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The Three Heavens

There is a lot of misunderstanding about the three heavens/worlds above this material world. They are not places, as we generally understand that word: they are spiritual states of consciousness.

The New Jerusalem is a state of collective consciousness, that of the Bride of Christ. The Bride of Christ is the spiritual union of all born-from-above believers. Every description about heavenly Jerusalem’s layout and adornment – gates and foundations, gemstones and gold, etc. – represent different attributes of spirituality such as truth, holiness, and devotion, each with its own infinity of varieties and degrees.

In the heavens, there is no distance in terms of space, because there is neither space nor time. Distance in the heavens is determined by similarity and oppositeness. For instance, the holier the spirit, the closer its proximity to the Divine; while spirits that rebel against God are by their very nature at vast “distances” (in appearance) from Him. Spirits that have an especial love for children are drawn closer to other spirits like themselves, and appear more alike in form, than are spirits that are especially gifted in doctrine.

There are an infinity of types of heavenly societies, each with its own collective appearance. “For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ…having…differing gifts…” Rom. 12:4-6 Every societal countenance/appearance corresponds to the unique love/agape of that society.

The three heavens in order consist of:

3rd (lowest): Soul (Hebr. nephesh/Grk. psuche). “The soul of the flesh is in the blood." Gen. 9:4; Lev. 17:11 Soul/nephesh is the level of developmental consciousness of the seed of Israel, and corresponds to the laver section of the Temple: the water of the washing of repentance. The lowest heaven pertains to all those who keep YHWH’s Covenant of 10 Commandments, given to Israel at Mount Sinai – with plenty of grace applied, of course. This heaven is called the Garden, also Paradise.

2nd (middle): Spirit (ruach/pneuma.) The Church is a spiritual/pneumatikos body. This corresponds to the Holy Place of the Temple, the place of the 7 Spirits (the 7 Lights of the Menorah), and the Word of Truth (the Table of Showbread). This level pertains to those who have true faith in Jesus, and are led by the Holy Spirit – again, with grace applied. This is the place of the Court, wherein the angelic Powers have convened in the past (e.g. Job 1:6); and are soon to convene again for the Judgment of God, in the company of the elect of the human race. Dan. 7:9-10ff.; Rev. 4-5; 7:9ff.

1st (highest/preeminent): Breath-Light (neshamah/emphusao). This is the level of the “revealed sons of God” (Rom. 8:19), and corresponds to the Most Holy Place of the Temple. This highest heaven pertains to ones called to come nearest to the Light of the Presence/Face of God (Luke 1:19; Rev. 6:16, etc.), who do not observe Him from afar off, nor turn away their faces out of shame because of unwashed (unrepented) sins. Rev. 3:21; 12:5

Again, all of these things are forms and degrees of spiritual consciousness.

In the Temple, the level of the altar of fleshly sacrifice is that of all persons who live according to the desires of the flesh. One must sacrifice one’s carnal desires; only then can one be washed in the laver of water baptism, in order to enter into the two chambers of the Holy Sanctuary. The altar is the level of our material world, which must be purified by fire.

In sum, the heavens represent degrees of holiness: soul, spirit, and very breath. The flesh must be purified by the soul [taught via the Sinai Covenant], the soul must be purified by the Spirit [brought via the Last Supper Covenant], and the spirit must be purified by the emanated breath-light of the Holy One, when the Lord appears in the light of his glory.

If you keep these things in mind, you will not get caught up in the apparent-only “material” descriptions of the New Jerusalem.