As we read the Bible, God speaks about the new heaven and the new earth. He promised Abraham and the Israelites that He would give them a land that they would inherit. As God called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees, we read that God made a promise to Abraham that He would give him a land, a land that Abraham would inherit, but this land was pointing to something. This is what I would like to look at today. Although Israel did get the land that God had promised them, this land was a picture of the new heaven and the new earth, which the true believers will get on October 21, 2011.
Before we look at the promise of this land, let us turn to Revelation 21. God tells us that only the true believers, only God’s elect, will inherit the new heaven and the new earth. If you are not saved, if God is not your Saviour, this really does not pertain to you. This does not pertain to you, because you will not inherit the new heaven and the new earth. Only the true believers will come into this great blessing. In Revelation 21:22, God gives us here a picture of the new heaven and the new earth. We read in Revelation 21:22-27:
And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved…
This is referring to those who are saved from all over the world. It continues:
And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
God gives us a description here of the new heaven and the new earth and who is going to be there. Only those who are truly saved will be inheritors of the new heaven and the new earth. Those who are not saved will not enter in. They will not be a part of the new heaven and the new earth, because it says here in Revelation 21:27:
And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Only those who have had their sins paid for will be the inheritors of the new heaven and the new earth. Those who are not saved will not be there.
Let us look at another passage where God describes those who will be in the new heaven and the new earth. We read in Revelation 22:12-14:
And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandments…
This is referring to His people. It continues:
Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
God is going to describe the unsaved next. We read in Revelation 22:15:
For without are dogs…
Dogs were an unclean animal and God is speaking about the unsaved as dogs. It continues:
For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
This is describing those who will not be in the new heaven and the new earth. They are going to be outside and they will not be included in the new heaven and the new earth.
Let us look at another verse where God makes it very clear to us who will be in the new heaven and the new earth. He says in Psalm 101:6:
Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me…
The “faithful of the land” are God’s people, His elect. It continues:
…they may dwell with me…
They will dwell with Christ forevermore. It continues:
…he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me.
Then He says in Psalm 101:7:
He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house…
These are the unsaved. They will not dwell in the new heaven and the new earth. They are “dogs.” They are going to be outside and they are going to be destroyed forever.
Let us read Psalm 101:7 again:
He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight.
These are the unsaved. They are going to be outside. They are going to be left here on May 21, 2011. They are going to be punished for their sins. Then on October 21, 2011, they will be destroyed forevermore. Those who have not had their sins paid for will not dwell with Christ. They are going to be outside. They are going to be left here to come under the wrath of God.
There is one other verse that I would like to look at. Turn to Proverbs 2. There are many such verses in the Bible where God speaks about the unsaved and tells us that they will not dwell with Him forever. They will not be there. God is going to destroy them beginning on May 21, 2011. In Proverbs 2:21, we read:
For the upright…
Who are the upright? They are God’s elect, but they have no righteousness within themselves. It is God who has made them righteous. This is why they are called “the upright.” It continues:
For the upright shall dwell in the land…
We know that this land that is being referred to is the new heaven and the new earth. It continues:
…and the perfect shall remain in it.
When we become saved, we are made spiritually perfect and we will remain in this land with God forevermore.
Then we read in Proverbs 2:22:
But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth…
This is referring to those who will not be a part of the new heaven and the new earth. They will be cut off. God uses the phrase “cut off” in the Bible, particularly in the Old Testament, to refer to the unsaved who will be cut off from the earth and destroyed forevermore. It continues:
But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.
The unsaved are going to be completely destroyed come October 21, 2011, and so they will not be in the new heaven and the new earth. If you are not saved, if God is not your Saviour, this does not pertain to you. You will not be a part of this blessing that God has given to His elect.
This is why salvation is so very, very important. It should be the top priority in all of our lives. Any one of us is only a breath away from death. God can take any one of us at any time. You could be young and healthy and in the prime of life, and yet this could be your last day. It could also be my last day. This is why salvation should be the top priority in our lives. Come May 21, 2011, judgment is going to be the lot of the wicked. How terrible!
