A New Existence

It’s good to pause here and get a bird’s-eye view of what we read in Revelation 20. Due to the nature of today’s passage, it’s easy to be confused by the series of events. We aren’t given a strictly chronological account; rather, God uses the repeat-and-enlarge principle to tell us about the events after the millennium.

Revelation 20:1–3 and Revelation 20:4–6 are parallel passages. The first passage reveals what is happening with Satan during the thousand years, while the second reveals to us what is going on with the saints at the same time. While Satan is stewing on the earth, the saints are in heaven.

The next three passages similarly overlap. Verses 7–10 give an overview of the events taking place after the millennium. Revelation 20:11, 12, gives greater detail of what is taking place in verses 9 and 10, with a focus on the judgment of the wicked. Then, Revelation 21:2–8 gives us even greater detail still of the events that took place in verses 9 and 10, this time with a focus on the redeemed.

If we read this verse and the following verse as chronological, we will be confused—as if the new heaven and new earth precede the descent of the New Jerusalem to the earth. It’s clear this cannot be the case, as the New Jerusalem is already on the earth when Satan gathers his forces to attack it (Revelation 20:9). So then we come to understand that the New Jerusalem descends, verse 2, sometime between Revelation 20:7 and Revelation 20:9.

Revelation 21:1 truly belongs to the passage before it, in that after the lake of fire has done its work, only then does it make sense that there is a new heaven and a new earth. This old earth and its works will all be burned up and destroyed, while the sky above will pass away. What a glorious day it will be to see the very act of recreation!

Heavenly Father, thank You for the promise of a new creation, a new heaven and a new earth. May Your new creation begin in my heart.

For Further Study: 2 Peter 3:12; Isaiah 65:17; Isaiah 66:22

Key Bible Texts

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. (Revelation 21:1 KJV)