Reference: Heaven
American
In the Bible, means primarily the region of the air and clouds, and of the planets and stars, but chiefly the world of holy bliss above the visible heavens. It is called "the third heaven," "the highest heaven," and "the heaven of heavens," expressions nearly synonymous. There holy beings are to dwell, seeing all of God that it is possible for creatures to see. Thither Christ ascended, to intercede for his people and prepare for them a place where all shall at length be gathered, to go no more out forever, Eph 4:10; Heb 8:1; 9:24-28. In this life we can know but little of the location and appearance of heaven, or of the employments and blessedness of its inhabitants. The Scriptures inform us that all sin, and every other evil, are forever excluded; no fruits of sin will be found there-no curse nor sorrow nor sighing, no tear, no death: the former things are passed away. They describe it figuratively, crowding together all the images which nature or art can supply to illustrate its happiness. It is a kingdom, an inheritance: there are rivers of pleasure, trees of life, glorious light, rapturous songs, robes, crowns, feasting, mirth, treasures, triumphs. They also give us positive representations: the righteous dwell in the presence of God; they appear with Christ in glory. Heaven is life, everlasting life: glory, an eternal weight of glory: salvation, repose, peace, fullness of joy, the joy of the Lord. There are different degrees in that glory, and never-ceasing advancement. It will be a social state, and its happiness, in some measure, will arise from mutual communion and converse, and the expressions and exercises mutual benevolence. It will include the perfect purity of every saint; delightful fellowship with those we have here loved in the Lord, Mt 8:11; 17:3-4; 1Th 2:19; 4:13-18; the presence of Christ, and the consciousness that all is perfect and everlasting. We are taught that the body will share this bliss as well as the soul: the consummation of our bliss is subsequent to the resurrection of the body; for it is redeemed as well as the soul, and shall, at the resurrection of the just, be fashioned like unto Christ's glorious body. By descending from heaven, and reascending thither, he proves to the doubting soul the reality of heaven; he opens it door for the guilty by his atoning sacrifice; and all who are admitted to it by his blood shall be made meet for it by his grace, and find their happiness for ever in his love. See KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
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I tell you, many will come from the east and west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,
Then Moses and Elijah also appeared before them, talking with him. So Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you want, I will make three shelters -- one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
He, the very one who descended, is also the one who ascended above all the heavens, in order to fill all things.
Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We have such a high priest, one who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven,
For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with hands -- the representation of the true sanctuary -- but into heaven itself, and he appears now in God's presence for us. And he did not enter to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the sanctuary year after year with blood that is not his own, read more. for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the consummation of the ages to put away sin by his sacrifice. And just as people are appointed to die once, and then to face judgment, so also, after Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many, to those who eagerly await him he will appear a second time, not to bear sin but to bring salvation.
Easton
(1.) Definitions. The phrase "heaven and earth" is used to indicate the whole universe (Ge 1:1; Jer 23:24; Ac 17:24). According to the Jewish notion there were three heavens,
(a) The firmament, as "fowls of the heaven" (Ge 2:19; 7:3,23; Ps 8:8, etc.), "the eagles of heaven" (La 4:19), etc.
(b) The starry heavens (De 17:3; Jer 8:2; Mt 24:29).
(c) "The heaven of heavens," or "the third heaven" (De 10:14; 1Ki 8:27; Ps 115:16; 148:4; 2Co 12:2).
(2.) Meaning of words in the original,
(a) The usual Hebrew word for "heavens" is shamayim, a plural form meaning "heights," "elevations" (Ge 1:1; 2:1).
(b) The Hebrew word marom is also used (Ps 68:18; 93:4; 102:19, etc.) as equivalent to shamayim, "high places," "heights."
(c) Heb galgal, literally a "wheel," is rendered "heaven" in Ps 77:18 (R.V., "whirlwind").
(d) Heb shahak, rendered "sky" (De 33:26; Job 37:18; Ps 18:11), plural "clouds" (Job 35:5; 36:28; Ps 68:34, marg. "heavens"), means probably the firmament.
(e) Heb rakia is closely connected with (d), and is rendered "firmamentum" in the Vulgate, whence our "firmament" (Ge 1:6; De 33:26, etc.), regarded as a solid expanse.
(3.) Metaphorical meaning of term. Isa 14:13-14; "doors of heaven" (Ps 78:23); heaven "shut" (1Ki 8:35); "opened" (Eze 1:1). (See 1Ch 21:16.)