Let us go on a little bit further. Turn to Genesis. God speaks about this land in Genesis 12. We know that although God gave Israel the land that He had promised them, we know that the physical land was not what God had in mind. It was a picture of something else. In Genesis 12:1-3, we read:
Now JEHOVAH had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
God speaks here of “all families of the earth.” I believe that God is speaking of our time when He is saving a great multitude from all over the world and from all different races and nations. God is going to save this great multitude and they are going to come into this land that God had promised Abraham.
Then Genesis 12:4-7 says:
So Abram departed, as JEHOVAH had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. And JEHOVAH appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed…
We need to be careful with this word “seed” because I believe that this is pointing to Christ. It continues:
…Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto JEHOVAH, who appeared unto him.
This is the promise that God had given to Abraham concerning the land. Abraham did not know where he was going. He went by faith, as we read in the book of Hebrews. By faith, he obeyed God and God made him the promise that He would give him the land of Canaan.
What is the land of Canaan a picture of? It is a picture of something. What is it? The land that God would give to Abraham is a picture of the new heaven and the new earth, which the true believers will come into on October 21, 2011 when God will destroy this universe and then create a new heaven and a new earth.
So when God was speaking about this land that they would inherit, He was not referring to this earth. We know that this earth will be destroyed, so He could not have been referring to this earth. Many people believe that it was this earth that God was speaking about, but it was not.
Turn to Genesis 13 where God tells us more about this. We read in Genesis 13:12-15:
Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before JEHOVAH exceedingly. And JEHOVAH said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it…
This was the promise that He made. Look again at the four points of the land that God said He would give to Abraham:
…northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
This promise was forever, and so we know that He was not referring to this earth.
Let us look at one way in which God has used this word “seed.” Turn to Galatians 3 where God gives us more information on this. In Galatians 3, God is speaking about this “seed.” God is using the singular word “seed,” not “seeds.” He said to Abraham in Genesis 13:15:
…to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
And He says in Galatians 3:16:
Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.
So the “seed” that God is referring to in Genesis 13 is Christ. We will dwell with Christ forevermore in the new heaven and in the new earth.
It goes on to say in Genesis 13:16-18:
And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto JEHOVAH.
So all of this land God promised to Abraham was “to thy seed for ever,” and we know that this was not referring to this present earth because this earth will be destroyed very shortly.
Did God give this physical land to Abraham that He had promised him? It seems like God had forgotten, because Abraham died soon after. Let us pick this up in Genesis 25 where we will read about the death of Abraham. Abraham died soon after and it seems that he did not inherit this land that God had promised to him, and yet the Bible tells us that he died in faith. We read in Genesis 25:7-8:
And these are the days of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived, an hundred threescore and fifteen years [175 years]. Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.
He died, so did God forget His promise? As we read on, we see that many years went by. God then raised up Moses. Israel went into Egypt for 430 years, and so forth. Where was the fulfillment of this promise? It was as if God had forgotten. Time continued on and then God raised up Joshua. We then see that God used Joshua in a mighty way. Joshua fought for the Lord and He gave him land.
Turn to Hebrews 11 where we will see that Abraham understood some things in relation to God’s promise of this land. He did understand that the physical land was not the land that he should have been looking for. Many do not understand that Abraham was able to see that this was not his home. We read in Hebrews 11:13:
These all died in faith…
Abraham died “in faith,” which is the “faith of Christ.” It continues:
These all died in faith, not having received the promises…
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all died without receiving “the promises.” They did not see the fulfillment of this promise. It continues:
…but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
Then it says in Hebrews 11:14-15:
For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
Then Hebrews 11:16 says:
But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.
This physical earth was not what they were looking at. They sought another country because they confessed that they were “strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” If you are saved, this is also not your home, because we are all “strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” We are just passing through.
This fulfillment for all of God’s people will, in a sense, occur on May 21, 2011. In a truer sense, this will occur on October 21, 2011 when God destroys this universe and creates a new heaven and a new earth.
