A Quick, Compelling Bible Study Vol. 95: What The Hebrew Bible Says About Heaven
Author’s Note: Interested readers can find all previous volumes of this series here. News Flash: The first 56 volumes are compiled into a book titled “Bible Study For Those Who Don’t Read The Bible.”
Thanks for joining us as we begin a two-part study about Heaven — a lively topic about which everyone has an opinion and believers want to go there someday.
But before we read the Word of God, let’s review some data. According to a November Pew Research Center survey, a whopping 73% of all U.S. Adults believe in Heaven. And what happens in Heaven? Of that 73% who believe, the top five occurrences are ranked below according to the percentage who “definitely or probably agree” that the following will happen there:
Are free from suffering: 69%
Are reunited with loved ones who died previously: 65%
Can meet God: 62%
Have perfectly healthy bodies: 60%
Are reunited with pets or animals they knew on earth: 48%
Based on those thoughts, heaven seems like paradise. In fact, Jesus said that word from the cross, and the thief hanging next to him acknowledged Jesus and said:
“‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise’ ” (Luke 23:42-43). Next week we will study more about what the New Testament says about Heaven.
Now, let’s turn to the Old Testament, from which I have selected a representative sample of Heaven-related passages. We begin at the beginning:
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). Since God created Heaven, it is reasonable to assume that He will be there and clear His schedule to meet you — if you qualify.
Next is a Psalm that mentions Heaven and also alludes to a Messianic prophecy:
“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet..” (Psalm 8:3-6).
The writer, King David, is awestruck by the majesty of God’s Heaven and universe compared to the smaller nature of man and asks about “the son of man that you visit” who God has “crowned with glory and honor.”
All the Bible scholars reading along know that “son of man” is the term Jesus uses to describe himself as discussed in Vol. 53. However, its significance bears repeating since Psalm 8 verses 4-6 starting with “What is man…” reappear in the New Testament book of Hebrews 2: 6-8. The writer of Hebrews applies these verses to Jesus, who “as the incarnate [human] Son of God is both the representative man and the one in whom man’s appointed destiny will be fully realized” – a quote from my NIV Study Bible.
Circling back to our topic of Heaven, Jesus is absolute when He said, “No one comes to the Father except through me” in John 14:6. Thus, the takeaway: Although the Heavens were created by God, in order to eternally live with God in Heaven, your point of entry is only through Jesus, according to Jesus. That said, let’s continue with how the Psalm writer (likely David) keeps emphasizing the greatness of Heaven and its Creator. Perhaps there is a lesson here for us?:
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands” (Psalm 19-1). Pray about His glory the next time you see a magnificent sunrise or sunset. And remember the next verse when you are away from city lights and can see a zillion stars:
“By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth” (Psalm 33:6). And the glorification theme continues, but with a caveat:
“For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; ” (Psalm 103:11). A comparison with endless boundaries, and add to it a Proverb: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Proverbs 9:10).
From Nehemiah, we read the opening segment of a nationwide confession of sin with prayers recited by the ancient Israelites who had strayed from God. “Heaven” is evoked several times:
“Stand up and praise the Lord your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you” (Nehemiah 9:5-6). Suggestion: If you have sins that need resolution, perhaps start with that prayer.
And from the book of Jeremiah:
“But God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding” (Jeremiah 10:12).
All these inspiring verses make you long for Heaven and to be in Creator’s presence whose power and glory are beyond our understanding.
Join us next week when we study Heaven-related New Testament verses that differ from the Old Testament. Here is a preview compatible with some beliefs found in the aforementioned Pew Research data:
“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:20-21). To that, we say, “Amen.”
Myra Kahn Adams is a conservative political and religious writer with numerous national credits. Her book, “Bible Study For Those Who Don’t Read The Bible,” reprints the first 56 volumes of this popular study. Myra is also Executive Director of SignFromGod.Org, a ministry dedicated to Shroud of Turin education. NEWS FLASH: SignFromGod is a proud sponsor of the Museum of the Bible’s two opening events in February that begin a six-month high-tech exhibition about the Shroud of Turin. Contact: @MyraKAdams on Twitter or MyraAdams01@gmail.Com.
