Men, Angels and the Christ in Prophecy, Part 5 of 9

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A Trans-Universe War between men and
evil spiritual powers.

Perhaps even before man was created, there began a great revolt against God’s rule and authority, a revolt that began in heaven itself. Was it really before the creation of man? We do not know for sure but it sure seems so. When man was created, and the woman made for the man, it seems that Satan, symbolically called that Great Serpent or the Devil was already there. Ready to seduce and ruin mankind as best he could.

“Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field which Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, “Yes, has God said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?’””
Gen 3:1 WEB

You might say that our historic great grandmother bit! Then she got our original progenitor to bite. So we, all of mankind, joined that historic revolt again God Himself.

So it was that great curses fell on both
men and angels,
and men were altered at the DNA level.

Men began the processes of dying, and he lost access to the tree of life. This is not the place to discuss all the ramification of mankind’s fall, but some key points should be noted.

Satan was cursed, the woman was cursed, the man was cursed, and the creation was cursed, because of sin! Lastly, the stage was set for an age long war between mankind and the evil principalities and powers.

““I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.””
Gen 3:15 WEB

As Paul put it,

“For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world’s rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
Eph 6:12 WEB

This ultimately leads to a war in heaven itself.

There are armies in heaven. Remember Part III, the hosts (armies) of heaven and the Lord of Hosts? Remember that in Job’s day Satan was still able to appear before the Yaweh in heaven. That evidently changed around the time of the cross.

“7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”
Rev 12:7-9 KJV

This war now continues in this created universe.

You and I as men have often served these
evil spiritual masters.

“However at that time, not knowing God, you were in bondage to those who by nature are not gods.”
Gal 4:8 WEB

But Jesus has come to deliver us from these
Satanic powers which would destroy us,
Heb 2:14-15

KJV is the King James Version, 1611.

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

Men, Angels and the Christ in Prophecy, Part 4 of 9

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Angels are NOT robots. They are moral creatures
who can make moral decisions.

In this way they are like men. They, just like men, are made so that they are able to choose to NOT DO what they are supposed to do, or TO DO what they are not supposed to do. Also like us, angels are often allowed, beyond just choosing (within limits set by God), to do things which they should not. So it says of God,

“Behold, he puts no trust in his servants.
He charges his angels with error. ”
Job 4:18 WEB

So we saw in Part III “the prince of Persia” in Dan 10:13, and in that passage he is opposing the archangel Michael as he is trying to come to the aid of the prophet Daniel.

“15 Behold, he puts no trust in his holy ones;
Yes, the heavens are not clean in his sight:
16 How much less one who is abominable and corrupt,
A man who drinks iniquity like water!”
Job 15:15-16 WEB

When angels have sinned they (again like men)
are often punished WITHIN TIME.

Peter argues that if God did not even spare the angels, how can anyone escape his sins.

“For if God didn’t spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartarusa, and committed them to pits of darkness, to be reserved to judgment; ”
2Pe 2:4 WEB

Similarly, Jude speaks of these things.

“Angels who didn’t keep their first domain, but deserted their own dwelling place, he has kept in everlasting bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day.”
Jude 6 WEB

The leader of open revolt was one called
Satan: the adversary.

Satan is spoken of as a cherub who was close to God in Ezekiel 28, as has been noted. Isaiah 14 is about the King of Babylon descending into torment, and the king of Babylon is treated as symbolic of the devil or Satan. It uses language here which it too exalted to speak of a mere man. It calls the one we call the devil or Satan as formerly being the “day-star, son of the morning!” Isa 14:12 WEB. This cherub tried to become THE GOD, and failed, and will be cast down to destruction.

“3 You said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; and I will sit on the mountain of congregation, in the uttermost parts of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High. 15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the uttermost parts of the pit. ”
Isa 14:13-15 WEB

But how blessed are those angels who are
faithful to God.

20 “Praise Yahweh, you angels of his,
Who are mighty in strength, who fulfill his word,
Obeying the voice of his word.
21 Praise Yahweh, all you hosts of his,
You servants of his, who do his pleasure.”
Psa 103:20-21 WEB

Not all do, but most of them do.

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

Men, Angels and the Christ in Prophecy, Part 3 of 9

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The words used for “angels” in both the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament are words that mean a messenger. Often times these words are used to describe mere human messengers, but when it speaks the messengers of God it means these special creatures of a higher order than mankind.

So it is implied from the first that these angels were always meant to be subordinate creatures. They are merely carrying out will, the messages, of Yahweh God.

Are there others in the universe? Yes!

