And He that sat upon the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” (Rev. 21:5)

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind had conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him” (I Cor 2:9).

The Greek word translated new in Rev 21:5 can also mean renewed or restored, and includes circumstances and conditions along with appearance.  It’s the same word used in Rev 21:1 referring to a new heaven and a new earth.  And Rev. 21:1 is a reference to Isaiah 65:17 where new heavens and a new earth are also mentioned, along with one of the better descriptions of life in Israel during the Millennium. The Hebrew word for new in Isaiah 65:17 comes from a root meaning to rebuild, renew, or repair.

Since Jesus described His 2nd Coming as the renewal of all things (Matt. 19:28), it’s reasonable to interpret Rev. 21 as describing Heaven and Earth being restored to the condition they were in before the fall; refreshed, renewed, repaired and rebuilt for Messiah’s Kingdom.  It will be like God hit the reset button to put everything back the way it was at the beginning, giving the Creation a fresh start for the Millennium.

The context of Rev. 20 also supports this interpretation since Rev. 20:7-15 is actually a parenthetical explanation of the ultimate destinies of Satan and the unbelieving world.  John was simply bringing his subject to its conclusion before returning to the beginning of the Millennium to describe the New Jerusalem.  We know this because John skipped forward to the end of the Millennium in Rev. 20:7 and then returned to open both Rev. 21 (Isaiah 65:17) and Rev. 22 (Ezekiel 47:12) with millennial quotes from the Old Testament.

Israel And The Church In The Millennium

Have you noticed that there’s a lot more information about the nature of the coming Kingdom in the Old Testament than in the New? That’s because even though Christians talk more about the Millennium than Jews do, the fact is that the 1000 year Kingdom of the Messiah is intended for Israel not the Church, and for Earth not Heaven.

Major glimpses of life in the Millennium are found throughout Isaiah (2, 4, 35, 54, 55, 60, 61, 65, 66) Ezekiel (40-48) Joel (3) Amos (9) Micah (4) and Zechariah (14) with other smatterings through out the Old Testament. All we know from the New Testament is found in Rev. 20-22, and even there, portions referring to New Jerusalem describe only our physical surroundings, not our life style.

In the rest of the New Testament, we find only a couple of hints, such as Matthew 19:28and Acts 3:21, because the New Testament concerns Christian life in phase one of the Kingdom of Heaven (before the rapture), not phase two (after it). So we can read much more about life on Earth during the Millennium, than we can about life in New Jerusalem. Those passages are important because they describe the fulfillment of God’s promise to Israel, a promise that includes peace (finally) prosperity, land of their own and long happy life with God in their midst, but they’re not written for us.

So What About Us?

Descriptions of life in New Jerusalem are limited; no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain (Rev 21:4). Sounds great, but what do we do all day? On Earth folks will be building houses, bearing children, planting vineyards, tending sheep and otherwise enjoying the works of their hands (Isa 65:17-25). Do we just spend our time in some endless worship service?  Though it’s not likely, no one knows for sure what we’ll be doing.  But even though the Bible doesn’t answer our questions about our everyday  activities, it does speak of our state of mind.

Become As Little Children

Jesus said that in order to enter the Kingdom, we would have to change and become like little children (Matt. 18:3).  What does that mean?  Behavioral Scientists have determined that the average child is much happier than the average adult, partly because children spend most of their time learning and doing new things, and partly because they haven’t yet acquired the fears and worries of adult life. By the way, Science has also discovered that while for all practical purposes the creative potential of the human brain is limitless, the average adult uses a mere fraction of that potential working toward and achieving life goals.

A reasonably successful life in the US has always been beyond the wildest dream of most non-Americans, but even that can be reduced to such a predictable routine that once learned it’s quite possible to “live the good life” without much mental effort at all. Most people invest more of their creativity in hobbies and leisure activities than in career goals.

In short, our Creator has endowed us with limitless creative potential (Deut 8:18), but since very little of that potential is needed to live successfully, we become bored and unhappy, searching for something to stimulate our creativity and get us excited again. Such is life, at least on Earth.

What’s The Alternative?

But suppose we were suddenly thrust into an environment filled with endless opportunities for exploration and the acquisition of new experience and knowledge without any fears or worries, just like being kids again.  Suppose each of us would see this environment as if it was created especially for us, to stimulate our unique blend of talent and creative ability, even to the extent of being designed around our favorite shapes and colors. Suppose it was a dynamic environment, growing as we grow, to provide endless opportunity for discovery without any possibility of defeat, disappointment or failure.

And suppose we were gifted with boundless energy, always feeling better than our best day on Earth, without a hint of fatigue, sickness, accident or injury. Ever.

Ever notice how curious kids are, asking all kinds of questions about what we’re doing and why?  Suppose we were given full use of the dimension of time, able to observe all of history first hand and understand how everything came to be and why it happened the way it did.

