HEAVEN

Source: 522, 551, 556, 560, 565, 566, 567

- Created by God Ge 1:1; Re 10:6 - Everlasting Ps 89:29; 2Co 5:1 - Immeasurable Jer 31:37 - High Ps 103:11; Isa 57:15 - Holy De 26:15; Ps 20:6; Isa 57:15 - God's dwelling-place 1Ki 8:30; Mt 6:9 - God's throne Isa 66:1; Ac 7:49 - GOD . Is the Lord of Da 5:23; Mt 11:25 . Reigns in Ps 11:4; 135:6; Da 4:35 . Fills 1Ki 8:27; Jer 23:24 . Answers his people from 1Ch 21:26; 2Ch 7:14; Ne 9:27; Ps 20:6 . Sends his judgments from Ge 19:24; 1Sa 2:10; Da 4:13,14; Ro 1:18 - CHRIST . As Mediator, entered into Ac 3:21; Heb 6:20; 9:12,24 . Is all-powerful in Mt 28:18; 1Pe 3:22 - Angels are in Mt 18:10; 24:36 - Names of saints are written Lu 10:20; Heb 12:23 - Saints rewarded in Mt 5:12; 1Pe 1:4 - Repentance occasions joy in Lu 15:7 - Lay up treasure in Mt 6:20; Lu 12:33 - Flesh and blood cannot inherit 1Co 15:50 - Happiness of, described Re 7:16,17 - IS CALLED . A garner Mt 3:12 . The kingdom of Christ and of God Eph 5:5 . The Father's house Joh 14:2 . A heavenly country Heb 11:16 . A rest Heb 4:9 . Paradise 2Co 12:2,4 - The wicked excluded from Ga 5:21; Eph 5:5; Re 22:15 - Enoch and Elijah were translated into Ge 5:24; Heb 11:5; 2Ki 2:11

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In the Bible, means primarily the region of the air and clouds, and of the planets and stars, but chiefly the world of holy bliss above the visible heavens. It is called "the third heaven," "the highest heaven," and "the heaven of heavens," expressions nearly synonymous. There holy beings are to dwell, seeing all of God that it is possible for creatures to see. Thither Christ ascended, to intercede for his people and prepare for them a place where all shall at length be gathered, to go no more out forever, Eph 4:10 Heb 8:1 9:24-28. In this life we can know but little of the location and appearance of heaven, or of the employments and blessedness of its inhabitants. The Scriptures inform us that all sin, and every other evil, are forever excluded; no fruits of sin will be found there-no curse nor sorrow nor sighing, no tear, no death: the former things are passed away. They describe it figuratively, crowding together all the images which nature or art can supply to illustrate its happiness. It is a kingdom, an inheritance: there are rivers of pleasure, trees of life, glorious light, rapturous songs, robes, crowns, feasting, mirth, treasures, triumphs. They also give us positive representations: the righteous dwell in the presence of God; they appear with Christ in glory. Heaven is life, everlasting life: glory, an eternal weight of glory: salvation, repose, peace, fullness of joy, the joy of the Lord. There are different degrees in that glory, and never-ceasing advancement. It will be a social state, and its happiness, in some measure, will arise from mutual communion and converse, and the expressions and exercises mutual benevolence. It will include the perfect purity of every saint; delightful fellowship with those we have here loved in the Lord, Mt 8:11 17:3,4 1Th 2:19 4:13-18; the presence of Christ, and the consciousness that all is perfect and everlasting. We are taught that the body will share this bliss as well as the soul: the consummation of our bliss is subsequent to the resurrection of the body; for it is redeemed as well as the soul, and shall, at the resurrection of the just, be fashioned like unto Christ’s glorious body. By descending from heaven, and reascending thither, he proves to the doubting soul the reality of heaven; he opens it door for the guilty by his atoning sacrifice; and all who are admitted to it by his blood shall be made meet for it by his grace, and find their happiness for ever in his love. See KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.

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Heaven. Heaven
(1.) Definitions. The phrase “heaven and earth” is used to indicate the whole universe (Gen. 1:1; Jer. 23:24; Acts 17:24). According to the Jewish notion there were three heavens,

(a) The firmament, as “fowls of the heaven” (Gen. 2:19; 7:3, 23; Ps. 8:8, etc.), “the eagles of heaven” (Lam. 4:19), etc.