(4.) Spiritual meaning. The place of the everlasting blessedness of the righteous; the abode of departed spirits.
(a) Christ calls it his "Father's house" (Joh 14:2).
(b) It is called "paradise" (Lu 23:43; 2Co 12:4; Re 2:7).
(c) "The heavenly Jerusalem" (Ga 4:1; 6:18; Heb 12:22; Re 3:12).
(d) The "kingdom of heaven" (Mt 25:1; Jas 2:5).
(e) The "eternal kingdom" (2Pe 1:11).
(f) The "eternal inheritance" (1Pe 1:4; Heb 9:15).
(g) The "better country" (Heb 11:14,16).
(h) The blessed are said to "sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob," and to be "in Abraham's bosom" (Lu 16:22; Mt 8:11); to "reign with Christ" (2Ti 2:12).
In heaven the blessedness of the righteous consists in the possession of "life everlasting," "an eternal weight of glory" (2Co 4:17), an exemption from all sufferings for ever, a deliverance from all evils (2Co 5:1-2) and from the society of the wicked (2Ti 4:18), bliss without termination, the "fulness of joy" for ever (Lu 20:36; 2Co 4:16,18; 1Pe 1:4; 5:10; 1Jo 3:2). The believer's heaven is not only a state of everlasting blessedness, but also a "place", a place "prepared" for them (Joh 14:2).
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In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters and let it separate water from water.
The heavens and the earth were completed with everything that was in them.
The Lord God formed out of the ground every living animal of the field and every bird of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them, and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.
and also seven of every kind of bird in the sky, male and female, to preserve their offspring on the face of the earth.
So the Lord destroyed every living thing that was on the surface of the ground, including people, animals, creatures that creep along the ground, and birds of the sky. They were wiped off the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark survived.
The heavens -- indeed the highest heavens -- belong to the Lord your God, as does the earth and everything in it.
by serving other gods and worshiping them -- the sun, moon, or any other heavenly bodies which I have not permitted you to worship.
There is no one like God, O Jeshurun, who rides through the sky to help you, on the clouds in majesty.
There is no one like God, O Jeshurun, who rides through the sky to help you, on the clouds in majesty.
"The time will come when the skies are shut up tightly and no rain falls because your people sinned against you. When they direct their prayers toward this place, renew their allegiance to you, and turn away from their sin because you punish them,
David looked up and saw the Lord's messenger standing between the earth and sky with his sword drawn and in his hand, stretched out over Jerusalem. David and the leaders, covered with sackcloth, threw themselves down with their faces to the ground.
Gaze at the heavens and see; consider the clouds, which are higher than you!
which the clouds pour down and shower on humankind abundantly.
will you, with him, spread out the clouds, solid as a mirror of molten metal?
the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea and everything that moves through the currents of the seas.
You ascend on high, you have taken many captives. You receive tribute from men, including even sinful rebels. Indeed the Lord God lives there!
Acknowledge God's power, his sovereignty over Israel, and the power he reveals in the skies!
Your thunderous voice was heard in the wind; the lightning bolts lit up the world; the earth trembled and shook.
Above the sound of the surging water, and the mighty waves of the sea, the Lord sits enthroned in majesty.
For he will look down from his sanctuary above; from heaven the Lord will look toward earth,
The heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth he has given to mankind.
You said to yourself, "I will climb up to the sky. Above the stars of El I will set up my throne. I will rule on the mountain of assembly on the remote slopes of Zaphon. I will climb up to the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High!"
They will be spread out and exposed to the sun, the moon and the stars. These are things they adored and served, things to which they paid allegiance, from which they sought guidance, and worshiped. The bones of these people will never be regathered and reburied. They will be like manure used to fertilize the ground.
"Do you really think anyone can hide himself where I cannot see him?" the Lord asks. "Do you not know that I am everywhere?" the Lord asks.
(Qof) Those who pursued us were swifter than eagles in the sky. They chased us over the mountains; they ambushed us in the wilderness.
In the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was among the exiles at the Kebar River, the heavens opened and I saw a divine vision.
I tell you, many will come from the east and west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,
"Immediately after the suffering of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken.
"At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
"Now the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried.
In fact, they can no longer die, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, since they are sons of the resurrection.
