Is Heaven a "Place" in the Universe?
- Or -Is the Universe a "Place" in Heaven?
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
(Genesis 1:1)I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven.
(2 Corinthians 12:2)
Notice, in the very first verse in the Bible that God created "the heavens" (plural) and "the earth". Now if you think about it, "heaven" is spoken of in the Bible in a few different ways. First we have "the birds of heaven" and the trees reaching up "into the heaven", then we also have the stars of heaven. And then in 2 Corinthians Paul speaks of a man who "was caught up to the third heaven." (It is generally understood that Paul is talking about himself, but in humility, not directly saying so.) But he calls it the "third heaven."
Now to be technically accurate, the Hebrew word for "heaven", (shamim) appears to be in a plural form, but that is the "normal" or common form of that word throughout the Hebrew scriptures. So scholars have different descriptions of whether the Hebrew word is plural, or dual, or just the way it is spelled without regard to its "number." So, perhaps it is like our word "sheep", we say "one sheep" or "many sheep". "Sheep" is spelled the same either way. This is my thinking about it anyway. I don't claim any scholarly authority on this point.
Anyway, since Paul speaks of "the third heaven," I will assume that indeed there are (at least) another two. So, since some of our English translations have "heavens" (plural) in Genesis 1:1, I will propose that God indeed created two "heavens" in the beginning. First, the universe, the heaven where the stars are, and then our atmosphere, the heaven where birds fly, and trees reach up into. And Paul is referring to the heaven where God is. That third heaven is simply the realm where God has always been. I don't think that God "created" that heaven.
Now, Christians often talk of "going to heaven", But I have not found a verse anywhere in the Bible that says we will "go to heaven." While there are things that may seem like there is that idea, I think they may not be understood correctly.
Twenty some years ago, I had an experience that was repeated many times over the course of some months. I would be in a church service listening to the sermon, or listening to a Christian teaching on the radio, or a number of similar settings. The speaker would quote a verse that I was familiar with, and it was as if the Holy Spirit would tap me on the shoulder (not literally, I mean) as if to say "did you notice he misquoted that verse?" Well however I may try to describe it, the speaker did indeed misquote these certain verses, that I was definitely familiar with. This happened over and over in all these different settings for months. In virtually all these times, the verse had the words "the kingdom of heaven" but the speaker only said the word "heaven." It really struck me that this was so common!
This trend of dropping the word "kingdom" out of the message has permeated so much of today's teaching. Remember that when John the Baptizer started preaching he said "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" (Matthew 3:2) And Jesus at the beginning of His teaching said exactly the same words. (Matthew 4:17) And many of Jesus' parables are about "the kingdom of heaven." In fact the words "kingdom of heaven" occur 32 times in Matthew. In Mark and Luke it is called the "kingdom of God."
The "gospel" which means "good news" is the good news of the "kingdom." But today, when you hear someone preach the "gospel" you seldom ever hear the word "kingdom" at all.
I am not saying that the gospel preached today is wrong, but it is incomplete. The message of the "kingdom" is lacking!
Remember how Jesus taught us to pray:
So He said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
(Luke 11:2)
I am definitely not the only one to be aware of this lack. I have collected quotes from the writings of other Bible teachers who are saying the same thing. Please read that article at the end of this page.
While there is a deficiency in the message preached commonly today, That will change! That is one reason for me writing these articles, to help people to realize the lack and make the change. Here is what Jesus said about that:
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
(Matthew 24:14)
"Then the end will come."
The end of what?
The very next verse starts with "therefore, ..." and refers to what was "spoken by Daniel the prophet":
“Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand),
(v. 15)
"whoever reads, let him understand" is, in the Greek, grammatically, a 3rd person imperative, which does not exist in English grammar, so we say "let him ..." But in Greek it is a strong admonition; it is a command! -- This is something that "whoever reads" needs to understand!
So when we look in Daniel for those words, 'abomination' and 'desolation', we find them in chapter 9 through 12. So starting in chapter 9 Daniel "understood by the books", of Jeremiah, that the Lord "would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem." So Daniel begins to earnestly pray and confess the sins of his people.
Here is the first part of Daniel chapter 9:
9:1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans—
2 in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.3 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
4 And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments,
5 we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments.
(Daniel 9:1-5)
And he continues his prayer through verse 19. Then in verse 20 he is interrupted by Gabriel:
20 Now while I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God,
21 yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering.
22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand.
23 At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision:
The next verse starts the vision and it continues through verse 27. The very first words in that next verse are “Seventy weeks are determined For your people and for your holy city," Now go back and look at verse 2.
I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. (Daniel 9:2)
So Daniel, by his study of the writings of the prophet Jeremiah understood that "seventy years" were determined. And now Gabriel gives him a vision about "seventy weeks", or more literally "seventy sevens."
“Seventy weeks are determined
For your people and for your holy city,
To ...
