As we shared in the previous Note, God deals with the Gentile nations in this age and the next, the kingdom age, to prepare them to dwell on the earth for eternity under the ruling of the children of God. (See “The Eternal Gospel (6): The Nations Blessed for Eternity”) However, because this is different from what many Christians have been taught, we need to consider the Biblical evidence that shows us just who are the nations in the new heaven and new earth.

About twenty times in Revelation chapters 1-20 we read of the nations, and every reference is to the nations of the earth, not to God’s people. For example, during the 1,000 years of Christ, the overcoming believers will rule over the nations with a rod of iron (2:26-27); the nations will trample the holy city (11:1-2; cf. Luke 21:24); when Christ returns He will strike the nations (19:15), and even at the end of the 1,000 year reign of Christ upon the earth, Satan will lead many of the nations in one final rebellion against God (Rev. 20:7-10).

And this is consistent with the usage of the Greek word for “nations,” ethnos, in the rest of the New Testament. (Some versions at times translate this word as “Gentiles.”) That is, whenever it is found in the plural, it always refers to the nations in general, not to God’s own people.

Then, in his vision of the eternal, holy city in Revelation 21-22, the New Jerusalem, John writes,

The nations shall walk
By its light,
And the kings of the earth
Bring their glory into it….
And they shall bring
The glory and honor of
the nations into it.
— Revelation 21:24, 26

The “nations” in these verses must be the same as the nations in the rest of the book of Revelation, namely, the nations of the earth, rather than God’s own people. To say otherwise, as some do, that here this word suddenly refers to the children of God, directly contradicts how this word is used all throughout the New Testament, including in the book of Revelation, up to this point.

Moreover, the fact that the nations here are not the children of God in the New Jerusalem is confirmed by the fact that the kings of the earth “bring the glory and honor of the nations into it”; for whereas the children of God comprise the New Jerusalem itself as the Bride of Christ (Rev. 21:2, 9-10), this shows that these nations will not be a part of the New Jerusalem; rather, they will be dwelling outside of the holy city.

But there is one final reference in the Bible to the nations, and it gives the final proof regarding who John is saying these people in the new heaven and new earth are. Shortly after the verses above, speaking of the tree of life, John tells us,

The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
— Revelation 22:2

This verse fully proves the nations here are not God’s regenerated children, because it tells us they will from time to time need the “healing” of the leaves from the tree of life. We can only speculate about what that will mean, because John does not explain it. However, what we do know is that it cannot apply to the believers in Christ, all of whom by this time will have fully resurrected and glorified bodies, and be dwelling in the New Jerusalem, where there will never be any suffering. As “a voice from the throne” says of this city, when John first saw it descending from heaven,

He will wipe away
Every tear from their eyes,
And death will be no more,
Nor will there be mourning
Nor crying
Nor pain anymore,
For the first things
Have passed away.
— Revelation 21:4

So, those who need such healing in eternity can only be the nations of the earth, who will dwell at that time around the New Jerusalem. They were saved through the eternal gospel of fearing God and worshiping Him, so that their sins were forgiven, but they were not regenerated to become the children of God dwelling directly with God in the New Jerusalem.

Conclusion

From all of this we see that the eternal gospel is indeed God’s provision for all those who have not had the opportunity to believe in Christ as their Savior. Through this gospel they can escape eternal damnation to instead become the blessed nations who will be ruled over by the believers, first during the 1,000 year reign of Christ on the earth, and then in the new heaven and new earth for eternity.

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—  15 March 2025 —