Eternity Future

         The prophetic puzzle piece John reveals in Rev. 22:4-5 affirms that what happens at the end of the ages is Eternity Future. Proverbs 4:18 calls it the Perfect Day. You may have heard it called the unknown day and hour, based on Jesus’ teaching of the signs of this age and of His coming in Mt. 24:34-36. Sadly, it is one of the most misinterpreted and widely circulated stumbling blocks in God’s end-time highway. The misinterpretation arose because of the addition of chapter and verse numbers, as well as the chapter headers and subheads by the modern translators.
       The context of Jesus’ crucial teaching is recognizing the appointed times and corresponding seasons in God’s prophetic plan of redemption. Jesus specifically tells His disciples then—and now—that  we should look for these signs at the appointed time. That’s the lesson of the fig tree.
            The word translated as generation in verse 34 can have several meanings, including referring to a wide time period and an appointed time, such as the 2,000 years of the Church Age of the New Covenant. In short, Jesus is affirming that what He is telling His inner circle of disciples applies to the last Days (Heb. 1:1-4). God’s plan will surely come to pass and nothing will stop it!
            Jesus then accentuates this point by explaining that “heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (v. 35). We’ve already seen in the Revelation that heaven and earth pass away at the end of the 7th Day, after the final harvest that separates the goats from the sheep (the wheat and the tares) at the final great white throne judgment. This is when God makes all things new again.
          Unfortunately, the translators decided to insert a new paragraph, complete with a new subhead. Yet the very next verse begins with a “But,” which is a conjunction. Conjunctions are connecting words. It signals that what follows is meant to go along with the previous passage describing the passing away of heaven and earth. Removing this portion of Jesus’ “text” from the context has left us with a major “con.”
            In fact, verses 35-37 (emphasis added) are meant to be read together in order to get the full truth. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” The so-called unknown day and hour is what follows the last Day—that is, eternity future. The Bible refers to it as perpetuity.
            The whole context of Jesus’ teaching is to make sure His disciples understand the appointed time of the end, just as in the days of Noah. Noah knew the timing of the Flood. First he had the general time, and then as the appointed time grew near, God told him it would come in 7 days. Or to put it another way—in one week. Coincidence? I think not.
            End-Time Lesson: What follows the end of the ages is a time like no other, which is why we cannot possibly know what it will be like. Only God the Creator knows what He has in mind. For example, John records that there is no night there (Rev. 22:5). That phrasing connects us to other similar prophetic puzzle pieces. “It shall come to pass in that day that there will be no light; the lights will diminish. It shall be one day which is known to the Lord—neither day nor night. But at evening time it shall happen that it will be light” (Zech. 14:6-7). The lights diminish because John tells us that the Lord God is the light.           
            “The sun shall no longer be your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you; but the Lord will be to you an everlasting light, and your God your glory. Your sun shall no longer go down, nor shall your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning shall be ended” (Is. 60:19-20, emphasis added).
            In the Greek, Zechariah’s wording literally says, it shall become one continuous Day. This Perfect Day is what Paul was referring to in 1 Cor. 13:8-10, “when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.” The gifts of the Spirit will pass away as well because we will no longer see in part. We shall see Him face to face!
            Needless to say, this unique Day is known only to the Father because only the omniscient, all-knowing Creator knows what He has in store. This is why 2 Pet. 3:12 calls it the Day of God Almighty. No human brain can possibly fathom that concept, let alone the magnificence and glory of that time!