And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:
It foretells a strange day known only to the Lord, when the light is neither clear day nor dark night, yet at evening it remains light while living waters flow out from Jerusalem. That day is the great day of the Lord beginning when probation closes, running through the plagues, the thousand-year judgment of the wicked, and their final destruction, and opening into the unending day of the new earth when the Lord is King over all the earth. At its close Christ comes with all His saints to the Mount of Olives, which splits to make a very great plain sanctified for the Holy City, from which the river of life flows. The city descends with God's people safely in it before the raised wicked surround it and are consumed by fire from heaven that purifies the earth. For the redeemed it becomes one endless day with no darkness because God and the Lamb are its light, while outside the city the unredeemed earth lies in mingled light and darkness until the evening glory floods it for their destruction.
Meaning and Setting
The verse describes an unusual day when the light is neither clear daylight nor dark night, a day known to the Lord that is neither ordinary day nor night, yet at evening there is light, with living waters flowing from Jerusalem. It is not an ordinary day measured from sunset to sunset nor a year-for-a-day period, but a day whose character, appearance, duration and timing are known to the Lord. It falls within chapters 9-14, which have a different historical setting and style from the earlier chapters and look beyond the restoration from Babylon to the final glorious restoration when Christ comes.
The day of the Lord to which the verse belongs begins when probation closes and the seven last plagues fall, and it includes the plagues, the thousand years in which Christ and the saints judge the wicked, and the final destruction after the resurrection of the wicked. It is not limited to the thousand years of Revelation 20 but begins before them and extends beyond them, with its final events following the thousand-year judgment. The verse belongs to the description of the eternal day that begins after the wicked are destroyed and the new earth appears, in which the waters of life flow from the heavenly Jerusalem and the Lord is King over all the earth. That eternal day begins at the close of the thousand years at the third advent, when the Lord sets His feet on the Mount of Olives which cleaves asunder to prepare a place for the city coming from heaven, the revived wicked surround the camp of the saints and the beloved city and are destroyed, the earth is melted and the new earth appears.
In that unending light in the heavenly New Jerusalem itself, where the waters of life flow out, the Lord is King over all the new earth, and there is no more utter destruction but safe eternal habitation. In that eternal day there will be no darkness and even at evening it will be light, in one unending day known to the Lord whose light will not be uniform in every place. Its evening light means the city of God has no need of the sun or moon, because God and the Lamb are its light, in the new-earth state a thousand years after the events of the chapter's opening. As held by others, the day is a time of fleeting light and darkness rather than clear daylight or night: Jerusalem, radiant with the glory of God and the Lamb, will cast light over the surrounding plain while the broken unredeemed earth outside remains in alternating light and darkness, and at the evening of that day the Lord's glory will flood the earth to destroy the wicked.
The verse belongs to the prophecy of Christ's third and final advent to take possession of the earth and to the great day of the Lord as a period in which God deals with both the wicked and the righteous. It uses the language of the prophet's own time to describe the Lord's people saved to the new earth, and its statement about the light is left without further explanation.
Fulfilment and Application
At the close of the thousand years at the third advent Christ comes with all His saints and His feet stand upon the Mount of Olives east of Jerusalem. The mountain splits toward east and west and north and south to make a very great valley or plain chosen and sanctified for the Holy City coming down from heaven. Living waters go out from Jerusalem as the River of Life, and the Lord shall be King over all the earth with one Lord and one name. In that eternal day there is unending light in the heavenly New Jerusalem itself, with safe eternal habitation and no more utter destruction.
The holy city with God's people comes down to that plain before the wicked are finally destroyed and the earth is purified. The wicked dead are raised, Satan goes out to the four corners of the earth to deceive them into believing they can take the city and its kingdom, and they prepare for war and come up over the breadth of the earth. They surround the camp of the saints and the beloved city, which extends beyond the city itself, and none of them is able to enter it. They are then finally destroyed by purifying fire from heaven, while the earth beyond that holy place remains under the curse until the final fires purify it.
