The Full Preterist View on The Heavens and Earth

NOTE:  This reflects the Full Preterist, or Realized Eschatologist which is a heretical viewpoint due to its denial of the future return of Christ and the resurrection. This is not the view of the partial or "inconsistent" Preterist.

Introduction

Few believers in Jesus would deny he has established his New Covenant. What did Jesus say had to happen before the law (the Old Covenant) could pass away? Now, obviously the physical heaven and earth haven't been destroyed, but Jesus did say until heaven and earth pass away the Old Law would not pass.

If we understand the "heaven and earth" as literal, physical heaven and earth then this means the Old Law is still in effect. On the other hand, if we understand the "heaven and earth" as figurative language referring not to physical creation, but to something else, it is possible that this "heaven and earth" could pass away, allowing for the passing of the Law.

   "Think not that I am come to destroy the Law and the Prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. Verily I say unto you, until heaven and earth pass,  not one jot or one tittle shall pass from the law until all be fulfilled". 
-Matthew 5:17-18  

How Heaven and Earth Passed Away

Jesus was a Jew. He knew Old Testament Scripture and the language of the prophets and, unlike most today, so did His audience. As the prophet of and to Israel,  Jesus used their same language. So how would Jesus use these terms, what would He have meant, what would He be trying to get across to his disciples who would also know the special uses of prophetic words?

Isaiah predicted the passing of heaven and earth in chapter 24.  Although this sounds like the destruction of the physical it is actually speaking of the destruction of Israel's Covenant World under the imagery of "heaven and earth." Note that after this destruction that God is seen reigning in Mount Zion, in Jerusalem. If the earth had been destroyed how could Mount Zion still exist? If it is not physical, then why is the rest?

          "I have put my word in your mouth and have covered you with the shadow of my hand, to establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, 'You are my people'". 
- Isaiah 51:16

God is speaking to Israel and says he gave them his law, the Mosaic Covenant, to establish heaven and lay the foundation of the earth! Clearly God is not saying he gave the Mosaic Covenant to Israel to create the physical heaven and earth! God gave his covenant with Israel to create their world. If He were to destroy the Old Covenant  and give a New Covenant, He would be creating a new heavens and new earth. Isn't this what we are talking about?

In the New testament, the Old  covenant was about to pass away (2 Corinthians 3:10; Hebrews 8:13, 12:25-28). If the New Heavens and Earth has not yet arrived, then the New Covenant hasn't either. 

In Isaiah 65 God predicted that Israel would fill the measure of her sin,  He would destroy them, create a new people with a new name,  create a new heaven and earth with a new Jerusalem. The creation of the new heavens and earth would follow the destruction of the Jews after they had filled the measure of their sins and been destroyed at the coming of the Lord in fire with his angels. Sound familiar?  In Matthew 23, right before Jesus predicted the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, He pronounced woe upon Jerusalem and told them to do this very thing! This pronouncement was given in the same context as the above verse where He said "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall never pass away".

The Elements Passing Away

Do the Scriptures teach anywhere that this physical creation will be destroyed?  The Scriptures actually speak of the earth's permanence (Ps. 104:5; Ecc. 1:4). But what about this verse from 2 Peter?

   "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.  Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,  looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, on account of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!  But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells."
2 Peter 3:10-13

The Greek word for elements used here is "stoicheia," and it appears in the NT only seven times. The literal meaning of the word is "element, rudiment, principle."  Does this word "elements" refer to the elements of matter that make up the planet? Consider the following usage of this Greek term:

 "So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world. But when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,  in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.  And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”  Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God. . .  But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? 
-Galatians 4:3-9

Paul exhorted the Christians not to return to the bondage to the Law. Here, at least, the use of "elements" is not about the physical world, but to the Law.

 "See that no one shall be carrying you away as spoil through the philosophy and vain deceit, according to the deliverance of men, according to the rudiments of the world, and not according to Christ, ...If, then, ye did die with the Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as living in the world,  are ye subject to ordinances?"
Colossians 2:8, 20-22

Here Paul tells the Colossian church not to allow anyone to deceive them by way of worldly philosophy, or traditions of men according to the elements or rudiments of the world. Again, this is not about the material creation, but the ordinances (or laws) of the world.

"For even owing to be teachers, because of the time, again ye have need that one teach you  what are the elements of the beginning of the oracles of God,  and ye have become having need of milk, and not of strong food."
Hebrews 5:12

Here "milk, not solid food" are the elementary principles of God's oracles.  Obviously, this "stoicheia" is not about the universe either.

"And it will come (the day of the Lord) as a thief in the night, in which the heavens with a rushing noise will pass away, and the elements with burning heat be dissolved, and earth and the works in it shall be burnt up. All these, then, being dissolved, what kind of persons doth it behove you to be in holy behaviours and pious acts? waiting for and hasting to the presence of the day of God, by which the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements with burning heat shall melt; and for new heavens and a new earth according to His promise we do wait, in which righteousness doth dwell" 
-2 Peter 3:10-13

Peter says the elements will be destroyed or burned up. So far "elements" does not refer to the physical universe. We must keep in mind that  Scripture interprets Scripture. Since the verse in question would fit both a physical or spiritual context, and since "stoicheia" has not been used in any other passages to mean the physical world, can we not read this verse as spiritual also? 

New Heavens and Earth

Peter tells us they expected the "new" heavens and earth.  There are two words translated as "new" in the New Testament. They are "neos" and "kainos." Neos has the sense of never having been before. Kainos  means new in quality. Peter uses kainos in this verse. Now, if God destroys this earth and creates another, that would be a new (neos) earth not a new (kainos). In a similar way, we have a new (kainos) covenant (Heb. 8), a new (kainos) creation (2 Cor. 5:17) and a new (kainos) Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2 cf. Heb. 12:22).

Conclusion

"The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth." 
Genesis 6:11-12 

The earth was corrupt. If we could take all humans and transport them to another planet,  is the earth still corrupt? No. The problem is man. We don't need God to burn up the earth and make a new one. What we need is something that deals with the spirit of man. The new heavens and earth is referring to the New Covenant. This is the present period of time...the Kingdom of God where Christ rules in the hearts of the believers. If we take the statements from the Scriptures at face value, then we should conclude that the first heavens and the first earth passed away and was replaced by the new heavens and new earth... the kingdom without end (Daniel 2).