References
to “Heaven” in the Holy Bible
While
preparing for my most recent blog post titled “Christians and the Planet
Earth”, it was apparent that I needed to review other references related to
the position of our planet in our Universe. Knowing that the Bible’s first mention
of the Earth came in the Book of Genesis’ description of God’s Creation, I
looked to Genesis Chapter One, Verse One, that says: “In the
beginning God created the heaven and the Earth.” (Underline added)
Because that Chapter further describes
the term “heaven”, I read along to Verses Six through Eight that said: “ And God said, Let there
be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from
the waters. 7 And
God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament
from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. 8 And
God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the
second day.
That explanation
of the term “heaven” seemed clear in identifying the area above the Earth in
the atmosphere in which we see the clouds.
However, continued reading added to that description, even adding the
specifics of how far the “heaven” extended from the surface of the Earth. The Scripture records in the later Verses
14 through 19, that on the fourth day of the Creation, “ 14 And God
said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven
to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons,
and for days, and years:…” That expanded
description includes the areas of the Earth’s moon and our Solar System, and
potentially our entire Universe.
To get further clarity of the definition of “heaven”, I
turned to my key reference Strong’s Expanded Exhaustive Concordance. From previous Bible studies, we know that it
is important to review the information provided for a given word in both
the Hebrew and Greek / Aramaic Dictionaries of the Concordance. What was written for the Nation of Israel does
not mean that it has the same meaning or interpretation for Christians and
other Gentiles. (Romans 15: 4; 2 Timothy 2: 15, 3: 16)
In the Hebrew Dictionary, the word “heaven” (Strong’s
# 8064 – “shamayim / shameh”) has the general definition saying: “the sky
(as aloft; the dual perhaps alluding to the visible arch in which the clouds
move, as well as to the higher ether where the celestial bodies revolve)”. Importantly, that description applies to 398
of the total of 420 times the Hebrew word is used in the Old Testament, while an
additional 21 times it simply means “air”. Following that definition there is a
narrative under the heading “Introduction” that provides an excellent,
more detailed discussion of the word “heaven”.
That expanded narrative includes the following excerpts which tell of Heaven
being “the dwelling place of the Most High and the angels of God”; …”where He is, there the true heaven is”; …”the
highest heaven [literally the heaven of heavens]…” I highly recommend that you the entire section
under “Introduction”, which includes the location in the Scripture for
the various quotes.
In the Greek / Aramaic Dictionary, the word “heaven”
(Strong’s # 3772 - “ouranos”) has the general
definition saying, “the sky; by extension heaven (as the abode of God); by
implication , happiness, power, eternity; specifically the Gospel
(Christianity): Importantly,
that description applies to 268 of the total of 284 times the Greek / Aramaic word
is used in the New Testament, while an additional 10 times it simply means
“air”, and 5 times it means “sky”. Following that definition, the narrative
continues with an emphasis on our Lord Jesus Christ. Some excerpts of that narrative include: “…(heavens)
created by the Son of God”;…”From thence the Son of God descended to become
incarnate,”…”In His ascension Christ ‘passed through the heavens’,”… “He ‘ascended
far above all the heavens’,”; and more.
Again I encourage you to read the entire section.
And most importantly for Christians, they support much of our
belief in our Lord Jesus, and our future with Him. From the latter Greek / Aramaic Dictionary,
I share this additional narrative
describing heaven: “Thither Paul was ‘caught up’, whether in the body or out
of the body, he knew not, 2 Corinthians 12: 2; …It is to be the eternal dwelling
place of the saints in resurrection glory, 2 Corinthians 5: 1; …From
thence Christ will descend to the air…to receive His saints at the Rapture , 1
Thessalonians 4: 16; Philippians 3: 20, 21, and …will subsequently come with
His saints and with His holy angels at His second advent, Matthew 24: 30; 2
Thessalonians 1: 7, …and further for Christians believers in the Gospel
today, …”In the present life ‘heaven’ is the region of the spiritual citizenship
of believers, Philippians 3: 20.”
Note that what was revealed to the Nation of Israel in the Hebrew
Dictionary offers both significant similarities and significant differences
from that revealed to Christians in the Greek / Aramaic Dictionary definition
of the word “heaven”.
Collectively, however, these narratives affirm the
existence of heaven at three levels…1) the air / atmosphere where the
clouds form and the birds fly; 2) where the moon, sun and stars are located in
what we call “outer space” or our “Universe’; and 3) where God lives. But they
also affirm why God will have to destroy the first and second heavens as mentioned
in my most recent post, and noted in the first paragraph above. (See also Isaiah
65: 17, 2 Peter 3: 13; Revelation 21: 1) Under the influence of the Enemy /
“god of this world”, man has contaminated both the first and second heavens (including
through “space travel”, satellites, etc.), in addition to the Earth
itself. They must be replaced with the
New Heavens and the New Earth, to make them suitable for eternity.
Dr. W. A. (Bill) Robinson
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