This work belongs to the ending of the day of the Lord after the thousand years of judgment, when the Lord and the saints are on earth and the beloved City is located and safely inhabited. Since after those events there will be no further utter destruction, they rule out placing the destruction of the kingdoms of earth after the thousand-year reign, because that destruction occurs at Christ's second coming. The prophecy is connected with the great coming war of Armageddon when all the nations of the earth shall be prepared for battle, a tendency now fulfilling prophecy which carried to the ultimate means the destruction of earthly kingdoms. It is the final universal war at Jerusalem in the valley of Jehoshaphat under the last plague, when the nations gather for battle and Christ appears to defeat them. Wars end only when He appears to begin His reign and bring peace.
The prophecy of Christ coming to reign concerns the Kingdom of God and will be fulfilled literally, as literally as the prophecy of His suffering was fulfilled. The country about Jerusalem shall be inhabited, but the Jerusalem meant is not the old literal city of stones and mortar but the antitypical city, which truly is the possession of peace as its name signifies. When the Lord comes down upon Palestine He will make it a Holy Land indeed on the vast plain made before Him, with the New Jerusalem standing there when it descends from heaven, restoring it to a greatness far beyond any former greatness. Human schemes to buy, restore and Christianize the Holy Land are therefore vain and ignorant of true Gospel method, and the true Gospel work now is to preach the Gospel, warn of deception, and prepare a people by teaching them to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, leaving restoration to Him.
The picture of a day unlike ordinary day or night, whose light is neither clear nor dark yet becomes light at evening with living waters flowing from Jerusalem, applies to God bringing deliverance when darkness seems greatest. At the close of earth's history Christ comes and the saints are gathered home, and sinners may also be freed from sin when deliverance seems least expected. The failing of ordinary distinctions between light and darkness, night and day, also applies to San Francisco's destruction, where darkness and an extraordinary light followed the city's fall as though night and day had both been consumed.
It foretells a strange day known only to the Lord, when the light is neither clear day nor dark night, yet at evening it remains light while living waters flow out from Jerusalem. That day is the great day of the Lord beginning when probation closes, running through the plagues, the thousand-year judgment of the wicked, and their final destruction, and opening into the unending day of the new earth when the Lord is King over all the earth. At its close Christ comes with all His saints to the Mount of Olives, which splits to make a very great plain sanctified for the Holy City, from which the river of life flows. The city descends with God's people safely in it before the raised wicked surround it and are consumed by fire from heaven that purifies the earth. For the redeemed it becomes one endless day with no darkness because God and the Lamb are its light, while outside the city the unredeemed earth lies in mingled light and darkness until the evening glory floods it for their destruction.
Meaning and Setting
The verse describes an unusual day when the light is neither clear daylight nor dark night, a day known to the Lord that is neither ordinary day nor night, yet at evening there is light, with living waters flowing from Jerusalem. It is not an ordinary day measured from sunset to sunset nor a year-for-a-day period, but a day whose character, appearance, duration and timing are known to the Lord. It falls within chapters 9-14, which have a different historical setting and style from the earlier chapters and look beyond the restoration from Babylon to the final glorious restoration when Christ comes.
The day of the Lord to which the verse belongs begins when probation closes and the seven last plagues fall, and it includes the plagues, the thousand years in which Christ and the saints judge the wicked, and the final destruction after the resurrection of the wicked. It is not limited to the thousand years of Revelation 20 but begins before them and extends beyond them, with its final events following the thousand-year judgment. The verse belongs to the description of the eternal day that begins after the wicked are destroyed and the new earth appears, in which the waters of life flow from the heavenly Jerusalem and the Lord is King over all the earth. That eternal day begins at the close of the thousand years at the third advent, when the Lord sets His feet on the Mount of Olives which cleaves asunder to prepare a place for the city coming from heaven, the revived wicked surround the camp of the saints and the beloved city and are destroyed, the earth is melted and the new earth appears.