Truly, we are not alone. These powerful creatures carry out the will of their Lord God to care for men and to protect, OR warn men, OR when men have finally gone way too far despite many warning: to bring trouble or sickness, or even destruction. and death.

It is a strange thing about pictures and Scripture. Whoever is making the drawings tend to make the figures look their own race or group. So, for instance, pictures of angels in the Anglo-Saxon world tend to look like Caucasians, and often as women. The artists vision of what the angels hovering over the ark of the covenant might have looked like, as seen above, is an example. However, Scripture generally does not picture angels as effeminate.

“The angel of Yahweh encamps round about those who fear him,
And delivers them.”
Psa 34:7 WEB

And,

“For he will give his angels charge over you,
To guard you in all your ways. ”
Psa 91:11 WEB

Or alternately,

“Let their way be dark and slippery,
Yahweh’s angel pursuing them.”
Psa 35:6 WEB

They are created beings, evidently, some
of the first created beings.

When the physical universe was being made, the foundations of the earth being set, and its cornerstones (Job 38:4-6), the angels were there, and some were called “sons of God” (Job 1 and 2) and “morning stars.”

“When the morning stars sang together,
And all the sons of God shouted for joy?”
Job 38:7 WEB

Angels are given assignments
of men or nations

One angel is describes as “the prince of the kingdom of Persia,” in Dan 10:13, and it would appear is supposed to be looking after the kingdom of Persia. Another, one named Michael, is the prince of the people of God, Dan 12:1, and is described as an “archangel” in Jude 9. It says of an angel in Revelation 16 that,

“8 The fourth poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was given to him to scorch men with fire. 9 People were scorched with great heat, and people blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues. They didn’t repent and give him glory.”
Rev 16:8-9 WEB

That is powerful indeed, far beyond man’s feeble powers in this world.

And there are armies of angels

The Hebrew word tsaba is a word for war, warfare, or armies, and sometimes translated that way, or is translated as “hosts”/armies

And Yahweh, is the Lord of armies, both earthly and heavenly. The angels who surround Him say,

“One called to another, and said,
“Holy, holy, holy, is Yahweh of Hosts!
The whole earth is full of his glory!””
Isa 6:3 WEB

In Revelation 12 the archangel Michael is leading a war in heaven.

Angels are moral creatures, but are NOT perfect

“Behold, he puts no trust in his servants.
He charges his angels with error.”
Job 4:18 WEB

In fact, some angels have turned bad, have tried to overthrow God.

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

Men, Angels and the Christ in Prophecy, Part 2 of 9

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There are various levels or orders of angels. Just as not all men have the same strength or intelligence or functions in life, so it is with angels. Also some are archangels, meaning ruling angels.

Ezekiel 1 describes some powerful
angelic creatures.

They are unnamed in Ezekiel 1, but Ezekiel is seeing “visions of God” Ezek 1:1, and he see powerful creatures around Yahweh, the Lord God. He sees a storm coming out of the north with clouds and lightning, and brightness all around it, and there in the midst of all of this he sees “the likeness of four living creatures” having “the likeness of a man.” Each one had four faces and four wings, and hands under their wings. In front was the face of a man, to the right the face of a lion, to the left was the face of an ox, and to the rear the face of an eagle.

So what does this symbolism tell of these creatures? They had the intelligence and reasoning of a man, the ferocity of a lion, the strength of an ox, and the swiftness and sharp vision of an eagle.

Their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and they “ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.” Ezek 1:14 WEB. The noise of their wings was “like the noise of great waters,” Ezek 11:24. There is much more to tell in Ezekiel 1, but above these awesome creatures was a vision of Yahweh God, “a likeness as the appearance of a man,” Ezek 1:26. “This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Yahweh.” Ezek 1:28 WEB. Then in chapter two, this One and Only God speaks to Ezekiel and calls him.

There is a similar vision in Ezekiel 10.

There they are called “cherubim,” which is the Hebrew plural of cherub. Cherubim, if you remember, were angels stationed to guard the garden of Eden, Gen 3:24. They are represented as over the ark of the covenant in the tabernacle that was built.

In Ezekiel 28 there is a dual discussion of the King of
Tyre, who symbolizes Satan, and Satan.

It says in Ezek 28:14 that he was “the anointed cherub who covers,” WEB. It says he was on “the holy mountain of God” until he sinned, and then he was cast down to the earth, doomed to die by fire coming from within him, Ezek 28:18.

What might this covering cherub who sinned
be able to do?

