Will Any Human Being Go To Heaven?

One of the principal beliefs in Christendom is that the saved, faithful and holy people of God will go to heaven after death to live with God throughout eternity. This belief cuts across all the denominations in Christendom. The only area of contention is the number of people who will go to heaven to be with God.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses (JWs) teach that the 144,000 mentioned in Revelation 7 and 14 are the “little flock” who will rule with Christ in heaven while the remaining people of God, the “other sheep” will be resurrected to life on the earth.

There are those who, on the basis of 2 Corinthians 5:8 and Philippians 1:23 teach that every born again  Christian goes to heaven at the point of death. Teachers of the Rapture doctrine say that Enoch and Elijah were the first humans taken alive to heaven by God. They teach that all resurrected and living saints of God will be secretly taken to heaven before the great tribulation period of seven years, or three and a half years according to some. They teach that Christ will return with them to the earth at the end of the great tribulation. No one ever asks the question as to when the saints will eventually go to heaven after Jesus Christ has brought them back from there.

On their part, universalists say that all human beings will go to heaven because God wants all humans to be saved (Ezek. 18:23, 32; 33:11; John 3:17; 1 Tim. 2:4).

There are some Bible passages which seem to teach the doctrine of going to heaven, the strongest of them being John 14:2-3 where the Lord Jesus Christ said, “There are many dwelling places in my Father’s house. Otherwise, I would have told you, because I am going away to make ready a place for you. And if I go and make ready a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me, so that where I am you may be too.” (John 14:2-3 NET).

Coupled with the influence Plato had on church fathers who emerged after the death of Christ’s apostles, these passages can be said to be the basis of the belief in going to heaven, the highest heaven where God dwells, to live with Him after our lives here on earth have expired. However, a careful study of the Bible has shown that all the belief of going to heaven and the number of people who will go there are based on improper understanding of the Bible. In this article, I hope to give brief rebuttals of the various ideas that have been taught on the subject over the centuries.

Enoch and Elijah

The teaching we have received is that Enoch and Elijah were taken alive to heaven. That teaching has been found to be false. The sky is called heaven (Gen. 1:8) which is not the same heaven which God uses as His house. Apostle Paul talked of a “third heaven” which he also called paradise(2 Cor. 12:2, 4). Heaven therefore may mean the realm where God lives in or any space above the earth’s surface.

Enoch and Elijah were simply transported by God to places unknown to their people and enemies where they lived the rest of their lives before they died. Here are some proofs:

• Genesis 5:21-24 says Enoch was not (found) because God took him (away). The verse didn’t say God took him to heaven. Paul who was taught the word by Jesus Christ himself (Gal. 1:11, 12) later said that God translated Enoch (Heb. 11:5). The word “translated” is a translation of the Greek “metatithemi”  which means to transport, exchange, change sides, or pervert ( Strong’s Greek #3346). Enoch was transported by God to a place unknown to the haters of his preaching of righteousness ( Jude 1:14, 15) where he later lived and died.
• Jesus said no one has gone to heaven (John 3:13). This includes Enoch and Elijah.
• Paul said all the heroes of faith, including Enoch (Heb. 11:5) and Elijah (implied in Heb. 11:32-35), died in faith (Heb. 11:13).
• The letter written by Elijah to king Jehoram of Judah (2 Chro. 21:1-15) after his supposed translation to heaven during the reign of king Jehoshaphat of Judah is a clear proof that Elijah was not taken to heaven as is erroneously taught and believed.

For a more detailed discussion on this topic, see my article, “Were Enoch and Elijah taken alive to Heaven?”

The Pretribulation Rapture Theory

Rapture teachers say that Jesus Christ will one day come to the earth’s sky and secretly take both resurrected and living saints to heaven for a period of seven years. They teach that after the great tribulation, Christ will return to the earth with the saints. That doctrine of John Nelson Darby is grossly at variance with what the Bible has revealed. The catching up of saints mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 is what they term the Rapture. But Jesus Christ clearly stated that the “catching up into the sky” will take place on the day of his return. His return, according to him, will be after the great tribulation has passed (Matt. 24:27-31; Mark 13:24-27). This “catching up” is for the purpose of gathering the saints to himself. From the sky in all parts of the earth, the resurrected and living saints will move to and touch down with him at a place Zechariah called the “Mount of Olives” which lies east of Jerusalem (Zech. 14:4, 5, 9). The angels of God will serve as the airplanes that will carry the saints to the Mount of Olives. It was not a coincidence that our Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven from the Mount of Olives (Acts 1:9-12). He knew what had been written by prophet Zechariah about his touching down on the Mount of Olives on the day of his return.

Paul, Silas (Silvanus) and Timothy added another idea to the “catching up” in 1 Thes. 4:17. They said it is to enable the saints “to meet” (Greek: “appantesis”) the returning King, Jesus Christ, in the air. The word “appantesis” connotes going out to welcome a visiting or returning King or a dignitary. Therefore, neither Jesus Christ nor any of the apostles taught the false doctrine of faithfuls being raptured to heaven in order to escape the great tribulation.

