Читать книгу Extreme Walking - Tom de Bruin - Страница 6

1. Heaven

A while ago I heard a joke about heaven.

It makes fun of bus drivers and pastors. There is a long queue at the pearly gates. Saint Peter is there with his golden keys and the heavenly sign-in sheet, allocating eternal housing. The quality of your housing depends on how many holy deeds you did on earth, i.e., how many treasures you stored up in heaven. John, a pastor, is in the queue. He has worked his entire life for his calling. John spent seventy, eighty, ninety hours a week, every week, toiling for the Lord. John has certain expectations for his housing. Bored, John talks to the man in front of him; “Why not,” he thinks, “the queue is very long.” That man is a bus driver, he is obviously not as holy as a pastor.

Finally, after waiting what feels like an eternity it is the bus driver’s turn. Saint Peter says “Look. There in the distance. Do you see that mountain? Do you see that huge white palace on top of the mountain? That’s your house.”

John, the pastor, starts to rub his hands together in delight. “If a bus driver gets a palace, what kind of place will I get!” he thinks. Smiling from ear to eternal ear he steps up to Peter.

“John, do you see that mountain over there?”

“Yes . . .”

“That mountain much larger than the bus driver’s?”

“Yes!”

“Do you see that valley next to it? The one in constant shade?”

“Yes . . .”

“Do you see that lean-to that’s almost falling apart?”

“. . . yes . . .”

“Well, that is your house.”

“What!? Why? How come? Why does a bus driver get a palace and I get a shack? I worked my entire life for God, I sacrificed all my evenings and weekends!” shouts John, who clearly has some issues with the heavenly housing allocation policies.

“Well, John, the problem is this. When you were preaching, everyone was sleeping, but when the bus driver was driving, everyone was praying harder than ever before.”

Why write down this joke? Well, laughter is the best medicine. But, it also shows us a certain view of heaven. We have heard that heaven has gates, and that Saint Peter is often portrayed at them. We know that there is housing, and that many believe that what you do on earth influences what you get in heaven. I’m not saying that you or I believe this, or that it is correct, just that we have heard of these ideas before. Apparently, we understand exactly what is happening, otherwise this joke would not be funny.

This is an image that we have in our head. If I had written that this was a joke about a leopard and bus driver at the pearly gates, you would have been intrigued. You would have thought, “What? A leopard at the gates of heaven?” What if it wasn’t Peter at the gates, but some terrible person from history? That too would have been strange. The joke itself is funny because it is very close to what we expect, but just a little bit different. Ninety percent is logical and obvious, and the peculiar ten percent makes the joke funny. By playing with our expectations a good story is created.

What I just explained is true for many things. Jokes, stories, movies, art—even the Bible. Jesus does exactly this when he preaches. Often he says, “you have heard . . . but I say.” He says, for example, “You have heard ‘you shall not murder,’ but I say do not get angry” (Matthew 5:21–22). What is he doing? He is playing with expectations. Now, try to imagine that Jesus didn’t say “you have heard.” Try to imagine that we didn’t even know what the people “had heard.” Would we understand Jesus correctly? Would we know what his message was, if we didn’t know the expectations, the context? We would not. To truly appreciate the bits that are different, we have to understand what they are different to.

In other words, if we want to understand “heaven” in the Bible, we have to know more than just the Bible.

Our Image of Heaven

I grew up as a Christian. In other words, I grew up with an image of heaven. Mine might be like yours. The image of heaven I grew up with is something like this: Everyone looks happy, healthy, and clean. No one has acne. In fact, everyone looks very smart in a generic sixties kind of way: men and boys in dark suits and ties, women and girls in dresses, and everyone has neat, if slightly outdated, hairdos. And, of course, everyone has a black-and-gold Bible under their arms. There are lions sitting next to lambs, and there are children playing with both. Everything is very green and very clean.

This is, in a nutshell, the image of heaven I grew up with. Through the years this image has changed a bit, but I still carry this nostalgic image in my head. I seriously doubt my hair will ever part as neatly as the hair in those pictures, but who knows, miracles do happen!

