Bible Questions Answered:
“The bible says a third heaven, does
heaven have different levels?...”
Bettie/ North Myrtle Beach, South
Carolina U.S.A.
Bible Answer:
Bible Texts:
II Corinthians 12:2 KJV
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.
No, heaven does not
have different levels. What the Apostle Paul was referring to is the
following...
First Heaven - Atmospheric Heaven:
The sky, firmament, or expanse of space surrounding the earth.
Dictionary.Com
Deuteronomy
11:16,17 KJV
16 Take heed to yourselves, that
your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods,
and worship them;
17 And then The Lord's wrath be
kindled against you, and He shut up the heaven* (Sky - NLT),
that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and
lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which The Lord giveth
you.
*Heaven-Hebrew:
Shamayim (Shaw-mah-yim): Sky (lofty), clouds, air.
Deuteronomy
28:12 KJV
The Lord shall open unto thee His
good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his
season..."
Second Heaven - Outer Space:
Outer Space:
Space beyond the
atmosphere of the earth.
Dictionary.Com
Psalm 19:4-6 NLT
4 Yet their
message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the
world. God has made a home in the heavens for the sun.
5 It bursts
forth like a radiant bridegroom after his wedding. It rejoices like a
great athlete eager to run the race.
6 The sun rises
at one end of the heavens and follows its course to the other end.
Nothing can hide from its heat.
Jeremiah
8:2 KJV
And they shall spread them before
the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have
loved, and whom they have served..."
Third - Heaven: (God's Throne)
I Kings 8:27 KJV
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 built?
Psalm 2:4 NLT
But The One who rules in heaven
laughs. The Lord scoffs at them.
Psalm 16:11 KJV
Thou wilt shew me the path of Life:
in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are
pleasures for evermore.
The Apostle Paul's experience:
Acts 14:19,20
NLT (Apostle Paul stoned at Lystra)
19 Then some Jews arrived from
Antioch and Iconium and won the crowds to their side. They stoned
Paul and dragged him out of town, thinking he was dead.
20 But as the believers gathered
around him, he got up and went back into the town. The next day he
left with Barnabas for Derbe.
II Corinthians
12:2-4 KJV
2 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.
3 And I knew such a man, (whether in
the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)
4 How that he was caught up into
paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a
man to utter.
The Apostle Paul,
from experience, knew of the glory of the third heaven.
What is important
for us is, do we know The Lord, and have we accepted Him as our
Savior! To refuse Him, is to refuse eternal Life, and the glory of
the third heaven. To receive Him, is to receive eternal Life, and our
admittance to the New Jerusalem, where God dwells.
Prayer:
Isaiah
45:21,22,25 KJV
21 "...there is no
God else beside Me; a just God and a Savior; there is none beside Me.
22 Look unto Me, and be
ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none
else.
25
I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for Mine own
sake, and will not remember thy sins.
John 1:12,13 NLT
12 But to all who believed Him and
accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God.
13 They are reborn—not
with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a
birth that comes from God.
