A STUDY
ON HEAVEN AND WHAT HEAVEN IS
Those who research this blog will view this as continuing commentary on where we go after we die.
Strong’s 8064 = samayim = region above
the earth: the heavens, place of the stars, sky, air, heaven: invisible realm
of God. Region = space or body,
entirety of a space or area
Strong’s 8064 = s’mayim = the heavens of this world, sky, air. Heaven, realm of God. Heaven is a euphemism for
“God”.
Heaven and earth combine into one – the totality
of all that exists = the universe
Realm = a royal domain,
kingdom
In the Old
Testament the word for heaven is overwhelmingly Strong’s 8064 = samayim. A few references are 8065 s’mayim.
Both basically mean the same thing.
The Bible
speaks of the “Kingdom of God” or “Kingdom of Heaven” in the New Testament.
What is the Kingdom of Heaven? The Kingdom of Heaven is the coming millennial
reign of Yeshua and His saints in the Millennial Kingdom (MK) as described in
Revelation 20. Heaven is not a place we go when we die. (Review study on death
and resurrection.)
The following verses are a
representation of all the references to heaven in the Bible. There are many more verses but they
all are like the ones printed here. Heaven is God’s throne and place of
government. It is not a place we go when we die. At death, we await to hear the
voice of our Lord, resurrect from the dead, receive a new immortal body, and
enter into the MK where we rule and reign with the Lord.
OUR
FOCUS IS TO ALLOW THE BIBLE TO INTERPRET ITSELF AND REVEAL THE TRUTH
Old Testament:
Genesis 24:7
The Lord
God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my
family, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, ‘To your descendants[a] I give this
land,’ He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son
from there.
Genesis
28:12, 16 12 Then
he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top
reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on
it. 16 Then Jacob awoke
from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place,
and I did not know it.” 17 And
he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none
other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”
Genesis
49:25 By
the God of your father who will help you, and by the Almighty who will bless
you With blessings of heaven above….
Exodus 20:4 “You
shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that
is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is
in the water under the earth;
Exodus 20.22 Then
the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you
shall say to the children of Israel: ‘You have seen that I have talked with you
from heaven.
Exodus 24:10 and
they saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a
paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its
clarity.
Deuteronomy
4:11 “Then
you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned
with fire to the midst of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness.
Deuteronomy
4:26 I
call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon
utterly perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess; you
will not prolong your days in it, but will be utterly destroyed.
Deuteronomy
4:36 Out
of heaven He let you hear His voice, that He might instruct you; on earth He
showed you His great fire, and you heard His words out of the midst of the
fire.
Deuteronomy
4:39 Therefore
know this day, and consider it in your heart, that the Lord Himself is God in heaven
above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.
Deuteronomy
9:14 Let
Me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven;
and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.’
Deuteronomy
10:14 Indeed
heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord
your God, also the earth with all
that is in it.
Deuteronomy
30:19 I
call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before
you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you
and your descendants may live;
Joshua 2:11 And
as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there
remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in
heaven above and on earth beneath.
2
Samuel 18.9 Then
Absalom met the servants of David. Absalom rode on a mule. The mule went under
the thick boughs of a great terebinth tree, and his head caught in the
terebinth; so he was left hanging between heaven and earth. And the mule which was
under him went on.
1 Kings 8:27 “But
will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens
cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!
1 Kings 8:30 And
may You hear the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when
they pray toward this place. Hear in heaven Your dwelling place; and when You
hear, forgive.
1 Kings
22:19New King James Version (NKJV) Then
Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord
sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by, on His right
hand and on His left.
2 Kings 2:1,
10 - Elijah Ascends to Heaven (the sky) - 2 And it
came to pass, when the Lord was
about to take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with
Elisha from Gilgal. 2 Then Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here,
please, for the Lord has sent me
on to Bethel.” 10 So he said, “You
have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am
taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.”
11 Then it happened, as they
continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with
horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a
whirlwind into heaven. Note: Later the sons of the prophets ask Elisha for
permission to look for Elijah 2 Kings 2.16-18. Later, after this event, Elijah
writes a letter to the king (2 Chronicles 21.12). Elijah was taken up into the
heavens and was relocated to another area.
