Judgment and the World that then existed

One quick survey of pop culture, TV shows, and the film world will produce a number of observations: the increase in graphic violence and sex, coupled with the political agendas of directors, actors, and artists clearly display a moral, ethical downgrade in society today. But this is not the worst of it, I believe: the pagan world denies any concept of a holy God, a cosmic judgment on sin, and the desperate need of a Savior. Ads, television, and movies all tell us to live in the here and now, be true to yourself, tolerate everything, and just live life to the fullest. Further, it seems the predominant worldview when it comes to any apocalyptic judgment is that with a couple bumps and bruises, humanity will ultimately endure. See movies like Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow, I Am Legend, Armageddon, Resident Evil, or The Terminator - despite some world-ending threat, man seems to continue to thrive. Consequently, this elevates the manner in which man perceives himself and downplays the implications, severity, and longevity of the cosmic judgment brought by the LORD of heaven's armies.

Geerhardus Vos, in his The Eschatology of the Old Testament, says:

When we go back and compare the pagan analogies of "things heading for an end," with the biblical teaching, we soon perceive the fundamental idea in which they differ from the scriptural teaching on the subject. They are no real eschatology at all, simply because the end toward which they represent things as heading is not an absolute end, but the concluding segment in an unrolling sheet of world history which, when once read, gives place to another sheet. It is world after world, cycle after cycle, with no perceptible termination.

Whether it be an alien invasion, a huge, earth-shattering meteor, some natural disaster or storm, or even an epidemic, zombie-creating disease, apparently humanity is here and not going anywhere. Maybe things might look a little different, but we think that we will ultimately live on.

And this is exactly what Peter says in his second letter that we as Christians should be on edge about. Here is what he says concerning the false teachers of his day that seems to reverberate 2000 years into the present:

They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. - 2 Peter 3:4-7

Peter did not shy away from the judgment of God, but confronted it face on, proclaiming it with gruesome clarity as a warning, admonishing his fellow brethren to live lives holy unto the Lord. Hear what Meredith Kline has to say about Peter's words concerning the "world that then existed" before the flood and the implications for this world in which we now live:

The picture conveyed by Peter is that of a world that had a total history, that had its beginning, developed its culture and witnessed the course of the great conflict of heaven and hell to a final climax, had its eschaton, and made way for a new world. What makes all of this of special significance to Peter's Christian readers is that he also presents that overall, complete world-history from the creation to the Flood as a paradigm that is being followed again in the history of the present world. Peter appeals to this ancient pattern as instructive for our understanding of the eschatological course of our present world, in particular, as affording warning of cosmic divine judgment to come (v. 7). This insight into the nature of the prediluvian world was acquired by Peter from his Lord (cf. Matthew 24:37-39, Luke 17:26,27). "As the days of Noah were," Jesus had said, "so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be" (Matthew 24:37).

And Kline makes clear that the days of Noah were only a pattern - merely a paradigm of the judgment to come, lesser in degrees of intensity, scope, and duration than the Great Reality.  The point is clear - when the Son of Man comes, as Peter says, the heavens and earth that now exist will experience the stored up wrathful fire of the living God. Humanity will not endure. The world will not endure. The entire cosmos will not endure. There will be a judgment on sin, the vindication of the righteous, and the restoration of all things. It will be a new world-temple, occupied by the saints of glory around the Glory-Presence of the Lord and his Son.

SDG

The Ark, the Mercy Seat, and Christ

Exodus 25:20-22 says, "The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be. And you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you. There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel."

This is quite a description Moses has recorded for us. God has designated a place in time and space where he will come in his holy presence and speak with Moses. It is hard to conceive the magnitude of the situation described here, "...from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you..." And yet, a few verses later, Moses would record the Lord's words depicting what was actually happening. The Lord says to Moses, "And see that you make them after the pattern for them, which is being shown you on the mountain" (Exodus 25:40). A pattern is simply an example set up to represent an actual person, place, or event - it is not the real thing. What then, does this represent?

It is sometimes described in the Old Testament that God sits upon the cherubim molded to the ark of the testimony, envisioning God in his majesty in heaven, where the ark of the testimony, together with the mercy seat, would become the Lord's throne. But this scene has been described before, when Ezekiel sees the Lord enthroned in the heavens in a vision. Ezekiel describes the cherubim, whose wings were touching one another (Ezekiel 1:9, 23), as on the ark. There was a throne above the expanse over their heads, and seated upon the throne was the glory of the Lord (v. 26, 28). From in the midst of the expanse, he spoke to Ezekiel (v. 25, 28).

Isaiah saw something very similar to this scene in Isaiah 6, which I have described in more detail here. John would later record in his gospel account that the one sitting upon the throne was Christ himself (John 12:41), in his preincarnate glory.

The point here is that the altar, the mercy seat, and the cherubim made of gold were simply patterns made after the actual heavenly scene Moses looked up from the mountain. The author of Hebrews confirms this when he says, "They serve as a copy and shadow of the heavenly things" (Hebrews 8:5). And then goes on to say that Christ has obtained a ministry more excellent than the one Moses mediated, because it is enacted on better promises - namely, that instead of priests entering the Most Holy Place each year for the atonement of Israel's sins, Christ has entered once for all into the holy places not made with hands by means of his own blood, securing our eternal redemption and purifying our consciences from dead works to serve the living God (see all of Hebrews 8-9).

SDG