Introduction
For several decades now, Christians worldwide have been taught that the ultimate goal of the faith is heaven. Considering longevity, this idea has essentially achieved a canonical status in believers’ minds. Yet, Christians before the 1900s did not entertain such a thought. One major reason the notion became popular was the publication of the Scofield Bible in 1909, which presented the idea alongside the Bible’s text, not as one among many options, but as the only reading offered. Rapture theology became synonymous with eschatology. Other enabling factors, including the later rise of American fundamentalism and Cold War anxieties, contributed to the popularity of this idea.
I recognize that this can be an emotionally charged and potentially disorienting issue. There are people in their 80s who have believed all their lives that heaven awaits. So, I’m aware of the potential distress that this entry might cause. But I owe it to such persons to rigorously interact with Scripture to extract the truth. In this piece, I shall argue that the earth has always been and will forever be humanity’s destiny. Yes, there is a heaven, but it is not the residential home of humans.
In the Beginning
Let us take it from the beginning. Humans were not the first created beings. The Bible reveals that a host of heavenly beings were created before humans. For reasons best known to God, he made the angels, cherubs, seraphs, and others to reside in heaven. But when God made humans, he first prepared a cultivated portion of the Earth for them to dwell in. He could have made humans join the heavenly beings. Instead, heaven – that is, God – regularly comes to the earth to fellowship with humanity in the special spot he has earmarked for them. It was not long before things went south. The humans became corrupted, and God must act:
Genesis 3:22-24 NRSVUE
[22] Then the LORD God said, “See, the humans have become like one of us, knowing good and evil, and now they might reach out their hands and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever”— [23] therefore the LORD God sent them forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which they were taken. [24] He drove out the humans, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life.
I have written elsewhere that knowing good and evil is not, in itself, a sin. In his famous prayer when he became king, Solomon asks:
1 Kings 3:9-10 NRSVUE
[9] Give your servant, therefore, an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil, for who can govern this great people of yours?” [10] It pleased the LORD that Solomon had asked this.
Solomon asks God for the ability to know good and evil, and God grants the request. So, knowing good and evil is not a sin. The sin of Adam and Eve is disobedience. And the fact that their moral ability arose from disobedience suggests that their knowledge is fundamentally corrupted. Whatever the case might have been, God did not think it was a good idea for Adam and Eve, in their new state, to also eat from the tree of life. So, he banished them from the garden. Interestingly, God did not destroy the garden or the tree of life in it. Instead, he placed armed cherubs nearby to protect it. This is a narrative way of indicating that it was not the end of the story of the tree of life and humanity.
Now, if at this point, God abandons Eden and the Earth and chooses to relocate humans to heaven, this would imply a victory for the sinister forces who enticed humanity to sin. It would mean the Fall forced God to change his mind. Furthermore, since God already made some beings to live in heaven and he is omniscient, the situation makes one wonder what the point was for creating humans on the Earth in the first place. As we shall see, the rest of Scripture affirms the subtle hint in Genesis 3:24: humanity and Eden are not done. God will restore all things.
Noah and his generation
After Adam and Eve were banished from the garden, things rapidly worsened. By the time there were four named persons in the story, there was a fratricide. By Genesis 8, God had had enough. He was going to wipe out every life. But Noah stood out for righteousness in his generation. He preached to all who would listen about an impending doom, and those who heeded were saved. Those who did not listen were destroyed by a flood that God sent. After the flood, God, in a language reminiscent of his words to Adam and Eve, says:
Genesis 9:1, 6-7 NRSVUE
[1] God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
[6] Whoever sheds the blood of a human, by a human shall that person’s blood be shed, for in his own image God made humans. [7] “And you, be fruitful and multiply, abound on the earth and have dominion over it.”
God still wanted humanity to fill the earth and have dominion over it, just as Adam was supposed to do.
Noah is particularly relevant to our study because, according to Matthew, events in his life are a type of the eschaton:
Matthew 24:36-42 NRSVUE
[36] “But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. [37] For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. [38] For as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, [39] and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so, too, will be the coming of the Son of Man. [40] Then two will be in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. [41] Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken, and one will be left. [42] Keep awake, therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.
