Heaven

What and where is heaven? Heaven is the place we generally consider to be God's throne, even though he's omnipresent...or everywhere at the same time. We also have the same general idea that heaven is "up there" somewhere. We do know, however, that there are at least three levels of heaven. The first being the atmosphere around the earth...the "heaven" that we breathe in every day, the second being the "heaven" that we see each day...the one that holds the sun, moon and stars, and the third being the one that God calls His throne.

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (Gen. 1:1). Notice He created more than one. :0)

"I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago--whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows--such a man was caught up to the third heaven." (2 Cor. 12:2).

The man in that same verse "...was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak." (Vs. 4).

"...But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven..." (Gen. 22:11).

"He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it." (Gen. 28:12).

" Then the Lord said to Moses, "Tell the Israelites this: 'You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven...' " (Ex. 20:22).

These verses, along with many others, speak of the third heaven...the heaven that God calls his throne.

"And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth."

And it was so. God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness." (Gen. 1:14-18).

"And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array..." (Deut. 4:19).

These verses, and many others, speak of the second heaven...the one that separates our home from God's throne.

"But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven." (Deut. 11:11).

"Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky." (Gen. 8:2)

And these verses, along with many others, speak of the first heaven...or the one we live in...the atmosphere around the earth.

"To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it." (Deut. 10:14).

Just a friendly reminder that you (and everything that you believe is yours) belongs to God! :0)

We know heaven is "up there" somewhere, because the voice of the Lord comes down. He looks down on us from heaven...which he can't do unless he's up to begin with.

"Look down from heaven, your holy dwelling place..." (Deut. 26:15). (As it's his holy dwelling place, we know it's his throne.)

And our prayers and cries go up to him.

"...and the outcry of the city went up to heaven." (1 Sam. 5:12).

And, don't forget, the "man was caught up to the third heaven." (2 Cor. 12:2).

Aside from all of this...what many of us might call the simple stuff about heaven...there is so much other stuff that can be said about it that many books could be written on the subject. For instance, there are many things here on earth that are simply lesser copies of the real things which are in heaven.

"They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven." (Heb. 8:5).

There are all kinds of activities going on there that we humans are generally unaware of.

"Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth..." (Rev. 8:3-5).

"But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me..." (Dan. 10:13).

We know Satan has a limited access to heaven. We know that he has a limited access because he was cast out of it when he attempted to take over God's throne (Is. 14:12).

"One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them." (Job 1:6).

So he is allowed in on occasion. In fact, it's quite likely that he, along with the other angels, are required to "report in" on a regular basis...similar to officers in the army reporting to the brass to get their new orders...but that's another topic! According to Rev. 12:10, Satan is the "accuser of our brethren," and he doesn't have anyone to tattle to unless he's in heaven squealing to God.

Someday two of the heavens will be destroyed along with the earth.

"Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But my salvation will last forever, my righteousness will never fail." (Is. 51:6).

" "Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind." " (Is. 65:17).

"But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare." (2 Peter 3:10)

The heaven that's his throne, however, doesn't seem to be included in this destruction.

"Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands." (2 Cor. 5:1).

Even though the "earthly tent" that Paul is writing about refers to our earthly bodies, and though the "eternal house" he speaks of refers to our heavenly bodies, those eternal houses are still "in heaven."

And "...our citizenship is in heaven." (Phil. 3:20).

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God." (Rev. 21:1-3).

It's quite possible that this "new Jerusalem" is what we now call heaven. God descending to earth to dwell with man. And when he  comes to earth to live with man, He'll be bringing all of heaven with Him and it will be for all eternity.

What will it be like?

"He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (Rev. 21:4)

"To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son." (Rev. 6:6,7).

"It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal." (Rev. 21:11).

"The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone." (Rev. 21:18,19).

"The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass. I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life." (Rev. 21:21-27).

This is only a tiny part of what can be written about heaven. Someday, maybe this topic will be expanded a bit...at least that's the plan. But at the moment, there is so much ground to cover in other areas that might be a little more urgent to our present needs here on earth. Sometimes it
seems that the Lord is giving it faster than we can post it! Thank you, Jesus! :0)

Besides...as eloquent and beautiful as the Bible is in describing heaven, I suspect even that doesn't come close! With that said, I'm fairly sure that anything we might be able to add would be fairly inadequate. We believe that:

"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him." (1 Cor. 2:9).

We can't even imagine, in our wildest imagination, what God has prepared for us. Imagine that!