No More Night in the New Jerusalem
“The city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light…there shall be no night there” (Rev. 21:23–25).
If the New Jerusalem has arrived—and it has [1]—then why is there still night?
First, the reason John said (in Revelation) there would be “no more night” in the New Jerusalem is because Jesus is there, and he enlightens his people spiritually. As Jesus said:
“I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (John 8:12).
Prior to the coming of Jesus, people were groping around in spiritual blindness and ignorance (see Acts 17:22-27). Even the Israelites, under the Old Covenant, were still in spiritual darkness:
“For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away” (2 Cor. 3:14-16).
“Although I [Daniel] heard, I did not understand. Then I said, ‘My lord, what shall be the end of these things?’ And he [the angel] said, ‘Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end’” (Dan. 12:8-9).
As these passages show, even the Israelites were in darkness in Old Testament times. But Jesus revealed what the prophets and wisemen longed to understand. As Jesus told his disciples:
“But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it” (Matt. 13:16-17; see also 1 Pet. 1:10-12).
Jesus brought understanding and enlightenment to the people of God.
And this is essentially what John meant in that Revelation passage cited above, which says “the Lamb is its light” (Rev. 21:25). This has nothing to do with the illumination of physical objects; it is about spiritual enlightenment in Christ.
Second, Paul, too, spoke about this in around the year AD 58:
“The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore…let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy” (Rom. 13:12–13).
The reason Paul said the day is “at hand” is that Jesus was coming soon (see Matt. 16:28, 10:23, 24:30-34; Phil. 4:5; Heb. 10:37; James 5:8; Rev. 22:7, 10, 12.). The day of the Lord was at hand!
Notice, also, how Paul and John both gave the same fulfillment timeframe. Paul said in AD 58 that the day was at hand (Rom. 13:12); and John said in AD 65 that the prophecy of “the Lamb being the city’s light” was at hand (Rev. 21:25, 22:10). This is the same event—and it was about to be fulfilled when these passages were written.
There is something else worth pointing out about Paul’s statement above (Rom. 13:12-13). Many Christians believe the second coming will mean the end of the world. However, Paul implied that, although an immensely significant change was coming,[2] the world would continue on after the second coming:
“The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore…let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy” (Rom. 13:12–13).
Let us walk properly “as in the day.” Paul clearly believed that life would continue on after the second coming…only it would continue on under the new covenant system, which would finally be fully established.
For more information about the topics discussed in this article, please see my book The End Is Here: How the New Testament Prophecies Were Fulfilled, available NOW on Amazon.
By Alex Polyak, The Bible Fulfilled, 9/27/25
[1] See my article “The New Jerusalem,” which shows scripturally that the New Jerusalem arrived in the first century.
[2] Although the wicked were severely judged (Luke 21:22; Matt. 21:41-43, 22:7, 23:33-36, 24:2-34, 25:41), the righteous received salvation (Heb. 9:28), redemption (Luke 21:28), the kingdom of God (Luke 21:31-32; Matt. 16:28, 25:34), and rewards (Matt. 16:27-28, Rev. 22:12). For more about this topic, please see my article “The Reason for the Second Coming.”
