“But there are new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according to his promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell.”​—2 Peter 3:13.

14. How does the fulfillment of that promise recorded by Peter fit in with the fulfillment of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream?

¹⁴ The coming in of the “new heavens and a new earth” is where the fulfillment of the final part of Nebuchadnezzar’s prophetic dream occurs, namely: “And as for the stone that struck the image, it became a large mountain and filled the whole earth.” (Daniel 2:35) In this way the heavenly Messianic kingdom is pictured as a mountain on the earth, ‘filling the whole earth.’

15, 16. In what way are the new heavens and a new earth “according to his promise,” that is, Jehovah’s promise?

¹⁵ The apostle Peter says that the awaited “new heavens and a new earth” are “according to his promise,” the promise of Jehovah, to whom Peter made reference in the preceding verse. A divine promise of this kind, in which the expression used by Peter is specifically found, is located in Isaiah 65:17, 18 and Isa 66:22. There it is written under divine inspiration:

¹⁶ “For here I am creating new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be called to mind, neither will they come up into the heart. But exult, you people, and be joyful forever in what I am creating. For here I am creating Jerusalem a cause for joyfulness and her people a cause for exultation.” “‘For just as the new heavens and the new earth that I am making are standing before me,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘so the offspring of you people and the name of you people will keep standing.’”

17. Where and when did that prophecy of Isaiah have a small-scale fulfillment?

¹⁷ This prophecy of Isaiah, written about 732 B.C.E., although applied by the apostle Peter to the future, had a small-scale or miniature fulfillment a couple of centuries after Isaiah’s prophecy.

Inasmuch as that ancient fulfillment of the prophecy was merely an illustrative, small-scale fulfillment, it was only to a limited extent that the prophecy concerning the living conditions under the “new heavens” and in the “new earth” was realized: “‘They will do no harm nor cause any ruin in all my holy mountain,’ Jehovah has said.” (Isaiah 65:19-25) The “new heavens” and the “new earth” in the larger-scale fulfillment of Isaiah 66:22 were the ones that were to remain standing before Jehovah God permanently.

20, 21. (a) What are the “new heavens” that we are awaiting according to God’s promise? (b) How does the Messianic kingdom become ‘a large mountain that fills the whole earth,’ as foretold by Daniel?

²⁰ So, the “new heavens” that Jehovah’s Christian witnesses were long awaiting according to His promise are realized in the Messianic kingdom of God, in the hands of the Permanent Heir of King David. Since this kingdom is the royal “stone” that crushes all the earthly kings and their governments in the “war of the great day of God the Almighty” at Har–Magedon, it leaves no human political rulership existent upon our earthly globe. Hence, that stonelike kingdom of the Messiah must become like a great mountain that fills and covers the whole earth. Does this mean that the Israelite kingdom of David will be reestablished by Christ right here on the earth? No! There will not be even an earthly manifestation of the kingdom of David on the surface of the earth. Jesus Christ, his Permanent Heir, will not reign in the flesh, visibly, in a city of Jerusalem over in the Middle East.

²¹ His seat of government will be the “city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem.” (Hebrews 12:22; Revelation 14:1) His mountainlike government takes the place of all the human political governments that were the symbolic “heavens” of the old system of things. (Isaiah 34:3-5) Thus there will be a new governmental “heavens” that will actually be in the invisible, spirit heavens.

22, 23. (a) How will Jesus Christ eliminate the Satanic influence that has dominated the governmental “heavens” of this system of things? (b) Why is the promise of “new heavens” especially precious to those who are spirit-anointed Christians? (c) In Revelation 21:1-4, what are the “former heaven,” the “former earth” and the “sea,” to which reference is made, and what replaces them?

²² Satan the Devil has been the invisible “ruler” who has dominated those governmental “heavens” of this system of things on earth. The destructive “fire” of the “day of Jehovah” will dissolve, destroy, those governmental “heavens” and will leave Satan the Devil without such “heavens” over which he has dominated for millenniums. (Revelation 13:1, 2; 19:19-21) He will certainly not rule over the “new heavens.” His invisible position of rule over things earthly will be replaced by the invisible superhuman rule of David’s Permanent Heir, Jesus Christ, who, by resurrection from the dead, was made an immortal, incorruptible spirit vastly more powerful than Satan the Devil and all his demon angels. Satan and his angels are to be removed from their location in the neighborhood of the earth under restraint and are to be imprisoned in the abyss from which they can exercise no control over any “heavens” that dominate the earth. (Revelation 20:1-3) Since Jesus Christ is now a heavenly spirit King, his “new heavens” will be a heavens in a very literal sense. No other governmental heavens will exist. The apostle Peter and fellow anointed, spirit-begotten Christians could await with eager expectation the establishment of those promised “new heavens.” Why? Because they have the ‘precious and very grand promise’ from God that they will, if faithful to the death, form a part of those “new heavens” with Jesus Christ. They are heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:4; Romans 8:16, 17) The whole congregation of them will make up the queenly “bride” of the King Jesus Christ. Thus, more than eight centuries after God used Isaiah to prophesy about the “new heavens and a new earth,” God gave a further promise of such glorious things by the apostle John, who wrote:

²³ “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the former heaven [the political governments along with Satan and his demon angels] and the former earth [ungodly human society] had passed away, and the sea [restless, agitated masses of mankind] is no more. I saw also the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God and prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: ‘Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them. And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.’ . . . He spoke with me and said: ‘Come here, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.’ So he carried me away in the power of the spirit to a great and lofty mountain, and he showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.”​—Revelation 21:1-4, 9, 10.

A RIGHTEOUS “NEW EARTH”

24. What will the “great crowd” be in the “new earth,” and with what favorable circumstances will they set to work?

²⁴ With eager anticipation, the “great crowd” of prospective survivors of the “great tribulation” are also awaiting the “new heavens and a new earth.” This “new earth” will be the new human society living under the “new heavens.” (Revelation 7:9-14) Just as Noah and his family survived the global deluge and formed the nucleus of the new human society on earth, so the “great crowd” will survive the approaching “great tribulation” and will form the permanent nucleus of the new human society, the symbolic “new earth.” They will start off in the spiritual paradise that survives the “great tribulation” with them, but they will then set themselves to the work of converting the literal earth into a paradise all around the globe. Animals, wild and domestic, will be at peace with them.

25. How will the situation then be far more favorable than was that of the restored Israelites when Isaiah’s prophecy had its miniature fulfillment?

²⁵ The privilege of then living on the cleansed earth without pollution under the righteous “new heavens” will be one without compare, far surpassing what the restored Israelites experienced in the miniature fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy in the Persian province of Judah. Oh, just think of living on earth when the “former things” have passed away, when death will be no more, when mourning over dead ones will be no more, neither outcry nor pain of heart!

26. At that time, what will Jehovah do even on behalf of the dead?

²⁶ Under the reign of the Eternal Father, Jesus Christ, and his Kingdom joint heirs, the members of the “great crowd” will be on their way to endless life in a global paradise of beauty, plenty, happiness and peace. There will be no need to mourn over dead loved ones, for by means of the “new heavens” Almighty God Jehovah will bring about a resurrection of the human dead for whom the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ avails. (John 11:25, 26; 5:28, 29; Acts 24:15; Revelation 20:11-14) These resurrected ones, including the men and women of faith from Abel to John the Baptist, will have the opportunity of becoming part of that “new earth.”