Isaiah 60:19

"The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but Jehovah shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself; for Jehovah will be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. The people also shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. The little one shall become a thousand, and the small one a strong nation: I, Jehovah, will hasten it in its time."

That wonderful tomorrow when God's people will no longer have need of sun or moon for light, when God's glory shall be the light, and the Lamb of God the Lamp of the New Jerusalem, when all mourning is ended and eternal joy will prevail, that great condition will be realized, not upon earth, but in heaven. And when shall this occur? God states in Isaiah 60:22 that, "He will hasten it in its time." The time is not known to men in our generation.

One thing stands out starkly enough, "Only the righteous, only those who are the shoot of God's planting, and the work of his hands will participate in Zion's glorious future."[13]; Isaiah 60:21 emphasizes this truth.

It is clear enough that Revelation 21 is based upon the promises of this chapter; and there also we read the identity of the Zion mentioned here. It is the New Jerusalem; it is The Bride, the Lamb's Wife; it is the Holy City Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.

There are many things men cannot know about heaven. The eventual activity of the saints of God in heaven is not revealed in the Bible. We do not know if the Holy City promised here and in Revelation 21-22 is the same as the New Heavens and the New Earth promised by Christ and the apostles. Although Christ promised to destroy our earth by fire at the end of the age, we do not know if this is a cosmic destruction that shall remove our earth from its orbit, or a refurbishing of it, as in the case of the flood. Either condition would fit the word "destroy." Many believe that our earth will be destroyed in a cosmic sense.

Some have built up speculations about what they call the Millennium; but all of the Biblical passages bearing upon the reign of Christ show that, (1) it is in progress now (Matthew 28:18-20); (2) the second advent will not be the beginning of the reign of Christ, but the end of it (1 Corinthians 15:25-28); (3) there is no such thing as a rapture that shall allow God's people to escape the great tribulation (Acts 14:22); (4) the general resurrection will be the occasion of the final judgment (Matthew 25); (5) Christ's reign on the throne of David refers to his resurrection, and not to his return to literal Jerusalem (Acts 2:31). (6) The so-called `Great Tribulation' is the current dispensation (Revelation 7; Revelation 14). For these and many other valid reasons, we cannot agree that any of this chapter refers to what some call "The Millennium." (For a more complete discussion of this subject, see my article on "Millennium" in Vol. 12 of my New Testament Series of Commentaries (Revelation), pp. 448-454.)