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! 

      When God merges His heaven with our earth, the bottom line is this: It is time to celebrate the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. You may have been taught that the Marriage Supper of the Lamb happens as soon as Christ and his Bride defeat the Antichrist at the so-called Battle of Armageddon, which is actually called the Battle of that Great Day of God Almighty (Rev. 16:14). As we have seen the battle of that Day is the 31/2-year war for Jerusalem which includes Operation Consume and Destroy.
      However, Scripture reveals that this glorious celebration cannot happen until the end of Christ’s millennial reign. Jesus cannot turn over the kingdom to the Father until every enemy is put underfoot (1 Cor. 15:25). That doesn’t happen until the goats are separated from the sheep at the final judgment, and Death and Hades are cast into the Lake of Fire. Therefore, it cannot happen until the end of the ages—the end of the great Week—after God creates the new heavens and new earth.
      This is confirmed by another parable that Jesus taught. In the Parable of the Wedding Feast found in Matthew 22, Jesus compares the Kingdom of Heaven to “a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come.” Jesus explains that the people made light of the invitation and went their own ways. Some even seized the king’s servants, treated them harshly and even killed them.
        Not surprisingly, when the king hears about this he is furious. So he sends out his armies who destroyed the murderers and burned up their city. Then he instructs his servants, “ ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good.” Then the king notices a man that does not have on a wedding garment and he is cast him out into outer darkness. Jesus ends the parable with these words of warning: “There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen.”
     End-Time Lesson: This parable highlights the kingdom distinctions among the redeemed by means of the various participants who are allowed into the wedding banquet—a type of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. The parable spans the seven 1,000-year Days allotted to the great Week. Obviously, God the Father is the King who has prepared a wedding celebration for His Son, Jesus Christ, and His Bride. It is clear from the parable that others attend the feast.
       If the redeemed from every age, whether past or future, ultimately merge to become the Bride as some propose, then who are these other attendees who share their joy at the feast? Who do the servants represent? Does the Groom have any friends to share His joy? Who are the guests who are allowed in at the last minute? And who murdered the king’s servants?
       The friends and servants of the Bridegroom are the Old Testament saints from the early Days.  This is why John the Baptist referred to himself as a friend and attendant because he was a prophetic voice in the wilderness, called to prepare the way of the Lord. In contrast, the Bride is the redeemed gathered at the end of the Church Age at the rapture. At this point, the Bride is complete and is taken to Father’s house to be seated as the heavenly government.
        Even though everything is ready for the feast, it is delayed until the King sends out His armies to destroy the murderers—those who killed God’s servants. This refers to the destruction of the Antichrist at the end of the first 31/2 years of the Day of the Lord. The rest of the invited guests are those who come from the people in the highways and byways who accepted Jesus as their Savior during the millennial reign.
      The parable maintains the kingdom distinctions within God’s family across His plan of redemption, showing us what it will be like in the new heavens and new earth. All are beloved of the King. It reveals how the various members of God’s household relate to His great Week. And, once again, the Heir and His Bride stand out in the forefront of this great household.

      The next view John sees after the first heaven and first earth have passed away is the cosmic moment of victory ordained by God at creation, echoing back through 7,000 years of human history. John sees a new heaven and a new earth, and the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband (Rev. 21:1-5).
       End-Time Lesson: “And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.’ “Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’”
        An angel invites John to come and see the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. John is carried away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain. He sees the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of Heaven from God, “having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal” (vs. 10-11). God merges the 3rd Heaven with the new earth, thereby dwelling with mankind forever! John goes on to describe the divine design of the city, based on numerical symbols of the 144 thousands (12 x 12 = 144). It is a wonder to behold.
       At first glance, though, it seems as if something is missing. There is no temple. “But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life” (vs. 22-27).
        The description continues in Rev. 22:1-4. The angel shows John a pure river of the water of life proceeding from the throne of God and the Lamb. He sees the tree of life, too. “…the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.”
     This is when the perfect existence that was foretold by the prophets comes to be; it is the final restoration of all things. With Christ’s second coming and millennial reign, the divine to-do list given in the 70 Weeks Prophecy is complete (Dan. 9:24).