We all have an image of heaven—a picture in our heads that we have compiled through the years. Christians base their images mainly on the Bible (at least I should hope so). But what did the Bible writers base theirs on? Where did the authors of the New Testament get their image of heaven from? Some of it came from the Old Testament, some of it came from elsewhere. John tells of some visions he had of heaven in Revelation, but that was long after Matthew, Mark, Peter, and Paul had written their books. They didn’t get their image of heaven from visions. They probably got it from the same place I got the dark suits and black-and-gold Bibles: general ideas that are common to their religion and culture. What then was their image of heaven?1 Let’s see.

Paul’s Worldview

Maybe you think that this whole discussion is irrelevant. Maybe you think that the authors of the Bible had the same view of heaven as we do. Unfortunately for us that is absolutely not true. And I am not only talking about the dark suits. The differences are much larger than that! Let me give you an example. Paul writes something very intriguing in 2 Corinthians. In his letter he suddenly talks about someone in the “third heaven”:

It is necessary to boast; nothing is to be gained by it, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a person in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows. And I know that such a person—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows—was caught up into Paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat. (2 Corinthians 12:1–4)

This is a peculiar passage. Paul says that he will discuss visions and revelations, and tells us of the experiences of a certain person that he knew. This person was taken up into the third heaven. He was even taken up into paradise. There he heard things that humans should not, or cannot, speak of.

This sounds strange to me. In my worldview, there is no third heaven. There is one heaven and God lives there. I will live there too someday, where I will have that nice suit and neat hair. Paul’s view of heaven must be different to mine. How else could Paul talk of a third heaven?

Many writings from Paul’s time describe multiple heavens. People explain how they were taken by an angel and given a heavenly tour. The people who get to see the heavens are always the holiest ones: heroes of the faith like Abraham, Isaac, Job, Enoch, and Levi. They are very important people. In other words, if you can report of a trip to heaven, you are clearly a religiously important person. These religious VIPs often visit multiple heavens, usually there are seven heavens. Most holy things come in sevens, so why not the heavens? And because God is the most holy, he lives in the seventh heaven: the highest heaven.

Having read this, do you feel like my brother Paul? Do you see something there, just a bit off the path? Something about heavens? Something you just have to see? Let’s go and explore.

Levi Sees the Seven Heavens

And behold, the heavens opened, and an angel of the Lord said to me, Levi, come in. And I went from the first heaven into the second; and I saw there water hanging between the two. And I saw a third heaven, far brighter and more brilliant than these two, and infinite in height. (Testament of Levi 2:6–8)2

This is a short passage from the Testament of Levi. We know of this book thanks to the tireless efforts of copyists through the ages, and we found parts of this book among the Dead Sea Scrolls. They are the last words of Levi, the son of Jacob. Levi’s final testament to his sons. At least, that is what the work says that it is. It is very unlikely that Levi actually wrote this book, which is why we call this book pseudepigraphical. The term means “a writing falsely attributed to someone.”

Leaving the author behind, in the passage above we read that Levi has been invited for a trip to heaven, with stops along the way. An angel lets him have a look at the heavens. Most importantly, not only is he allowed to see the heavens, he can actually enter them. A little bit later in his testament he describes his trip, heaven by heaven. He starts at the beginning:

Hear, then, about the seven heavens. The lowest is the gloomiest because it witnesses all the unrighteous deeds of men. (Testament of Levi 3:1b)

Intriguing! The heaven closest to us is gloomy, because it is closest to humanity’s injustice. In other words, it’s closest to the darkness of sin (see John 1:4–5). That’s quite logical, when you think about it. Another reason it is gloomy is because this heaven is furthest away from God, who we all know is light. The first heaven is gloomy, the second one is full of weather:

The second [heaven] holds fire, snow, ice, ready for the day which the Lord has decreed in the righteous judgement of God: in it are all the spirits of retribution for vengeance on the wicked. (Testament of Levi 3:2)

The second heaven contains fire, snow, and ice. That snow and ice exist in the heavens is quite normal to people living in the colder parts of this world. Some places have months of snow every year, but for someone in Israel snow was by no means normal. Snow or ice from the sky was a disaster: exactly the same as fire from the sky. God often uses fire to destroy sinners, he could also use snow or ice (Genesis 19:24).