And Jesus said to him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
There are many dwelling places in my Father's house. Otherwise, I would have told you, because I am going away to make ready a place for you.
There are many dwelling places in my Father's house. Otherwise, I would have told you, because I am going away to make ready a place for you.
The God who made the world and everything in it, who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by human hands,
For our momentary, light suffering is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison
For we know that if our earthly house, the tent we live in, is dismantled, we have a building from God, a house not built by human hands, that is eternal in the heavens. For in this earthly house we groan, because we desire to put on our heavenly dwelling,
Now I mean that the heir, as long as he is a minor, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.
And after you have read this letter, have it read to the church of Laodicea. In turn, read the letter from Laodicea as well.
I, Paul, write this greeting by my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.
If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we deny him, he will also deny us.
The Lord will deliver me from every evil deed and will bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever! Amen.
And so he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the eternal inheritance he has promised, since he died to set them free from the violations committed under the first covenant.
For those who speak in such a way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.
But as it is, they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
But you have come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the assembly
Listen, my dear brothers and sisters! Did not God choose the poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him?
that is, into an inheritance imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. It is reserved in heaven for you,
For thus an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be richly provided for you.
The one who has an ear had better hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will permit him to eat from the tree of life that is in the paradise of God.'
The one who conquers I will make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will never depart from it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God (the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from my God), and my new name as well.
Fausets
From "heaved up;" so "the heights" (Ps 148:1). The Greek ouranos and the Hebrew shamaim, are similarly derived. It is used of the surrounding air wherein "the fowls of heaven" fly (Ge 1:26, compare Ge 1:20); from whence the rain and hail fall (De 11:11). "I will make your heaven as iron," i.e. your sky hard and yielding no rain (Le 26:19). "The four quarters of heaven" (Jer 49:36) and "the circuit of heaven" (Job 22:14) refer to the atmospheric heaven. By metaphor it is represented as a building with foundations and pillars (2Sa 22:8; Job 26:11), with an entrance gate (Ge 28:17) and windows opened to pour down rain (Ge 7:11, compare 2Ki 7:2; Mal 3:10). Job 37:18, "spread out the sky ... strong ... as a molten looking glass," not solid as "firmament" would imply, whereas the "expanse" is the true meaning (Ge 1:6; Isa 44:24), but phenomenally like one of the ancient mirrors made of firm molten polished metal.
Matthew, who is most Hebraistic in style, uses the plural, the Hebrew term for heaven being always so. "The heaven of heavens" (De 10:14) is a Hebraism for the highest heavens. Paul's "third heaven" (2Co 12:2) to which he was caught up implies this superlatively high heaven, which he reached after passing through the first heaven the air, and the second the sky of the stars (Eph 4:10). Heb 7:26, "made higher than the heavens," for Christ "passed through the heavens" (Heb 4:14, Greek), namely, the aerial heaven and the starry heaven, the veil through which our High Priest passed into the heaven of heavens, the immediate presence of God, as the Levitical high priest passed through the veil into the holy of belies. The visible heavens shall pass away to give place to the abiding new heaven and earth wherein shall dwell righteousness (Ps 102:25-27; Isa 65:17; 66:22; 2Pe 3:7,13; Re 21:1; Heb 12:26-28).
The kingdom of the heavens in Matthew, for "the kingdom of God" in Mark and Luke, is drawn from Da 4:26, "the heavens do rule," (Da 2:44) "the God of heaven shall set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed." It consists of many stages and phases, issuing at last in heaven being brought down fully to earth, and the tabernacle of God being with men (Re 21:2-3,10, etc.). The plurality of the phases is expressed by "the kingdom of the heavens." The Bible is distinguished from the sacred books of false religions in not having minute details of heavenly bliss such as men's curiosity would crave. The grand feature of its blessedness is represented as consisting in holy personal union and immediate face to face communion with God and the Lamb; secondarily, that the saints are led by the Lamb to living fountains of water, and fed with the fruit of the tree of life in the midst of the paradise of God, the antitype of the former Adamic paradise.
