You may want to consider that literalist interpretations of scripture were primarily developed by people who had almost no understanding of science and the actual miracles behind God's creation in scientific terms.

"I came to cast fire upon the earth; would that it had already been started"

What if all the references to fire / burning in scripture in the New Testament are actually references to Truth? Truth burns or destroys lies, and the parts of our character and personality that are built on lies.

What if the the destruction of the world is actually expressed in metaphor because the people of Jesus' time (and time of the authors of the New Testament) could not grasp the reality in actual terms?

We see Satan's world being destroyed all around us. Lies that have been hidden for centuries and millennia are being exposed, and the foundations of the Satanic control over the world are being destroyed. Who could be the author of such a providential movement, except Christ?

I think we very much are in the very process of 'the destruction of the world' (aka "Satan's world" and the creation of a new one (where God is sovereign over both spirit AND flesh, but in the heart and minds of humanity, and in the civilization now in the process of painful childbirth).

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken." (Matt)

But also, Joseph's dream: "Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.” (Gen)

Hmmmm... Who or what does the sun, moon and stars symbolize in scripture?

"For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known." ~ Paul

How is it that Paul, who surely knew and understood the message of the Gospel as much as any saint in history, foresaw a time where his understanding of truth would outstrp even what he understood at that time? How is it that he who understood the Gospel as much as any saint, said he only understood in part? Dimly?

If the Old Testament message of Truth were likened to a candle, perhaps we might say that the Gospel and New Testament are like an incandescent light bulb! Truly the Gospel outshines the OT. But what if, at the conclusion of history, God and Christ reveal the Truth in such an amazing way, like actually pulling back the curtains and letting the sunlight stream in, then what would the light bulb seem like? It would seem dull in comparison. It would be outshone.

Conclusion: we can look forward to understanding things to a far greater level at the close of history, if our hearts are open to receive, to an extent that not even Paul himself experienced. Which also means, we should realize that we still only see dimly, in a mirror, and therefore, need to be open to what God might reveal to us at the close of history.