HEAVEN
HEAVEN
323
heaven, which is the scene of the iiniiuMliate nsion of God (Elucidar. c. 3) ; between the iwlumsidi're.um, the ccelum crystallinum, and the caelum empyreum (John of Dam., Thomas Aiiuin., etc.) ; or between the rcgio nuhifera, the regio astrifera, and tlie regie angdifcra (Grotius). But such strained re- finements lia\'e no phice in the Hebrew and Chris- tian Scriptures. In all their statements the Biblical books have the notes of simplicity and restraint. In many things they practise a reverent reserve.
There is at the same time a progress in the ideas of heaven wliich appear in them. These become more definite, more sjiiritual, and more sharply contrasted both in purity and in elevation with the conceptions found elsewhere. It was not alien to the common Jewish understanding, as it is seen in the curious literature of Judaism, to as.sociate the presence of evil and trouble with one or otlier of the divisions of heaven. In the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs the sec<md heaven is the habitation of the si)irits of the lawless who are in conlinement and punishment. In the Slavonic Enoch the second heaven contains the apostate angels who had transgressed with their prince, and were in reserve there against the judgment. In the third heaven, according to the same book, Enoch saw not only the Garden of Eden, but in its northern region a place of punishment, which had ' tire on all sides and on all cold and ice,' prepared for those who dishonoured God on earth and committed deeds of evil. And in the iifth heaven he saw tlie many hosts of the Watchers {^7p7/7opoii, with their countenances withered and melancholy and their lips always silent, by reason of their .sadness for their brethren, who refjelled in lust of empire and were imprisoned in the dark- ness of the second heaven. Sucli ideas were not altogether strange to the dramatic imagination of the OT, as is seen in the rei)resentation of the lying spirit th.-vt stood before the Lord (I K 2"2-'), and in the appearance of Satan along with tlie angels in the presence of God (Job 1°' 2'' '-•'). In the NT the nearest approach to such conceiitions is the Pauline designation of the ' heavenly places,' the superterrestrial regions, as the sphere in which ' the spiritual hosts of wickedness 'awell and work (Eph G'-). But in all its positive elements the Bible view of heaven is far removed from these things ; and the vision which the NT Apocalypse gives of war in heaven between Michael with his angels and the dragon with his, ends in the over- throw of the latter, and the easting of the con- quered ones 'out into the earth.'
Moreover, the ideas of heaven as the dwelling- place of God and the final abode and recompense of the righteous, move on in the course ol the revelation of truth wliich is made in the Serijjtures to larger and loftier things. In the OT heaven as the dwelling-]ilaco of God is presented chiefly in relation to the divine majesty and remoteness. In the NT it ajipears in the new and higher aspect of the Father's house, the jilace that has received the risen Christ, the scene of the activity of the great Higli Priest and the Advocate with the Father (He 4", 1 .In 2'). In the UT it is scarcely known as the future inheritance of the righteous. The eye of the O T looked mainly on the present, and tfie consummation which it e.xpccted was one that was to take place on earth. It had glimpses of things beyond, and at last rose to a clearer and more d'linite vision of an after life. But the completion of life which it looked to was .■some- thing to be realized in this world, and the heaven which made its hope was a heaven to be found mainly in the joy of a near fellowship with God here ami now. In the NT the heaven which is to be our final home and the goal of our hope is a heuven that is above this world and beyond
time, not only superterrestrial, but supramundane, the transcendent heaven which is brought to light in the gosjiel.
The nature of this heaven, its conditions, and the things in which its blesserlness consists, are nowhere given in dehnite or dogmatic state- ment. They are presented to faith and to the spiritual imagination by man f suggestive ex- pressions and by a great variety of figurative phrases. Heaven itself is described as a king- dom, one ' prepared from the foundation of the world,' the ' Father's kingdom,' the ' kingdom of God,' an 'eternal' or 'everlasting kingdom' (Mt 2.i2J 26-'', Lk 22'", 2 P I", Jude"') ; an inherit- anre, one of which we have the ' earnest ' here, the ' inlieritance of the saints in light,' an ' eternal inheritance,' an 'inheritance incorruptible, and undeliled, anil that fadeth not away' (Eph I", Col 1'-, He 9", IP 1^) ; a ' house of many man- sions ' (Jn 14') ; a place prepared by Christ (Jn 14-- ^) ; a ' better country,' a ' city prepared ' ( He 1 1"). Once at least it is described as Paradise (Lk 23'") — a term probably of Median origin, selected by the LXX as the rendering for the Garden of Eden, and used in Jewish literature to express the idea of a home of innocence and peace, with reference sometimes to the Eden of the past, sometimes to an Eden of the future, sometimes to an earthly Eden, sometimes to a heavenly (see article on Paradise). Its life is set forth as an existence like that of the angels (Mk 12^, Lk 20*'), an ' eternal life ' (Jude -'), a ' life that is life indeed ' (1 Ti 6'"), a 'rest' (He 4' etc.. Rev 14"), a life of worship, praise, service (Kev5"etc., 22^). Its liaj)])!- ness is expressed by a rich and varied imager}', as reward, a 'great reward,' a 'full reward,' royalty, an everlasting reign, an everlasting existence, a partak- ing of the tree of life and the hidden manna, a new name, the dignity of a pillar in the temide of God, a place on the throne, praise, honour, glory, tliat. which is within the veil, the presence of God's glory, a prize, a crown, the ' crown of life,' a ' crown of righteousness,' the promise, a manifestation, a salvation from wrath, the adoption, the vision of God, the being like Christ, the seeing of Him as He is, joy, ' exceeding joy,' ' the joy of the Lord ' (Mt 5'^ 1 Co 3"- 'S Col 3-^, 2 Jn ", Rev 22'-, 2 Ti 2'-, Rev 22', He 10»», Rev 2'- " 3'»- »', 1 P 1', He 6", Jude ", Ph 3'^ 2 Ti 4', 1 Co 9=», 2 Ti 4'8, Ja I'M P 5\ Rev 2'», He 9", Ro 8" 5», 2 Ti 2«>, Ko 8**, Rev 22^ 1 Jn 3^ Jude", Mt 25").