It is no longer merely a garden as Eden, but a heavenly "city" and garden combined, nature and art no longer mutually destructive, but enhancing each the charm of the other, individuality and society realized perfectly (Revelation 2-3, 7, 21-22). No separate temple, but the whole forming one vast "temple," finding its center in the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb, who are the temple to each and all the king-priests reigning and serving there. This was the model Moses was shown on Sinai (Heb 7:1-6). The earthly tabernacle was its pattern and figure (Heb 9:23-24). The "altar" (Re 6:9) and the "censer," etc. (Re 8:3), the "temple" in heaven (Re 11:19; 14:17; 15:5,8), are preliminary to the final state when there shall be "no temple therein" (Re 21:22), for the whole shall be perfectly consecrated to God.
Negatives of present provisional conditions and evils form a large part of the subordinate description of heaven's bliss: no marriage (Lu 20:34-36), no meats for the belly (1Co 6:13), no death, no sorrow, crying, pain; no defilement, no curse, no night, no candle, no light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light (Re 21:4,27; 22:3,5). Heaven is not merely a state but a place. For it is the place where Christ's glorifed body now is; "the heaven must receive Him until the times of restitution of all things" (Ac 3:21).
Thither He will "receive His people to Himself" after He hath "prepared a place for them" (Joh 14:2-4), that where He is there His servants may be (Joh 12:26). From heaven, which is God's court, angels are sent down to this earth, as the multitude of the heavenly host (distinct from the host of heaven," Ac 7:42), and to which they return (Lu 2:13-15; 22:43). God Himself is addressed "Our Father who art in heaven." His home is the parent home, the sacred hearth of the universe.
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God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters and let it separate water from water.
God said, "Let the water swarm with swarms of living creatures and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky."
Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth."
In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month -- on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst open and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.
He was afraid and said, "What an awesome place this is! This is nothing else than the house of God! This is the gate of heaven!"
I will break your strong pride and make your sky like iron and your land like bronze.
The heavens -- indeed the highest heavens -- belong to the Lord your God, as does the earth and everything in it.
Instead, the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy is one of hills and valleys, a land that drinks in water from the rains,
The earth heaved and shook; the foundations of the sky trembled. They heaved because he was angry.
An officer who was the king's right-hand man responded to the prophet, "Look, even if the Lord made it rain by opening holes in the sky, could this happen so soon?" Elisha said, "Look, you will see it happen with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of the food!"
Thick clouds are a veil for him, so he does not see us, as he goes back and forth in the vault of heaven.'
The pillars of the heavens tremble and are amazed at his rebuke.
will you, with him, spread out the clouds, solid as a mirror of molten metal?
In earlier times you established the earth; the skies are your handiwork. They will perish, but you will endure. They will wear out like a garment; like clothes you will remove them and they will disappear. read more. But you remain; your years do not come to an end.
Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the sky! Praise him in the heavens!
This is what the Lord, your protector, says, the one who formed you in the womb: "I am the Lord, who made everything, who alone stretched out the sky, who fashioned the earth all by myself,
For look, I am ready to create new heavens and a new earth! The former ones will not be remembered; no one will think about them anymore.
"For just as the new heavens and the new earth I am about to make will remain standing before me," says the Lord, "so your descendants and your name will remain.
I will cause enemies to blow through Elam from every direction like the winds blowing in from the four quarters of heaven. I will scatter the people of Elam to the four winds. There will not be any nation where the refugees of Elam will not go.
In the days of those kings the God of heaven will raise up an everlasting kingdom that will not be destroyed and a kingdom that will not be left to another people. It will break in pieces and bring about the demise of all these kingdoms. But it will stand forever.
They said to leave the taproot of the tree, for your kingdom will be restored to you when you come to understand that heaven rules.
"Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse so that there may be food in my temple. Test me in this matter," says the Lord who rules over all, "to see if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until there is no room for it all.
Suddenly a vast, heavenly army appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among people with whom he is pleased!" read more. When the angels left them and went back to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, that the Lord has made known to us."
So Jesus said to them, "The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are regarded as worthy to share in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. read more. In fact, they can no longer die, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, since they are sons of the resurrection.
[Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.
If anyone wants to serve me, he must follow me, and where I am, my servant will be too. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
There are many dwelling places in my Father's house. Otherwise, I would have told you, because I am going away to make ready a place for you. And if I go and make ready a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me, so that where I am you may be too. read more. And you know the way where I am going."
This one heaven must receive until the time all things are restored, which God declared from times long ago through his holy prophets.
But God turned away from them and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: 'It was not to me that you offered slain animals and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, was it, house of Israel?
"Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both." The body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago (whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows) was caught up to the third heaven.
