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.
What does Revelation 21:1 mean?
The new heaven and the new earth will not be separate from each other; the earth of the saints, their glorified, bodies, will be heavenly. The old world, with all its troubles and tumults, will have passed away.
Key themes
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Keep this verse inside Revelation 21:1-5 and alongside a few nearby related passages.
Commentary on Revelation 21:1
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth - Such a heaven and earth that they might properly be called new; such transformations, and such changes in their appearance, that they seemed to be just created. He does not say that they were created now, or anew; that the old heavens and earth were annihilated; but all that he says is, that there were such changes that they seemed to be new. If the earth is to be renovated by fire, such a renovation will give an appearance to the globe as if it were created anew, and might be attended with such an apparent change in the heavens that they might be said to be new.
Key words
- heaven
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And I saw a new heaven and a new earth,.
- earth
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And I saw a new heaven and a new earth,.
- heaven
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And I saw a new heaven and a new earth,.
Context in Revelation 21
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Revelation 21 belongs to the late movement of the book, especially the section often described as final victory and new creation. Revelation is the New Testament’s climactic apocalyptic prophecy of worship, witness, judgment, cosmic conflict, and the new Jerusalem. Read this chapter with the wider themes of worship, witness, and judgment in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.
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