When I was a boy in my teens and was attending school some three and a half miles from home, I had to pass a beautiful property belonging to a member of the New Zealand parliament. It had a frontage of almost a mile with a stone wall four feet high along the road. Just inside the wall was a row of poplar trees. A lovely winding avenue with elm trees on either side extended from the large iron gates back to the homestead, while the space from the house to the front stone wall was laid out as an orchard.
I well remember saying to my younger brother as we trudged along, “When I am a man and am married, I shall have a home like that, except for a few improvements I’d like to make. Instead of the elm trees along the avenue I shall have the British oak. Instead of having my orchard in the front I shall have it at the back, and in the front I’ll have a beautiful green meadow, with a stream of water flowing through the middle of it, with weeping willows along its banks. In that meadow I shall have my sheep and lambs.”
Needless to say, my daydream was never realised, for my chosen work as a minister of the gospel has kept me on the move, with no settled home of my own. Nevertheless, relying on the promise of God, I believe in the earth made new, and it will yet be my privilege, if faithful to the end, to have just such a country residence as that described above. Speaking of the home of the redeemed, in Isaiah we read: “And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them” (Isaiah 65:21, KJV).
Many years ago it was my privilege to visit Bruny Island, south of Tasmania. It was mostly inhabited at that time by young men who had been addicted to liquor in England and who had been sent out by their parents to this island where no liquor licence was granted. Sufficient money was given them to build a house and to plant out an orchard.
As I was passing these places, I noticed one property that looked deserted. A comfortable brick villa had been built and three acres of orchard had been planted, but all this was now overrun with weeds and grass. Upon asking what had happened here, I heard a sad story. A young man had built the house, had laid out the grounds and was about to send for his bride-elect, when sudden illness befell him and he died, never to realise his fond hopes. Another stepped in and reaped the fruit of his labours.
This will never occur in the new earth, for it is written in the Bible: “They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of My people, and Mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands” (Isaiah 65:22, KJV).
The curse pronounced upon the present earth as a result of sin is to be entirely lifted. “And there shall be no more curse” (Revelation 22:3, KJV). The apostle Peter writes, “Nevertheless, we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13, KJV).
There are to be animals there, too, but their natures will be changed. “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. . . . They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:6-9, KJV).
There will be no barren deserts in the new earth such as we have today, for it is written, “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for
them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose” (Isaiah 35:1, KJV).
This great change in the animal creation in the new earth will give great joy to the redeemed. How often when visiting the zoo, while looking at the lion with his lovely coat of hair, have we wished we could go in and romp with him in perfect safety. That will be the privilege of the redeemed.
John the Revelator assures us, “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new” (Revelation 21:4, KJV).
What will be the character required of those who will be there? “If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land” (Isaiah 1:19, KJV). And on the last page of the New Testament we read, “Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city” (Revelation 22:14, KJV).
There will be regular worship in that fair land. The original Sabbath given to our first parents will be the Sabbath in the new earth, for we read, “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before Me, saith, the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the Lord” (Isaiah 66:22,23, KJV).
As we contemplate this glorious future, we agree with the apostle Paul when he said, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9, KJV).