He, the very one who descended, is also the one who ascended above all the heavens, in order to fill all things.
Therefore since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession.
Now this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, met Abraham as he was returning from defeating the kings and blessed him. To him also Abraham apportioned a tithe of everything. His name first means king of righteousness, then king of Salem, that is, king of peace. read more. Without father, without mother, without genealogy, he has neither beginning of days nor end of life but is like the son of God, and he remains a priest for all time. But see how great he must be, if Abraham the patriarch gave him a tithe of his plunder. And those of the sons of Levi who receive the priestly office have authorization according to the law to collect a tithe from the people, that is, from their fellow countrymen, although they too are descendants of Abraham. But Melchizedek who does not share their ancestry collected a tithe from Abraham and blessed the one who possessed the promise.
For it is indeed fitting for us to have such a high priest: holy, innocent, undefiled, separate from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.
So it was necessary for the sketches of the things in heaven to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves required better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with hands -- the representation of the true sanctuary -- but into heaven itself, and he appears now in God's presence for us.
Then his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "I will once more shake not only the earth but heaven too." Now this phrase "once more" indicates the removal of what is shaken, that is, of created things, so that what is unshaken may remain. read more. So since we are receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us give thanks, and through this let us offer worship pleasing to God in devotion and awe.
Now when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been violently killed because of the word of God and because of the testimony they had given.
Another angel holding a golden censer came and was stationed at the altar. A large amount of incense was given to him to offer up, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar that is before the throne.
Then the temple of God in heaven was opened and the ark of his covenant was visible within his temple. And there were flashes of lightning, roaring, crashes of thunder, an earthquake, and a great hailstorm.
Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.
After these things I looked, and the temple (the tent of the testimony) was opened in heaven,
and the temple was filled with smoke from God's glory and from his power. Thus no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues from the seven angels were completed.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had ceased to exist, and the sea existed no more. And I saw the holy city -- the new Jerusalem -- descending out of heaven from God, made ready like a bride adorned for her husband. read more. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: "Look! The residence of God is among human beings. He will live among them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death will not exist any more -- or mourning, or crying, or pain, for the former things have ceased to exist."
So he took me away in the Spirit to a huge, majestic mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.
Now I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God -- the All-Powerful -- and the Lamb are its temple.
but nothing ritually unclean will ever enter into it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or practices falsehood, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.
And there will no longer be any curse, and the throne of God and the Lamb will be in the city. His servants will worship him,
Night will be no more, and they will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God will shine on them, and they will reign forever and ever.
Hastings
In the cosmic theory of the ancient world, and of the Hebrews in particular, the earth was flat, lying between a great pit into which the shades of the dead departed, and the heavens above in which God and the angels dwelt, and to which it came to be thought the righteous went, after having been raised from the dead to live for ever. It was natural to think of the heavens as concave above the earth, and resting on some foundation, possibly of pillars, set at the extreme horizon (2Sa 22:9; Pr 8:27-29).
The Hebrews, like other ancient peoples, believed in a plurality of heavens (De 10:14), and the literature of Judaism speaks of seven. In the highest, or Aravoth, was the throne of God. Although the descriptions of these heavens varied, it would seem that it was not unusual to regard the third heaven as Paradise. It was to this that St. Paul said he bad been caught up (2Co 12:2).
This series of superimposed heavens was regarded as filled by different sorts of superhuman beings. The second heaven in later Jewish thought was regarded as the abode of evil spirits and angels awaiting punishment. The NT, however, does not commit itself to these precise speculations, although in Eph 6:12 it speaks of spiritual hosts of wickedness who dwell in heavenly places (cf. Eph 2:2). This conception of heaven as being above a flat earth underlies many religious expressions which are still current. There have been various attempts to locate heaven, as, for example, in Sirius as the central sun of our system. Similarly, there have been innumerable speculations endeavouring to set forth in sensuous form the sort of life which is to be lived in heaven. All such speculations, however, lie outside of the region of positive knowledge, and rest ultimately on the cosmogony of pre-scientific times. They may be of value in cultivating religious emotion, but they belong to the region of speculation. The Biblical descriptions of heaven are not scientific, but symbolical. Practically all these are to be found in the Johannine Apocalypse. It was undoubtedly conceived of eschatologically by the NT writers, but they maintained a great reserve in all their descriptions of the life of the redeemed. It is, however, possible to state definitely that, while they conceived of the heavenly condition as involving social relations, they did not regard it as one in which the physical organism survived. The sensuous descriptions of heaven to be found in the Jewish apocalypses and in Mohammedanism are altogether excluded by the sayings of Jesus relative to marriage in the new age (Mr 12:25|), and those of St. Paul relative to the 'spiritual body.' The prevailing tendency at the present time among theologians, to regard heaven as a state of the soul rather than a place, belongs likewise to the region of opinion. The degree of its probability will be determined by one's general view as to the nature of immortality.
