What Jehovah’s Day Will Reveal
"Jehovah’s day will come as a thief, . . . and earth and the works in it will be discovered.”—2 PET. 3:10.
THE present wicked system of things is founded on the fundamental lie that man can successfully rule the earth independent of Jehovah. (Ps. 2:2, 3) Can anything founded on falsehood stand forever? Absolutely not! Still, we do not have to wait for Satan’s world to end of its own accord. Rather, it will be destroyed by God at his appointed time and in his way. God’s action against this wicked world will perfectly reflect both his justice and his love.—Ps. 92:7; Prov. 2:21, 22.
2 “Jehovah’s day,” wrote the apostle Peter, “will come as a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a hissing noise, but the elements being intensely hot will be dissolved, and earth and the works in it will be discovered.” (2 Pet. 3:10) What are “the heavens” and the “earth” mentioned here? What are “the elements” that will be dissolved? And what did Peter mean by the “earth and the works in it” being “discovered”? Knowing the answers to these questions will help us to be prepared for the fear-inspiring events that will occur in the near future.
The Heavens and the Earth That Will Pass Away
3 When used symbolically in the Bible, the term “heavens” often refers to ruling powers, which are elevated above their subjects. (Isa. 14:13, 14; Rev. 21:1, 2) “The heavens [that] will pass away” represent human rule over ungodly society. Their passing away with a loud “hissing noise”—or “a mighty roar,” according to another rendering—may indicate the swift annihilation of these heavens.
4 The “earth” represents the world of mankind alienated from God. Such a world existed in Noah’s day and, by divine decree, ended with the Flood. “By the same word the heavens and the earth that are now are stored up for fire and are being reserved to the day of judgment and of destruction of the ungodly men.” (2 Pet. 3:7) Whereas the Flood destroyed the ungodly all at one time, the coming destruction will occur in stages during “the great tribulation.” (Rev. 7:14) In the first phase of that tribulation, God will move the political rulers of this world to destroy “Babylon the Great,” thus showing his contempt for that religious harlot. (Rev. 17:5, 16; 18:8) Then, in the war of Armageddon, the final phase of the great tribulation, Jehovah himself will wipe out the rest of Satan’s world.—Rev. 16:14, 16; 19:19-21.
“The Elements . . . Will Be Dissolved”
5 What are “the elements” that “will be dissolved”? A Bible dictionary defines “elements” as “first principles,” or “rudiments.” The term, it says, “was used of the letters of the alphabet, as elements of speech.” Thus, “the elements” mentioned by Peter refer to the fundamental things that give the world its ungodly characteristics, attitudes, ways, and goals. “The elements” include “the spirit of the world,” which “operates in the sons of disobedience.” (1 Cor. 2:12; read Ephesians 2:1-3.) That spirit, or “air,” pervades Satan’s world. It impels people to think, plan, speak, and act in ways that reflect the mind of Satan, the proud, defiant “ruler of the authority of the air.”
6 Therefore, knowingly or unknowingly, those infected by the world’s spirit allow their minds and hearts to be influenced by Satan, so that they reflect his thinking and attitude. As a result, they do what they want, without regard for the will of God. They react to situations on the basis of pride or selfishness, they manifest a rebellious attitude toward authority, and they give free rein to “the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes.”—Read 1 John 2:15-17.
7 How important, then, that we “safeguard [our] heart” by exercising godly wisdom in our choice of associates, reading matter, entertainment, and Web sites that we may visit on the Internet! (Prov. 4:23) The apostle Paul wrote: “Look out: perhaps there may be someone who will carry you off as his prey through the philosophy and empty deception according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary things of the world and not according to Christ.” (Col. 2:8) That injunction becomes all the more urgent as Jehovah’s day approaches, for its unprecedented ‘heat’ will melt away all “the elements” of Satan’s system, exposing them as totally lacking in fire-resistant qualities. This calls to mind the words of Malachi 4:1: “The day is coming that is burning like the furnace, and all the presumptuous ones and all those doing wickedness must become as stubble. And the day that is coming will certainly devour them.”
Have you read about this in Daniel 2:44“And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite; 45forasmuch as you beheld that out of the mountain a stone was cut not by hands, and [that] it crushed the iron, the copper, the molded clay, the silver and the gold. The grand God himself has made known to the king what is to occur after this. And the dream is reliable, and the interpretation of it is trustworthy.”
http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/102008122?q=last+days&p=par#p19
