John,
Verse 18 of revelation 11 says that God will “destroy those that destroy the earth.” What does that phrase mean?
JWS
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Good question, Wendell. I have wondered about that unusual statement many times over the years. I assume that in this verse, John is using “earth” the way the prophets did occasionally, that is, as a reference to the people of the Lord. Here is the section of the God Had a Son before Mary Did book which deals with that:
“The Earth” Will Never Hunger or Thirst Again
It will help to understand the next prophecy of the Son if one is aware that “the earth” is sometimes used prophetically as a reference to the people of God, just as “the sea” is sometimes used as a reference to people of the world. We find instances of God’s people being referred to as “the earth” in Psalm 2:10, Isaiah 66:8, and Revelation12:16, while in Revelation 17:15, “the sea” represents the world’s “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and languages.” Here in Isaiah 49, the Son reveals that the Father will answer his prayers for us and will give him power to raise “the earth” from the dead and to give them an eternal inheritance, never again to suffer hunger or thirst, or any such thing:
Isaiah 49
8. This is what the Lord [the Father] said: “In an acceptable time I will answer you, and in the day of salvation, I will help you. And I will watch over you and give you for a covenant of the people, to cause the earth [God’s people] to rise to inherit desolate inheritances,
9. saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out!’ And to those in darkness, ‘Show yourselves!’ They shall feed along the roads, and their pastures shall be in all the high places.
10. And they shall neither hunger nor thirst, and heat and sun shall not beat upon them. For He who pities them shall guide them, and by springs of water shall He refresh them.”
Thanks for asking.
Pastor John
PS. I think you will appreciate this, from Isaiah:
Isaiah 66
8a. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be born in one day? Shall a nation be born at once?