Introduction
By Paul Anderson
After having to listen to a couple of bad religious books the past two months, I was hoping for a reprieve. My son suggested the book Dune. It is a 1965, epic, science-fiction novel. Now for something completely different.
The book is very long, coming in at number 4 on my Longest-Books-List, with just over 21 hours of material. However, I was able to get through it in a month without having to increase the speed. I can't say I followed the plot very well, especially in Book II and Book III, which continues the story that is not included in the 2021 movie. So, my preparation of first watching the movie, then reading the book, helped, but fell short
However, I did enjoy the chess reference:
"We cannot have such inept chess players in our employ."
The Baron Vladimir Harkonnen
Frank Herbert was inspired to write the novel after he traveled to the Oregon Dunes, where the government was attempting to use poverty grasses to stabilize the sand dunes. This visit gave him the idea for a hellish planet where sand was dominate and water was the most precious resource. He must have forgotten his canteen and longed for Lazarus.
And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
Luke 16:24 King James Version
Since I have a habit of drinking 90 ounces of water per day, being in a place without water would definitely be torture for me. I am glad I was just listening to the world of Dune and not having to walk in that world. However, since my mind was already off our physical planet, I thought our study should get away for a while and look at spiritual realms.
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| Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord's thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is. |
Perhaps you have asked yourself, "Where will I go when I die?"
Is it as simple as just Heaven or Hell? Or are there more choices?
Here are my top 12 verses on Spiritual Realms:
Jesus On Spiritual Realms
Matthew 10:28 King James Version
28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Luke 16:22-23 King James Version
22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Luke 23:41-43 King James Version
41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.
42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.
Luke 22:66-69 King James Version
66 And as soon as it was day, the elders of the people and the chief priests and the scribes came together, and led him into their council, saying,
67 Art thou the Christ? tell us. And he said unto them, If I tell you, ye will not believe:
68 And if I also ask you, ye will not answer me, nor let me go.
69 Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God.
Spiritual Realms In The New Testament
Acts 2:22-36 King James Version
22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:
23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.
25 For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:
26 Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope:
27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
28 Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.
29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.
30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;
31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
32 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.
34 For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,
35 Until I make thy foes thy footstool.
36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
2 Corinthians 12:1-4 King James Version
1 It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.
2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.
3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)
4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
2 Peter 2:4 King James Version
4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
Revelation 9:1 King James Version
9 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
Spiritual Realms In The Old Testament
Deuteronomy 10:14 King James Version
14 Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord's thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is.
1 Samuel 2:6 King James Version
6 The Lord killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.
Job 7:9 King James Version
9 As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more.
Psalm 86:13 King James Version
13 For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.
Conclusion Of The Whole Matter
The Old Testament may not have a lot of references to different spiritual realms. After all, it was the Sadducees, who focused on the OT Torah, that denied the resurrection and, possibly, any afterlife or places of rewards and punishments. However, there are many references to Heaven, and the different types of Heaven can be seen as early as Deuteronomy. In addition, the idea of different levels is described in many passages, with Heaven being the highest and Hell being the lowest.
How many levels existed is not clear from the Bible. From the New Testament, we can see at least three heavens by Paul's time. However, it is possible that there were already up to seven heavens by that time. The expression Seventh Heaven is still common today and refers to the highest heaven, where God would dwell and is a place of total bliss.
But, by the Middle Ages, the number of levels had grown to ten. Perhaps, this expansion of levels increased as people's mobility increased and people's exposure to other ideas increased. It could have been borrowed from the Buddhist idea of ten realms, sometimes referred to as the ten worlds. In 1320, The Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri, had nine spheres of Heaven: Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the Fixed Stars, and the Primum Mobile. His spheres were symbolic of the four cardinal virtues (Prudence, Fortitude, Justice, and Temperance) and the three Christian virtues (Faith, Hope, and Love) rather than actual planets.
However, finding ten spiritual realms in the Bible is a difficult task. Since the topic is not a highly developed subject, the mention of spiritual realms is limited. Both Abraham's Bosom and the Third Heaven only occur once in the New Testament. Different translations use different words for the spiritual realms. For example, Hell is translated "Hades" in some translations and "Sheol" is translated "Grave" in Authorized Version. In addition, some of the realms that are mentioned use different terms to describe the same place. Paul equates the Third Heaven with Paradise.
