“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth did pass away, and the sea is not any more” (Rev. 21:1)
In my previous article about the terms ‘age-during’ (αιωνιος) and ‘the ages of the ages’ (τους αιωνας των αιωνων), I made a passing remark about how, based on a comparison of 1 Cor. 15:24-28 with Rev. 20 - 22, it is clear that the state at the end of Revelation (the New Heaven and Earth) is not the same as the final state seen by Paul. Unfortunately, I ran out of space to elaborate on this idea. So I would like to take this time to explain exactly why I think that Revelation 21-22 is not a depiction of the final, everlasting state, as well as to make a few remarks on the nature of the Great White Throne judgment of Rev. 20:11-15.
Death and sin on the New Earth
According to Paul, at the consummation, all people will be resurrected and death and sin will be abolished (1 Cor. 15:24-28). Based on a superficial reading of Rev. 20:11-15, this seems to be exactly what is happening at the Great White Throne judgment, just prior to the creation of the New Heaven and Earth. John says that, at this time, all the dead will be given up and judged, and death itself will be cast into the Lake of Fire; then, “the death shall not be any more” (Rev. 21:4). Doesn’t this seem to be the end of the ages prophesied by Paul?
However, contrary to popular opinion, there will still be mortal human beings and sin on the New Earth! This is prophesied by Isaiah in Isa. 65:20. Note the obvious parallels between this passage from Isaiah and Rev. 21:
For, lo, I am creating new heavens, and a new earth, And the former things are not remembered, Nor do they ascend on the heart. (Isa. 65:17)
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth did pass away, and the sea is not any more... “because the first things did go away.” (Rev. 21:1, 5)
But joy ye, and rejoice for ever, that I [am] Creator, For, lo, I am creating Jerusalem a rejoicing, And her people a joy. (Isa. 65:18)
and I, John, saw the holy city — new Jerusalem — coming down from God out of the heaven, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband (Rev. 21:2)
And I have rejoiced in Jerusalem, And have joyed in My people, And not heard in her any more Is the voice of weeping, and the voice of crying. (Isa. 65:19)
“and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, and the death shall not be any more, nor sorrow, nor crying, nor shall there be any more pain, because the first things did go away.” (Rev. 21:4)
There is not thence any more a suckling of days, And an aged man who doth not complete his days, For the youth a hundred years old dieth, And the sinner, a hundred years old, is lightly esteemed [alternate transl. ‘considered accursed’]. (Isa. 65:20)
Although this passage, Isa. 65:17-25, is often considered to be referring to the Messianic kingdom of Rev. 20:4-6, the common language between Isa. 65:17-19 and Rev. 21:1-5 makes absolutely clear the fact that these two passages refer to the same time period. However, in addition to the description of the New Heaven and Earth and the New Jerusalem, Isaiah adds the fact that there will still be mortal human beings (albeit with much longer lifespans) and sinners during this age. Furthermore, as he goes on to say in verse 23, there will still be child-bearing and offspring on the New Earth.
With this in mind, the question must be asked, how can God have said in Rev. 21:4 that “the death shall not be any more”? Again, the answer is found in the parallel passage from Isaiah, which applies the promises of God from Rev. 21:4 specifically to those living in the New Jerusalem: “and not heard in her [Jerusalem] any more is the voice of weeping, and the voice of crying”.
This also solves another mystery, in Rev. 22:2: “the leaves of the tree [of life are] for the healing of the nations”. These ‘nations’, per Rev. 21:24, are those who are living outside of the New Jerusalem, walking “in its light”. If all death and mortality had already been abolished, both inside and outside of the New Jerusalem, then there would be no need for healing; but if those outside of the New Jerusalem were still mortal, as Isaiah’s prophecy necessitates, then this passage suddenly makes sense. Likewise, Rev. 22:15 seems to indicate that these nations that live outside of the New Jerusalem still have the capacity to sin.
Rule, authority, and power on the New Earth
Paul also tells us in 1 Cor. 15:24-28 that at the consummation, prior to the final resurrection, all rule, authority, and power will be abolished, and Jesus will voluntarily subject Himself to the Father. However, this clearly has not happened yet by the time of the New Heaven and Earth in Rev. 21 - 22. For one, the nations that live outside of the New Jerusalem will still be ruled by kings:
and the nations in its [the New Jerusalem’s] light shall walk, and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it, and its gates shall not at all be shut by day, for night shall not be there; and they shall bring the glory and the honour of the nations into it (Rev. 21:24-26)
Even within the New Jerusalem, there will still be authority and rule, for the saints of the Lamb will reign alongside Him:
and any curse there shall not be any more, and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him, and they shall see His face, and His name [is] upon their foreheads, and night shall not be there, and they have no need of a lamp and light of a sun, because the Lord God doth give them light, and they [the servants] shall reign — to the ages of the ages. (Rev. 22:3-5)
Interestingly, this not only demonstrates that rule, authority, and power exist in the New Jerusalem, but it also applies the term “ages of the ages” (which will come to an end) to the age of the New Heaven and Earth.
Furthermore, it is certain that Christ has not yet voluntarily subjected Himself to the Father by the time of the New Heaven and Earth, because He (as the Lamb) is still ruling alongside God within the New Jerusalem:
And a sanctuary I did not see in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, is its sanctuary, and the Lamb, and the city hath no need of the sun, nor of the moon, that they may shine in it; for the glory of God did lighten it, and the lamp of it [is] the Lamb... And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, bright as crystal, going forth out of the throne of God and of the Lamb... and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him (Rev. 21:22-23, 22:1, 3)
Therefore, the consummation cannot have already occurred at the creation of the New Heaven and Earth, because both inside and outside of the New Jerusalem there still exists authority, rule, and power, and Christ the Lamb still rules alongside the Father.
The ‘nations’ and the Great White Throne judgment
Now that I have shown conclusively that the age of the New Heaven and Earth in Rev. 21 - 22 is prior to the end of the ages described in 1 Cor. 15:24-28, I will tackle the question of who exactly the ‘nations’ are and what this has to do with the Great White Throne judgment. As Isa. 65:20 and Rev. 21:24; 22:2, 15 state, there will be a number of people who live on the New Earth outside of the New Jerusalem who have not been made immortal and who will not be sinless, called the ‘nations’. Interestingly, this means that some unbelievers necessarily will pass the Great White Throne judgment and not be thrown into the Lake of Fire. This logical argument follows:
P1: All believers, those who are “of Christ”, will be resurrected to immortality at Christ’s second coming (1 Cor. 15:23, 50-54; cf. 1 Thess. 4:13-18)
P2: At the Great White Throne judgment, all unbelievers will be resurrected in the same manner (Rev. 20:12-13)
P3: After the Great White Throne judgment, some mortals will still exist (Isa. 65:20)
C1: Unbelievers at the Great White Throne judgment will be resurrected to mortality [P2 - P3].
C2: The only mortals after the Great White Throne judgment will be unbelievers [P1 - C1].
P4: The nations who will live on the New Earth after the Great White Throne judgment are mortal and sinful (Rev. 22:2, 15)
C3: The nations who will live on the New Earth are unbelievers [C2 - P4].
Interestingly, this means that the names of some unbelievers will be written in the “scroll of the life of the Lamb”, since the unbelievers of the ‘nations’ are not thrown in the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:15). But if some unbelievers pass the Great White Throne judgment, what could that judgment possibly be about? And what about “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23)? These are very large topics that require a lot of detailed scriptural exegesis to cover, but for the purposes of this article, I will provide a short explanation.
Essentially, yes, it is true that every person has fallen short of God’s glory by sinning. However, it is also true that all people have already been justified from their sins by Christ’s righteous declaration (Rom. 5:18), and so because all have died to sin with Christ, God no longer imputes our trespasses (either of believers or unbelievers; 2 Cor. 5:14-19). Therefore, the Great White Throne judgment can have nothing to do with sin; instead, it is explicitly a judgment of works (good and evil):
And I saw a great white throne, and Him who is sitting upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven did flee away, and place was not found for them; and I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and scrolls were opened, and another scroll was opened, which is that of the life, and the dead were judged out of the things written in the scrolls — according to their works (Rev. 20:11-12)
Paul also mentions this final judgment in Romans 2, which he calls “the day of... the righteous judgment of God”:
[God] shall render to each according to his works; to those, indeed, who in continuance of a good work, do seek glory, and honour, and incorruptibility — life age-during; and to those contentious, and disobedient, indeed, to the truth, and obeying the unrighteousness — indignation and wrath, tribulation and distress, upon every soul of man that is working the evil, both of Jew first, and of Greek; and glory, and honour, and peace, to every one who is working the good, both to Jew first, and to Greek. (Rom. 2:6-10)
Therefore, just as Christ did away with sin on the cross, the Great White Throne is where God will do away with evil by condemning those unbelievers who did evil during their lifetimes. However, and this is highly significant, God will also give ‘age-during life’ to those unbelievers who did good during their lifetimes, and allow them to live on the New Earth as the mortal ‘nations’.
This analysis leaves only one question, which is, how does Rev. 21:8 fit into this scenario?
and to fearful, and unstedfast, and abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all the liars, their part [is] in the lake that is burning with fire and brimstone, which is a second death. (Rev. 21:8)
This passage certainly demonstrates that there will be some who are thrown into the Lake of Fire at the Great White Throne judgment, and that this includes those who are ‘unstedfast’ (απιστος, ‘unbelieving’). However, the existence of mortal nations on the New Earth also demonstrates that at least some unbelievers will indeed ‘pass’ this judgment. This shows that, in this case, απιστος means those who are actively opposed to the truth, rather than simply those who do not believe, as it does in a few other places in scripture. This also makes sense of why it is merely one of the groups condemned in this list, because if John meant to say that every unbeliever would go into the Lake of Fire, then he would have simply said “all unbelievers” rather than naming each specific group of evildoers.
Conclusion
Based on an examination of Isaiah’s prophecy of the New Heaven and Earth (Isa. 65:17-25), it can be seen that there will still be death and sin during this final age. Likewise, John’s prophecy in Revelation 21 - 22 demonstrates that mortality, sin, power, authority, and rule are not yet fully abolished by the time of the creation of the New Heaven and Earth, and yet 1 Cor. 15:24-28 says that all these things will be abolished when all people are saved at the end of the ages. This demonstrates conclusively that the state at the end of Revelation is not actually the final state described by Paul in 1 Cor. 15:24-28, and is instead the final age before the end of the ages.
The existence of mortal, sinful nations on the New Earth that live outside of the New Jerusalem also demonstrates that at least some unbelievers will pass the Great White Throne judgment. This judgment, rather than merely being a condemnation of all unbelievers, is specifically for the purpose of punishing evildoers and rewarding those who do good (Rom. 2:6-10). Because sin has already been done away with and is no longer imputed to either believers or unbelievers, this is not a judgment on sin but on good and evil.
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