Bible Seminar On: “What Jesus Spoke About In The Bible Is Finally Being Fulfilled Today”
GWACHEON, KOREA, December 29, 2021 /24-7PressRelease/ — “Shincheonji Online Seminar: Testimony of the Parables of the Secrets of Heaven and Their True Meaning” will be held by Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony. This round of seminars will focus on understanding parables written in the Bible in the New Testament and can be viewed on YouTube live-stream every Sunday and Wednesday at 7pm (CST) from January 2rd to March 27th.
According to Shincheonji Church: “Parables are the key element to understanding the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. The prophecy of the Old Testament was fulfilled at the time of Jesus’s first coming and He has also left prophecy of the New Testament to be fulfilled when the time comes (John 16:25). We are heading toward (understanding) the true meaning as the prophecy is revealed,” said an official of the church.
The previous seminars on the book of Revelation for the last three months on YouTube were released in 24 languages and reached 7 million views in 136 countries including 16,000 participating pastors. Shincheonji Church of Jesus said that 1,200 global church leaders in 57 countries have signed MOUs (Memorandum of Understanding) with the church to boost international cooperation and exchanges for educational support.
As for the signing of MOUs, Pastor Jerry Hagerman of Wayside Mission Church in Virginia, USA, said, “I want to be able to grow in the word and I want to teach our congregation…and help bring them from death to life. I want to be one with God’s kingdom and have open communication.”
In a recent report in December 2021 from Pew Research Center’s National Public Opinion Reference Surveys, 3 out of 10 adults in the United States now identify as religiously unaffiliated. The most affected in the decrease in the religious population are Protestant denominations that have shown steady a decrease from 52% in 2007 to 40% in 2021.
This trend has also been reflected by another investigation from Lifeway Research in Nashville that concluded most Americans consider Jesus a historical fact but have no biblical knowledge about why he came. According to the report, only 9% of the 1,005 respondents knew that his mission was to preach about the fulfillment of the Old Testament.
On the other side of the globe, an increasing number of people are affiliated with religion. Contrary to the decrease in traditional denominations, over 140,000 people have joined the Shincheonji Church of Jesus after the Bible education course provided since 2019 and the subsequent COVID-19 pandemic which led to more online outreach.
An official of Shincheonji Church of Jesus said, “Across the world, more and more people are experiencing diseases, disasters, and hardships due to COVID-19, and have been thinking deeply about the meaning of life and suffering. Religion must be able to provide answers to these people. In the religious world where face-to-face activities are limited, education should reach out to every individual in local communities.”
“What the Shincheonji Church can provide to people is the clear explanation of Jesus’ mission in the New Testament,” he continued.
You can watch the seminar by searching “Shincheonji Online Seminar: Testimony on the Parables of the Secrets of Heaven and Their True Meanings” on YouTube or through the link https://www.Youtube.Com/c/ShincheonjiChurchofJesus
—Press release service and press release distribution provided by http://www.24-7pressrelease.Com
3 Things The Bible Tells Us About The Blood Of Jesus
It is something that makes many of us turn pale at the sight of it. Doctors test it to check out health. Drives are done to collect it so that others can survive by transfusions. I am talking about blood. When people think of blood, many thoughts might come into their minds, however, as believers, blood is often associated with Jesus. Today we are going to look into things that the Scriptures tell us about the blood of Jesus.
The Blood of Jesus Is Life GivingLeviticus 17:11 teaches us, “For the life of the body is in its blood. I have given you the blood on the altar to purify you, making you right with the LORD. It is the blood, given in exchange for a life, that makes purification possible.”
Whenever someone donates blood they are literally giving a part of their life so that another might live. The sacrifice a person makes of temporary pain and loss provides a greater gain of another. If a person has no blood running through their veins, the person has no life. Jesus Himself knew that His blood would be given in a greater way than a blood drive. Rather than giving life to one or a few other people, His blood gives life to all who accept Him.