If I start with Paul's reference of the Third Heaven, and assume that any other mention of a spiritual realm fits into one of three heavens, then the number of levels could be as small as three. There is an idea that the the First Heaven is the just the sky and atmosphere around earth, the Second Heaven is space and the universe beyond our planet, and the Third Heaven is the spiritual realm. Of course, that doesn't really help me, as this study is only concerned about the Third Heaven, the spiritual part, and would leave me with one level. While Paul may have been using the term heaven to mean both physical and spiritual locations, the other verses still indicate that there are more levels to the spiritual world than just one.
Another way to understand Paul's Third Heaven is to put God's abode is the primary position. If God dwells in The First Heaven and the departed souls are held for judgement in the Third Heaven, then the Second Heaven could be the domain of other heavenly hosts or angelic beings. Then Paul's comment would refer to three different spiritual realms. The Heaven mentioned in Deuteronomy 10:14 could be taken as a Second Heaven.
The verse in Deuteronomy 10:14 could also be referring to just two different spiritual realms, with the Heaven of Heavens being like the Seventh Heaven, the abode of God, and the Heaven being the place where departed souls are held until judgement. This would give me two major types of spiritual realms. However, the holding place for judgement clearly is divided into its own parts, with the Good being separated from the Evil. Therefore, the idea of having at least three heavens, or spiritual places, does seems consistent with the rest of the Bible.
In Revelation 20:13, John envisions three places that gave up their dead for judgement: the sea, death, and hell. Whether these places are just symbolic or actual spiritual realms is hard to determine. If I include them in the different levels, then Revelation mentions the most levels of any book in the Bible with references to the Bottomless Pit and the Lake Of Fire as well. These last two realms are set apart from the other realms with more detailed descriptions about their function. The Bottomless Pit, which is only mentioned in Revelation, is a special holding place for the Devil during the 1,000 year reign. The Lake Of Fire is the final destination of unsaved souls or, as Jesus referred to it, the Everlasting Fire.
The Everlasting Fire is not only the location for everlasting punishment, but it is also the place where most of the levels will be destroyed. The Devil will be thrown into the Lake Of Fire along with Death and Hell. The other levels will no longer be necessary as a holding place. Heaven and Earth will pass away and be replaced with a new Heaven and a new Earth, where God will dwell with man. So, the final result may be just two spiritual realms: one for God and his people, one for Satan and his people.
In the meantime, where do you go when you die?
Some of the levels seem to be off-limits. The Heaven of Heavens is for God and his son. The Lake Of Fire is for eternity. The Bottomless Pit is for the Devil. However, there does seem to be four possible choices: one good, one bad, two unknown.
Jesus paints a clear picture about Abraham's Bosom as the good place where Lazarus is being held and Hell as the bad place where the rich man is being held. The two unknown come from John in the book of Revelation. However, John doesn't give us much details about the conditions for those being held in Death and the Sea.
While I could not find ten worlds, I did find seven spiritual realms of Heaven.
Heaven of Heavens
- Right Hand of God / Christ's Throne
Heaven
- Abraham's Bosom / Paradise / Third Heaven
- Grave or Sheol / Death
- Sea
- Hell or Hades
- Bottomless Pit
- Lake Of Fire / Everlasting Fire
691 Bible results for “heaven” from King James Version.
- Old Testament (414)
- New Testament (277)
16 Bible results for “right hand of god” from King James Version.
- Old Testament (4)
- New Testament (12)
1 Bible results for “Abraham's bosom” from King James Version.
3 Bible results for “paradise” from King James Version.
142 Bible results for “grave” from King James Version.
- Old Testament (127)
- New Testament (15)
54 Bible results for “Hell” from King James Version.
- Old Testament (31)
- New Testament (23)
7 Bible results for “bottomless pit” from King James Version.
4 Bible results for “lake of fire” from King James Version.
3 Bible results for “everlasting fire” from King James Version.
Hill of Ares - Acts 17:18-19
By Matthew Anderson
The Stoics had their Roman/Greek Gods but it doesn’t affect the philosophy much at all. Stoicism is more of how to behave and act.
Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.
~ Marcus Aurelius
Do not act as if you had ten thousand years to live. The inescapable is hanging over your head. While you have life in you, while you still can, make yourself good.
~ Marcus Aurelius
Life is like a play: it matters not how long the show goes on but by how well it is acted. It makes no difference where you stop. Stop wherever you please; just make the ending a good one.
~ Seneca
Begin at once to live, and count each day as a separate life.
~ Seneca
What man can you show me who places any value on his time, who reckons the worth of each day, who understands that he is dying daily? For we are mistaken when we look forward to death; the major portion of death has already passed. Whatever years be behind us are in death's hands.
~ Seneca
Scripture contributions for May 2022 by: Paul Anderson, Matthew Anderson
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