2 Kings
17:16 So
they left all the commandments of the Lord
their God, made for themselves a molded image and two calves, made a
wooden image and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.
2 Kings 23:5 Then
he removed the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn
incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the places all around
Jerusalem, and those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to
the constellations, and to all the host of heaven.
2 Chronicles
2:6 But who is able to build Him a
temple, since heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him? Who am
I then, that I should build Him a temple, except to burn sacrifice before Him?
2 Chronicles
6:26 “When
the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against
You, when they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from
their sin because You afflict them,
2 Chronicles
7:14 If
My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek
My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and
will forgive their sin and heal their land.
2 Chronicles
30:27 Then
the priests, the Levites, arose and blessed the people, and their voice was
heard; and their prayer came up to His holy dwelling place, to heaven.
Ezra 5:12 But
because our fathers provoked the God of heaven to wrath, He gave them into the
hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this
temple and carried the people away to Babylon.
Nehemiah
9:13 “You
came down also on Mount Sinai, And spoke with them from heaven, And gave them
just ordinances and true laws, Good statutes and commandments.
Job 16:19 Surely
even now my witness is in heaven, And my evidence is on high.
Job 22:14 Thick
clouds cover Him, so that He cannot see, And He walks above the circle (circuit
or compass) of heaven.’
Job 38:33 Do
you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you set their dominion over the
earth?
Psalm 11:4 The
Lord is in His holy temple, The Lord’s
throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.
Psalm 73:25 Whom
have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that
I desire besides You.
Psalm 78:23 Yet
He had commanded the clouds above, And opened the doors of heaven,
Psalm 85:11 Truth
shall spring out of the earth, And righteousness shall look down from heaven.
Psalm 104:12 By
them the birds of the heavens have their home; They sing among the branches.
Psalm 119:89 Forever,
O Lord, Your word is settled in
heaven.
Ecclesiastes
5:2 Do not be rash with your mouth, And
let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in
heaven, and you on earth; therefore let your words be few.
Isaiah
14:12-13 “How
you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground…13 For you have said
in your heart:‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the
stars of God;
Isaiah 34:5 “For
My sword shall be bathed in heaven; Indeed it shall come down on Edom, And on
the people of My curse, for judgment.
Isaiah 66:1 Thus
says the Lord: “Heaven is
My throne, And earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you
will build Me? And where is the place of My rest?
Jeremiah
7:33 The
corpses of this people will be food for the birds of the heaven and for the beasts
of the earth. And no one will frighten them away.
Jeremiah
19:13 And
the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah shall be defiled
like the place of Tophet, because of all the houses on whose roofs they have
burned incense to all the host of heaven, and poured out drink offerings to
other gods.”
Jeremiah 31:3 Thus
says the Lord: “If heaven above
can be measured, And the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will
also cast off all the seed of Israel For all that they have done, says the Lord.
Jeremiah
32:17 ‘Ah,
Lord God! Behold, You have made
the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is
nothing too hard for You.
Jeremiah
51:9 We
would have healed Babylon, But she is not healed. Forsake her, and let us go
everyone to his own country; for her judgment reaches to heaven and is lifted
up to the skies.
Lamentations
2:1 How the Lord has covered the daughter of Zion with a
cloud in His anger! He cast down from heaven to the earth the beauty of Israel,
And did not remember His footstool In the day of His anger
Ezekiel 8:3 He
stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my hair; and the Spirit
lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in visions of God to
Jerusalem, to the door of the north gate of the inner court,
where the seat of the image of jealousy was, which provokes to jealousy.
Daniel 2:28 But
there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King
Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of
your head upon your bed, were these:
Daniel 4:35 All
the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does
according to His will in the army of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand
Daniel 7:2New
King James Version (NKJV) Daniel spoke, saying, “I saw in my
vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the
Great Sea.
Hosea
has three references
Haggai 1:10 Therefore
the heavens above you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit.
Summary:
We see heaven as Yahweh’s throne, place of government, judgment, withholding,
secrets, armies of the Lord or Hosts, an unmeasurable place or expanse, where
Yahweh hears us and our prayers, where angels reside and Lucifer was cast out
of, where records are kept and your name can be blotted out, from where we hear
His voice!