Here, in this second heaven, are the extreme weather conditions that can only be acts of God. So, when God wants to destroy a city, what does he do? Simple. He lets some of these heavenly stores fall upon the earth. We might think this is too simplistic, but at the same time it makes a certain type of sense. The reasoning has a certain elegance.

What else is in this second heaven? Spirits (i.e., angels) who punish the wicked. This is harder to understand. Not many people nowadays would say that angels punish people, demons do that in hell. It might help to notice that the angels only punish the evil people, the wicked. When God stops time, when God finally destroys all evil, these angels are the ones responsible for the wicked, for the people who do not want to know God. The angels of punishment stand at the ready in the second heaven.

That is the second heaven, and Levi continues upward:

In the third are the warrior hosts appointed to wreak vengeance on the spirits of error and of Beliar at the day of judgement. (Testament of Levi 3:3a)

The third heaven is similar to the second. Once again there are armies of angels, but these angels will attack Beliar (another name for Satan, 2 Corinthians 6:15) and his spirits. In the great, final battle between good and evil, these angels will fight on the side of good (see Revelation 19:11–21). They will destroy the evil angels, and they will avenge all the ages of misery that these evil spirits caused.

In order to achieve their mission, the warrior hosts need to be ready to attack. So here they are in the third heaven, just above the snow, ice, and fire. As close to humanity as possible, so that there needn’t be any waiting.

Higher Heavens

Levi’s trip continues with the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh heavens:

But the heavens down to the fourth above these are holy [. . . .] And in the [fourth] heaven next to it are thrones and powers, in which praises are offered to God continually. (Testament of Levi 3:3b, 8)

Levi doesn’t give us much information about the fourth heaven. What we do see is that there are heavenly thrones and powers. All of these thrones aren’t for God; he doesn’t even live in the fourth heaven. It is not entirely clear what or who these heavenly kings are who have these heavenly thrones. They are not the archangels, because they are higher up. Soon we will run into the archangels.

While the heavenly kings might be a bit of a mystery, we do see heavenly rulers every now and then in the New Testament. Paul talks about powers, authorities, rulers, and dominions that are not earthly (Colossians 2:10, Ephesians 1:21, Romans 8:28). These heavenly powers, whatever they are, live in the fourth heaven—at least according to Levi. They do more than just ruling; they spend most of their time praising God without ceasing.

By this time, halfway through the heavens, we see that the heavens have become holy. There is no more talk of sin or punishment. These things are no longer discussed. We have started to move on to praising and holiness. And the fifth heaven is even more holy, it is filled with angels:

And in the heaven below it [i.e., the fifth heaven] are the angels who bear the answers to the angels of the Lord’s presence. (Testament of Levi 3:7)

The word “angel” in Greek just means “messenger.” We have taken the Greek word for messenger “angellos” and bastardized it to “angel.” We then stopped translating the Greek into English. We do this quite often: Christ (christos means anointed), synagogue (synagoge means gathering), Satan (satanas means adversary). Despite that the word “bastardize” sounds quite harsh, there is nothing wrong with this practice. Christ is not just any anointed person and an angel is much more than an earthly messenger. But, as we read the Bible we should always remind ourselves of these original meanings.

An angel was originally a messenger between God and humanity. The angels that went among humankind were exposed to the sins of humanity. This means that these angels would have been seen as unclean—just like the first heaven was unclean. These messenger angels were too unclean to enter the presence of God. That’s why they could only reach the fifth heaven. There they could, as it were, shout up to the sixth heaven. The angels of the presence of God, who are in the sixth heaven, can hear them:

And in the heaven next to it [i.e., the sixth] are the angels of the Lord’s presence, who minister and make expiation to the Lord for all the sins committed unwittingly by the righteous: and they offer to the Lord a soothing odour, a spiritual and bloodless offering. (Testament of Levi 3:5–6)

In the sixth heaven, we see a special type of angel: the angels of the presence of the Lord. Literally the testament speaks of “the angels of the face of the Lord.” Often these angels are called archangels (Revelation 8:1). The Bible only ever calls one archangel by name—Michael (Jude 9)—and tells us that he is one of the chief princes (Daniel 10:13). Gabriel, another famous angel, is called an angel of the presence in the Bible, never an archangel (Luke 1:19). Outside of the Bible, Gabriel, Rafael, Uriel, and Jeremiel are often called archangels.