We see from the beginning that the consequence of sin is death. Since life is in the blood, from the beginning we see God Himself teach humanity to sacrifice animals to cover their sins. (Genesis 3:21) The lives of sacrificed animals were the temporary offerings over the sins of the people performed by the high priests. Hebrews 5:1 says, “For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.”
We see that Abraham’s faith made him well. It wasn’t so much the sacrifice of sins but the obedience out of a heart of faith that the Messiah was coming. BibleStudyTools shares Bible verses that tell us that Jesus’ blood gives us new life and redemption.
Pure, perfect blood was a requirement to reconcile us back to God. We often do not like to think about our sins and the devastation of separation that they have caused us from the Creator, but in reality, we are under the punishment of sin which is death. As we read of blood sacrifices paid on behalf of the sins of the people of God, we are even more aware of what would have been required of us had Jesus not come. We are significantly blessed to be on this side of the cross. Jesus’ blood covered all sins in one divine moment of death, He brought us eternal life.
I even ponder the time when the angel of death was going to take the first born sons in Egypt during the time of Moses. This was the final plague on Egypt because Pharaoh would not let the Israelites go. (Exodus 12:23) Blood from a pure animal was the necessary action to protect the first borns from death. This was a foreshadowing of the blood that Christ would one day shed on the cross to protect us all who accept Him from eternal death.
The Blood of Jesus Gives FreedomRevelations 1:5 “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood.”
We all have had a death sentence. We have been trapped by the deception and luring of our sinful ways. Jesus’ blood sets us free from the punishment of sin. We no longer have to live under the bondage and condemnation of sin. Because Jesus has the victory, those who follow Him share in His victory. (1 Corinthians 15:57)
We do not need to be fearful of the punishment of eternal death and separation from God. We have been justified by Jesus’ blood and saved from the wrath of God. According to Webster’s Dictionary, justified means, “Having or shown to have a just, right, or reasonable basis.” This means that we have been made right by the blood of Jesus. What sins made wrong that caused us to be guilty, Jesus’ blood took care of on our behalf.
Imagine being sentenced to prison and then death. The gut-wrenching moment of realizing that you were guilty and you could not pay your way, smooth talk your way, or argue your way out of it. Then, steps in a Man with a perfect track record who never did anything wrong. He says that he would like to take your place. So the guards bind him in chains that were meant to be yours, mock him, beat him, and ultimately kill him instead of you. This is what Jesus did for us through His bloody death. We no longer have to hold the weight of punishment from sins, but it is by His great love that we have been set free.
Romans 5:9 “Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!”
The Blood of Jesus Was PerfectIn order for Jesus’ blood to make a difference, He needed to be perfect. Jesus’ perfection was a result of Him being fully God and fully man. Whenever a sacrifice was made prior to Jesus, they were always “a male without defect.” The Hebrew word tamiym meaning, to be complete is from the root word tamam which means to be finished. Sinful people needed a sinless Savior. Jesus purified us whiter than snow with His perfect blood.
1 Peter 1:18-19 “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”
Maybe you are not feeling valuable or seen today? Perhaps you feel that you are too dirty for Jesus. I encourage you to take heart and believe His words that His sacrifice took care of every sin.
John 1:29 says, "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’” His blood gives life, it was necessary, it gives us freedom, and it was perfect. Because of His great love to lay down His life, we can believe in Him and now have eternal hope that we have been covered by the Lamb of the world.
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/RomoloTavani
Emma Danzey’s mission in life is to inspire young women to embrace the extraordinary. One of her greatest joys is to journey with the Lord in His Scriptures. Emma is a North Carolina resident and green tea enthusiast! She is married to her husband Drew and they serve international college students. She enjoys singing, dancing, trying new recipes, and watching home makeover shows. During her ministry career, Emma recorded two worship EP albums, founded and led Polished Conference Ministries, ran the Refined Magazine, and served in music education for early childhood. Currently, she is in the editing stages of her first two writing projects: a Bible study on womanhood and a non-fiction book on singleness. You can visit her blog at emmadanzey.Wordpress.Com