In Job 1, by God’s permission, he is able to move wicked men to steal all of Job’s livestock and murder his servants. He is able to make lightning fall from heaven sufficient to kill seven thousand sheep and all of their shepherds. He is able to make a straight line wind come across the plains and hit the house where Job’s sons and daughters are having a dinner, making the house collapse and kill all of its occupants. He also able, but again only by permission, to afflict Job with terrible diseases in Job 2.

But angels are not given dominion
over the earth!

No, man is given that, Gen 1:28.

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

Men, Angels and the Christ in Prophecy, Part 1 of 9

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Angels are special creatures. We often speak of them as spiritual creatures. Creatures of a higher order men. They are creatures “greater in might and power” than men, 2Pe 2:11 WEB, but they are indeed “creatures.” That is to say, created beings. God is the One (1Tim 6:13) …

“who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light; whom no man has seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and eternal power. Amen. ”
1Tim 6:16 WEB

Others, all others, live or die at His good pleasure. The angels are not god or gods. As Yahweh Himself said,

“See now that I, even I, am he,
There is no god with me:
I kill, and I make alive;
I wound, and I heal;
There is none who can deliver out of my hand.”
Deut 32:39 WEB

ALL others in the universe are ALL beings, created by this single God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

“1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him. Without him was not anything made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.”
Jn 1:1-4 WEB

Angels have functions in ruling over and directing
various parts of creation.

In the occult (religion that is secret or semi-secret) and in occult literature, angels are often referred to as “thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.” These terms refer to both their authority and power under God. Also the apostle Paul uses these terms to refer angels, many of whom have turned to become the enemy of all mankind. Paul says,

“For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world’s rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
Eph 6:12 WEB

Paul is indeed talking about angels.

But they are indeed CREATED beings, NOT gods.

We have already seen that all things were created through Jesus (Jn 1:3). Paul is even more specific and says of Jesus the Christ,

“For by him were all things created, in the heavens and on the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and for him.”
Col 1:16 WEB

Wow! What a dramatic statement of fact, of the basic creaturehood of angels, ALL the angels. Paul goes even further and says of Jesus, that

“He is before all things, and in him all things
are held together.” Col 1:17 WEB

In other words, what makes both all the universe, and men, and animals and fish and birds and angels hold together is Jesus Himself. In fact it says basically the same thing in Hebrews.

“His Son is … upholding all things by the word of his power, …”
Heb 1:3 WEB

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

Which Jerusalem? Part III of III

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I think it is fair to say that most of the references in Scripture to Jerusalem are about Jerusalem of this present earth. That is to say,

“Jerusalem that exists now,” Gal 4:25 WEB

But when you read prophecy you must ask,
“Of which Jerusalem does
the prophet speak?”

Some are obvious, while others are not as clear.

It is true that there are some incredible things yet to happen with Jerusalem that now exists. Zechariah prophesied during the first return from exile (around 520 BC, Zech 1:1), in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. Seemingly speaking of what Paul calls “Jerusalem that now exists,” Zechariah sees a day when,

““… ‘Thus says Yahweh of Hosts: “My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and Yahweh will again comfort Zion, and will again choose Jerusalem.”’””
Zech 1:17 WEB

In context he seems to speak of present Jerusalem. He speaks of it as an abundantly prosperous city, Zech 2:4, and a city faithful to God,

“I will strengthen them in Yahweh;
And they will walk up and down in his name,” says Yahweh.”
Zech 10:12 WEB

That clearly has not happened YET! Zechariah clearly pictures ALL the families of Israel (Zech 12:14) being converted to “ to me whom they have pierced;” Zech 12:10 WEB, and in Zechariah 13. This is spoken in Scripture as bringing a world revolution of righteousness (something Mystery Babylon deeply dreads). Paul says of those times.

“Now if their fall is the riches of the world, and their loss the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fullness? ”
Rom 11:12 WEB

So some incredible good things are yet to happen with present Jerusalem.

But Peter says this present universe will vanish.

“… the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth … will be burned up.”
2Pe 3:10

He goes on to say “we look for new heavens and a new earth in which dwells righteousness.” 2Pe 3:13 WEB.

So when it says in Isaiah 65,

“17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. 18 But be you glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.”
Isa 65:17-18 WEB

… in context, the “Jerusalem” in Isa 65:17 is part of that “Jerusalem that is above” of Gal 4:26, and part of the new universe, the “new heavens and a new earth” of 2Pe 3:13.

The “never again”/ “no more” / “neither … any more,” and
all the “forever” sort of passages

are all about “Jerusalem” above, and what we call “heaven.”

