Heavens And Earths & The Heaven Of Heavens

The graphic above shows three earths and, above each, three heavens, each signified by a letter pair. This is a very crude attempt to explain a wonderful but almost unknown biblical Truth. It is an attempt to set forth the sequence of events in the plan and Purpose of The Ages. 

Everyone knows that God created the Heavens and the Earth in the beginning (Gen. 1:1). Most believe that God created everything in seven days, but Scripture tells of a war in Heaven and an ancient enemy that caused darkness and destruction to the original creation. After a long period of time, The Word of God tells us God used the same planet, Earth, to rebuild a new earth with abundant life but different than before, with a beautiful garden and a new creation of mankind (Adam and Eve) upon this Second Earth. The Bible speaks of Three Heavens and Earths, and the one coming after the Millennium is the Third. This Earth is the Second. We know this is very hard for some to believe, but if we let The Scriptures speak, They will show us The Truth, and the fossil record, the astronomical record, and the difficult verses in Scripture will all come together and finally make sense. We ask you to keep an open mind and consider the following:

 The Scriptures speak clearly of Three Heavens and Earths in His Redemptive Plan. The First Heaven and Earth contained an abundance of life even beyond our own, as is evidenced by the Cambrian Layer and many other fossil remains. The vast billions of galaxies that we are still discovering were created in The Beginning, along with the rest of what we call the universe. As is true today, the very lowest part of Heaven is found just above the surface of The Earth and contains the atmosphere. The Scriptures call the sky and the clouds Heaven.

Looking at the graphic above, the capitalized letter pairs stand for:

HW - The Heavens That Were (2 Pet. 3:5-6). This was a part of the world order that perished in Gen. 1:2. We know very little about the Heavens except what we can learn from ice cores, for the Scripture is silent except to say it existed and was made to be inhabited and perished. Isa. 45:18 agrees with Gen. 1:2.

EW - The Earth That Then Was (2 Pet. 3:5-6). This Earth we also know very little about except what the geologic and fossil records can tell us. It was the other part of the world order that perished. It is the overthrow of Eph 1:4 (translated foundation in the KJV from the Greek word katabolē  which means to cast down, overthrow, or destroy.  Paul could have and would have used the word themelos, the common Greek word for foundation if that is what he had meant to say). World order involves both the heavens and the earth. It is The Original Earth and its atmosphere, Heaven, that was destroyed by the enemy in the Great War.

OW - Overthrow by Water (2 Pet. 3:6). This event is further described in Job 9:5-8 and Psa. 104:6-9. According to Gen. 1:2, the earth became waste and empty (the true meaning of form and void from the Hebrew tohu and bohu, the same words used in Isa. 45:18). The Scriptures declare the First World as a perfect creation In The Beginning (Isa 45:18). Overthrow, wrongly translated foundation of the world is found several times in the NT. All these should be looked up and considered.

HN - Heavens That Are Now (2 Pet. 3:7). On the second day of restoration (Gen. 1:6), as it is correctly called, God said and called forth a new firmament, called heaven, Gen. 1:8. Our atmosphere which is still considered Heaven in Scripture is the lowest of all the heavens and is where because of Satan's rebellion he and his fallen angels were cast and remain to this day. They are called the princes of this world (1 Cor. 2:6-9) and the prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2). Some day soon, he will be cast to the earth with his angels and then will begin what is called the great tribulation (Rev. 12:7-9). 

EN - Earth That Now Is (2 Pet. 3:7). Gen. 2:1 speaks of the heavens and the earth that were finished in the six days. Water was set within bounds, the firmament established, plant and animal life furnished, and the man put on the earth to have dominion over it. But Adam forfeited that dominion as a result of sin. The present earth shows many marks of the overthrow and has many remnants of the former time. The First Earth was made to be inhabited, and the plant and animal life was huge in size and number compared to our Earth. 

