What Now?

      As God’s special revelation to mankind, the Bible is a book for the Ages—that is, the Ages in God’s plan of redemption, It is prophetically presented in the great Week that spanned seven 1,000-year Days. This is why we don’t get many details about what happened before God created the earth, as with the fall of Lucifer. Nor do we get many details about what life is like in Heaven.
       Nor do we get many details of what happens when God’s plan of redemption and the restoration of all things is complete. I suspect this is because our finite brains can’t possibly fathom what that will be like. God’s focus in His Word is what we need to know while we are alive on this earth. And let’s face it—none of us have mastered this insight yet.
        Still, we do get some hints as to what happens when the 7th Day, the Day of the Lord ends. What comes next? Is there an eighth Day? It would make sense since the number 8 in Scripture represents new beginnings, regeneration, and resurrection. But God has something else in mind. If we turn the number 8 on its side, it resembles the mathematical symbol for eternity, which is exactly what comes next.
     End-Time Lesson: It is the coming of the Day of God. “Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Pet. 3:13). Proverbs 4:18 calls it the Perfect Day, the ultimate destination of those who follow the path of the just.
         The prophet Isaiah described it this way: “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. 60:19-21).
       The prophet Zechariah adds: “ And in that Day it shall be that living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and half of them toward the western sea; in both summer and winter it shall occur. And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that Day it shall be—“The Lord is one,” and His name one” (Zech. 14: 6-9). In other words, it will be a Day that never ends. We like to call it the Day of Eternity; it is eternity future.
       This is the time of eternal bliss, when we study war no more, sickness and death is no more, the lion and the lamb lie down together, and all are righteous. It is the time when love never fails. “Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away” (1 Cor. 13:8-10).
        Why are the gifts of the Spirit allowed to pass away? Because that which is perfect—the Perfect Day—has come. All those who dwell on the earth have been resurrected, perfected in Christ. Knowledge doesn’t cease per se, but our need to get knowledge of God’s kingdom ways do because we no longer know in part. We shall see and know fully then.
        When John sees this same Day, he sees that there is no need for a lamp nor the light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. John then makes this final declaration concerning the Christ and His Bride: “And they shall reign forever and ever” (Rev. 22:5).
       This was prophesied long ago by the prophet Isaiah. “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder and His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this” (Is. 9:6-7).
      The Perfect Day has three chief features: (1) It is eternal in length; (2) it is perfect, when all things will be made complete; and (3) it is unfathomable. You could say it is unknown because no person can fully perceive its glory and what it will be like. Instead, it is known only to the Father, who will make all things new.
      This is the unknown Day and hour (time) that Jesus referred to in His Olivet Teaching. He specifically connected it to the passing away of the heavens and the earth at the end of the Days—even though our modern Bibles separate the two points by starting a new paragraph, despite the fact that the two sentences are connected by the conjunction “but” (see Matt. 24:35-36). It is not the timing of the Perfect Day that is unknown, it the glory of it!