• To finish the transgression: Israel has paid the price of her transgression and infidelity, and has finally recognized Christ as the Messiah.
• To make an end of sins: Christ paid the price for mankind’s sins through His death on the cross. The debt is paid in full.
• To make reconciliation for iniquity: By living a sinless life, the Son of Man made it possible for mankind to be restored back to God the Father through the gift of Christ’s righteousness being accounted to them. All our sins are forgiven.
• To bring in everlasting righteousness: With Satan, his evil hierarchy, the Beast, Death, Hades, and all those who walked according to the ways of the kingdom of darkness judged and condemned to eternal damnation and the second death, evil is dealt with for all eternity.
• To seal up vision and prophecy: By the end of the Days, every vision and prophecy recorded in Scripture has been fulfilled. God’s Word is true!
• To anoint the Most Holy: The blood of Jesus cleanses all things. Nothing can defile the new heaven, new earth, and the New Jerusalem. The whole earth is truly filled with His glory!
  

      One of the titles of the last Day in God’s great Week is the Day of Judgment (Matt. 12:36). The Bride is judged as being in Christ at the start of the last Day. We shall be birthed from death—resurrection—at the rapture. Everyone else shall be judged at the end of the Day.
As the great Week ends, it is time for the final judgment. “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven [heavenlies or atmosphere] fled away. And there was found no place for them” (Rev. 20:11). Besides the earth, John reports that the sea gives up its dead, as does Death and Hades. Those who have accepted Jesus during the millennial reign, are already before the throne, awaiting their final judgment as well.
       “And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. And they were judged, each one according to his works” (Rev. 20:12).
       End-Time Lesson: The apostle Paul confirms that at the end every person shall receive some form of resurrection. He also tells us the one and only criterion for this final judgment. “For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:21-2).
         The Book of Life determines whether or not a person receives the resurrection of life or the resurrection of condemnation (John 5:27). When a person is conceived, his or her name is recorded in the Book. It remains there until the last moment of death. If the person has not accepted Christ by that point, his or her name is removed. Only those whose names are written in the Book of Life can enter God’s Kingdom. For God is just and cannot take those who are not His; He is not a spiritual kidnapper.
         Acts 24:5 refers to the resurrection of the just and the unjust. Those who are just enter the kingdom of light, for God is perfectly just. Those who are unjust have rejected God the Creator and God the Son who died for their sins. They have chosen the kingdom of darkness ruled by Satan. Daniel prophesied about this same final judgment at the end of the Days. “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2).
The other books that are opened are the books of each person’s life. What is recorded there determines the level of rewards in Heaven or the level of punishment for those in Hell. Either way, the people receive their just rewards and justice is served.
        Then Death (the last enemy) and Hades shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, along with anyone whose name is not found written in the Book of Life. The fall of mankind brought the first death, or separation from God. It is why we must be born again when we receive Christ as our Savior. At the final judgment, those who receive the resurrection of the unjust, which is also called the resurrection of condemnation, are separated from God once again and for all eternity. This is why Revelation 20:14 calls this the second death.
         In case you haven’t guessed it by now, the final judgment is the final harvest, when the tares are separated from the wheat. Jesus used another parable in Matthew 25:31-46. The parable speaks of the end of age to come, the end of the Day of the Lord. It is the Day that the Son of Man comes in His glory, beginning with the rapture. At the end of the Day, after He presents the kingdom to the Father, He will sit on the throne of glory, judging the nations with the Father.
        “ All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left” (vs. 32-33). The great Shepherd will set His sheep (believers) at His right hand, the hand of all authority and power. They shall receive the resurrection of life and of the just.
      Then He will also say to those on the left hand, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (vs. 41). The goats (unbelievers) shall receive the resurrection of condemnation and of the unjust. “And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matt. 25:46).
     It is common for those who have not bothered to read and understand God’s Word to reject Christianity because they cannot accept how a loving God can condemn people to everlasting torment. What they don’t realize is that God doesn’t condemn those people; they condemn themselves by choosing not to believe in God. God is both perfectly loving and perfectly just. He cannot take those who are not His into His kingdom.
       People may balk at this truth as well. But how many of these same people likewise complain about the injustices of this world? Without justice we cannot have peace and community--as we’ve seen in our own society in these last Days. Without discipline, it’s difficult to raise a child.