Shailer Mathews.
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The heavens -- indeed the highest heavens -- belong to the Lord your God, as does the earth and everything in it.
Smoke ascended from his nose; fire devoured as it came from his mouth; he hurled down fiery coals.
When he established the heavens, I was there; when he marked out the horizon over the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above, when the fountains of the deep grew strong, read more. when he gave the sea his decree that the waters should not pass over his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.
I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago (whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows) was caught up to the third heaven.
in which you formerly lived according to this world's present path, according to the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience,
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.
Morish
The principal words so translated are shamayim, from 'the heights,' and ???????. They are used in a variety of senses: as
1. The atmosphere in which the birds fly, and the lightning appears, and from whence the rain descends. Ge 7:23; De 11:11; Da 4:21; Lu 17:24. It will pass away. 2Pe 3:10,12.
2. The firmament or wide expanse in which are seen the sun, moon, and stars. Ge 1:14-15,17.
3. The abode of God, where His throne is. Ps 2:4; 11:4; Mt 5:34. Whence the Lord descended and to which He ascended, and where He was seen by Stephen. Mr 16:19; Ac 7:55; 1Co 15:47.
4. The abode of angels. Mt 22:30; 24:36; Ga 1:8.
It is important to see that, in forming the present system of this world, God made a heaven to this earth, so that the earth should be ruled from heaven. The blessing of the earth, either materially or morally, depends upon its connection with heaven. This blessing will be full when the kingdom of the heavens is established in the Son of man, and He will come in the clouds of heaven. Ps 68:32,35. It is the place of angelic power, 'the principalities and powers in the heavenly places' being angelic, Satan and his angels, though fallen, still being among them. Job 1:6; 2:1; Re 12:7-9.
That there are various heavens is evident; Satan cannot have entrance into the glory, and Paul speaks of being caught up into the third heavens, 2Co 12:2; and the Lord Jesus passed through the heavens, and we read of 'the heaven of heavens.' De 10:14; 1Ki 8:27. Very little is said of the saints going to heaven, though their citizenship is there now, Phi . 3:20; but they are to be where Jesus is, and He went to heaven, and prepared a place for them. In the Revelation the four and twenty elders are seen in heaven sitting on 'thrones.' To Him that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Believers "look for NEW HEAVENS and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." 2Pe 3:13; Re 21:1.
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God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs to indicate seasons and days and years, and let them serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." It was so.
God placed the lights in the expanse of the sky to shine on the earth,
So the Lord destroyed every living thing that was on the surface of the ground, including people, animals, creatures that creep along the ground, and birds of the sky. They were wiped off the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark survived.
The heavens -- indeed the highest heavens -- belong to the Lord your God, as does the earth and everything in it.
Instead, the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy is one of hills and valleys, a land that drinks in water from the rains,
Now the day came when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord -- and Satan also arrived among them.
Again the day came when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also arrived among them to present himself before the Lord.
The one enthroned in heaven laughs in disgust; the Lord taunts them.
The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord's throne is in heaven. His eyes watch; his eyes examine all people.
O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God! Sing praises to the Lord, (Selah)
You are awe-inspiring, O God, as you emerge from your holy temple! It is the God of Israel who gives the people power and strength. God deserves praise!
whose foliage was attractive and its fruit plentiful, and from which there was food available for all, under whose branches wild animals used to live, and in whose branches birds of the sky used to nest --
But I say to you, do not take oaths at all -- not by heaven, because it is the throne of God,
For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.
"But as for that day and hour no one knows it -- not even the angels in heaven -- except the Father alone.
After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.
For just like the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day.
But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently toward heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago (whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows) was caught up to the third heaven.
But even if we (or an angel from heaven) should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be condemned to hell!