This passage concerns the end-times, when the Messiah shall return. It references the ordinariness of life in the days leading to the flood. People could not tell the time. They went on living their lives as they always had, but the flood came. The idea here seems to be that as the end times approach, people will continue living as usual, but the eschaton will come. So, two people will be in the field as usual, but one will be taken and the other left. Quite strangely, generations of Christians have been raised to think the people taken in this passage are taken to heaven. Nothing in the immediate context concerns heaven. In the days of Noah, when most of the world was destroyed, Noah and his family were not taken to heaven for protection. On the contrary, they were protected through it. They went through the destruction but emerged on the other end. Indeed, one could read the passage as saying the ones left behind are the victorious ones, as Noah and his family were, and that the ones taken are the ones destroyed.
The Testimony of the Rest of the Hebrew Bible
There are several passages in the Old Testament alerting readers to the destiny of humanity and the earth. We can only briefly mention a few. First, the Psalmist writes:
Psalms 115:16 NRSVUE
The heavens are the LORD’s heavens, but the earth he has given to human beings.
As the Genesis story makes clear, humanity was made for the earth.
One way the Bible communicates the permanence of the earth is through cosmic geography. Zion, in Jerusalem, shall be the center of the world. Isaiah writes:
Isaiah 2:2-3 NRSVUE
[2] In days to come the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it. [3] Many peoples shall come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth instruction and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
It is worth noting briefly that these texts on cosmic geography do not necessarily have much to do with the modern State of Israel. As we shall see later, there will be a new Jerusalem. The text above concerns the end-times, the “days to come.” Zion shall be the capital city. Isaiah continues:
Isaiah 11:1-2, 5-9 NRSVUE
[1] A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. [2] The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
[5] Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist and faithfulness the belt around his loins. [6] The wolf shall live with the lamb; the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the lion will feed together, and a little child shall lead them. [7] The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. [8] The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. [9] They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
This text speaks of a Messianic (end-times) ruler whose reign will see even wild animals renounce violence. Notice how “all my holy mountain,” Zion, is equated with “the earth” in verse 9. Zion may be the capital city, but the results of the righteous rule will cover the whole earth. Isaiah adds:
Isaiah 65:17-19, 25 NRSVUE
[17] For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. [18] But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating, for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy and its people as a delight. [19] I will rejoice in Jerusalem and delight in my people; no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it or the cry of distress.
[25] The wolf and the lamb shall feed together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, but the serpent—its food shall be dust! They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the LORD.
Revelation will repeat this idea of a new heaven and earth. The Hebrew idea of heaven includes the sphere of the planets and the skies. The earth cannot be recreated without a new heaven. Genesis conveys the interdependence of the created world. A human life depends on the dirt (or minerals) of the ground, stars and planets above, and plants. In the new order, the things that cause humanity to weep will be addressed with finality.
Daniel 7 also concerns the eschaton:
Daniel 7:13-14 NRSVUE
[13] As I watched in the night visions, I saw one like a human being coming with the clouds of heaven. And he came to the Ancient One and was presented before him. [14] To him was given dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed.
This scene is alluded to in Revelation 4-5, as explained elsewhere. The point here is that someone like a son of man, a human, receives an everlasting kingship to rule on earth. This Messianic king’s rule cannot be everlasting if the earth ceases to exist.
Misunderstood New Testament Texts
The idea that believers will be scooped up into heaven just before the Great Tribulation and then live there forever is hinged on a few New Testament texts. We have already addressed one such text in Matthew earlier. Here, I shall briefly interact with the rest, beginning with John.
John 14:2-3 NRSVUE
[2] In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? [3] And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.
This is admittedly a tough one deserving of a fairly detailed treatment. In a common reading, Jesus is preparing his disciples for his imminent death, an event that would ensure his return to the Father. He says the Father’s house has enough space for the disciples, that he will prepare a place for them, and that he will return to take them to himself. Since the Father’s place is in heaven, the place where the disciples will be with Jesus must be heaven. But is this a fair reading? Not quite.