Turn back to Genesis 23 where God tells us that Abraham understood what God was speaking about, because he was seeking a country whose “builder and maker” was God Himself. There was a point in time when Abraham understood that this earth was not the fulfillment of the promise that God gave to him. We read in Genesis 23:1-4:
And Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old: these were the years of the life of Sarah. And Sarah died in Kirjatharba; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her. And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying, I am a stranger…
Abraham is speaking words that God is moving him to speak, and he says:
I am a stranger and a sojourner with you…
So Abraham understood that the promise that God had made to him was not related to this earth, because he himself is saying that he was “a stranger and a sojourner.”
Abraham continues on to say:
…give me a possession of a buryingplace with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.
Abraham understood that he was “a stranger and a sojourner” on this earth, and so his focus was not on an earthly promise. He looked for the heavenly promise, which has not been fulfilled as yet, in the truer sense, because we are the inheritors of the new heaven and the new earth, and not the unsaved. This earth is their lot and they are going to be destroyed along with it.
If we are saved, we are to look away from the things of this life. Anything on this earth is temporal and it is going to shortly be destroyed. What value will the things of this world have after May 21, 2011? Anything of this world will have no value whatsoever. Everything will be of no value. This is why, as true believers, our eyes and our focus ought to be on spiritual things.
God tells us in Colossians 3:1 where our focus ought to be:
If ye then be risen with Christ…
If we have become born again, God has given us a new resurrected spirit within us. This is what happens to every true believer when we become saved. Remember that God tells us in Ezekiel 36, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.”
Colossians 3:1 continues:
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above…
This was where Abraham’s heart was. If you are a true believer, where your heart ought to be is on “those things which are above.” It continues:
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
It continues on to say in Colossians 3:2:
Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
We can see how God is telling us to set our affection “on things above” and not on the things of this life.
Then He says in Colossians 3:3-4:
For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life…
This is a very strong statement. Christ is now “our life.” He lives within us and is everything to us. He indwells us and means everything in the true believer’s life.
Colossians 3:4 goes on to say:
When Christ, who is our life, shall appear…
He “shall appear.” There is no doubt about this. He “shall appear” on May 21, 2011. It continues:
…then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
Then God goes on to tell us how to mortify the deeds of the body.
So we are to look away from the things of this life and we are to put our focus and our attention on “heavenly things.” Our focus was never to have been on our career or on the many things that the world goes after. It was to have been on heavenly things, on spiritual things. God has admonished us not to love this world, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.” We are to seek after spiritual things.
Let us go on a little bit further. We have the land that God had promised to Abraham. Abraham has died and many years have gone by, and yet we know that God is in control of all things. In time, we know that God raised up Joshua, so let us now turn over to the book of Joshua where we read how Joshua warred and how God fought for Israel.
When God says something, He does what He says He will do. He means what He says, although time might go by. This world has been going on for thousands of years, and yet He has not returned. Does this mean that God has forgotten His promise? No; He cannot forget, because God is faithful to His Word. Everything that He has said, He will do. God is God!
Let us turn to Joshua 23 where we will read how God fulfilled this promise to Abraham to give them this land. In Joshua 23:6, God is speaking to Joshua and says:
Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left;
We could learn a lot from this. When God is commanding us to do something, we ought to do it. We should not turn to the right hand, so to speak, or to the left. We should stay focused on God.
God has declared to us from the Bible that May 21 is Judgment Day. God is teaching this from the Bible and we should not be worried about what other people might think or what they might say to us. We can expect things to be this way. God will do what He says He will do and we do not have to worry about the logistics or the details concerning this. God will do what He says. He is absolutely faithful to His Word.
So God is encouraging Joshua and we read in Joshua 23:6-8:
Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left; That ye come not among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them: But cleave unto JEHOVAH your God, as ye have done unto this day.
When God gives us His Word and His promises, we are to cleave unto them. They become very important in a true believer’s life. There is nothing more important than God’s Word.
Then we read in Joshua 23:9-11:
For JEHOVAH hath driven out from before you great nations and strong: but as for you, no man hath been able to stand before you unto this day. One man of you shall chase a thousand: for JEHOVAH your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you. Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love JEHOVAH your God.
This is a warning to all of us. Take heed that you love Jehovah, the God of the Bible. The only way that we know that we are going to love Jehovah God is when God has truly saved us. This is the only way that we can love Him with all of our heart.