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; when it comes, the heavens will disappear with a horrific noise, and the celestial bodies will melt away in a blaze, and the earth and every deed done on it will be laid bare.
while waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God? Because of this day, the heavens will be burned up and dissolve, and the celestial bodies will melt away in a blaze! But, according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness truly resides.
Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But the dragon was not strong enough to prevail, so there was no longer any place left in heaven for him and his angels. read more. So that huge dragon -- the ancient serpent, the one called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world -- was thrown down to the earth, and his angels along with him.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had ceased to exist, and the sea existed no more.
Smith
Heaven.
There are four Hebrew words thus rendered in the Old Testament which we may briefly notice.
1. Raki'a, Authorized Version, firmament. [FIRMAMENT]
See Firmament
2. Shamayim. This is the word used in the expression "the heaven and the earth," or "the upper and lower regions."
3. Marom, used for heaven in
Ps 18:16; Isa 24:18; Jer 25:30
. Properly speaking it means a mountain as in
4. Shechakim, "expanses," with reference to the extent of heaven.
De 33:26; Job 35:5
St. Paul's expression "third heaven,"
had led to much conjecture. Grotius said that the Jews divided the heaven into three parts, viz.,
1. The air or atmosphere, where clouds gather;
2. The firmament, in which the sun, moon and stars are fixed;
3. The upper heaven, the abode of God and his angels, the invisible realm of holiness and happiness the home of the children of God.
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There was evening, and there was morning, a third day.
There is no one like God, O Jeshurun, who rides through the sky to help you, on the clouds in majesty.
Gaze at the heavens and see; consider the clouds, which are higher than you!
He reached down from above and took hold of me; he pulled me from the surging water.
For he will look down from his sanctuary above; from heaven the Lord will look toward earth,
The one who runs away from the sound of the terror will fall into the pit; the one who climbs out of the pit, will be trapped by the snare. For the floodgates of the heavens are opened up and the foundations of the earth shake.
"Then, Jeremiah, make the following prophecy against them: 'Like a lion about to attack, the Lord will roar from the heights of heaven; from his holy dwelling on high he will roar loudly. He will roar mightily against his land. He will shout in triumph like those stomping juice from the grapes against all those who live on the earth.
I will plant it on a high mountain of Israel, and it will raise branches and produce fruit and become a beautiful cedar. Every bird will live under it; Every winged creature will live in the shade of its branches.
I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago (whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows) was caught up to the third heaven.
Watsons
HEAVEN, the place of the more immediate residence of the Most High, Ge 14:19. The Jews enumerated three heavens: the first was the region of the air, where the birds fly, and which are therefore called "the fowls of heaven," Job 35:11. It is in this sense also that we read of the dew of heaven, the clouds of heaven, and the wind of heaven. The second is that part of space in which are fixed the heavenly luminaries, the sun, moon, and stars, and which Moses was instructed to call "the firmament or expanse of heaven," Ge 1:8. The third heaven is the seat of God and of the holy angels; the place into which Christ ascended after his resurrection, and into which St. Paul was caught up, though it is not like the other heavens perceptible to mortal view.
2. It is an opinion not destitute of probability, that the construction of the tabernacle, in which Jehovah dwelt by a visible symbol, termed "the cloud of glory," was intended to be a type of heaven. In the holiest place of the tabernacle, "the glory of the Lord," or visible emblem of his presence, rested between the cherubims; by the figures of which, the angelic host surrounding the throne of God in heaven was typified; and as that holiest part of the tabernacle was, by a thick vail, concealed from the sight of those who frequented it for the purposes of worship, so heaven, the habitation of God, is, by the vail of flesh, hidden from mortal eyes. Admitting the whole tabernacle, therefore, in which the worship of God was performed according to a ritual of divine appointment, to be a representation of the universe, we are taught by it this beautiful lesson, that the whole universe is the temple of God; but that in this vast temple there is "a most holy place," where the Deity resides and manifests his presence to the angelic hosts and redeemed company who surround him. This view appears to be borne out by the clear and uniform testimony of Scripture,; and it is an interesting circumstance, that heaven, as represented by "the holiest of all," is heaven as it is presented to the eye of Christian faith, the place where our Lord ministers as priest, to which believers now come in spirit, and where they are gathered together in the disembodied state. Thus, for instance, St. Paul tells the believing Hebrews, "Ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first-born, which are written," or are enrolled, "in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than the blood of Abel," Heb 12:22-24. Here we are presented with the antitype of almost every leading circumstance of the Mosaic dispensation. Instead of the land of Canaan, we have heaven; for the earthly Jerusalem, we have the heavenly, the city of the living God; in place of the congregation of Israel after the flesh, we have the general assembly and church of the first-born, that is, all true believers "made perfect;" for just men in the imperfect state of the old dispensation, we have just men made perfect in evangelical knowledge and holiness; instead of Moses, the mediator of the old covenant, we have Jesus the Mediator of the new and everlasting covenant; and instead of the blood of slaughtered animals, which was sprinkled upon the Israelites, the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, to make a typical atonement, we have the blood of the Son of God, which was shed for the remission of the sins of the whole world; that blood which doth not, like the blood of Abel, call for vengeance but for mercy, which hath made peace between heaven and earth, effected the true and complete atonement for sin, and which therefore communicates peace to the conscience of every sinner that believes the Gospel.
