Revelation 21:1 - Printer Friendly

ESV: 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.

NIV: Then I saw 'a new heaven and a new earth,' for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.

NASB: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.

CSB: 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.

NLT: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone.

KJV: 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.

NKJV: Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.

John saw a vision of a new heaven and a new earth replacing the millennial heaven and earth. "The heavens" as referred to here, does not include the heaven where God dwells. The word translated as "heaven" most likely refers to earth's atmosphere and/or space.

John writes that the first heaven and the first earth pass away, a statement that some Bible scholars interpret as complete annihilation. Others interpret it to mean a renovation. Those who believe earth and heaven will cease to exist point to Peter's statement that "the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire" (2 Peter 3:7). Those who believe the heavens and the earth will undergo a renovation recall that God destroyed the earth with a flood in the time of Noah, but a new kind of earth emerged when the flood subsided.

The word "new" in Revelation 21:1 is kainon, meaning "new in quality or fresh." Another word for "new" is neos, meaning "new in time." According to this verse, there will not be a sea on the new earth. The absence of a sea assures us this verse does not refer to the millennial earth, because during the millennium large bodies of water will exist (Isaiah 11:9; Ezekiel 47:8–10, 15, 17–20; 48:28; Zechariah 9:10; 14:8). It must describe the eternal earth.

Revelation 21:1–8 continues the progression of events which came after the end of the tribulation: Christ's return to earth (Revelation 19:11–16), the defeat and destruction of those who war against Christ (Revelation 19:17–21), the incarceration of Satan (Revelation 20:1–3), the millennial reign of Christ (Revelation 20:4–6), the release of Satan and the nations' final revolt against God (Revelation 20:7–10), and the great white throne judgment (Revelation 20:11–15). Here we see the creation of the new heaven and the new earth. Upcoming verses describe the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:9–27).

This chapter focuses on the New Jerusalem. This is not the earthly, historic Jerusalem of the tribulation (Revelation 11:2, 8). Nor is it the surviving Jerusalem of the millennium that serves as Jesus' capital (Revelation 20:9). It is the heavenly city referred to in Hebrews 12:22, whose designer and builder is God (Hebrews 11:10, 16). John attempts to describe the indescribable using analogies to precious gems and metals.

Leading up to this chapter, all sin and evil have been entirely defeated. Satan is banished to hell, along with every person who rejected Christ, as seen in chapter 20. Here, John describes the nature of the New Jerusalem, the heavenly city which descends onto earth after the ultimate victory over evil. Chapter 22 is a further description of this perfect eternity, and last messages from Jesus to those who read John's words.

The word ''revelation'' means ''an unveiling or disclosure.'' This writing unveils future events such as the rapture, three series of judgments that will fall on the earth during the tribulation, the emergence of the Antichrist, the persecution of Israel and her amazing revival, as well as Jesus' second coming with His saints to the earth, the judgment of Satan and his followers, and finally, the eternal state. This content, combined with the original Greek term apokalypsis, is why we now refer to an end-of-the-world scenario as ''an apocalypse.''