with men? Paul gives us part of the answer in a speech he to the philosophers in Athens.

“He made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the surface of the earth, having determined appointed seasons, and the boundaries of their dwellings,”
Acts 17:26 WEB

Where do the nations live? According to this verse God determines where they live, the boundaries of the nations, and how long they will live there. To what purpose does God work in raising up nations, or then again by His will, bringing them down?

“27 that they should seek the Lord, if perhaps they might reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live, and move, and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.’”
Acts 17:27-28 WEB

Then to finally bring men to reunite with their God,

“God was in Christ reconciling the WORLD to himself,

“not reckoning to them their trespasses, and having committed to us the word of reconciliation.” 2Cor 5:19 WEB

“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,” 1Tim 1:15 WEB

Jesus said,

“I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in me may not remain in the darkness”. Jn 12:46 WEB

In one way, it is not that rejecting Jesus means we will be lost forever.

“One who believes in the Son has eternal life, but one who disobey the Son won’t see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
Jn 3:36 WEB

We were already lost. Our only hope of recovery is through Jesus.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

The World in Prophecy: The Words

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The main New Testament word for “world” is the Greek “kosmos.”

It had the idea of something orderly, even beautiful, and is used in passages like Mtt 4:18. and Mtt 5:14. We moderns associate kosmos with the entire universe, and I think this New Testament word may overlap many of our ideas of the universe or kosmos. The general Hebrew equivalent would be ezret, which can be used for either land, or a country, or the “earth.”

It carries with it the idea of all mankind,

“… God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
Jn 3:16 WEB

The word for an age is often translated as “world.”

The Greek word is ai?n, and it is variously translated as age, ages, time, eternity, forever, etc., or even “world.” Satan is spoken of as the “god” of this world, 2Cor 4:4, that is to say, god of this age. It speaks in Mtt 13:22 of a man being overcome with the cares and worries of this world, that is to say, the cares and worries of this age.

“Since the world began it has never been heard of that anyone opened the eyes of someone born blind. ”
Jn 9:32 WEB

Since this age began. Also we are told to not copy this age.

“Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, …”
Rom 12:2 WEB

This age thinks it is smart, but long range, they are not.

“Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the lawyer of this world? Hasn’t God made foolish the wisdom of this world?”
1Cor 1:20 WEB.

A final word that is used is for the inhabited world

When Luke tells the story of Jesus temptation, he says that Satan “showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.” Lk 4:5 WEB, and the world translated “world” here is oikoumen?, and this Greek word means the inhabited world. Oikoumen? is used of preaching of the gospel to the entire world in passages like Mtt 24:14. Or again is speaks of Caesar Augustus having a census of the inhabited world in Lk 2:1. The general Hebrew equivalent to oikoumen? is tebel, which is often translated as “world.” Many Old Testament prophesies of the end of the age use both the words ezret earth, and tebel world.

But the main word of the New Testament is “kosmos”

Christians are the light of the world, Mtt 5:14. The field in which we are work is the entire world. “the field is the world;” Mtt 13:38. Or again,

“For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life?”
Mtt 16:26 WEB

Especially since this world is soon to pass away.

“The world is passing away with its lusts, but he who does God’s will remains forever.”
1Jn 2:17 WEB

The world here is kosmos, and forever is ai?n.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901