Heaven

“For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in Heaven.  For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our dwelling place out of Heaven, if indeed, being clothed, we shall not be found naked.  For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.  Now He who has fashioned us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the earnest of the Spirit.  So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord.  For we walk by faith, not by sight.  We are confident, yes, preferring rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.”  2nd Corinthains 5:1-8

 

Awhile back I had produced some broadcast material for the Back to the Basics radio program, all of which were aired in Africa, about Hell.  During one of those shows, I made mention that eventually, Lord willing, we would talk about Heaven.  Jesus spoke –much- more about Hell then He did about Heaven, warning men.  For most people will end up in Hell, though most, especially in the West will incorrectly confess themselves to be going to Heaven (Matthew 7:13-23).  So now let’s take a moment to glean out some interesting things that we can from the Bible about Heaven!

 

What, as least used to, be heard was a lot of talk about ‘streets of gold’, ‘pearly gates’ and ‘mansions being prepared’.  So let’s address those things real quick and move on to some other attributes of this real place called Heaven.

 

“In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”  John 14:2-3

 

“And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the Holy Jerusalem, descending out of Heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.  And having a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.  Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.  And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall.  And the city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal.  And he measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.  And the construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like pure glass.  And the foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.  And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.  And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.  And the city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it; and the Lamb is its light.  And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.  And its gates shall not be shut at all by day, because there shall be no night there.  And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it.  But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or produces an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.”  Revelation 21:10-27

 

First, let’s notice something here that seems to not be ‘seen’ by people who speak of these things, “And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God”…notice where these streets of gold are, as well as the ‘pearly gates’, they are in New Jerusalem and notice where New Jerusalem comes from… -down out- of Heaven. 

 

“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.”  Revelation 21:1

 

While we are not going to look that up here (Isa. 65:17; 66:22; 2 Pet. 3:13) let us understand that the things that are here, at that time, are eternal.  If we were to look at the dimensions of this holy city, New Jerusalem, we would see that it could not be contained on this present earth (Rev. 21:16), thus a new earth and new heavens to go with it is coming for those who love the Lord and whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (2 Tim. 4:8, Rev. 21:27).

 

From Genesis, all throughout the Bible, Heaven is where God lives.

 

We can gain some tidbits…

 

“possessor of Heaven” – Gen. 14:19

“God of Heaven” – Gen. 24:7; Ezra 1:2; Etc.

“Your dwelling place” 1 Kings 8:30; 2 Chr. 6:30

“Our God is in Heaven” Ps. 115:3

 

Now Heaven belongs to God, the earth was given to mankind.

 

“Heaven, even the heavens, are Jehovah’s; but the earth He has given to the sons of men.”  Ps. 115:16

 

Note also, as our space probes travel to Mars, as some have aspirations of colonizing Mars, sooner than you might think, these things don’t ‘belong’ to us, they are NOT ours to grasp and obtain, but these belong to God, we have dominion over the earth, that He has given us to use in accordance with His Word, but the heavens are also His.

 

Now the question is where is it?  Paul was caught up to the ‘third Heaven’ (2 Cor. 12:2).  Third you say?  Sure…

 

The first is the atmosphere surrounding the earth, the second is what we see on a clear night, especially far away from urban lights, the stars, the moon, galaxies, etc., testifying of our great Creator (Ps. 8:3-4), the third is Heaven, where God lives, the one that most people think about.  Well the question is where is it?

 

We could have some ‘fun’ here and wonder if it is ‘right’ there and we just can see it, sort of a different dimension or perhaps it is hidden in one of these ‘clusters’ of stars in a far away galaxy that even our most modern telescopes can not penetrate???  Well, we will have some fun here, as there are only theories, but let’s take a look at some interesting tidbits of verses that suggest a direction for where it is at!

 

“spread out his hands towards Heaven” – 2 Chr. 6:13

“He looked up to Heaven” – Mark 6:41:

“not raise his eyes to Heaven” – Luke 18:13

“lifted up His eyes to Heaven” John 17:1

 

Unless the Bible lets us know that a passage is allegorical, one should take it to be completely literal and I don’t see why that wouldn’t be the case here.  You have in these partial verses that eyes can be raised to Heaven, hands spread towards Heaven, etc., would this not suggest that Heaven is somewhere above the land of Israel?  I would think so, as all of these tidbits of verses took place in the land of Israel. 

