The heaven and earth are divided into three earth ages, 3 being the number of divine completion. There was an age before the one we are in, and there will be an age after the Millennium ends. The first and third earth ages are eternal. The first was eternity past and the last will be eternity future. Let’s investigate what the Bible tells us of the origins of the world we live in.
The First Earth Age
(Gen 1:1) In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
(Gen 1:2) And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
We see here is the first verse that God created the heaven and the earth. Whenever God creates something, He always does so in a complete and proper manner–He never does things halfway. In fact, in this first verse, the creation of the earth and the heaven (including everything we see in the sky such as the universe) was complete. In most Sunday school classes they teach that the next verse shows that it wasn’t yet completely formed, but if you look at the Hebrew, you will see that this isn’t exactly what is going on.
Let’s take a closer look at this verse:
(Gen 1:2) And the earthH776 wasH1961 without form,H8414 and void;H922 and darknessH2822 was uponH5921 the faceH6440 of the deep.H8415 And the SpiritH7307 of GodH430 movedH7363 uponH5921 the faceH6440 of the waters.H4325
We see this word ‘was’ (H1961) which would indicate that at the time God created the earth it was ‘without form’ (H8414) and ‘void’ (H922). So, if we take a look at the Hebrew, we have a clearer view of what is happening:
H8414
תּהוּ
tôhû
to’-hoo
From an unused root meaning to lie waste; a desolation (of surface), that is, desert; figuratively a worthless thing; adverbially in vain: – confusion, empty place, without form, nothing, (thing of) nought, vain, vanity, waste, wilderness.
H922
בּהוּ
bôhû
bo’-hoo
From an unused root (meaning to be empty); a vacuity, that is, (superficially) an undistinguishable ruin: – emptiness, void.
We can see from the Hebrew, which says ‘tohoo va bohoo’, that it is saying the earth at that time was ‘vain and empty’. But Isaiah tells us this:
(Isa 45:18) For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vainH8414, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.
Isaiah, tells us that the earth was not created in vain, and he uses the same word we find in verse 1:2. So, if we are to believe God’s messenger, then we must take into account what he said here. But how do we reconcile this seeming contradiction?
Let us take a look at the word ‘was’ in our Genesis verse.
H1961 היה hâyâh
haw-yaw’
A primitive root (compare H1933); to exist, that is, be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary): – beacon, X altogether, be (-come, accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), continue, do, faint, fall, + follow, happen, X have, last, pertain, quit (one-) self, require, X use.
The word that is translated as ‘was’, should have said ‘became’, if translated properly in context. If we are to replace the words in the King James version (and most other versions) with what we have found in the Strong’s Concordance, we will get a dramatically different picture.
(Gen 1:1) In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Gen 1:2) And the earth became vain, and empty; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
Well, then you might ask, “Why did the earth become vain and empty?” For this, we must first understand how the world was in Gen 1:1. In these next verses, when God was questioning Job, we see how we all were when He first laid the foundations of the earth:
(Job 38:4) Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
(Job 38:5) Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
(Job 38:6) Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;
(Job 38:7) When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
The sons of God, the angels, we in the world that was, were all singing and shouting in joy. And why should we not have been? We were in the presence of God, our Creator, and He loves us. Even Satan was there, and this was before he had turned against God. He was created the most beautiful and wisest of God’s sons (excluding Jesus, Who is part of God). In the following verses, God is dictating to Ezekiel, whom He calls son of man, what he is to prophesy of satan, the king of Tyrus:
(Eze 28:12) Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
(Eze 28:13) Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
(Eze 28:14) Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
(Eze 28:15) Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
(Eze 28:16) By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
(Eze 28:17) Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
(Eze 28:18) Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.
(Eze 28:19) All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.
These verses confirm that it was satan who was later in the Garden of Eden tempting Eve, in order to solidify the identity of the king of Tyrus in these verses. We also find that satan was created by God, ‘full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty’. Satan was also the ‘anointed cherub that covereth’, meaning he was the one who guarded the mercy seat. But, then something happened–something that would shake the foundations of the heaven and earth. Satan became prideful of all the blessings and gifts God had given him.