Suppose we had been divested of all fear, hatred, jealousy, envy, greed and worry, our minds filled instead with happiness, gratitude, joy and satisfaction for self and others. Suppose there were no more misunderstandings, arguments, or betrayals, and that everyone around us was just as concerned for our well being as we were for theirs.  Perhaps this is what the Lord meant by becoming as little children.

Billy Graham was once asked if there would be golf courses in heaven. “If they’re necessary for our happiness,” he replied, “they’ll be there.” I believe everything necessary for our happiness has been created and installed in the New Jerusalem, and that even with our supernatural abilities we’ll live endless lives of exploration and realization, joy and happiness.  This is what the Millennium will be like for us.

So why doesn’t the Bible go into more detail about it?  Well, the Bible was written to and for Earth bound humankind in our natural state.  Even if there was a detailed description of what awaits us, it would be so different from what we’re used to that our limited minds couldn’t comprehend very much of it.  And what little we could understand would make us so miserable here that we’d do anything possible to hasten our departure. In short it would make our lives here intolerable.

As it is written, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him (1 Cor. 2:9).  I think we’re supposed to read that literally.

Over time I’ve received several questions along the line of the following one.  “Why do you think that such an important occurrence as the rapture is spoken of so few times and why is it so “hidden” in scripture?”

It’s true the rapture is not mentioned very often, at least not directly.  In fact, the Greek word from which we get the whole rapture idea appears only 13 times in the New Testament and and even then it comes to us in a roundabout way.   The Greek word is harpazo and means to catch up or take by force.  In  most English translations of 1 Thes.4:17 it’s rendered “caught up”. The root from which it comes is haireo which means “to take for oneself.” 1 Thes. 4:17 is the only place the word harpazo refers to the rapture of the Church.

On top of that rapture is an English word that comes from the Latin translation of harpazo which is why you can’t find it in your  Bible.  You would have to read 1 Thes. 4:17 in Latin to see it there. (It appears as rapiemur.)  Many people don’t realize that for the thousand years preceding the Reformation, the Latin Vulgate was the primary translation of the original Greek texts.  It was the standard text longer than any other translation before or since.

Although the concept of the rapture appears through out the Bible  it wasn’t until about 20 years after the cross that it was described in any detail.  This is how Paul could say he was revealing a secret (Listen, I tell you a mystery) when he described it in 1 Cor. 15: 51-53. Together with 1 Thes. 4:15-17 it was the first clear teaching of the rapture in the history of mankind. Only with the benefit of Paul’s disclosure can you look back through the Bible and see the many hints of the rapture. (See Rapture References)

There was a good strategic reason to keep all this secret before the cross.  Paul spoke of it in 1 Cor 2:7-8. Explaining that his message of wisdom was not taken from the wisdom of the world, he said,

No,we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

Remember,  Jesus called Satan the prince of this world (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11).  Paul thought of  him as the god of this age (2 Cor. 4:4) and John said the whole world is under the control of the evil one (1 John 5:19), so Paul’s reference to rulers of this age is not to the High Priest in Jerusalem or Caesar in Rome.  He was saying that had Satan and his lackeys understood the extent of the blessings God had in mind for the Church, they would have done everything possible to prevent the crucifixion.

God’s Secret Wisdom, Part 1
There are two facets to God’s Secret wisdom where the Church is concerned. And as you’ll see both  require absolute secrecy. The first is the manner in which the Church was brought into the world.

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. (Colossians 2:13-15)

A quarter of a century after becoming a believer, I still can not adequately describe my initial reaction to hearing these verses.  I had been in church all my life and had never been told such a thing. The bill of indictment for all the sins of my life, past, present, and future, was cancelled at the cross.  This rendered null and void any claim Satan ever had or ever would have against me.  At the cross he thought he had won by defeating God’s only hope for the salvation of mankind.  Instead, whoever chooses it can now receive a lifelong pardon for their sins that no one can ever revoke.

Let me explain here that this knowledge did not inspire me to go out and  sin to my heart’s content with out any fear of consequences.  Nor does it do so in any other true believer.  Those who base their opposition to eternal security on the assumption that only the fear of loss will make us behave are missing the point. Besides, while it was our behavior that caused our sin problem, it’s the Lord’s behavior that cured us. All that’s left for us is to believe and receive it.

No, what this did for me was to produce a knee buckling realization that I could never be worthy of such a gift and created a determination in me to spend the rest of my life trying to live up to what I had already attained (Phil 3:20).  In God’s eyes I was now perfect (Hebr. 10:14), a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17).  I had been adopted into His own family (Gal 4:4-5) and guaranteed a place in His Kingdom (Ephes. 1:13-14).  I wanted to make sure He didn’t regret doing all that.

This guarantee of salvation is based totally on our belief that Colossians 2:13-15 is true, and was such a radical departure from what God’s enemies had come to expect of Him that they were caught totally flat footed.  Before the cross forgiveness only covered past sins.  As soon as a person sinned again after the Day of  Atonement he was right back in debt and Satan had a brand new claim on him.  To  set aside the penalty for his sins, innocent animals had to die in his place, but that didn’t free him. It only gave him a temporary stay of execution (Hebr. 10:3).