(b) The starry heavens (Deut. 17:3; Jer. 8:2; Matt. 24:29).

(2.) Meaning of words in the original,

(a) The usual Hebrew word for “heavens” is shamayim, a plural form meaning “heights,” “elevations” (Gen. 1:1; 2:1).

(b) The Hebrew word marom is also used (Ps. 68:18; 93:4; 102:19, etc.) as equivalent to shamayim, “high places,” “heights.”

(d) Heb. shahak, rendered “sky” (Deut. 33:26; Job 37:18; Ps. 18:11), plural “clouds” (Job 35:5; 36:28; Ps. 68:34, marg. “heavens”), means probably the firmament.

(e) Heb. rakia is closely connected with (d), and is rendered “firmamentum” in the Vulgate, whence our “firmament” (Gen. 1:6; Deut. 33:26, etc.), regarded as a solid expanse.

(3.) Metaphorical meaning of term. Isa. 14:13, 14; “doors of heaven” (Ps. 78:23); heaven “shut” (1 Kings 8:35); “opened” (Ezek. 1:1). (See 1 Chr. 21:16.)

(4.) Spiritual meaning. The place of the everlasting blessedness of the righteous; the abode of departed spirits.

(a) Christ calls it his “Father’s house” (John 14:2).

(b) It is called “paradise” (Luke 23:43; 2 Cor. 12:4; Rev. 2:7).

(d) The “kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 25:1; James 2:5).

(e) The “eternal kingdom” (2 Pet. 1:11).

(f) The “eternal inheritance” (1 Pet. 1:4; Heb. 9:15).

(g) The “better country” (Heb. 11:14, 16).

(h) The blessed are said to “sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” and to be “in Abraham’s bosom” (Luke 16:22; Matt. 8:11); to “reign with Christ” (2 Tim. 2:12); and to enjoy “rest” (Heb. 4:10, 11).

In heaven the blessedness of the righteous consists in the possession of “life everlasting,” “an eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:17), an exemption from all sufferings for ever, a deliverance from all evils (2 Cor. 5:1, 2) and from the society of the wicked (2 Tim. 4:18), bliss without termination, the “fulness of joy” for ever (Luke 20:36; 2 Cor. 4:16, 18; 1 Pet. 1:4; 5:10; 1 John 3:2). The believer’s heaven is not only a state of everlasting blessedness, but also a “place”, a place “prepared” for them (John 14:2).

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HEAVEN. → GOD'S DWELLING PLACE De 26:15; 1Ki 8:30,39,43,49; 1Ch 16:31; 21:26; 2Ch 2:6; 6:18,21,27,30,33,35,39; 30:27; Ne 9:27; Job 22:12,14; Ps 2:4; 11:4; 20:6; 33:13; 102:19; 103:19; 113:5; 123:1; 135:6; Ec 5:2; Isa 57:15; 63:15; 66:1; Jer 23:24; La 3:41,50; Da 4:35; 5:23; Zec 2:13; Mt 5:34,45; 6:9; 10:32,33; 11:25; 12:50; 16:17; 18:10,14; Mr 11:25,26; 16:19; Ac 7:49; Ro 1:18; Heb 8:1; Re 8:1; 12:7-9; 21:22-27; 22:1-5 → THE FUTURE DWELLING PLACE OF THE RIGHTEOUS
* Called A GARNER Mt 3:12
* THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST AND OF GOD Eph 5:5
* THE FATHER'S HOUSE Joh 14:2
* A HEAVENLY COUNTRY Heb 11:16
* A REST Heb 4:9; Re 14:13
* PARADISE 2Co 12:2,4
* The wicked excluded from Ga 5:21; Eph 5:5; Re 22:15

→ UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO 2Ki 2:11; Job 3:17; Ps 16:11; 17:15; 23:6; 24:3,7; 73:24; Isa 33:17; 49:9,10; Da 12:3; Mal 3:17; Mt 3:12; 5:3,8,12,20; 6:20; 8:11; 13:30,43,49; 18:10; 19:21; 22:30; 25:34,46; Lu 10:20; 12:8,32,33; 15:6,7,10,32; 16:22; 20:34-36; 22:29,30; 23:43; Joh 5:28,29; 10:28; 12:26; 13:36; 14:2,3; 17:22,24; Ac 7:55,56; Ro 5:17; 2Co 5:1; 12:2-4; Eph 1:18; Col 1:5,6,12; 3:4; 1Th 2:12; 4:17; 2Th 1:7; 2:14; Heb 10:34; 11:10,16; 12:22-24,28; 13:14; 1Pe 1:4; 2Pe 1:11; 3:13; Re 2:7; 3:21; 4:4; 5:9; 7:9,13-17; 14:1-3; 15:2; 21:1-5,9-11,18,19,21-25,27; 22:1-5
* See RIGHTEOUS, PROMISES TO

→ THE PHYSICAL HEAVENS Ge 1:1; Ps 19:1; 50:6; 68:33; 89:29; 97:6; 103:11; 113:4; 115:16; Jer 31:37; Eze 1:1; Mt 24:29,30; Ac 2:19,20
* See Sub-topics, below

→ PHYSICAL HEAVENS, CREATION OF Ge 1:1; 2:1; 1Ch 16:26; 2Ch 2:12; Ne 9:6; Job 9:8; Ps 8:3; 19:1; 33:6,9; 148:4-6; Pr 8:27; Isa 37:16; 40:22; 42:5; 45:12,18; Jer 10:12; 32:17; 51:15; Ac 4:24; 14:15; Heb 1:10; Re 10:6; 14:7
* See HEAVENS, NEW
* See CREATION
* See GOD, CREATOR

→ PHYSICAL HEAVENS, DESTRUCTION OF Job 14:12; Ps 102:25,26; Isa 34:4; 51:6; Mt 5:18; 24:35; Heb 1:10-12; 2Pe 3:10,12; Re 6:12-14; 20:11; 21:1,4 → NEW HEAVENS Isa 65:17; 66:22; 2Pe 3:13; Re 21:1-4

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(1) Dwelling Place of God De 26:15; 1Ki 8:30; 2Ch 30:27; Job 22:12; Ps 73:25; 123:1 Isa 66:1; Lu 11:2; Ac 7:49 (2) Future Home of the Saints --SEE 1356

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heaven. Heaven, n. the habitation of the blessed, the sky

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Heav″en (hĕv″'n), n. [[OE. heven, hefen, heofen, AS. heofon; akin to OS. hevan, LG. heben, heven, Icel. hifinn; of uncertain origin, cf. D. hemel, G. himmel, Icel. himmin, Goth. himins; perh. akin to, or influenced by, the root of E. heave, or from a root signifying to cover, cf. Goth. gahamōn to put on, clothe one's self, G. hemd shirt, and perh. E. chemise.]] 1. 1. The expanse of space surrounding the earth; esp., that which seems to be over the earth like a great arch or dome; the firmament; the sky; the place where the sun, moon, and stars appear; — often used in the plural in this sense.
I never saw the heavens so dim by day. Shak. When my eyes shall be turned to behold for the last time the sun in heaven. D. Webster. 2. 2. The dwelling place of the Deity; the abode of bliss; the place or state of the blessed after death.
Unto the God of love, high heaven's King. Spenser. It is a knell That summons thee to heaven or to hell. Shak. New thoughts of God, new hopes of Heaven. Keble. ☞ In this general sense heaven and its corresponding words in other languages have as various definite interpretations as there are phases of religious belief. 3. 3. The sovereign of heaven; God; also, the assembly of the blessed, collectively; — used variously in this sense, as in No. 2.
Her prayers, whom Heaven delights to hear. Shak. The will And high permission of all-ruling Heaven. Milton. 4. 4. Any place of supreme happiness or great comfort; perfect felicity; bliss; a sublime or exalted condition; as, a heaven of delight. “A heaven of beauty.” Shak. “The brightest heaven of invention.” Shak.
O bed! bed! delicious bed! That heaven upon earth to the weary head! Hood. ☞ Heaven is very often used, esp. with participles, in forming compound words, most of which need no special explanation; as, heaven-appeasing, heaven-aspiring, heaven-begot, heaven-born, heaven-bred, heaven-conducted, heaven-descended, heaven-directed, heaven-exalted, heaven-given, heaven-guided, heaven-inflicted, heaven-inspired, heaven-instructed, heaven-kissing, heaven-loved, heaven-moving, heaven-protected, heaven-taught, heaven-warring, and the like.