For, according to their wish, this fact escapes their notice, that there were heavens from of old and an earth standing compactly out of water and in the midst of water by the word of God; 6 and by those [means] the world of that time suffered destruction when it was deluged with water. 7 But 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

New world translation


KING JAMES
5For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:

6Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:

7But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.




Jehovah's day 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 Peter 3:10;

NWT

Christendom teaches God will destroy both heaven and the earth and make a new one

13Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth

Heavens were of old, AND OLD EARTH DESTROYED IN NOAHs
day


) The literal heavens and earth did not perish in the Deluge, neither will they during Jehovah's day. What, then, will "pass away," or be destroyed


Human governments that have dominated mankind like "heavens" will end and so will the "earth," or human ungodly society. The "hissing noise" perhaps indicates the rapid passage of the heavens. "The elements" that make up today's decadent human society will be "dissolved," or destroyed. And the "earth," including "the works in it," will be "discovered." Jehovah will thoroughly expose the wicked acts of men as he brings an entire world system to its well-deserved end.


NWT

Ephesians 6

Finally, go on acquiring power in [the] Lord and in the mightiness of his strength. 11 Put on the complete suit of armor from God that YOU may be able to stand firm against the machinations of the Devil; 12 because we have a wrestling, not against blood and flesh, but against the governments, against the authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the wicked spirit forces in the heavenly places


THESE ARE THE "HEAVENS" THAT MUST GO




12For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places

KJV

Use" HIGH PLACES"


English Standard Version)

12For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the

heavenly places

American Standard Version)


against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the

heavenly places.


Young's Literal Translation)

with the spiritual things of the evil in the heavenly places;


New International Reader's Version
It is against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly world.



The connection of the "heavens" with ruling power aids in understanding the meaning of the expression "new heavens and a new earth" found at Isaiah 65:17; 66:22 and quoted by the apostle Peter at 2 Peter 3:13. Observing such relationship, M'Clintock and Strong's Cyclopaedia (1891, Vol. IV, p. 122) comments: "In Isa. lxv, 17, a new heaven and a new earth signify a new government, new kingdom, new people."


the "earth" can refer to a society of people (Ps 96:1;

All you people of the earth, sing to the Lord

so, too, "heavens" can symbolize the superior ruling power or government over such "earth

IN THE
Bible, "earth" does not always refer to our globe

the passing away of "the former heaven" indicates the end of political governments along with Satan and his demons. This identification of "the former heaven" harmonizes with the fact that shortly before the statement concerning the 'former heaven having passed away,' John had seen a vision of the complete defeat of Satan's forces and the casting of Satan into "the abyss." (Re 19:19-20:3


At Luke 21:33, Jesus says that "heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away." The sense of this expression seems to be like that of Matthew 5 "Truly I say to you that sooner would heaven and earth pass away [or, "it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away"; Lu 16:17] than for one smallest letter or one particle of a letter to pass away from the Law by any means and not all things take place."


PS 148-6

Praise him, you highest heavens.
Praise him, you waters above the skies.
Let all of them praise the name of the Lord,
because he gave a command and they were created.
He set them in place for ever and ever.


What are the new heavens?



at 2 Peter 3 "There are new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according to his promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell." Jesus in heaven is the key Ruler in the "new heavens." (Luke 1:32, 33) Yet, other Bible texts indicate that he does not rule alone. Jesus promised that the apostles and some others like them would have a place in heaven. In the book of Hebrews, the apostle Paul described such ones as "partakers of the heavenly calling." And Jesus said that those of this group would sit on thrones in heaven with him.

the heavens and the earth that are now," both the rulerships and the masses of people, are reserved for "the day of judgment and of destruction of the ungodly men." This confirms that the phrase "the heavens and the earth that are now" refers, not to the material universe, but to humans and their rulerships.


: "I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea is no more."

that this does not mean replacing the literal heavens and our planet, with its watery deep.

, wicked people and their rulerships, including the invisible ruler Satan, will be removed. the promise here is of a new system of things involving people on earth.

There is only one truth, and JEHOVAH tells it


PS 83-18 KJV
That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.