New Testament:
All N.T. references are Strong’s 3772 Greek = sky, air,
firmament, any area above earth, the place of sun, moon, stars; heaven, in
which God dwells, the third heaven (2 Corinthians 12:2) being
the area of God’s dwelling, in some places a euphemism for “God”, such as, Kingdom of God (Heaven).
Euphemism; noun
1.
the substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for
one thought to be offensive, harsh, or blunt.
2.
the expression so substituted: “To pass away” is a euphemism for
“to die.”.
Matthew 3:2 and
saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
Matthew 3:17 And
suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in
whom I am well pleased.”
Matthew 5:12 Rejoice
and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they
persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Matthew 5:48 Therefore
you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
Matthew 6:20 but
lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys
and where thieves do not break in and steal.
Matthew 7:21 “Not
everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but
he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
Matthew
18:10 “Take
heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in
heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 28:2 And
behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from
heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it.
Luke 10:20 Nevertheless
do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather[a] rejoice
because your names are written in heaven.”
Luke 18:22 So
when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell
all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in
heaven; and come, follow Me.”
Luke 23:43 And Jesus said to him,
“Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” Strong’s paradise = 3857, used in 2 Corinthians 12.4, and
Rev 2.7 – Base meaning = of a garden, a place of blessedness. In Jewish thought
= Gan Eden, the garden = the Millennial Kingdom to come; MK O.T. Eden = Strong’s
5731 = paradise, delight, the world to come.
John 3:13 No
one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the
Son of Man who is in heaven! Ref: Acts 2.42-36
Romans 1:18 For
the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
Romans 10:6-7 But
the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who
will ascend into heaven?” (that is, to bring Christ down from above) 7 or,
“‘Who will descend into the abyss? Grave” (that is, to bring Christ up from the
dead (resurrection).
2
Corinthians 5:2 For
in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is
from heaven, (our
resurrected immortal bodies, 1 Cor 15).
2
Corinthians 12:2 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.
Ephesians
3:13-15 Therefore
I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your
glory. For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is
named,
Ephesians
6:9 And you, masters, do the same things
to them, giving up threatening, knowing that your own Master also is in heaven,
and there is no partiality with Him.
Colossians
1:5 because of the hope which is laid up
for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the
gospel,
Colossians
4:1 Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair,
knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.
1
Thessalonians 1:10 and
to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even
Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
1
Thessalonians 4:16 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.
2
Thessalonians 1:7 and
to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is
revealed from heaven with His mighty angels,
Hebrews 9:24 For
Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies
of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for
us.
Hebrews
10:34 for
you had compassion on me[a] in my
chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you
have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.
1 John 5:7 For
there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy
Spirit; and these three are one.
Summary:
We have a Master in Heaven, no man has ascended into heaven,
our inheritance or possession is recorded in heaven, the Lord will appear from
heaven with His angels, our conversation should “be on heavenly things”, God
will be revealed from heaven, not everyone will enter into the Kingdom of
Heaven (MK).
Bosom of Abraham: A
figure of speech for the life hearafter. According to the Old Testament, when a
person died he went to “be with his fathers” (Gen 15.15; 47.30; Deut 31.16).
The patriarch, Abraham was regarded as the “father” of the Jews (Luke 3.8). At
death, therefore, the Jew went to his forefathers, or, more specifically, to
join “father Abraham.”
The only use in the Bible of “Abraham’s
bosom” occurs in Jesus’ parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16.19-31), in
which the beggar is described as being “carried by the angels to Abraham’s
bosom.” Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary.
Abraham’s Bosom is a euphemism for the place of honor. Soon, the
poor man (the Gentiles) would be supplanting the rich man (Jews) as the
receivers of the Gospel. The Gentiles would be in “the place of honor”
represented by Abraham’s bosom. This parable was not about heaven as a place
people go to when they die.
There are more scriptures then these
about heaven, but they all repeat what the ones above say. Read this study
prayerfully and ask for God’s understanding. When we die we go asleep in the
grave, we await the voice of Yeshua, rise up from the dead, receive a new
immortal body, and rule and reign with Him in the Millennial Kingdom (MK).
This is the first resurrection.
After the 1000 year reign the rest of humanity which has died will rise from
the dead and the “White Throne” judgment will occur. This is called the second
death. Those who are judged are thrown into the Lake of Fire or Hell at that
time (Read Revelation 20).