 

Well where did Heaven come from to begin with?  God made it:

 

“You alone are Jehovah; You have made the heavens, the Heaven of the heavens, with all their host, the earth and everything on it, the seas and all that is in them, and You preserve them all alive. The host of the Heavens bow down before You.”  Nehemiah 9:6

 

Now if we take and ponder these things that God has made, (look around and pay attention! (Rom. 1:2)) then we should marvel that the Most High, the Creator, that He would even have regard for us individually!  Oh, if such a thought should sink into your heart to understand the love of God and what He did for us through His Son Jesus Christ on the Cross (John 3:16)!  The marvelous love and mercy He has upon sinful mankind who is not deserving.  Thanks be to the Lord!

 

“O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the Law.  But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”  1 Cor. 15:55-58

 

So it is of a great wonder, that God, the only God, can hear our cries and prayers from Heaven, He who saw our embryo (Ps. 139:16) hears from Heaven (Neh. 9:28).

 

So what else does the Bible tell us is in Heaven?  Well God’s throne is there and each individual soul that God ever Created (Jer. 1:5) will either find themselves at the Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:1), for those who accepted the free gift of Salvation (Eph. 2:8-9) through “repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Acts 20:21) OR for those whose names are not written in the Book of Life, they will stand before God at the Great White Throne.

 

“And I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heavens fled away. And there was found no place for them.  And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God. And books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, out of the things which were written in the books.  And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one, according to their works.  And Death and Hades were cast into the Lake of Fire. This is the second death.  And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the Lake of Fire.”  Revelation 20:11-15

 

Is this the same throne spoken of being in Heaven elsewhere?  Well, the Bible doesn’t clearly state it so neither will I, but nonetheless, God’s throne is in Heaven as these tidbits of verses plainly state:

 

“Jehovah’s throne is in Heaven” – Psa. 11:4

“a throne was set in Heaven, and One sat on the throne.”  – Rev. 4:2

 

God Watches from Heaven

 

What should concern mankind is the fact that God watches from Heaven.  Consider the books that the Bible speaks about in the above referenced Revelation 20:11-15.  Yet even our ‘shadowy’ world government, our top leaders, who are apparently up to ‘no-good’ (Rev. 18:3) should know that God watches them as well (Ecc. 5:8), despite the fact that they think they have it figured out (Is. 28:18; Amos 9:2).

 

“Am I a God near by, says Jehovah, and not a God afar off?  Can anyone hide himself in secret places so that I shall not see him? says Jehovah. Do I not fill the heavens and earth? says Jehovah.”  Jeremiah 23:23-24

 

So consider this, as an individual, God is watching YOU from Heaven as these tidbits of verses exclaim: 

 

“Jehovah looked down from Heaven” – Ps. 14:2; 33:13; 55:2

“from Heaven Jehovah has looked upon the earth” – Ps. 102:19

 

So not only is God’s throne in Heaven and He watches all of mankind, but He rules from Heaven, as some more tidbits of verses make clear!

 

“He will answer him from His holy Heaven” – Ps. 20:6

“He will send from Heaven” – Ps. 57:3

“You caused judgment to be heard from Heaven” – Ps. 76:8

“Heaven rules” – Dan. 4:26

 

Heaven is a holy place (Ps. 20:6) where there is also a ‘kingdom of Heaven’.  Consider these tidbits of verses:

 

“Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven has drawn near” – Matt. 4:17

“called least in the kingdom of Heaven” – Matt. 5:19

“The kingdom of Heaven is at hand” Matt. 10:7

 

In this modern era, people store treasures not only in bank vaults, but also virtual currency, digital stocks and bonds, as well as other bits of wealth tucked away, yet we who are Believers also are able to stow away ‘treasures’, no matter whether we are rich or poor in the eyes of the world.  The Bible speaks about storing up ‘treasures in Heaven’ (Matt. 6:20; 19:21), where there will be rewards awaiting Believers (Luke 6:23).

 

Heaven is also a place where angels reside.  As this article is about Heaven, this is not going to dig deep at all into angels, but simple provide the evidence from the Holy Scriptures regarding this truth, with a few tidbits of the Holy Scriptures:

 

“in Heaven their angels” – Matt. 18:10

“angels of God in Heaven” – Matt. 22:30

“angels of Heaven” – Matt. 24:36; Mark 13:30

 

Now God has given authority to Jesus, His Son, the Savior, He has all authority:

 

“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority is given to Me in Heaven and on earth.”  Matthew 28:18

 

Angels go back and forth to Heaven (Luke 2:15).  This is interesting, because if we go back to the book of Genesis we can see what appears to be one of these, for lack of better terms, apparently a portal that allows them to go back and forth (Gen. 28:12).  So when they were trying to build the Tower of Babel to Heaven, hmm… (Gen. 11:4-6)???  Note that God says “now nothing that they devise to do will be withheld from them”. 

