“A new heaven and a new earth”: One Thing or Two?

I’m writing this post simply to ask a pivotal question that affects the way we interpret Revelation 21-22:

What did the author mean to convey by the phrase in boldface below? Was he talking about one thing or about two things?

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

Revelation 21:1. ESV

In other words, is the idea here that there was a new system—a new whole, comprised of what used to be two separate parts? Or were the two parts still separate, stand-alone objects in his mind?

To be more certain that I’m communicating my question well, let me put it in familiar terms,

Peaches & Cream

These are peaches:

And this is cream:

But this is “Peaches & Cream”:

Peaches are one thing in our minds, and cream is another thing in our minds, but Peaches & Cream in our minds is not (normally) two separate things, but a new thing in its own right. The way many of us tend to think of it (normally), we could just as well squish all the words together into one: Peaches&cream. (This is not the most perfect comparison, but if you can forgive its weaknesses, whatever they may be, I think it will at least prove useful in this discussion.)

So back to the question

Is John describing a new system made up by combining a renovated heaven with a renovated earth? Or is he describing two different things that remained separate in his vision?

How we answer will make a difference on how we read the rest of Chapters 21 and 22. Will we see what is described in it as one new consolidated world, or as two separate places that retain their separate characteristics? Is it all swirled together in some mixture where it would be for people at that time to tell whether they were in Heaven or on Earth? Or would it be obvious to them which was which, and where they were?

Imagine the following scenario, where somebody from, say, Moses’ time, is somehow able to have a conversation with somebody who lives at the time John was seeing in his vision:

FIRST GUY:	Say, buddy, how’s it going there in the New Heaven?
SECOND GUY:	Sorry, friend, but you’re thinking about the former times, when Heaven and Earth were two separate things; I don’t live in Heaven; I live in Heaven&earth.

Why am I asking?

I’m constantly monitoring conversations about eschatology (end times Bible prophecies), and I notice that the different camps involved in those talks seem to be divided on how they view this verse (Revelation 21:1). Some think that in the time John envisioned, Heaven and Earth are two separate places and experiences, and some think that they are somehow melded together into a singular experience.

Further, I see from time to time people in each of these groups crossing the line back and forth, mixing their views inconsistently, as if they’re not sure which to believe.

Anyway, how we interpret this passage has serious implications for several camps. By way of example, some of the camps that come to mind are listed below. Though there are many variations on the details, they hold (roughly) that at the end of the Bible story (whether that end is in the past or the future):

• Heaven and Earth are combined physically and spiritually—and that this combined kingdom resides physically on the Earth. (Most in this camp, it seems, have human procreation ending before this time.)
• Heaven and Earth are physically separate, but spiritually combined, such that the living faithful are already in the heavenly kingdom somehow, even while they are waiting to die and go to Heaven.
• Heaven and Earth remain physically and spiritually separate and distinct, except in the sense that the living faithful hold to the precepts of Heaven while living on the Earth.

I have much to say about this very complex topic (and certainly, much more left to learn), but this current post is simply intended to frame the question for the record.

More study

If you’d like to examine the verse more closely, here’s a Greek/English interlinear rendering, for those who can read the Greek words:

21:1  Καὶ And εἶδον I saw οὐρανὸν (a) heaven καινὸν new καὶ and γῆν (an) earth καινήν new ὁ the γὰρ for πρῶτος first οὐρανὸς heaven καὶ and ἡ the πρώτη first γῆ earth παρῆλθεν were passed away καὶ and ἡ the θάλασσα sea οὐκ no ἔστιν there was ἔτι more.

And you can:

• Study the Greek of this passage at Blue Letter Bible.
• See about 60 English translations of this verse at Bible Gateway.
• Read the entire chapter at Bible Gateway.

I should mention that there are strong similarities between Revelation 21:1 and Isaiah 65:17, as if John means to bring to mind Isaiah’s prophecy about the same thing. Here’s that passage:

For behold, I create new heavens
    and a new earth,
and the former things shall not be remembered
    or come into mind.

Isaiah 65:17. ESV

• Study the Hebrew (and Greek in the LXX) of this passage at Blue Letter Bible.
• See about 60 English translations of this verse at Bible Gateway.
• Read the entire chapter at Bible Gateway.

An appeal for patience

Please pardon me while I wax philosophic for a moment with an idea that’s been growing in my mind of late:

How can we understand the words of the Spirit if we are at the same time refusing the fruit of the Spirit? Why should we even want the former if we do not want the latter? Are we supposed to be free to pick and choose which parts of the Christians experience we want, and to ignore the rest?

Here’s why I’m asking this:

Patience is part of the fruit of the Spirit, as Paul happens to put it in the following passage:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Paul. Galatians 5:22-23

If we’re not willing to take the time and go to the effort to study these things out diligently, why in the world should God bless us with an accurate understanding of the scriptures? We all make mistakes in how we reason things out, and we make them more often when we’re in a hurry.

QUESTION: What have we got to do that is more important than learning the scriptures that it seems God has delivered to our generation?

I think that modern Christians as a class would score pretty low in terms of patience and diligence and study, and do themselves no favors in this regard. When we cheat on the study and the sound reasoning through the scriptures, we deprive ourselves. And then it those same deprived selves who continue to make further decisions about what the scriptures mean.

Please slow down and get it right!