So when the prophet David says of Jerusalem, “I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they … be moved no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as at the first,”
2Sam 7:10 WEB

The prophet really speaks of heaven here. Only heaven is “forever.”

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

Which Jerusalem? Part II of III

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Many Great Claims were made for Jerusalem.

“Blessed be Yahweh from Zion,
Who dwells at Jerusalem.
Praise Yah!”
Psa 135 WEB

Or,

“As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
So Yahweh surrounds his people from this time forth and forevermore.”
Psa 125:2 WEB

And again,

“For David said, Yahweh, the God of Israel, has given rest to his people; and he dwells in Jerusalem forever: ”
1Chr. 23:25 WEB

But this make you wonder. A mere 400 and something years later God rejected His people Israel because of their sins, and had Jerusalem destroyed, in 586 BC. Then there was a return to Jerusalem in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. But a little over 600 years later there was another expulsion from Jerusalem, again as prophesied by God’s prophets (Zech 10:9-10 for example, which was spoken after the first return from captivity). The second fall of Jerusalem was also prophesied by Jesus in Matthew 24, etc., and happened in 70 AD.

The Jews were a rebellious people and unfaithful to God, and it did not make Jerusalem a place of peace, all seemingly very contrary to many prophecies.

But Paul says there are two Jerusalems.

Paul says that two women Sarah and Hagar are an allegory of two covenants

“These things contain an allegory, for these are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children to bondage, which is Hagar.”
Gal 4:24 WEB

So Paul is saying that Hagar is symbolic of Moses law.

“For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to the Jerusalem that exists now, for she is in bondage with her children.”
Gal 4:25 WEB

Ouch! But there is another Jerusalem. Jerusalem above.

“But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is the mother of us all.”
Gal 4:26 WEB

So there are TWO Jerusalems!

Present Jerusalem is in bondage with her children. Sad but true. But Jerusalem above is the mother of all true believers in Yahweh and His Christ, Jesus of Nazareth. Jerusalem above is seen coming down out of heaven in Revelation 21.

“1 I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more. 2 I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready like a bride adorned for her husband. 3 I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with people, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away from them every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more. The first things have passed away.””
Rev 21:1-4 WEB

Again, there are TWO Jerusalems

And one of them is not of this world (Jn 18:36), that is, not of this creation. Sorting out which is which is often a major task.

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

Which Jerusalem? Part I of III

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What we now call Jerusalem was part of kingdom of the Jebusites. When the Israelites first invaded the land they were not able to dislodge the native inhabitants from this almost impregnable mountain fortress, Jos 15:63. David finally took the city in 2 Samuel 5, and it came to be called, “The city of David,” 2Sam 5:7.

It was a very strong position for a
fortified city.

It was over time strengthened, and water sources were added to the city, and it was indeed very strong, although adversaries have taken it several times in history. Then a special series of events led up to Jerusalem being very specifically chosen for religious purposes.

“Then the angel of Yahweh commanded Gad to tell David, that David should go up, and raise an altar to Yahweh in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.”
1Chron 21:18 WEB

This then was official beginning of official worship of Yahweh in Jerusalem. They were told through Moses,

“But to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, even to his habitation shall you seek, and there you shall come; ”
Deut 12:5 WEB

Then it came about in the time of David that God said,

“but I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my people Israel.”
2Chron 6:6 WEB

It was to be the official city of God, the official place for Yahweh to be worshipped.

Now the key fortress was on Mount Zion.

That was the fortress David and his men had taken in 2Samuel 5. That is where the temple and the kings palaces were built. Even so there were other associations. So it says,

“Then Solomon began to build the house of Yahweh at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where Yahweh appeared to David his father, …”
2Chron 3:1 WEB

God tested Abraham in Genesis 22

Abraham was told to go to Moriah to sacrifice his son, Gen 22:22. It was of course only a test to see if Abraham would trust God and His word, no matter what. The would-be sacrifice was stopped, and ram was supplied for the sacrifice. Abraham said at that time,

“Abraham called the name of that place Yahweh-jireh [Yahweh is my provider]. As it is said to this day, “In Yahweh’s mountain it will be provided.””
Gen 22:14 WEB

And this was evidently Mount Zion in Jerusalem that is called Mount Moriah. All in all is speaks great things of this place

And when David spoke of Jerusalem and the temple,

the appointed place God had set, he says,

“I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be moved no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as at the first,”
2Sam 7:10 WEB

Powerful claims, which make you wonder!

