2. The passages in the Word which mention the destruction of heaven and earth are as follows:
Lift up your eyes to heaven, and look down upon the earth. The heavens shall perish like smoke, and the earth like a worn-out garment. Isa. 51:6.
Lo, I will create new heavens and a new earth, and the former ones will not be mentioned. Isa. 65:17.
I will make new heavens and a new earth. Isa. 66:22.
The stars of heaven fell to earth, and the heaven departed like a scroll which is rolled up. Rev. 6:13, 14.
I saw a mighty throne and one sitting on it, earth and heaven fled from his gaze, and their place was found no more. Rev. 20:11.
I saw a new heaven and a new earth; the first heaven and the first earth had gone away. Rev. 21:1.
In these passages a new heaven does not mean the sky we see with our eyes, but the real heaven, where the human race is gathered. For heaven is a collection of the whole human race right from the beginning of the Christian church; but those in it were not angels, but spirits from various religious bodies. This is what is meant by the first heaven which is to be destroyed; but how this can be, I shall explain in more detail in what follows. At this point it is merely mentioned so that it may be known what is meant by the first heaven which is to be destroyed. Anyone indeed whose thoughts are at all enlightened can see that it is not the starry sky, the immense firmament of creation, which is meant, but heaven in the spiritual sense, where the angels and spirits are.