OF - Overthrow By Fire (2 Pet. 3:7). In 2 Pet. 3:10, it says that the elements shall melt with fervent heat. We would assume that all present monuments and works of men will disappear and be forgotten. Man will have so polluted and wrecked this earth that such destruction will be necessary for the new and Third Earth to follow.

NH - New Heaven (Rev. 21:1). This comes into being after the present heaven and earth have passed away in the overthrow by fire. In this heaven will dwell righteousness (2 Pet. 3:13). In this time, former things will be forgotten. This heaven probably will reflect the light of the New Jerusalem so that it will light the whole earth with no need for the sun or moon. This is the Third Heaven that John saw, and he tells us about it in Rev. 21:1-4.

NE - New Earth (Rev. 21:1). This is the paradise John saw. It is the paradise that was promised to the dying malefactor at Calvary. It is Adam's hope, his paradise to be regained. There will be no more sea, deep, bottomless pit, or abyss. The water that ruined the First Earth and flooded the Second Earth will be taken away. All signs of sin, death, and ruin will be erased. The Nations of the saved will inhabit this New Earth (Rev. 21:24). All creation will be filled with the Holiness of God Rev. 22:1-6.

Deut. 10:14  Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord's thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is.

Please refer back to the graphic above. There, The Heavens and The Earths, the Kosmos, are shown moving through time, but little was said about the sphere above them all, The Heaven of heavens. There is a need for much more study of that Sphere of Blessing.

The Kosmos or Creation includes The Heaven and The Earth of Gen. 1:1 . But The Heaven of heavens is not mentioned till Deut. 10:14 . It is mentioned less than ten times in the OT. One noteworthy mention is 1 Kings 8:27, where Solomon declares that neither the present heavens nor The Heaven of heavens could contain God.

Although in history and prophecy, there is a change of Kosmos twice, each with an over-throw, there is no change in The Heaven of heavens. It is not involved in the overthrows. Sin has and never will enter therein. 

Although the firmament was created as a tent or dwelling place for God, it was not necessary for His existence. God is Spirit and does not need a material creation in which to exist, for He has always been, and He is The Beginning of Creation. This is beyond our comprehension. This tent in the present Kosmos is a place where God is dwelling and working out the redemptive purpose so that He might fellowship with us His creatures as more than Creator as Father and Sons, Family, Friend, Head of The Body. When All that He said is finished, it will be rolled up and put away, for He will Be All in All.

The Heaven of heavens is mentioned five times in Ephesians and in special reference to the place of blessing of The Church, The Body of Christ, and its relation to principalities and powers (not angels, they had to do with Israel and dwell in the firmament).

Note these in Ephesians; 

A.  Eph. 1:3 Spiritual blessings 
   B.  Eph. 1:20 Far above principalities and powers
      C.  Eph. 2:6 Raised and seated together
   B.   Eph. 3:10 Witness to principalities and powers
A.  Eph. 6:12 Spiritual wickedness

The last reference probably tells us a lot about heaven and The Heaven of heavens. There is no flesh and blood there, and there is no wrestling there. The rulers are denoted by the word kosmokrater, meaning those that inhabit only the Kosmos (world), not being in The Heaven of heavens.

We are subject to the wiles of the devil and the evil forces that are mentioned in Dan. 10:13, Dan. 10:20. So the translation of Eph. 6:12 needs a bit of rearranging for the two spheres to be kept separate. In Eph 1:20-21, we find righteous powers in the super heavens, but in Eph. 6:12, we see that wicked powers inhabit heaven, the firmament. And it is the former that receive the witness of The Church (Eph. 3:10).

Our Lord then is not only Head of all things on Earth (Eph 1:10) but is enthroned in The Heaven of heavens Far above every known power (Eph l:21).

Praise Him Who Loves us and gave Himself for us that we might know The Power of His Resurrection and meet Him in Glory,
Thank You, Heavenly Father, in Christ Jesus our Lord.