These next verses in Isaiah will give us a closer look as to what happened to this king of Babylon:
(Isa 14:3) And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve,
(Isa 14:4) That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!
(Isa 14:5) The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers.
(Isa 14:6) He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth.
(Isa 14:7) The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing.
(Isa 14:8) Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us.
(Isa 14:9) Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.
(Isa 14:10) All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?
(Isa 14:11) Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.
(Isa 14:12) How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
(Isa 14:13) For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
(Isa 14:14) I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
(Isa 14:15) Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
(Isa 14:16) They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;
(Isa 14:17)That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners? (
Isa 14:18) All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house.
(Isa 14:19) But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet.
(Isa 14:20) Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned.
Isaiah tells us that satan, here also referred to as Lucifer, became so prideful that he wanted to be raised up above all the angels and God Himself, and thus be worshipped. This was a very bad thing to do and we can see God’s anger over these sins of satan in the above verses. So what did satan then do?:
(Rev 12:3) And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
(Rev 12:4) And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
Satan then began to form an army and established a hierarchy to rebel against God. This great red dragon somewhat resembles the beast that he will again influence to be formed at the beginning of the tribulation. So then using this dragon system, he would attempt to lead as many sons of God away from God as he could, and he ended up drawing a very large group from God, and established rebellious cites for them of earth, and consequently, they were cast down to earth in an event called the katabole, in the Greek scriptures, and the cities were destroyed. Often, katabole is translated as ‘foundation of the world’, but this actually means ‘a casting down’, or ‘depostion’.
(Eph 1:4) According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundationG2602 of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
(Eph 1:5) Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
(Eph 1:6) To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
G2602
καταβολή
katabolē
kat-ab-ol-ay’
From G2598; a deposition, that is, founding; figuratively conception: – conceive, foundation.
This foundation was at the deposition of satan, such as when a tyrant bully is deposed and a new government is established. This casting down of satan marked the beginning of a new system that God had planned for this very event. In this system, God would cause every one of His children to be born in the flesh, without memory of the first earth age, to see who they would choose to follow, God or satan.
To choose to follow anyone or anything other than God would by default be a choice to follow satan, even if the person was well-intentioned. However, many people are deceived by the ways of the world, which is heavily influenced by satan, and God knows this, so He has a plan in place to make sure that none of His children perish needlessly. We will get into that later.
We can also tell from the verses above that, before this deposition of satan and foundation of a new system, God chose certain of His children to be predestinated to carry out His plan. These would be called His elect, and He has already found them without blame and justified them, as told in Romans 8.
In order to have a world that was ideal for us in the flesh God wanted a clear template, and He chose His favorite region and His favorite planet to place us. God first cleared the existing life–prehistoric life, such as dinosaurs–off of the planet with a flood, and then continued with the creation detailed from Gen 1:2 on.
(Psa 104:5)Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever.
(Psa 104:6) Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains.
(Psa 104:7) At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away.
(Psa 104:8) They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which thou hast founded for them.
(Psa 104:9) Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth.
(Psa 104:10) He sendeth the springs into the valleys, which run among the hills.
(Psa 104:11) They give drink to every beast of the field: the wild asses quench their thirst.
(Psa 104:12) By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches.
(Psa 104:13) He watereth the hills from his chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works.
(Psa 104:14) He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;
…and so on.
(Jer 4:22) For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
(Jer 4:23) I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
(Jer 4:24) I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.
(Jer 4:25) I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.
(Jer 4:26) I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.
(Jer 4:27) For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.
(Jer 4:28) For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.
(Jer 4:29) The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.
Often when people read this, they just read over it and assume this was referring to Noah’s flood, however, we will find inconsistencies, because this was in fact a different event. Jeremiah tells us that once God made the earth without form and void, and destroyed the cities of the earth, He looked and there was no man and all the birds were gone away, and the earth was desolate. One thing that we know very clearly from the account of Noah, is that in that event, 8 people were saved aboard the ark as well as there were birds. We also know that after the flood of Noah, the earth was not without form and void. God had already formed it and made it fruitful (and then recreated it afterward). This, therefore, is not Noah’s flood. This was actually the flood that God used to clear the path for us to live here in our flesh bodies as a test to see what we would do without knowledge of the first earth age and satan’s rebellion, though God would clearly speak of these things in His Word.