This is one big reason, of why there is quarrels and not discussions.
We should always look at things from the bigger picture.

Oneness is not about arguing and we should never argue or debate over the things of God.

No offense meant, Brenda, this is the reason, there are quarrels.

Understand I don' mean this statement at you personally, yet to all who do this, as then the world might get some where.

Peace and LOVE B with U all

where does it ever say that John the baptist was elijah. No, they didn't believe in reincarnation. Jesus asked who do OTHERS say that I am. When he asked who doYOU say that I am, nobody responded until Peter said," YOU are the Christ, the Son of the living God. and He said "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in Heaven. And I shall say to you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build MY church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven"

Isaiah 8:11-20
For the Lord spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should NOT WALK IN THE WAY OF THIS PEOPLE, saying
12) Do not say conspiracy, concerning all that this people call a conspiracy, Nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.
13)The LORD of hosts, HIM, you shall hallow; let Hime be your fear, and let Him be your Dread.
14)He will be as a sanctuary, but a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, as a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
15)and many amoung them shall stumble; they shall fall and be broken, be snared and taken.'
16)Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.
17)And I will wait on teh LORD, Who hides His face from the house of Jacob; and I will hope in HIM.
18)Here am I and the children whom the LORD has given me! We are for signs and wonders in Israel From the LORD of hosts, Who dwells in Mt Zion.
19)And when they say to you, "Seek those who are mediums and wizards who whisper and mutter" should not a people seek their God? SHOULD THEY SEEK THE DEAD ON BEHALF OF THE LIVING?
20)To the law and to the testimony! If the do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them"

Ok, so do you see what is goin on? The prophet Isaiah is saying that the people of Israel, having been disobediant, needed instruction and discipline. God was not going to allow their lives to be easy. He even said that they were not to invoke the dead for answers. This is repeated several times in the bible. If you are implying that Christianity is bogus because Jesus is dead, then you are mistaken! He is called the firstborn of the dead. The God in Him would not allow the human flesh in him to remain that way. If Jesus didn't die and be raised up again, then our faith is in vain. The bible is not the sole record of this information. Find the journal of Josephus who lived in that time or era and discover what happened after Jesus died. A lot of people quickly dismiss the resurection because they don't understand that it really happened. There is evidence. The empty grave that they found teh shroud in, the shroud has physical evidence that proves it was covering a man with the same exact wounds, that it had pollen on it from a plant that only exists in Jerusalem and only blooms and bursts out pollen at the same particular time of day that Jesus happened to die. Many other religions can show where their prophets are buried but only Jesus has an EMPTY tomb. The romans kept records as a part of archiological history. Do some research. There is a book "Evidence that Demands a verdict" written by a former athiest. There is a website. Creation.com oor maybe it's.net or .org. not sure. Before you just dismiss it all ( and I am not trying to be mean) research. Your soul depends on what you learn in this life. That book, I think, is also a website. I'm not sure, but I guess if Wizanda doesn't mind I could look some up and post them.
All I am saying is God doesn't always work the way we think He should. When WE decide who God is and the way we think He SHOULD be they we create our own god and an idol. What is hard for even christains to realize that God say things like,"Vengeance is mine, I will repay" He gets jealous when our hearts are elswhere, He even says,"Iam a jealous God" He gets angry. We don't want to hear that. But we were created to be very much like Him in many, many ways.

Yes, our bodies were created. Our souls are eternal. Eternal doesn't mean there was no beginning. It means there is no end. But God is INFINITE and eternal. He did give us life.

Enough of this, I am writing alot and if you reply to all this, it will take me forever to answer it!

brendalee
Quote:

The cause of diffrences amongst beliefs is the same as is on this site
Paul changed the whole Bible and made Christ out to be God.

Paul said we only live once, Jesus said John the babtist was Elijah.
also he asked his disciples, who did they think he was and they said one of the prophets or Elijahs, so they believed in reincarnation at that time.
not as Paul said!!
Also God is the lord of the living and in Isaiah, it says if anyone seeks the dead.
Then there is no life in them as God is the lord of the living.
Also it says, that those who say such a thing, their testimony is fake.
Isaiah 8:19-20