To expand on the previous blog, let’s look at one aspect of the Bible picture of heaven, as described by Moses, Samuel, Job, Isaiah, Malachi, Mark, and various Psalmists. The Apostle John and Jesus Himself have passing comments as well, so the picture isn’t isolated to one or two writers.
The previous blog mentioned the “firmament”. Now, how would God separate water from water? Could oceans, lakes, and rivers on the earth, be separated by a bit of air, from clouds holding the waters above the firmament? Not a very satisfactory division. Something more solid was needed. How about “something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself?” (Ex. 24:9,10) This is an outstanding event because Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up the mountain and saw the God of Israel. Since God is Spirit, they obviously didn’t see Him in all His glory, they must have seen a dimmed down representation. But the point is that they saw an image representing the sky, in a clear, hard, blue form, with God above it.
Or, how about “skies, hard as a mirror of cast bronze?” (Job 37:18) The speaker is Elihu, who has just gone through a magnificent list of God’s works, from His communication with man through dreams, visions of the night, or even pain; His knowledge of their every step; His power in nature in, for example, the water cycle or in fierce storms and driving wind. Then the imagery becomes personal—the breath of God produces ice, He directs the clouds over the whole earth to punish or reward. At last, Elihu addresses Job directly: “Can you join him in spreading out the skies, hard as a mirror of cast bronze?” Elihu didn’t really know what the skies were made of but the thought of hard and polished bronze was the best simile he could come up with.
Or even “an expanse, sparkling like ice?” (Ezek.1:22-26) Ezekiel was among the Jewish exiles by the Kebar River in Babylonia when, he says, “the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.” Ezekiel’s visions are tough ones to understand but here and there we may be able to pick up some details of his world view. A gigantic windstorm came out of the north, and four living creatures appeared to him. We don’t really know what or who those creatures were but we do know that, “Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what looked like an expanse, sparkling like ice, and awesome…Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man.” This is another simile for the sky overhead, still hard and still bright.
And what is the shape of the sky? Job calls it a vault or arch (Job 22:12-14) and likens it to a mirror. The idea of a vault or dome would be the first picture that would come from simply observing the sun, moon and stars. These rise from the horizon, arc upward, then drop to the horizon again, e.g., “the sun knows when to go down,” (Psa.104:19) and “the sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.” (Ecc.1:5) Other metaphors for the firmament are tent (Psa.19:04-06; Isa.40:22), pavilion (Job 36:29) and scroll (Rev.6:14). Isaiah says that one day “all the stars of the heavens will be dissolved and the sky rolled up like a scroll.” (Isa.34:04) These are the metaphors that allow the Psalmist to say, “Part your heavens, O Lord, and come down,” (2 Sam.22:10; Psa.18:9; Psa.144:5) or, “rend the heavens and come down.” (Isa.64:1)
Isaiah quotes “the king of Babylon” when he says, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God…I will ascend above the tops of the clouds.” (Isa.14:13, 14) Heaven is thus “above the stars”, and “above the tops of the clouds.” What can hold such a firmament up? Obviously, pillars—Job knew that God could make “the pillars of the heavens quake.” (Job 26:11) Isaiah talks about the heavens trembling. (Isa.13:13) And David knew that “the foundations of the heavens shook.” (2 Sam.22:8) In fact, God is the One “who builds his lofty palace in the heavens and sets its foundation on the earth.” (Amos 9:6) Where is that foundation, where are those pillars? Well, remember that the heavens are “vaulted” (Job 22:12-14), they are “arched”, so according to Isaiah, they must be far away, at “the ends of the heavens,” (Isa.13:05) where they come down to earth. The vaulted ceiling of a cathedral (Exeter in this image) was a perfect picture on a scale the ordinary man could understand.
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