The Lamb is its Light

Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. 21:1 

A New Sky; A New Earth

   Vine+++ defines the word new, like this, not “new” in time, … but “new” as to form or quality, of different nature from what is contrasted as old. Isaiah wrote, For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. Isa. 65:17.  According to Vine the earth and sky will remain but they will be different.  The rulers of the inhabitants of the new earth will periodically visit heaven to worship there.  ...the kings of the earth bring their glory and honour into it. … And they shall bring the glory and the honour of the nations into it. 21:22+24.

   the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.  It sounds as if they cease to exist.  According to Peter also, it sounds as if the sky, the earth, and the sea will cease to exist. The heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 2 Peter 3:10. 

   However, the words and meaning of the first heaven and the first earth had passed away in 21:1 are entirely different than the words and meaning of 20:11, the earth and the heaven fled away or were quickly left behind. 

Inside the City

   And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.
   In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was 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.  22:1-4


   The word he refers to the same angle, one of the seven, who had poured out the bowls of wrath.

   This river flows In the middle of its street.  On each side of the river, but still in the centre of Main Street, as a median, is the tree of life.  The Living Bible has taken the liberty to make it more readable by writing, coursing down the centre of the main street: on each side of the river grew trees of life.  Then, as a footnote, The Living Bible has, the tree of life-used here as a collective noun, implying plurality.

  This tree (or trees) bears twelve kinds of fruit, a different kind each month. It is interesting that in heaven, the Holy City, there are also twelve months per year.  Does this thought also imply that there will be seasonal changes in the weather in heaven?  Will the leaves also change colour and fall in Autumn? Here, on earth, some fruits need warmer weather and others need cooler temperatures to produce.

  Also interesting is the fact that the leaves are for medicine for the nations, that is, for those people living on the new earth.  Certainly, they cannot be for healing those in the lake of fire; and they are not for the occupants of heaven because in that city there will be no more sorrow or pain, hence no need for medicine.

  We recall that in the story which Christ told about the rich man and Lazurus the rich man in torment asked for a drop of water to cool his tongue and Abraham's response was in your life you were well off and you had no regard for the poor, now there is no pity for you. Luke 16:20-25. Therefore, it can be assumed that the leaves used for medicine will not be for those in torment.

  The tree of life grows fruit.  It would seem that the fruit would be for eating, it would certainly not for wasting.  Still, in spite of that, Bakers Bible Dictionary of Theology says, there is no eating or drinking (in heaven), and to substantiate that statement they cite the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, Romans 14:17, but give it a totally false meaning.

  When Paul wrote that the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, he did not mean that we won't eat or drink in heaven.  In agreement with Paul's meaning, The Living Bible has worded Romans 14:17 correctly, after all, the important thing for us as Christians is not what we eat or drink.

  The statement, pure river of water of life surely must imply that we will be drinking from that river of life, and why would there be fruit trees if we would not be eating in heaven?

  There shall be no more curse.  This is a gigantic statement!  The curse has been the problem since Adam ate of the forbidden fruit.

• God said to the serpent, you are cursed, Genesis 3:14
• to Adam God said, cursed is the ground for your sake. Genesis 3:17
• to those who are trying to earn their way to heaven by keeping the laws of the Old Testament Paul wrote, for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them." Gal. 3:10.  
• Paul, quoting Deut. 21:23, said, for he who is hanged is accursed of God.  We see Christ, the Lamb of God, hanging on a tree; Cursed by Roman soldiers, cursed by Jewish law-makers, cursed by His Father - for us! 

  However, there, in heaven, shall be no more curse, for by then the Destroyer has been destroyed and Jehovah is dwelling with humans.

   His servants shall serve him, no doubt with pleasure, but not only that they shall see His face.  This applies to all those who have His name written on their foreheads as we learned in 7:5-12.  
  
  Note that before Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden he was already working, looking after the garden, and we have been told that The Garden of Eden is a prototype of Heaven. Work is not a curse, it is a blessing.  If we are healthy enough to work we should be thankful that we can work.
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+++ An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, W.E. Vine