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

Which Earth is This About? Part III of III

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Some passages of course will not allow us to be dogmatic, or they may allow for a double meaning in the passage. When one person, place, thing, or event in a passage is symbolic of another person, place, thing, or event; then the text may go back and forth between the two subjects will no clear line of division.

A good example is 2Sam 7:12-16, a clear double
meaning in prophecy.

This passages speaks of both Solomon according to 2Kgs 8:17-20, and also it speaks of Jesus according Heb 1:5. Parts of this passage apply only to Solomon, and parts apply only to Jesus, and much of the prophecy applies to both, but in different ways. Similarly, Matthew 24 talks about both the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, and the end of the world, and Jesus goes back and forth talking about both subjects! See a fuller discussion of both subjects in Prophecy Principles.

Sometimes it is harder to be dogmatic.

Prophecy Principles deals in detail with both 1Sam 7:12-16 and Matthew 24.

So lets just take part of Psalm 21 as an exercise in interpretation. It is a short psalm of only 13 verses. According to the preamble it is by David and is about “The King” verse 1. I take it be about the Great King, Jesus the Christ. It talks about some who hate “the King.”

“Your hand will find out all of your enemies.
Your right hand will find out those who hate you.”
Psa 21:8 WEB

Let us note particularly “the earth” in verse 10.

“You will destroy their descendants from the earth,
Their posterity from among the children of men.”
Psa 21:10 WEB

It easily could be taken to be speaking of this present earth. Many nations have completely disappeared from this present earth, and I am not just talking about Sodom and Gomorrah. Thus it could be talking about those things where God raises up nations and then because of their sins, puts them down.

But look at the context.

The previous verse talks about how he will destroy their descendants

“You will make them as a fiery furnace in the time of your anger.
Yahweh will swallow them up in his wrath.
The fire shall devour them.”
Psa 21:9 WEB

What does that sound like? You might try to call this a great deal of hyperbole (as many liberals might), or it seems to describe final judgement when Jesus comes in flaming fire (2Thes 2:9-11)!

So what is the “earth” from which their
descendants are destroyed?

On a basis of what we have examined I think it would easy to make the case for their descendants never to live in “the new earth” to come. That would fit the context as we have examined it, especially if we apply this psalm to the Messiah, the Great King.

And some prophecies talk of good things yet
to come in this world,

and in the world to come. Misunderstandings here have caused some to take prophecies of heaven (“the new heavens and the new earth”), and apply them to this present earth, and so come up with a heaven on earth which will never be!

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

Which Earth is This About? Part II of III

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In a passage in which we might not even suspect what the intention of the author really is, the author of Hebrews, says,

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

The word world here is a word for the inhabited world (oikomen?). Of course most of the references to “earth” are of this present earth, with absolutely no doubt as to its meaning.

“God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind, …”
Gen 1:24 WEB

Or many other passages.

On others usages we might have to think a while.

Jesus says,

“You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its flavor, with what will it be salted? …”
Mtt 5:13 WEB

It does seem to speak of this present earth. Also in the very next verse He says,
“You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill can’t be hidden.”
Mtt 5:14 WEB

Again it seems to speak of our present world. But then let’s look at an earlier verse.

“Blessed are the gentle,
For they shall inherit the earth.”
Mtt 5:5 WEB

Now of which earth is Jesus speaking? In one sense it seems to apply to this present world, and passages like,

“For such as are blessed by him shall inherit the land. Those who are cursed by him shall be cut off.”
Psa 37:22 WEB

This indicates the wicked have a tendency to die off, and those God favors end up living on. All of which is true in a general sense, however there are many senses in this world when the gentle do NOT seem to inherit everything. And Jesus clearly asserts that this present universe will pass away.

“For most assuredly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the law, until all things are accomplished.”
Mtt 5:18 WEB

So when you have prophecies of the “earth”
you may have questions to ask.

Often times the context will clearly give the answer. We clearly know, if we are attuned to Scripture at all, that this present earth will NOT last forever.

“10 And,
“You, Lord, in the beginning, laid the foundation of the earth.
The heavens are the works of your hands.
11 They will perish, but you continue.
They all will grow old like a garment does.
12 As a mantle you will roll them up,
And they will be changed;
But you are the same.
Your years will not fail.””
Heb 1:10-12 WEB

So when we have a long passage like Isaiah 24 which talks of the earth being laid waste Isa 24:1, and being polluted Isa 24:5, and then it says,

“The earth shall stagger like a drunken man, and … shall fall, and not rise again.”
Isa 24:20 WEB

Well then we can be pretty sure is speaking the final end of this present earth.

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