3. Among the numerous refinements of modern times, that is one of the most remarkable which goes to deny the locality of heaven. "It is a state," say many, "not a place." But if that be the case, the very language of the Scriptures, in regard to this point, is calculated to mislead us. For that God resides in a particular part of the universe, where he makes his presence known to his intelligent creatures by some transcendent, visible glory, is an opinion that has prevailed among Jews and Christians, Greeks and Romans, yea, in every nation, civilized or savage, and in every age; and, since it is confirmed by revelation, why should it be doubted? Into this most holy place, the habitation of the Deity, Jesus, after his resurrection, ascended; and there, presenting his crucified body before the manifestation of the divine presence, which is called "the throne of the Majesty in the heavens," he offered unto God the sacrifice of himself, and made atonement for the sins of his people. There he is sat down upon his throne, crowned with glory and honour, as king upon his holy hill of Zion, and continually officiates as our great High Priest, Advocate, and Intercessor, within the vail. There is his Father's house, into which he is gone before, to prepare mansions of bliss for his disciples; it is the kingdom conferred upon him as the reward of his righteousness, and of which he has taken possession as their forerunner, Ac 1:11; Heb 6:19-20.
4. Some of the ancients imagined that the habitation of good men, after the resurrection, would be the sun; grounding this fanciful opinion on a mistaken interpretation of Ps 19:4, which they rendered, with the LXX and Vulgate, "He has set his tabernacle in the sun." Others, again, have thought it to lie beyond the starry firmament, a notion less improbable than the former. Mr. Whiston supposes the air to be the mansion of the blessed, at least for the present; and he imagines that Christ is at the top of the atmosphere, and other spirits nearer to or more remote from him according to the degree of their moral purity, to which he conceives the specific gravity of their inseparable vehicles to be proportionable. Mr. Hallet has endeavoured to prove that they will dwell upon earth, when it shall be restored to its paradisaical state. The passages of Scripture, however, on which he grounds his hypothesis, are capable of another and very different interpretation. After all, we may observe, that the place of the blessed is a question of comparatively little importance; and we may cheerfully expect and pursue it, though we cannot answer a multitude of curious questions, relating to various circumstances that pertain to it. We have reason to believe that heaven will be a social state, and that its happiness will, in some measure, arise from mutual communion and converse, and the expressions and exercises of mutual benevolence. All the views presented to us of this eternal residence of good men are pure and noble; and form a striking contrast to the low hopes, and the gross and sensual conceptions of a future state, which distinguish the Pagan and Mohammedan systems. The Christian heaven may be described to be a state of eternal communion with God, and consecration to hallowed devotional and active services; from which will result an uninterrupted increase of knowledge, holiness, and joy, to the glorified and immortalized assembly of the redeemed.
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God called the expanse "sky." There was evening, and there was morning, a second day.
He blessed Abram, saying, "Blessed be Abram by the Most High God, Creator of heaven and earth.
who teaches us more than the wild animals of the earth, and makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?'
Yet its voice echoes throughout the earth; its words carry to the distant horizon. In the sky he has pitched a tent for the sun.
and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking up into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come back in the same way you saw him go into heaven."
We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, sure and steadfast, which reaches inside behind the curtain, where Jesus our forerunner entered on our behalf, since he became a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.
But you have come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the assembly and congregation of the firstborn, who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous, who have been made perfect, read more. and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks of something better than Abel's does.