So then, once we read of this destruction of the world that was, we can move to the recreation which began the second earth age.
The Second Earth Age
(2Pe 3:2) That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:
(2Pe 3:3) Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
(2Pe 3:4) And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
(2Pe 3:5) For 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:
(2Pe 3:6) Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
(2Pe 3:7) But 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.
Here, we read that the old world was flooded with water and perished, and that the current heaven and earth will be destroyed by fire, which will lead to the next, and final, earth age. This current, second, earth age is a temporary one, in which God separated the eternity past from the eternity future, to place us in a temporal (time-based) world, temporarily innocent of memories of the world that was.
When we receive the account of the recreation of earth, of course, it begins with the earth having been flooded with water.
(Gen 1:2) And the earth was (became) without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep (surging mass of water). And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
(Gen 1:3) And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
(Gen 1:4) And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
…and so on.
Now we begin to have a more complete picture of what has happened and how old the earth really is–and how old we really are.
We all have this opportunity to go through these flesh bodies and make choices under free will (for the most part), but we are given a letter from God, the Bible to learn about Him and make the right choices and live the way He would have us live. When we learn from the Bible, and are taught by the Holy Spirit, we are to share these truths to others–this is the work of God. And this is what we form our lives around as we go day by day, but this world will not go on forever. In fact, there isn’t that much time left.
Every soul is to get a chance to be born in the flesh, unless they refuse it, and there is a finite number of souls that God created. Once every soul has had a chance to be born on earth, there is no more reason to continue in these bodies. Thus, we will soon have the tribulation, in which we will be put to the test as far as how well we know God/Jesus.
After this Great Tribulation, Jesus will return and bring in a new era on this earth, the Millennium. At the return of Jesus, at the 7th trumpet, everything on earth that offends, and all flesh, will be done away with and we will be changed into our our spiritual bodies in the twinkling of an eye. All those who have overcome will be translated and receive immortal bodies without having to die. Those who have not yet overcome will still have mortal spiritual bodies, that are liable to die in the Lake of Fire, if they don’t shape up by the end of the Millennium.
(1Co 15:52) In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
(1Co 15:53) For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
(1Co 15:54) So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
In this period, which is heavily detailed in Ezekiel 40-48 and Revelation 20, Jesus will rule on earth, and His elect will serve Him personally and be his kings, priests, teachers, and judges over those who have not yet overcome.
Satan will be bound throughout the Millennium and his fallen angels will not be around to influence people negatively or deceive them while they learn and are disciplined. At the end of the Millennium, satan will be loosed and allowed to attempt to deceive the whole world one last time. This will be followed by the Great White Throne Judgement, and the Lake of Fire will be the sentence for all those who are not found in the Book of Life. Satan and everyone who enters the Lake of Fire will be blotted out of existence and will cease to exist permanently.
Following these events, we will then enter the final stage, the Third Earth Age, and this one is eternal.
The Third Earth Age
We aren’t given much about the Third Earth Age, but most of what we are given can be found in Revelation 21-22. These are two whole chapters, so I won’t bother to put it all here, as you can read it on your own.
In the Third Earth Age, God will dwell here on earth in His full glory, or Godhead, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This will be a time of peace and love like no other and we will not know pain or sorrow or evil, or any negativity at all. Only those who have overcome will ever get a chance to see this Eternal Kingdom of God. If you are a Christian, it is obvious that you would hope to make it to this Kingdom, and I honestly believe you will, but you must submit to God and truly accept Jesus Christ and make a commitment to have a personal relationship with Him through His Word. If you are not a Christian, I would strongly urge you to search out God’s Word and find out what will await you if you accept Jesus and make a decision to live your life for Him.