He goes on to say in Joshua 23:12-14:
Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to you: Know for a certainty that JEHOVAH your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which JEHOVAH your God hath given you. And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth…
In other words, Joshua is going to die. It continues:
…and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which JEHOVAH your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you…
Do you remember when God used Joshua to divide up the land that was to be given to them? God gave it to them. He promised Abraham this land. Even though Abraham had previously died, God did do what He said He would do. He gave them this land. It continues:
…all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof.
He did give them this physical land that He had promised to them, and yet we know that this was not what God was referring to. This land was a type or a picture that was pointing to the new heaven and the new earth. This will be for the believers forevermore.
When you start speaking to others about May 21, 2011 and you tell them that Judgment Day is almost here, many people, especially those in the churches, get all up in arms over this. The reason for this is because they love this earth.
In the Bible, we read of a man named Demas who “loved this present world.” He was someone who was with Paul, and yet Demas was a picture of those in the churches who are not saved. He looked like he was saved. He was with Paul, but where was his heart? He loved this present world.
There are many who also love the things of this world. They love this world. When you start talking to them about Judgment Day, they know what this means. They know that this means that it is the end.
Everyone knows that there is a Judgment Day coming. The moment that you start talking about Judgment Day, people often say that they are saved. This is because they know that Judgment Day is the end and that this world is going to be burned up. You try to talk to them about this and they just get beside themselves.
For the true believers, they look forward to this day. This is the day when we will come into the new heaven and the new earth forevermore. This is when all sin will be gone. There will be no more disappointments. There will be no more heartaches. We will have no more troubles. There will be no more death. This is the day that we look forward to; but for the unsaved, they are up in arms.
God picks this up again in the book of Nehemiah. In Nehemiah 9, we read where God gave them this land that He had promised them. We read in Nehemiah 9:6:
Thou, even thou, art JEHOVAH alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth…
Never doubt that God is the Creator of all things. It continues:
…thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all…
Who keeps this world going? God does. He continues to say:
…thou preservest them all…
God preserves this whole universe and is in absolute control of it. It continues:
…and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.
Then we read in Nehemiah 9:7-8:
Thou art JEHOVAH the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham; And foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it, I say, to his seed, and hast performed thy words…
God gave them the land that He had promised them. He performed it. He did it. It continues:
…for thou art righteous:
When He says something, He does it; and so He did give them this land that He had promised them. God is faithful to the promises and commitments that He makes. But, once again, we know that this was not the true fulfillment of this promise. In the entirety of this, we know that God was pointing to the new heaven and the new earth.
Look at a familiar passage in 2 Peter. We should all be familiar with this by now. We read in 2 Peter 3:9-10:
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Since we know that this earth is going to be destroyed, this earth that we are living on is not what God had in mind. This world is crying out to God for judgment, and so we know that God had to be referring to the new heaven and the new earth.
Let us turn back again to Hebrews 11. Once again, God is speaking about Abraham, and we read in Hebrews 11:9-10:
By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city…
This is the city that Abraham was looking for. It says:
…which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
So God gives us more insight into what Abraham was looking for. It was not this earth that he was looking at. He was looking for the heavenly city “whose builder and maker is God,” the new heaven and the new earth that the true believers will live in forevermore.
Look at Isaiah 60. We read in Isaiah 60:18-22:
Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but JEHOVAH shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for JEHOVAH shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever…
There will be a new heaven and a new earth. It continues:
…the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I JEHOVAH will hasten it in his time.
This is also referring to the new heaven and the new earth. There are many such verses.
Let us look at one last verse to see what God is speaking about. Let us turn back to Revelation 21 again. We read in Revelation 21:1-6:
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. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them…
God Himself will be with His people in this new heaven and new earth. It continues:
…and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
This is the ultimate fulfillment of the promise that God had made to Abraham about the land. It is the new heaven and the new earth. Only those who have had their sins paid for and who have become born again will be the inheritors of the new heaven and the new earth.
This is only five months away. It is only five months from when Judgment Day begins and when the true believers will be caught up to be with Christ. On October 21, 2011, this world will be forgotten and will no longer exist forevermore. It is there that we will be with Christ forevermore.
Let us stop here.