What Do You Know About Heaven?

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HEAVEN?

What do we know about it, really?  We see a reference here and there concerning heaven, but nobody has really used the bible to paint a picture one could imagine concerning heaven.  Some references are in Revelation, some in the Old Testament, some in Paul's Epistles...you have to gather them up in a way that one could imagine what it looks like, although we won't know it all until we've gotten there. 

First we must dispell some confusion, because there are more than one heaven referenced in the bible. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." (Gen. 1:1)  This reference is not necessarily the heaven reserved for believers, but rather the universe, where the stars and galaxies are, that man is able to see through powerful telescopes.  The first heaven is the sky, and it is also called the firmament. "And God called the firmament Heaven." (Gen. 1:8)  The third heaven is the one we all hope for, the residence of the Father, of Almighty God, where there is permanent joy and bliss; "I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven." (2 Cor. 12:2)  So from here on, we are not interested in the first and second heaven, because we can see all the first, much of the second, but the third we can only see if we die or are raptured.

Here is a good spot to make note of two people who went to heaven without dying; the first was Enoch.  "And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him." (Gen. 5:23 - 24)  The second was Elijah. "And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.  And Elisha saw it, and he cried, 'My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof.'  And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces." (2 Kings 2:11 - 12)

Stephen saw a little glimpse of heaven just before being stoned to death!  "And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God." (Acts 7:56)  Doesn't tell us much, though, does it?

It is written that if God wills it, angels can be heard from out of heaven; "And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, 'What aileth thee, Hagar?  Fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.'" (Gen. 21:17)  "And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, 'Abraham, Abraham:' and he said, 'Here am I.'" (Gen. 22:11)

Genesis also covers a dream of Jacob wherein he sees what nobody else sees; a ladder, or stairway, as it were, where angels ascended and descended to and from heaven; "And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it." (Gen. 28:12)  When he awakes, he believes he has slept in a place that for him was a gate between heaven and earth!  "And he was afraid, and said, 'How dreadful is this place!  This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.'" (Gen. 28:17)

A reference to the size of heaven is made in 1 Kings, but nothing exact, just the fact that it is not large enough to contain God!  "But will God indeed dwell on the earth?  Behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee; how much less this house that I have builded?" (1 Kings 8:27)  A much more exact size of the New Jerusalem, however, IS available; "And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs.  The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.  And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel." (Rev. 21:16 - 17)  This means it is 1,380 miles on each face.  If only 25% of this space were used for the mansions Jesus promised His believers, 20 billion people could have roomy accomodations!  One half of it would thereby accomodate 40 billion!

Another reference of the Old Testament makes an interesting picture for the mind concerning heaven in the days of Ahab; "And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right hand and on His left.  And the LORD said, 'Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead?'  And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner.  And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, 'I will persuade him.'  And the LORD said unto him, 'Wherewith?'  And he said, 'I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.'  And He said, 'Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.'" (1 Kings 22:19 - 22)  Here we have description of the host of heaven surrounding God, but who populate heaven as the host are not defined in this passage.  It can only be assumed the angels and all who have been saved to this point in time are the "host".

Amazing things must exist in heaven; take Elijah's conveyance to heaven, for example: "And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven." (2 Kings 2:11)

We know heaven is God's dwelling place, and king Hezekiah said He dwells between cherubims.  "O LORD God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, Thou art the God, even Thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; Thou hast made heaven and earth." (2 Kings 19:15)  So what are cherubim?  The first reference of one is in Genesis.  "He threw them out of the garden and stationed angel-cherubim and a revolving sword of fire east of it, guarding the path to the Tree-of-Life." (Gen. 3:24)  Doesn't sound like a child with wings, does it?  Is there a better description?  Ezekiel gives the best description, and what fantastic creatures these are!  "And there appeared in the cherubims the form of a man's hand under their wings.  And when I looked, behold the four wheels by the cherubims, one wheel by one cherub, and another wheel by another cherub: and the appearance of the wheels was as the colour of a beryl stone.  And as for their appearances, they four had one likeness, as if a wheel had been in the midst of a wheel.  When they went, they went upon their four sides; they turned not as they went, but to the place whither the head looked they followed it; they turned not as they went.  And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes round about, even the wheels that they four had.  As for the wheels, it was cried unto them in my hearing, O wheel.  And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.  And the cherubims were lifted up.  This is the living creature that I saw by the river of Chebar.  And when the cherubims went, the wheels went by them: and when the cherubims lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels also turned not from beside them." (Ezek. 10:8 - 16)

There are also creatures called Seraphim in heaven.  They are described in the 6th chapter of Isaiah.  "In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple.  Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.  And one cried unto another, and said, 'Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory.'  And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.  Then said I, 'Woe is me!  For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.'  Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, 'Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.'" (Isa. 6:1 - 7).  Imagine a creature that can hold a live coal in its hand, and not feel singed!

Jesus Himself promised there are many mansions in heaven; "In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you." (John 14:2)

I find this first passage of Revelation huge as a glimpse, although as I continue to present other passages, you'll come to realize it is a dynamic, not static, place.  "And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and One sat on the throne.  And He that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.  And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.  And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.  And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.  And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.  And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, 'Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.'  And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to Him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, the four and twenty elders fall down before Him that sat on the throne, and worship Him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 'Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.'" (Rev. 4:2 - 11).  Believing in Jesus allows believers to see this sight in heaven and a lot more!

The most vivid visions of what heaven is like are in the book of Revelation.  Many pictures are painted in this book of heaven; there are books in heaven, by the way, and several are mentioned as you go through Revelation's pages.  The first is the book of life, but its importance causes it to be mentioned much more than once throughout Revelation; "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels." (Rev. 3:5)  "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." (Rev. 13:8)  "The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is." (Rev. 17:8)  "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." (Rev. 20:15)  "And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life." (Rev. 21:27)  The next is one with seven seals: "And I saw in the right hand of Him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals." (Rev. 5:1).  After the book of judgments that come with the seals, there's another set of unnamed books in this passage, but it is easy to understand these are books in which are written all the sins of the unsaved.  "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works." (Rev. 20:12).

Chapters 21 and 22 of the book of Revelation describe the final position of heaven in the state of what is called the New Jerusalem, in which all believers will dwell for eternity.  It is described having walls of 12 foundations, 12 pearly gates, and 12 angels manning each gate.  This final heaven is lighted with the glory of God, and so there is no sun or moon.  There are two items within the city that are of pure gold that appears as glass.  The first is the city itself!  "And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass." (Rev. 21:18).  The other gold item is the street; "And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass." (Rev. 21:21).

So now we know more of what heaven looks like; it's been a dynamic place, full of many wonderful creatures, believers throughout the ages, angelic hosts, and His emerald-rainbowed throne with lightnings!  However, there is still much more that we don't know about heaven yet; for it is written, "...Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him." (1 Cor. 2:9).  How tragic for those who will miss all this, for those who will refuse to believe in Jesus to their dying breath!