Have you ever heard it said by the Lord, “I am going to create a new heaven and a new earth?” Did you know because it is said in the book of Revelation chapter 21 we have been taught it is for the “Millenial Reign of Christ” or it is after the end of the world as we know it? We teach things or say things like this because we believe the beginning of the world is Genesis and the end of the world is Revelation. To the Hebrew people it is cyclical, like a clock that goes from noon to midnight, but to Gentile people it is linear, like start and finish. How you view the word of God, whether cyclical or linear, determines how you see things playing out.

If the Bible is cyclical like Sunday through Saturday, then a new week begins on Sunday, and you will see Genesis through Revelation as cyclical like a clock. But if you see the Bible as linear then Genesis is the beginning and Revelation is the end of the book, and that viewpoint is critical to understanding the word of God. God removed Israel from their land and sent them to Babylon for 70 years, but gave them a prophetic promise that Babylon was not the end of their world, but the end of their cycle of idolatry and the beginning of something new when they returned. No wonder Jeremiah said, “For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord, plans to prosper you, to give you a future and a hope.” He said this before they went into Babylonian captivity. Therefore, God was speaking the end, a future and a hope, from the beginning of Babylonian captivity.

This is a theme in the word of God, when it got dark because of the iniquity of the people, then they would go into captivity, but God always promised a return, a restoration, a bright future. Cyclical, night and day, day and night. Friends, the darkness is the end of one season, one day, one captivity, and the the day is the beginning of a new day, a new season, a new opportunity to serve the Lord in faithfulness. Ezekiel 11 says, when God restores Israel to their land, He is giving them a new heart and a new spirit so they can follow after Him. It was a new beginning He was giving them, just like 2 Corinithans 5:17 says He makes us a new creation. Sin is darkness, but we are now light, it is a new day, everything is cyclical, if it is biblical. Welcome to all things becoming new. This is not the end we are entering, but a new beginning as a nation.