When in the Revelation sequence does John see the new heaven and new earth?
John sees the new heaven and new earth in Revelation 21:1, after the thousand years have ended and time as we understand it is complete, and after all the rest has been consummated, with unbelievers placed in the lake of fire for eternal doom. This comes as the transition into the eternal state.
Les explains that after the review, they came to the end of the thousand years and the end of time as we understand time. Now they are getting ready for the eternal state. Since the old planet has been plagued with the curse for 7,000 years, even though the thousand years was relatively without it, it still had it at the end when Satan was released again. So this old planet is evidently going to be removed. Then in Revelation 21:1, John now, after all the rest has been consummated, and the unbelievers are in their place in the lake of fire for their eternal doom, says, “I saw a new heaven and a new earth.” This raises the question of what happened to the old one, and Les says the Scripture has the answer, turning back to Peter’s epistle.
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.