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.
(2 Corinthians 12:2) NKJV
Given that the apostle Paul specifically refers to something called the third heaven it’s not a stretch to conclude that there must also be a first and a second heaven. We need to know what they are.
If there’s a first, second and third heaven, what are they, and how do we distinguish one from the other? The word heaven is frequently used without a modifier to tell us which of the three heavens it’s referring to. This being the case we need to have a solid grasp on the concepts involved and be prepared to examine context for clues. It’s not actually difficult to do since we’re going to look at scriptural references to heaven and compare them with what we know about the atmosphere, the region that we call space, and what may or may not be beyond it.
The Three Heavens
- Open firmament, atmosphere or sky where birds fly,
- celestial realm, cosmos, observable universe or space where the stars are set in their courses,
- firmament, sea of glass or heliopause the location of God’s throne.
| Where did you get here from? | |
| 1 | September 24th – The Star of Bethlehem |
| 2 | December 16th – No Need of Sun or Moon |
Matty's Paradigm 