 

Now this also includes the adversary of mankind, the one who through the fear of death causes people to be in bondage (Heb. 2:15), that which Christ has the power to save us from death (Heb. 5:7), well unknown to most, Satan still has access.  Jesus clearly states:

 

“And He said to them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from Heaven.”  Luke 10:18 

 

Whereas we know that “ruler of the authority of the air” (Eph. 2:2) is “seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet. 5:8).   But we can see that with the ordeal with Job, Satan went directly to Heaven.

 

“Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Jehovah, and Satan also came among them.  And Jehovah said to Satan, From where do you come? So Satan answered Jehovah and said, From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking about on it.”  Job 1:6-7

 

There will be a war in Heaven and Satan will be cast down to earth, no longer having access:

 

“And war broke out in Heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in Heaven any longer.  So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who leads the whole world astray; he was cast out onto the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”  Revelation 12:7-9

 

Consider that Satan leads the whole world astray (Rev. 12:9) and that there is no other name by which to be Saved:

 

“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under Heaven given among men that is required for us to be saved.”  Acts 4:12

 

“Jesus said to him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”  John 14:6

 

Now where is Jesus?  Well He is in Heaven, sitting at the right hand of God the Father (Phil. 1:3; Heb. 8:1; 10:12, etc.) at that very throne in Heaven, spoken about earlier:

 

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so persistently harasses us, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”  Hebrews 12:1-2

 

Now emotions of peace and joy can be expressed in Heaven.  Consider these great things and ponder upon such a thing to be bestowed upon those who love Him (1 Cor. 2:9).   Think about these interesting tidbits of the Bible:

 

“will be more joy in Heaven over one sinner who repents” – Luke 15:7

 

“peace in Heaven” – Luke 19:38

 

Now we know that God the Father and God the Son (Jesus) are in Heaven, but what about God the Spirit, speaking of the Holy Spirit, also called the Holy Ghost in the KJV Bible version.  We can clearly see that the Holy Spirit was sent from Heaven from this tidbit of a verse:

 

“Holy Spirit sent from Heaven” – 1 Pet. 1:12

 

As well as the fact that there are three that bear witness in Heaven:

 

“For there are three that bear witness in Heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.”  1 John 5:7

 

Lest someone say that Jesus is just as the ‘right hand’ of God (Acts 7:55, as well as a pearl for those who can ‘see’), we can clearly see that that is where Jesus went after dying on the Cross for our sins (Heb. 12:2; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 John 4:10):

 

“And it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into Heaven.”  Luke 24:51

 

Clearly where Jesus resides:

 

“No one has ascended to Heaven but He who came down from Heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in Heaven.”  John 3:13

 

As Jesus Himself said:

 

“For I have come down out of Heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”  John 6:38

 

Now for the wicked, for those who are not Saved, there is coming a time of great tribulation upon the earth (Jer. 30:7), whereas if those days were not shortened NO FLESH would be saved alive (Mark 13:20) for the Bible also says that there will be ‘fearful sights & great signs from Heaven’ (Luke 21:11).  Now for the Saved, Heaven will be our dwelling place and the Bible makes that quite clear:

 

…“to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in Heaven for you,”… – 1 Pet. 1:4

 

Also the following tidbits of verses speak of this as well…

 

“dwelling place” – 2 Cor. 5:2

“prepare a place for you” – John 14:3

“And thus we shall always be with the Lord” – 1 Thes. 4:17

“our citizenship is in Heaven” – Php. 3:20

 

A couple of things of interest about Heaven:

 

The ‘ark of His covenant’ in Heaven (Rev. 11:19) is this the same one that people have been searching for??? or a copy (Heb. 8:5)???  For there is a temple in Heaven (Rev. 11:19; 16:17).

 

Speaking briefly of the Tribulation, this will end with two more things, one being the armies in Heaven (Rev. 19:14; Dan. 4:35) regarding the Battle of Armageddon (Rev. 16:16).

 

“And I saw Heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.  His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself.  And He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.  And the armies in Heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and pure, followed Him on white horses.  And out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He might strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.  And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.  And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of the heavens, Come and gather together for the supper of the great God,  that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of commanders, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.  And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.  And the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he led astray those who received the mark of the beast and those who did homage to his image. These two were cast alive into the Lake of Fire burning with brimstone.  And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded out of the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.”  Revelation 19:11-21

 

Finally, there will be a new Heaven, not just a new earth, as mentioned a bit earlier:

 

“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.”  Revelation 21:1

 

Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”  Mark 13:31

 

Will you be there? 

 

“The house of the wicked shall be overthrown, but the tent of the upright shall flourish.  There is a way which seems right to a man, but the end of it is the ways of death.”  Proverbs 14:11-12

 

Amen!