These angels do three things that are all related: they minister, they make expiation for humanity’s sins, and they offer sacrifices. In this respect, they look very much like the Old Testament priests, who—just like these angels—ministered in the temple, made atonement for the sins of the people, and brought sacrifices to the Lord. It seems that the Jews and Christians back then imagined that there was a temple in heaven, just like on earth, where angels organized similar services to those in the earthly temple. This is not totally unexpected, whoever reads Hebrews 8 and 9 would come to a similar conclusion.

What is unexpected, however, is the sacrifice the archangels bring. This is a sacrifice with two characteristics: it is a spiritual or rational offering, and it is a bloodless offering. The first characteristic, “spiritual,” is something that Paul also talks about (Romans 12:1). It is “spiritual” or “true” worship that we ourselves give to God. The other characteristic, “bloodless,” is stranger. If you think about it carefully, a bloodless sacrifice is hard to imagine. On the other hand, you can imagine that a bloody offering is equally hard to imagine in heaven. Nowhere do we read “and this is where the bulls and lambs are kept for the sacrifices.” There are no sacrificial animals in heaven, patiently awaiting their fate. In fact, there isn’t any death at all in heaven. So, these archangels have to be sacrificing something else, something that wouldn’t die. Something spiritual, something without blood. What that is exactly, the testament does not tell us. Maybe it is a good and godly life, just like in Romans 12. Maybe the angels’ lifestyles are the sacrifice, or maybe it is something else altogether.

The Highest Heaven

God lives above the sixth heaven, in the seventh and highest heaven. The seventh heaven is a very holy place:

For in the highest of all the Great Glory dwells, in the holy of holies, far above all holiness. (Testament of Levi 3:4)

God lives far above all creation, above even the highest angels. It seems as if the author doesn’t have words to describe how holy the seventh heaven is. The language has to become strange and awkward to even get close to describing God properly: he lives in the holy of holies, far above all holiness. That is how holy God is, how holy the place where he lives is.

A bit later Levi describes the seventh heaven in more detail:

And the angel opened to me the gates of heaven, and I saw the holy temple, and the Most High sitting on a throne of glory. (Testament of Levi 5:1)

God sits on a throne of glory in the highest heaven. There is also a temple in the seventh heaven. So God sits on a throne next to, or inside of, a temple. This must be the original pattern that Moses copied when he built the earthly sanctuary (Exodus 25:9). The heavenly temple has not been made by human hands. A temple, where—we might assume—no one, not even the archangels, is worthy of ministering.

That concludes Levi’s trip through the heavens, there and back again, from the first heaven to the seventh. We joined him, looking over the shoulders of ancient readers, and had our own voyage of discovery. We started in 2 Corinthians, where Paul tells us that he knows someone who went to the third heaven. And here, in the Testament of Levi, we discovered new knowledge of the ideas that Jews and Christians in those days had about heaven.

Back to Paul

Should we, based on the Testament of Levi, conclude that there really are seven heavens? Should we believe that some man named Levi, many thousands of years ago, went on a trip all the way to the seventh heaven? You could, but I wouldn’t. That is by no means why we went on this voyage of discovery. We want to use this extrabiblical knowledge to understand the Bible better. We are not looking for ideas that we can add to the Bible, but ideas that can help us place the Bible better. We want to broaden our horizons and broaden our understanding of the Bible. We are looking for new perspectives on the well-worn paths of the Bible.

We started our trip with a couple of intriguing sentences written by Paul. Let’s return there now (2 Corinthians 12:1–4). The church in Corinth had some issues and Paul seems to have written quite a few letters to this church. We have two of these letters in the New Testament, and we know that there was at least one more (2 Corinthians 2:4). In Corinthians 12, Paul reacts to a big problem in Corinth. Other teachers are comparing themselves to Paul, and Paul’s status is dropping fast.

The teachers are boasting. They say: “Look how amazing we are” and “Look at Paul, he’s nowhere near as good as we are!” Not only are they boasting, they are smart about it. Never do they claim that they are richer or smarter than Paul. They only brag about how holy they are and how close to God they are. They know what could influence the Corinthians, and they know what was attractive to them: visions and tongues.

Speaking in tongues was already an issue in Corinth, we know this because Paul wrote to them about that earlier (1 Corinthians 14). Paul doesn’t like these very exuberant signs of the Spirit. He much prefers it when churchgoers talk about God in a way others can understand, rather than shouting incomprehensible gibberish (1 Corinthians 14:5). This is not to say that Paul couldn’t speak in tongues. He has that gift better than anyone (1 Corinthians 14:18). He can speak in tongues; he just feels that it is useless in a worship service.

The boasting teachers in Corinth could probably speak in tongues with the best of them. They constantly brag about the visions that they receive from God. Their actions are all geared towards showing how incredibly holy they are. Poor Paul has not been in Corinth for months, and thanks to these teachers he has been pushed to the back of everyone’s minds. He’s losing touch with the brothers and sisters in Corinth. But he is not worried about his status, as a good pastor he is worried about the salvation of the Corinthians, he is worried that they will end up going the wrong way. He reacts to these boasting teachers in a long letter. A letter steeped in irony.

A Little Bit of Irony Never Hurt Anyone

I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! (2 Corinthians 11:1)

Paul is about to get foolish. Just like those boasters, he too is going to brag. He tells the Corinthians that he is absolutely not inferior to the “super-apostles” in Corinth (2 Corinthians 11:5). He has more than enough knowledge, he proclaims God’s good news, and he has always been self-sufficient (2 Corinthians 11:6–11).

Now Paul gets even more foolish. He’s going to compare himself to these super-apostles even more (2 Corinthians 11:21–28). Are these teachers Hebrews? So is Paul. Are they Israelites, descendants of Abraham? So is Paul! Are they ministers of Christ? Paul is more. Paul has worked harder, he has spent more time in prison. He has had more beatings and floggings. He has been shipwrecked more often, been hungry more often, been thirsty more often. Not to mention the psychological pressure of ministering to dozens of churches. These teachers can boast, but Paul can boast more . . . and it’s all true!

In the middle of Paul’s foolish boasting, we arrive at the passage that sent us out on this voyage of discovery. Here Paul suddenly boasts of the third heaven. Paul does not want to boast, but these other teachers have made it necessary. He simply has to fight fire with fire, otherwise the members in Corinth will no longer listen to him—a real apostle, as opposed to these newcomers. Just as Satan disguised himself as an angel of light, these teachers disguise themselves as ministers of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:13–14). To counteract these false ministers Paul has been bragging for a while, and now he adds to it:

Humble Boasting

The Corinthians are interested in visions and revelations. Their teachers have been boasting about their visions and therefore Paul must too. He says he knows “someone” who went all the way to the third heaven. We could wonder who this someone was. Up till now Paul has been boasting about himself. It would be very illogical if Paul were suddenly boasting about his friends. But at the same time he has been very clear that Christians should not boast. So, he tries to be humble and to boast at the same time: He introduces this “someone” about whom he will boast. In all humility, he can boast about “someone” because it is not himself. But everyone who reads this will know that this “someone” is none other than Paul himself. Think of it as a way for Paul to do what is necessary, even though he has ethical issues with it.

Paul has been taken up into heaven. He received the heavenly tour, just like Levi did. A heavenly visit is a very special revelation, an extraordinary vision. You have to be someone special to be invited to see heaven. Paul shows that he is part of a very select group. He has added his name to the list of VIPs: Moses, Abraham, Levi, Enoch, and Isaac—not bad company.

Paul didn’t just visit though; he must have also seen things in heaven. He seems unwilling to talk about what he saw. Levi discussed the details extensively, but Paul gives none. This is probably because the Testament of Levi was never intended to be a revelation of God. It was written, just like Christian books are written nowadays, to help its contemporaries to think and discuss faith and heaven. Back then you did that by narrating visions, even if you had just made those up. The author never actually had that vision, he is only speculating on what may or may not be in heaven.

Paul is a different case. I strongly doubt that Paul is just making this vision up. Why would he be lying and boasting, when he was so against boasting in the first place? He knows what he has seen. He has experienced something, and has learnt something, that need not and should not be shared. Paul is not speculating about what may or may not be in heaven. He is only sharing that he saw heaven. He has no intentions of teaching about heaven; he only wants to keep his church members on the right path . . . and to remind them not to boast. He gives them just enough information to show that he was taken up by God, but nothing more or less. Quite a pity from our point of view as we would have loved to have some more information!

Hebrews

Paul is not the only biblical author who speaks of the heavens. The author of Hebrews—who was almost definitely not Paul—seems to be interested in the heavens as well.3 Hebrews is known as a tricky book to understand. The author of this book is smart and scholarly: he’s good with theology and he’s good with words too. He was a theologian and a good writer (or, more likely, a good orator). His language stands out in the New Testament because it is very literary. Similarly, his theology stands out, as unique within the New Testament. The idea that Jesus is a high priest comes solely from this book.

You could summarize the book of Hebrews like this: “Jesus is better than everything and everyone.” That might sound a bit simplistic, but all summaries are. Hebrews gets its name from the fact that it seems to be written to Jews (i.e., Hebrews). So, it was written for people who did not believe in Jesus, but did believe in God and in the Old Testament. That means that the book attempts to convince its audience to believe in Jesus.

Hebrews gets right to it. In what is considered the most literary introduction to any Bible book, it immediately begins with Jesus. While it was great that God spoke to people via prophets, God was able to speak much better via Jesus the Son (Hebrews 1:1–4). Jesus is higher than any and everything, higher even than the angels (Hebrews 1:5–14). If we were to import Levi’s descriptions of the heavens into this passage, we could say that even the archangels were only allowed to rise to the sixth heaven, but Jesus could go all the way to the seventh. Jesus is worshipped by the angels (Hebrews 1:6) and sits at God’s right hand (Hebrews 1:13).

Jesus is a High Priest

Having proven that Jesus is the best of the best, Hebrews sets out to show what the link is between Jesus, salvation, and high priesthood. This is the topic that Hebrews wants to address. Jesus was the highest and put himself among the lowest. He became like us in “every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:17). He is faithful because he humiliated himself; he is merciful because he has endured what we endure—he understands us! And through his death he achieved salvation for all people.

After this wonderful explanation and defence of Jesus, Hebrews shifts to a discussion of faith and trust (Hebrews 3:1—4:14). Faith and trust from our side leads to salvation; unbelief and distrust leads to death. The story of the Israelites in the desert is included as an example. Ten of the twelve spies were too afraid to enter the promised land, because they did not have enough faith and trust in God. In conclusion, we, as believers, should not follow their example, but should cling to the faith. That last sentence of this discussion of faith and trust, includes the heavens:

Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. (Hebrews 4:14)

Maybe we would have quickly read on, past this sentence, but after exploring the seven heavens with Levi, we should immediately see something important. “Heavens” is plural! Jesus didn’t pass through one heaven, but he passed through all the heavens. We have a high priest who, after dying on the cross, passed through all seven heavens. He is back where he started: in the seventh heaven. And precisely this trip is what makes Jesus so useful as our redeemer and mediator. Jesus is back where God is.

It gets better. Hebrews says that the faithful will make exactly the same trip as Jesus (Hebrews 4:16). We are going back to God’s presence. So, Hebrews has a view of heaven that requires a trip through all the heavens. This is a trip that not everyone will and can make. The angels get a bit more than halfway. The archangels make it all the way to the sixth. But Jesus, who is better than anyone and everything, makes it all the way to the top . . . and we can join him. Jesus and his voyage through the heavens is the reason we can “approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

In the subsequent chapters of Hebrews, the voyage through the heavens is discussed no less than five times (Hebrews 6:19–20; 8:1–2; 9:11, 24; 10:20). It is always in slightly oblique terms, but by no means invisible to us. At least, that is, if we are willing to think hard. So think with me. Hebrews is written to appeal to Jews. They know the sanctuary, either the tabernacle in the desert or the temple in Jerusalem. In fact, they know the sanctuary well. They know that the sanctuary consists of two parts: the holy and the holy of holies (or more correctly the holiest). Priests regularly enter the holy to minister to the Lord. But the holy of holies is another matter. Only the high priest is allowed in there, and he is only allowed there very seldom.

In heaven, there are services for the Lord too. Levi saw those in the sixth heaven: archangels who were doing priestly duties. Could we then conclude that the sixth heaven is comparable to the holy? It seems logical that the heavenly sanctuary, on which the earthly one is based, also has two parts. It is a small logical leap to assume that if the sixth heaven is like the holy, the seventh heaven is like the holy of holies.

Past the Curtain

Once we have made it this far, we only need to make one more small step. In the earthly sanctuary, there is a curtain between the Holy and the Holy of Holies, sometimes called the “veil.” Whether or not there is a curtain in heaven is unimportant for this discussion. It is the symbolism that is important. Passing the curtain is symbolic for entering the Holy of Holies. Once you have passed the curtain, you truly are in the seventh heaven.

Keeping this in mind, suddenly the passages of Jesus’ trip through the heavens becomes much more vivid. Hebrews 6 calls Jesus our hope:

We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus, a forerunner on our behalf, has entered, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. (Hebrews 6:19–20)

Jesus is our hope. He is dependable, he is our anchor. He has gone ahead, even beyond the curtain, into the “inner shrine.” He has passed the sixth heaven, past the limit for the angels, into the seventh. This is the foundation of the gospel in Hebrews. Hebrews wants to make this so clear that it is repeated four more times (Hebrews 8:1–2; 9:11, 24; and 10:20).

Jesus is in God’s presence. He has gone ahead. We too will rise up, passing through the six heavens all the way into the seventh, into the very presence of God.

Images Revisited

There are more places in the Bible where you can see that multiple heavens are on the author’s mind. Take Revelation 8:1, where the heavens become silent. Is that to ensure that there is no noise in the heavens between God and earth? What about Jesus’ triumphal entrance into Jerusalem, where the people shout “Hosanna in the highest heaven!” (Matthew 21:9; Mark 11:10). This view of heavens must explain why Jesus almost never talks of the kingdom of heaven (as most English Bibles read) but of the kingdom of the heavens.

The New Testament refers to “the heavens” about ninety times. Should we then conclude that there literally are seven physical heavens? I don’t think that is useful. How heaven looks or scientifically functions goes far beyond our understanding. Some people in the time of the New Testament imagined that heaven consisted of seven heavens. That is their image of heaven. I have a different view and different expectations. I am sure you have different ones too. What heaven is like, no one really knows. But whatever you think, God lives there so it must be great.

It is not strange that people in the time of the Bible had a different view of heaven than we do. By studying their views, we get a better understanding of what Paul means when writing about the third heaven. He used this to counteract the teachings of false apostles, and to show that he too had something to reluctantly boast about.

Now that we know about the seven heavens, we have a much better understanding of Jesus’ heavenly trip, as we read of it in Hebrews. Jesus went through the curtain, through the penultimate heaven, all the way to the final one. He went into the very presence of God, to a place that even the angels cannot enter. And the best part? We can go there too, following where Jesus went before.

We saw something interesting next to our path. Just there, close by. Another image of the heavens. We went out exploring and returned to the path, with a richer understanding, with better information, and with deeper context. Not bad, for a day’s work. Now, we need to take a break.

We need to get our breath back. Just a small breather. We will do that after every walk: take a short break and discuss something else. This break will be about extrabiblical books.

1. Just to be clear, in this chapter we are not talking about the place people immediately go when they die. For many Christians, these two places are the same, at least for the good people, but there is a difference for the authors of the New Testament. Heaven is the place where God lives and where humanity will live after judgement day; the hereafter is the place where humanity waits for that judgement. We will look at the hereafter later in this book.

2. All quotes from the Testament of Levi are from Jonge, “The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs.”

3. Many pages and much ink has been spent discussing the author of Hebrews. The book itself is anonymous, but many people assumed and still assume that it was written by Paul. A comparison of style and theology between Paul’s letters and Hebrews shows that it is very unlikely that Paul wrote Hebrews. Who did write it is anyone’s guess.

Подняться наверх