But when Satan saw the lifelong lists of our sins being nailed to the cross right before his eyes, and heard Jesus say “Paid in full!” (John 19:30) he knew that what he thought was going to be his final victory had become his ultimate defeat.

Although with 20-20 hindsight we can look back into the Old Testament and see hints of what God was going to do in the Church, no one before the cross saw this.  Not the Jews, certainly not the Gentiles, not even Satan. And instead a nice orderly transition from Law to Grace, the clock for the Age of Law abruptly stopped seven years short of its previously announced duration.  Religious ceremonies the Jews had viewed as mandatory suddenly became meaningless. A culture steeped in religious law and practice was made obsolete, and would soon be dispersed. For the first and only time in history the gates of heaven had been flung open to whosoever would enter, conditioned only on their belief that Jesus died for their sins and rose again (Romans 10:9)

God’s Secret Wisdom, Part 2
The second facet of God’s secret wisdom will be the way the Church is taken out of the world. At a time no one will be able to determine in advance and without any prior warning, the Church will simply disappear off the face of the Earth forever, leaving the unbelieving world in utter chaos.  Because the birth of the Church took Satan by surprise, the details surrounding the Church’s departure have to be even more obscure.  He’s a quick study, after all, and has had 2000 years to review what little the Bible has to say about the Rapture. He wouldn’t be so easily taken by surprise a second time.

Being a student of prophecy He knows at least as much as we do about the End Times. (Please remember this.  It isn’t that Satan doesn’t know God’s plan, it’s that he believes he can defeat God’s plan.)  He knows the rapture will precede the End Times judgments, will take place when the church reaches its full number, and that only God knows the number.  But that’s about it, so his only hope is to prevent the Church from reaching that number for as long as possible.  Because he doesn’t know what the number is, he’s effectively kept off balance.  If he knew when the church was leaving he could plan some kind of counter attack.  But since he doesn’t, he’s forced to remain reactive, unable to relax, never knowing when the whistle will blow and the game will be over. I think that’s God’s real purpose in keeping the rapture secret.

When God does take the Church out of the world, there will be another abrupt change as the  Age of Law returns for its last seven years.  Once again the focus will be on Israel.  There will be a Temple with sacrifices and all the other associated ceremonies.  Except for all the missing people, it will be like the Church Age never existed.  And please understand that even when the New Covenant comes to Israel it won’t be like it is in the Church.  A Temple, animal sacrifice, required Holy days, and a Levitical Priesthood  will continue into and through out the Kingdom Age, or Millennium.

You see, it’s clear that the Church Age was not intended to be the next step in the progression of God’s plan, to supersede that which came before, and perhaps to be superseded by what comes after.  It was a complete and radical departure from the norm and once completed it will never be repeated. Having known nothing but the Church Age we don’t appreciate how unique we are.  But as Paul wrote, people in ages yet to come will study the Church to learn the extent of the incomparable riches of God’s grace (Ephes. 2:7).

Here, There, Or In The Air
To underscore the Church’s uniqueness, its departure will have to be even more dramatic, even more cloaked in mystery than its arrival was.  Soon and very soon,  on a day that no one could have predicted in advance, believers will hear a loud command, “Come up here!” (Rev. 4:1), accompanied by the trumpet of God.  Immediately the spirits of dead believers will receive new resurrection bodies and the living will be transformed from mortal to immortal.  Together we will meet the Lord “in the air” having disappeared from Earth in the twinkling of an eye (1 Thes. 4:16-17, 1 Cor. 15:51-53) and then we’ll proceed to His Father’s house (John 14:2-3).

This has always intrigued me.  The Greek word for air refers to that space between Heaven and Earth   called its atmosphere.  So we’re not immediately going to Heaven, nor is the Lord coming all the way to Earth, as He will in the 2nd Coming.  Instead the meeting will take place in the atmosphere.

The atmosphere was created on the 2nd day when God made an expanse to separate the water under it (the sea) from the water above it (the water vapor canopy that surrounded the Earth until the flood.) He called it the sky or firmament (Genesis 1:8).  Unlike all other creation days, the 2nd day was not pronounced good.  Some scholars speculate this is because demonic spirits immediately inhabited it.  This may be why Paul also referred to Satan as the ruler of the kingdom of the air (Ephesians 2:2).

If this is the case, then it means the Lord is going to shock Satan again, this time by suddenly assembling the raptured Church in his front yard without any warning.  Each list of sins that Satan saw nailed to the cross 2000 years ago will be represented by one deliriously happy redeemed believer in a final grand display of victory before we fly off to our mansions in the sky.  Talk about a dramatic ending for the Age of the Church.  What a day that will be.  Now do you see why its exact timing has to be kept secret?  We wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise.