Question for anyone who reads the holy bible and have a deep understanding of it.?

Question

I like to read the bible every now and then when i get the chance too. Not just cause it's the holy bible. I actually find the different books of the bible very interesting. I don't memorize every verse of the bible or anything like that. I just find it meaningful when i read it.

Every now and then when i think over what i read, i start to get questions and most of the time i get my answer just by re reading the part where my question lies.

Any ways to my question, I was at work yesterday and i was thinking about how God created the Heavens and the Earth and the animals, the trees and mankind and everything else. Well for some reason this question kept popping in my head and i can't figure it out. Maybe i am just thinking about it too much lol.

My question is when they say in the bible "In the beginning, God created the (Heavens) and the Earth." What do they mean by Heavens? more then one heaven or does that just describe the vast universe that lies just out side of earth?

Answer 1

I have checked 7 different King James Version Bibles. Four of them were online and three were actual hardcopy books. They all say, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Both heaven and earth are in lower case letters signifying that they are of little importance. When God names the waters above the firmament He created "Heaven" (upper cased), it signifies its importance as what God has named. The lower cased heaven is still there but it is more a general term for what is beyond the earth where as the upper cased Heaven is a specific place. Therefore, subsequent usages of "heavens" is meant to be plural. This same trend is carried out through the KJV. An example of this is:

Deuteronomy 10 , 14
Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens [is] the LORD'S thy God, the earth [also], with all that therein [is].

This is like the difference between God's spoken "word" and the name the "Word" which is the name of Jesus before his natural birth on earth.

In later and more modern Bibles, this difference is more vague and "heavens" is used more to describe the vastness of space.

Answer 2

Heaven exists as a real place somewhere. where i don't know. it could occupy the same space and time as us somewhere unseen or discovered or in another dimension right along side of us [something for you science buffs]. but it exists. there are references in the bible where God was actually said to open the skies and people were allowed to glimpse Heaven. Also instinances where someone actually saw into Hell. There are believed to be different areas of Heaven, yes, probably because some of us will need some serious healing and growing once we get there. Even though you except Gods forgivness and are saved some can still lead lives that are ,shall we say not as exemplary Christ followers. Either out of ignorance or mental illness, but we still are children of God once we were saved you can't loose that. It also refers to the stars the planets the ever expanding universes, Gods still at work.

Answer 3

The closest thing Scripture says to there being different levels of Heaven is found in 2 Corinthians 12:2, “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know-God knows.” Some interpret this as indicating that there are three different levels of Heaven. The supposed levels of Heaven are divided into a level for "super-committed Christians" or Christians who have obtained a high level of spirituality, a level for "ordinary" Christians, and a level for Christians who did not serve God faithfully.



However, Paul is not saying that there are three heavens or even three levels of heaven. In many ancient cultures, people used the term "Heaven" to describe three different "realms" – the sky, outer space, and then a spiritual heaven. Although the terms are not specifically Biblical, these are commonly known as the terrestrial, telestial, and celestial heavens. Paul was saying that God took him to the "celestial" Heavens, as in the realm in which God dwells. The concept of different levels of Heaven is foreign to Scripture. There are different levels of reward in Heaven (1 Corinthians 9:4-27; 2 Timothy 2:5), but only one "level" of Heaven.

Recommended Resource: What the Bible Says about Heaven & Eternity by Ice & Demy.

Answer 4

You maybe right when you said it as vast universe that lies outside the earth. One thing is the word "heaven" could be a metaphor for sparkling beauties in the sky. Only Christians talk of heaven as a place for those who have lived the righteous life and then died to rest in the grace of God.
the Old Testament illustrated section of the earth with hell underneath and heaven as firmament above the earth.

Answer 5

In the Bible, the word "heaven" can refer to the the sky, outer space, and God's dwelling place. In Genesis 1:1, it means God created the entire universe including planet earth.

Answer 6

There is just "one heaven" and "one earth", but different ages
2 Pet 3:5-7 There are 3 different ages.

ages greek165 aiwn aion ahee-ohn'
from the same as aei - aei 104; properly, an age; by extension, perpetuity (also past); by implication, the world;

heaven 8064 shamayim shaw-mah'-yim
dual of an unused singular shameh {shaw-meh'}; from an unused root meaning to be lofty; the sky (as aloft; the dual perhaps alluding to the visible arch in which the clouds move, as well as to the higher ether where the celestial bodies revolve):--air, X astrologer, heaven(-s).

The air or atmosphere, where clouds gather; The firmament, in which the sun, moon and stars are fixed; The upper heaven, the abode of God and his angels, the invisible realm of holiness and happiness the home of the children of God.

Answer 7

We don't really know, but Second Corinthians 12:2 talks about being caught up to the third heaven. Obviously there is more than one layer of heaven. In my opinion, the first heaven is the outer space around our earth, the second heaven would be the space around our galaxy, and the third heaven would be outside of our universe. Anything outside of our universe is hidden from our view, and I believe this is God's heavenly realm. Just speculation, but possible.

Answer 8

Well, in the Bible, there are three heavens. One of them refers to the sky, the other refers to space, and then the last one is the actual Heaven, the place that is really nice, and where God is.

Answer 9

Like many words, there is Definition #1 and often Definition #2, even a 3 or 4.
Such is the case with the word 'heaven'.
It can refer to the sky we see above our head.
It can be substituted for the word 'univers'.
It can refer to the place where God dwells.
It is also like the word 'fish'.
It slips back and forth from singular, to plural, without really changing a whole lot.

Answer 10

There are three heavens of the Bible. First, there is the heaven that is the atmosphere; second there is the heaven that is outer space; and third, there is heaven that is home to God. Paul mentions being caught up to the third heaven.