In that unending light in the heavenly New Jerusalem itself, where the waters of life flow out, the Lord is King over all the new earth, and there is no more utter destruction but safe eternal habitation. In that eternal day there will be no darkness and even at evening it will be light, in one unending day known to the Lord whose light will not be uniform in every place. Its evening light means the city of God has no need of the sun or moon, because God and the Lamb are its light, in the new-earth state a thousand years after the events of the chapter's opening. As held by others, the day is a time of fleeting light and darkness rather than clear daylight or night: Jerusalem, radiant with the glory of God and the Lamb, will cast light over the surrounding plain while the broken unredeemed earth outside remains in alternating light and darkness, and at the evening of that day the Lord's glory will flood the earth to destroy the wicked.
The verse belongs to the prophecy of Christ's third and final advent to take possession of the earth and to the great day of the Lord as a period in which God deals with both the wicked and the righteous. It uses the language of the prophet's own time to describe the Lord's people saved to the new earth, and its statement about the light is left without further explanation.
Fulfilment and Application
At the close of the thousand years at the third advent Christ comes with all His saints and His feet stand upon the Mount of Olives east of Jerusalem. The mountain splits toward east and west and north and south to make a very great valley or plain chosen and sanctified for the Holy City coming down from heaven. Living waters go out from Jerusalem as the River of Life, and the Lord shall be King over all the earth with one Lord and one name. In that eternal day there is unending light in the heavenly New Jerusalem itself, with safe eternal habitation and no more utter destruction.
The holy city with God's people comes down to that plain before the wicked are finally destroyed and the earth is purified. The wicked dead are raised, Satan goes out to the four corners of the earth to deceive them into believing they can take the city and its kingdom, and they prepare for war and come up over the breadth of the earth. They surround the camp of the saints and the beloved city, which extends beyond the city itself, and none of them is able to enter it. They are then finally destroyed by purifying fire from heaven, while the earth beyond that holy place remains under the curse until the final fires purify it.
This work belongs to the ending of the day of the Lord after the thousand years of judgment, when the Lord and the saints are on earth and the beloved City is located and safely inhabited. Since after those events there will be no further utter destruction, they rule out placing the destruction of the kingdoms of earth after the thousand-year reign, because that destruction occurs at Christ's second coming. The prophecy is connected with the great coming war of Armageddon when all the nations of the earth shall be prepared for battle, a tendency now fulfilling prophecy which carried to the ultimate means the destruction of earthly kingdoms. It is the final universal war at Jerusalem in the valley of Jehoshaphat under the last plague, when the nations gather for battle and Christ appears to defeat them. Wars end only when He appears to begin His reign and bring peace.
The prophecy of Christ coming to reign concerns the Kingdom of God and will be fulfilled literally, as literally as the prophecy of His suffering was fulfilled. The country about Jerusalem shall be inhabited, but the Jerusalem meant is not the old literal city of stones and mortar but the antitypical city, which truly is the possession of peace as its name signifies. When the Lord comes down upon Palestine He will make it a Holy Land indeed on the vast plain made before Him, with the New Jerusalem standing there when it descends from heaven, restoring it to a greatness far beyond any former greatness. Human schemes to buy, restore and Christianize the Holy Land are therefore vain and ignorant of true Gospel method, and the true Gospel work now is to preach the Gospel, warn of deception, and prepare a people by teaching them to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, leaving restoration to Him.
The picture of a day unlike ordinary day or night, whose light is neither clear nor dark yet becomes light at evening with living waters flowing from Jerusalem, applies to God bringing deliverance when darkness seems greatest. At the close of earth's history Christ comes and the saints are gathered home, and sinners may also be freed from sin when deliverance seems least expected. The failing of ordinary distinctions between light and darkness, night and day, also applies to San Francisco's destruction, where darkness and an extraordinary light followed the city's fall as though night and day had both been consumed.