(Daniel 9:24a NKJV)
The "seventy weeks" is really in Hebrew "seventy sevens". We are not told what the "seventy sevens" are of. But now compare the "weeks" of Daniel 10:2-3:
In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks.
3 I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.
(Daniel 10:2-3 NKJV)
Notice "three full weeks" and "three whole weeks." That is how they are translated in the New King James Version. And in verse 13 it says "twenty-one days", which was the "three full weeks" that Daniel was mourning. The word "weeks" is the same as in 9:24, that is "sevens." But in the Hebrew, there is an additional word, loosely translated as "full" or "whole". The Hebrew word is "yomim", the plural form of "yom." This word "yom" is literally "day" (or plural, "days.") For example the Hebrew holiday "Yom Kippur" means “Day of Atonement.” So what Daniel actually wrote in 10:2 and 3 is "three sevens of days," which is twenty-one days.
Now this is significant, because in chapter 9 he does not tell us "sevens of (what)." He could have said "seventy sevens of days" if he wanted to tie it down. But he didn't. There are teachings out there today that he means 490 years, and another, which I recently learned about that it is 490 days.
I believe Daniel, as led by the Holy Spirit, left it open purposely so that this prophecy can have more than one fulfillment. There is much more I wish to say about this matter, but I really need to get back to "the end" of what?!
Picking up where we left off, lets now finish that very first verse of Daniel's vision, Daniel 9:24:
“Seventy weeks are determined
For your people and for your holy city,
To finish the transgression,
To make an end of sins,
To make reconciliation for iniquity,
To bring in everlasting righteousness,
To seal up vision and prophecy,
And to anoint the Most Holy.
Did you catch it? It's NOT the "end of the world!" How many times have you heard Christians talk about the "end of the world"? But here, it is "the end of sins!"
Wow!
When have you ever heard that? Don't you think that is what Jesus was talking about? Read it again!
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
“Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand),
(Matthew 24:14-15)
I think Matthew understood the connection and that is why he says, "(whoever reads, let him understand.)"
Now finally getting back to the title of this article; All my life I have been hearing Christians talk about "going to heaven" either when you die, or in the "rapture" (just before "the end of the world.")
And the word "kingdom" is never mentioned in those discussions.
As much as I want to bring a conclusion to this article, I really want you to get the full impact of this. So I want to go back and pick up a few lines in what Jesus is saying in Matthew 24.
Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
(Matthew 24:3)
In the section we have been looking at, Jesus is answering the disciples' question. They did not ask about "the end of the world", they asked about "the end of the age". And Paul refers to "this present evil age" in Galatians 1:4. So it makes sense that "the end of sin" would be "the end" of "this present evil age." Right?
And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
(Matthew 24:6)
Here Jesus is talking about things that happen in this present evil age, and says they "must come to pass, but the end is not yet." And he continues with more evil things that will happen, before he says"
13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
(Matthew 24:13-14)
Finally I want to go back to the first two questions I posed at the very beginning:
Is Heaven a "Place" in the Universe?
- Or -Is the Universe a "Place" in Heaven?
Is heaven a "place" you can "go to"?
When Jesus taught us to pray "Thy kingdom come", He followed it with "Thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven".
And hear what He prays to the father in John 17:
I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.
(John 17:15)
I wonder who came up with the idea of "getting out of this world" and "going to heaven." Hmm... I think that idea came from "the other guy," you know, "the god of this age."
whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. (2 Corinthians 4:4)
So what about heaven? Well, if you think about those two questions, if "heaven" was a "place" in the universe, then it might make sense to "go there". But if the universe is a "place" in heaven, then you are already there!
and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
(Ephesians 2:6 NKJV)
The real question is no longer about "going to heaven." The question becomes, just as it has always been; will "Thy kingdom come" here, and will "Your will be done on earth"? That is what the gospel of the kingdom is all about!!!
9 and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ;
10 to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places,
11 according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord,
(Ephesians 3:9-11)
All the "principalities and powers" in heaven are watching to see if God can have His will done... "ON EARTH, as it is in heaven."
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,
(Revelation 21:10)
Here is how I understand these things: The "third heaven" is simply the "realm" where God lives. The first "created heaven," where the stars are, is the universe, And the earths air atmosphere, the "heaven" where the birds fly is also "created." And the earth, (literally "land", in Hebrew) was then created.
So if you are standing on the "land," you are definitely "in" the "heaven" where birds fly. We call that "air." And this place we call "earth" with its air atmosphere is definitely "in" the heaven where all the stars are. We call that the "universe." And the entire "universe" is "in" that realm where God lives, the "third heaven." You are, and always have been "in" all three!
15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
(1 Thessalonians 4:15-18)
Did you catch that? In verse 17 it says, "Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord."
So we will "meet the Lord" in the air, right where we live, NOT some "place" in "outer space."
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