John 13-17 is a long pastoral conversation in which Jesus prepares his disciples for his death, resurrection, and ascension. Understandably, the disciples are anxious because Jesus has just announced his departure (13:33). Into that anxiety, Jesus speaks comfort: “In my Father’s house are many dwelling places… I go to prepare a place for you… I will come again and take you to myself.” In John’s narrative world, Jesus is assuring his disciples that his departure does not mean abandonment; rather, it is the necessary step that enables deeper, Spirit‑mediated communion with God. The “Father’s house” is not a celestial suburb in the sky but a metaphor for life in God’s presence, and the “dwelling places” echo John’s recurring theme of mutual indwelling: God dwelling with humanity and humanity dwelling in God (cf. John 1:14; 14:23; 15:1–10).
Besides, John already made a move significantly differing from the Synoptics by moving the incident of Jesus clearing the temple forward in chapter 2. The other gospel accounts have the temple-clearing incident towards the end of Jesus’s ministry. The narrative implication is that the “House of God,” God’s dwelling place (i.e., the temple), has become a den of robbers. Hence, there is a need for a new house of God. But the new house and temple consists of humans, not bricks and cement. In John, being with the Lord refers to a mystical union. Moreover, it is worth noting briefly that the place Jesus immediately goes to “prepare a place” for the disciples is not heaven but Hell. (See our extended treatment of this issue here.) This is, again, John’s way of telegraphing the whole sequence of Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension. It is the redemptive means by which Jesus opens access to the divine life. His promise to “come again” is the assurance that the risen Christ will return to restore full communion, culminating in the final, visible return at the end of the age.
This reading better fits John’s theology. Throughout the Gospel, the movement is always God coming to humanity, not humanity escaping the world. The Word becomes flesh and “dwells” among us (1:14). Jesus promises that he and the Father will “make their dwelling” with believers (14:23). The Spirit is given so that Jesus’ presence continues with his people (14:16–18). John’s eschatology is fundamentally incarnational and relational, not escapist. The point is not relocation but union. In fact, John 17:15 explicitly rejects the rapture idea: “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.” The Johannine Jesus prays against the very thing rapture theology claims he promises.
When we trace John’s themes forward into Revelation, written by the same Johannine tradition, the picture becomes even clearer. Revelation 21–22 completes the arc begun in John 14. The “dwelling place” of God is with humanity; the New Jerusalem, an earthly city of a heavenly origin, descends; heaven comes down, just as it was in Eden; God makes his home with his people. The movement is downward, not upward. What Jesus promises in John 14 finds its final expression not in believers going to heaven but in heaven coming to earth. The “place” Jesus finally prepares is the renewed creation where God and humanity dwell together forever. Thus, John 14:2–3 is a new‑creation text. It is a promise that Jesus’ departure secures a future in which God and humanity share life together in a restored world. When read within the Gospel’s narrative logic and the broader biblical story, the passage reinforces my argument that the Bible’s hope is not escape from earth but the renewal of earth as the arena of God’s eternal dwelling with humanity.
Following is a text from Paul that is also often misunderstood:
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 NRSVUE
[16] For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. [17] Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will be with the Lord forever.
This is another passage pressed into the service of rapture theology. Indeed, the word “rapture” ultimately derives from this passage. A common reading says that Jesus will appear in the skies, that believers will be supernaturally enabled to catch up with him, and that Jesus will then lead them to heaven.
