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Heaven.
It is important to note that in the Hebrew Bible the word (šŒmayim)
is plural; English translations sometimes use "heaven," sometimes
"the heavens." In Genesis
1.6–8, the creation of
the firmament (NRSV: "dome") is described, "and God called the
firmament Heaven [NRSV: Sky]." This was regarded as an overarching vault
resting on pillars at the ends of the earth. Above it was the celestial ocean,
and above this the dwelling of God (cf. Psalm
14.2). In the firmament
were openings or "windows" through which the upper waters came down
in the form of rain (Genesis
7.11). At times, the term
"the heavens" refers to the expanse in which the birds fly (Genesis
1.20), at times to the
starry heavens, and at other times still to the highest heaven above the
firmament. The context decides which meaning is appropriate.
The starry heavens are regarded as a witness to God’s being
and creative power; continually they "are telling the glory of God"
( Psalm 19.1).
These heavens remind humans of their littleness and the wonder of God’s
concern for them (Psalm 8.3–4).
Humans’ ignorance of "the ordinances of the heavens" (Job
38.33) helps to fill them
with awe.
In the course of the biblical period, more transcendent ideas
of God developed, and Jeremiah declares, "Do not I fill heaven and earth?
says the Lord" ( Jeremiah
23.24). But even when the
concept of God’s omnipresence was expressed, other expressions were
retained. According to 1
Kings 8.27, Solomon
recognizes that heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain God; but later in
the same prayer he repeatedly asks, "Hear in heaven your dwelling
place" (1 Kings 8.30,
etc.). Isaiah 65.17
speaks of "new heavens and a new earth"; this hope for a new, or
renewed, creation had important developments in later apocalyptic.
With respect to heaven as the final abode of God’s people,
this is hardly to be found in the Hebrew Bible, where for the most part the
fate of everyone, good or bad, was the shadowy realm of Sheol (See Hell).
After the exile, however, Persian and Greek ideas stimulated Jewish thinking
in new directions, and this is seen in some of the apocalypses of the period.
Bitter persecution also produced the conviction that God would not leave
without some vindication those who had died for their faith. The doctrine of
resurrection was at first associated with the hope of life on a renewed earth
(See Afterlife and
Immortality).
By the Roman period, a blessed future holds a sure place in
Jewish thinking, particularly among the Pharisees; the Sadducees retained the
conception of a universal Sheol. In the New Testament generally, the servants
of God are encouraged to look forward to a blissful eternity with God (see Luke
20.38), but the word
"heaven" is used sparingly in this connection (e.g., Mark
10.21; Matthew
5.12), other terms such as
"eternal life," "glory," "my Father’s house,"
being preferred. Hebrews
11.16 speaks of those who
"desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one." Paul is more
concerned with the company than the place and speaks of the future life as
being "with Christ" (Philippians
1.23) and as seeing
"face to face" (1
Corinthians 13.12). The
term "heaven" still occurs in the New Testament in the sense of
"sky" (e.g., Mark
13.25; Luke
13.19 [NRSV:
"air"]). In the letter to the Hebrews, mention is made of the
heavens of the present creation that are destined to perish (Hebrews
1.10–11), the heavens
through which Jesus passed (Hebrews
4.14; Hebrews
7.26), and the realm
beyond, where he sits on the right hand of God "in heaven" (Hebrews
8.1). The last of these
resembles in some ways the Platonic heaven of ultimate realities, of which
earthly things are copies (cf. Hebrews
9.23–24 and Hebrews
8.5).
The word "heaven" does not necessarily refer to a
literal place, for already the Christian sits with Christ in the heavenly
places ( Ephesians 2.6).
Jesus, who has "all authority in heaven and on earth" (Matthew
28.18), shares the
omnipresence of the Father; he "ascended far above all the heavens, so
that he might fill all things" (Ephesians
4.10).
There is more about heaven in the book of Revelation than in
any other book of the Bible, and vivid pictures are given of the throne of God
and the Lamb, with living creatures and elders, angelic hosts and multitudes
of the redeemed, drawn from every nation, bringing homage and praise. Popular
conceptions of heaven have been derived largely from the imagery of this book.
Two other matters need mention. Some of the noncanonical
writings give detailed descriptions of multiple heavens, up to seven or more.
But Paul was not necessarily thinking of these when he wrote of his mystical
transport into the third heaven ( 2
Corinthians 12.2); an
alternate explanation is that the expression indicates a high degree of
spiritual exaltation. Second, Jewish tradition came to have such reverence for
the name of God that "heaven" and other substitutes were used; thus,
for example, the prodigal son says, "I have sinned against heaven and
before you" (Luke
15.18; Luke
15.21); and Matthew
generally uses "kingdom of heaven" and only four times "kingdom
of God."
Thomas Francis Glasson Oxford Companion to the Bible
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