Meaning of HEAVEN, HEAVENS

The Bible distinguishes: (a) The atmospheric sky above our heads, within which the clouds of heaven and the birds of the air move (Gen. 1:20; 7:11; 8:2; 27:28; 2 James 21:10; Psalm 147:8; Lam. 4:19; Dan. 7:13, etc.).

(b) The sidereal sky above the atmosphere, where the planets and stars are found (Gen. 1:14-17; 15:5; Ez. 32:7-8). It is the immense space of which the wise do nothing other than glimpse its immense dimensions, and to which the first verse of the Bible alludes.

The expression heaven and earth actually means the entire universe (Gen. 1:1; 14:19; 24:3; Jer. 23:24; Mt. 5:18). To further highlight this immensity, the Scriptures speak of “the heavens of heavens” (Deut. 10:14; 1 Kings 8:27). It has often been claimed that the Israelites created (in common with the peoples of antiquity) a crude representation of cosmology.

For them the sky would have been a fixed and solid vault (firmament), where the stars would be nailed like nails, and where open windows from place to place would give way to rain and snow. We will point out first that firmament (in Latin “firmare”: to affirm) is a translation error of the Vulgate. The Hebrew term "raqia" means an inconsistent extension (Gen. 1:6) and it is Aristotle and the ancients who imagined the sky as a solid sphere.

The fact that Job said "the pillars of heaven tremble and are terrified at his rebuke" (Jb. 26:11) may well be taken as figurative and poetic language. Likewise with 2 Sam. 22:8: "the foundations of the heavens were shaken... because he was indignant."

Job says elsewhere: "He removes the earth from its place, and makes its pillars tremble" (Jb. 9:6), but at the same time he declares: "He stretches out the north on empty, hangs the earth on nothing" ( Jb. 26:7). A few passages speak of "the windows of heaven" (Gen. 7:11; 8:2; Is. 24:18; Mal. 3:10), a term easy to understand for anyone who has seen the immense waterspouts fall. in southern countries and the tropics.

That said, one is astonished at the sobriety and accuracy of the biblical descriptions, especially when compared with the childish errors and crude legends admitted by the most illustrious intelligences of antiquity, and this even in centuries relatively close to the our.

After the millennium (see MILLENNIUM), the present heavens and earth will be destroyed by fire to make way for the new heavens and the new earth, “in which dwells righteousness” (Rev. 11; 21:1; 2 Pet. 3:7, 10-13). (c) The spiritual heaven. Already in another dimension, in a world very different from that of the clouds and stars, is the abode of the blessed God and his angels.

Paul seems to call it the third heaven, or paradise (2 Cor. 12:2, 4). There the presence of the Lord is manifested in a direct way (Gen. 28:17; Ps. 80:15 a; Is. 66:1; Mt. 5:12, 16, 45, 48; 23:9); It is the habitation of angels (Mt. 24:36; 28:2; Mr. 13:32; Luke 22:43). Christ descended from heaven (John 3:13), and there he ascended again, above all the heavens (Acts 1:11; Eph. 4:10).

In heaven itself, he intercedes on behalf of believers (Heb. 8:24; Rom. 8:34), and from there he will return to judge the living and the dead (Mt. 24:30; 1 Thes. 4 :16). It is also in heaven that the Lord prepares a place for us (John 14:1-3).

In a particular way, John gives us a vision of the abode of glory, beauty, holiness, and bliss in perfection (Rev. 21-22). All who have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb will see God face to face, worship Him, and reign forever and ever (Rev. 7:14; 22:3-5, 14).