Notice, however, that the text does not say Jesus leads believers into heaven. That critical detail is read into it. One needs knowledge of first-century Roman practice to understand what this letter says, since it was written to people in the Roman world. Whenever an emperor was visiting a Roman city, the people of the city would meet him at the city’s entrance and accompany him back into the city. The practice continues even today. Whenever a president visits a state, the governor and some ranking officials typically meet him at the airport and then return to the city with him. This is what this text describes. If the goal is for believers to go to heaven, there is no reason for Jesus to approach the earth. He can stay back in heaven and summon believers to join him, much like John the Revelator was made to do (Revelation 4:1-2). Hence, the reading that respects known practices and the text is that believers will welcome Jesus in the skies and then return to the earth with him, as he begins to reign. The ascension text from Acts may elucidate the point further:
Acts 1:9-11 NRSVUE
[9] When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. [10] While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. [11] They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
The angelic figures say, “This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” Since Jesus began his ascension journey from the earth, he must return to the starting point for the round trip to be properly said to be in the same manner. Hence, Paul does not describe a trip terminating mid-air and followed by a reversal. On the contrary, Jesus will appear in the clouds because he will head for the earth.
Sometimes, Revelation 3:10 is suggested:
Revelation 3:10 NRSVUE
Because you have kept my word of endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.
There is no reason to suppose that the promise here will be effected by scooping believers up into heaven. Indeed, we know that is not the case because the Philadelphian church was not so scooped up. Jesus could protect this church the same way Noah was protected from the destruction around him.
Additional New Testament Texts
Let us wrap up with texts reinforcing the idea that the earth is humanity’s destiny. We begin with the king-Messiah himself:
Matthew 5:5 ESV
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
This is a text from the famous Beatitudes. Jesus himself says the meek will inherit the earth, not heaven. This language of inheritance implies that the earth will be recreated as a worthwhile gift. The world as it currently is is not a gift worth rejoicing about; it is fundamentally broken. Matthew 5:5 reinforces the entire biblical trajectory from Genesis onward, as we have seen, that the destiny of God’s people is the earth, not heaven. Indeed, Matthew 5:5 quotes Psalm 37, a passage that reaffirms Israel’s hope for restored land, renewed creation, and embodied life. Nothing in the Beatitudes suggests escape from the world; instead, Jesus promises that the world itself will be reclaimed and given to the righteous. God’s people will inherit the earth because God intends to redeem it, not abandon it.
Ephesians 1:9-10 ESV
[9] making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ [10] as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth in him.
Paul says that at the “fullness of time,” when the current time comes to an end, God plans to unite things in heaven and earth. The earth, thus, endures and yet matters. Colossians 1:19-20 repeats the same idea.
Revelation 5:9-10 NRSVUE
[9] They sing a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to break its seals, for you were slaughtered and by your blood you ransomed for God saints from every tribe and language and people and nation; [10] you have made them a kingdom and priests serving our God, and they will reign on earth.”
This is the heavenly scene of Jesus receiving the kingdom, as Daniel 7 prophesied. As a result of his salvific work, Jesus is declared worthy to take the scroll and break the seals. As explained elsewhere, breaking the seals signals the beginning of Jesus’ reign as he judges the world. Notice that the angelic hymn says ransomed saints, believers, “will reign on earth.” That is, Jesus did not die so Christians can go to heaven. Instead, he died so they can reign on the earth.
Revelation 21:1-4 ESV
[1] Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. [2] And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. [3] And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. [4] He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
We have earlier seen in the Hebrew Bible many of the ideas in this passage. This text says that the holy city, the new Jerusalem, comes down from heaven from God. This implies that the city is not in heaven. It is made in heaven for the earth. We know the fuller contexts of the idea in verse 4 because Isaiah has much to say about it. There will be no weeping or pain because the Messianic king, Jesus, will make sure of it. Even the lion will not hurt the cow on God’s holy mountain, the new Jerusalem.
In the End
We have thus seen that the Earth is humanity’s allotment, and there is no escaping it. God has not changed his mind. I began this piece by acknowledging the potential emotional weight it carries. I should now assure the reader that whatever correct imagination they had about heaven will be true of the recreated earth. God will be with us because God’s dwelling place is among humans. There will be the golden streets and streams of healing rivers. One more important thing:
Revelation 22:1-2 ESV
[1] Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb [2] through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
The tree of life, which Adam and Eve were prevented from eating after the Fall, will be there in the earthly city. Eden is our eternal home. No minions will thwart God’s plans.
