Heaven - Part II

Yes I have heaven on my mind. Especially as I have been studying the subject for the past month. This week we will look further into what it is like. First of all we need to know who is there. By definition, God is there at the center. He is almost always depicted as sitting on a throne. Is this just a human way of describing it or for our benefit does He limit Himself so we can visualize Him. Obviously He is not limited to a throne since heaven itself cannot contain Him. Of course Jesus is seen there at His right hand. He is described in various ways, from a lamb to having crowns on His head and eyes of blazing fire. Interestingly, the Holy Spirit is not specifically mentioned as being there but as part of the trinity you can count on it. Next are the four living creatures. We really do not know more about them other than they praise God continuously. Around them are the 24 Elders who sit on 24 thrones and have crowns that they cast down at God's feet. Do they represent the twelve tribes and the twelve apostles? Who knows? Not much more is said about them. Then of course are the angels who apparently can come and go between heaven and earth. There are lots of them - 100,000,000 if in fact Rev. 5:11 is correct. Something you might not know, expect or like is that at this time Satan (and possibly other fallen angels) still have access (see Job 1 and Rev. 12:10-12). And last but not least are believers.

Yes believers go to heaven. We all believe that, but do they go immediately or do they live in a "sleep" until Jesus returns. There are numerous Scriptures that suggest we go there immediately: Rev. 6:9, 7:9, 14:3-5, 15:2-4, Luke 23:43, 20:37-38, 16:19-31,I Cor. 5:11, Matt. 17:3. Of course we will not have our resurrection bodies (more on that later), though we may have some type of body, for we seem to be able to recognize others - even those we have never seen before.

We have already mentioned the throne in heaven as well as the 24 thrones of the Elders. In addition there are seven lampstands, a golden alter and a sea of glass. I am not certain what all of these are for of what they represent (except the lamps are the seven spirits of God - whatever that means). Lastly we see that there is a temple with an ark in it. We are reminded that the temple of Moses and David/Solomon was a type of the heavenly temple, so it is no suprise. Of interest is that every mention of the heavenly temple in Revelation uses the word for the innermost part of the temple, the Holy of Holies.

Lastly I want to mention a little of what heaven is like. First of all it is described multiple times as being holy. In it there is also great joy and pleasures forevermore. Righteousness and justice are the foundations of His throne. There are treasures and riches (though probably not what we are used to). There is incense which represents the prayers of the saints. There will be no death or marraige, but I don't want to get ahead of myself and speak of the new heaven.