For a more detailed discussion on the subject, see my article, “Is the pretribulation rapture doctrine biblical?”

What Does John 14:2-3 Really Mean?

One of the Bible passages that is misunderstood by most people is John 14:2-3 where our Lord Jesus Christ made the following promise:

“There are many dwelling places in my Father’s house. Otherwise, I would have told you, because I am going away to make ready a place for you. And if I go and make ready a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me, so that where I am you may be too.” (John 14:2-3 NET).

The interpretation many people give to these verses is that Jesus has gone to prepare dwelling places for us in heaven. After the preparation is finished, he will come to take us there. This interpretation is wrong. It is true that Jesus meant heaven when he used the words “my Father’s house.” That is where he has gone to prepare the dwelling places. But the Bible makes it clear that the dwelling places figuratively called “the New Jerusalem” will be brought down after its completion at God’s own time (Rev. 3:12; 21:2, 10). The Lord himself is coming again to the earth to rule as a king and to judge the world. The promise he made in John 14:2-3 will be fulfilled after his return to the earth. It is here on earth that he will take the faithful ones to be with him so that where he is we may be too. He did not promise taking anyone to heaven.

Jesus made a similar promise in Matthew 25:31-46, part of which reads, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations [of the earth] will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.'” (Matt. 25:31-34 NIVUK).

Before Jesus made the promise in John 14:2-3, he had told the Jews and his disciples that they cannot go to heaven where he was going (John 7:33-36; 8:21, 22; 13:33). He told them the reason they cannot go to heaven in these words, “You are from below; I am from above. You belong to this world; I do not.” (John 8:23 NLT). John the Baptist made a similar statement, “The one who comes from above is superior to all. The one who is from the earth [see Gen. 3:19] belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things. The one who comes from heaven is superior to all.” (John 3:31 NET).

Here, Jesus made it known that mankind is not meant to go to heaven; he belongs to the earth. That is why the expectation of God’s people is the return of Jesus Christ to the earth and the resurrection of the righteous from the dead on the day of his return. We will be resurrected to inherit eternal life here on earth.

Jesus could not have told his followers in John 13:33 that heaven is  not a place for them but say in a few verses later that he will come and take them to heaven. That would amount to contradicting himself. The truth is that our Lord did not give the promise of taking anyone to heaven in John 14:2-3. For the avoidance of doubt, the reader should read these few verses with some emphases added:

“May you be blessed by the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. The highest heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth he has given to mankind.” (Psa. 115:15-16 NIV).

God made heaven and earth and gave the earth to mankind as his eternal abode. He did not make heaven for mankind. Those who teach the doctrine of going to heaven are merely giving people a false hope. What Jesus and his apostles taught us is repentance and belief in the Son of God so that we may enter the kingdom of God here on earth.

“For those who are evil will be destroyed, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land. But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity. Turn from evil and do good; then you will dwell in the land for ever. The righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it for ever.” (Psa. 37:9, 11, 27, 29 NIVUK).

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” (Matt. 5:5 NIVUK).

What the Psalmist called “the land” is what Jesus Christ, the great teacher from God, called “the earth.” That is what the faithful and holy people of God will inherit forever.

“For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with human hands, which was only a copy of the true one in heaven. He entered into heaven itself to appear now before God on our behalf.” (Heb. 9:24 NLT).

He entered into heaven on our behalf because heaven is a realm not meant to be entered into by mankind.

“But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.” (Phil. 3:20-21 NLT).

Our citizenship of heaven is what entitles us to wait for Jesus Christ to come back from heaven to be our king and shepherd. The fact that we are citizens of heaven does not mean we will go there to live with God. The Omniscient and most loving Father knows that the earth is the best place for us. That is why He has long promised to recreate the earth to be a new one.

“They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead – Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.” (1 Thes. 1:9b-10 NIVUK).

“Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” (Heb. 9:27-28) NIVUK).

“Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day – and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” (2 Tim. 4:8 NIVUK).

“For he [Abraham] was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. If they [the heroes of faith] had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country – a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” (Heb. 11:10, 15-16 NIVUK).

Apostle Paul was not hoping to go to heaven. He was looking forward to the day of Christ’s return to be the time he will be rewarded by the Lord. The patriarchs too did not nurse the idea of going to heaven. They longed for a heavenly city that has foundations, that is, a material city built in heaven, whose architect and builder is God. That is the city figuratively named “the New Jerusalem” in Rev. 3:12 and 21:2, 10 which will be brought down to the earth for the faithful people of God to possess forever.

The 144,000 People in Rev. 7:4-8 and 14:1-5

Many theories have been taught by the JWs and many other groups about the 144,000 people. But the theories are products of human conjectures. But the true interpretation is that they are a representative figure of all of God’s people who will be sealed with the names of God and His Christ during the time when God’s wrath will be poured on the world of sinners and unbelievers.

For a detailed discussion on the 144,000 people, see my article captioned “Who are the 144,000 people in Revelation?”

Misunderstood Scriptures where Heaven is mentioned

There are a number of Bible passages which have been misinterpreted to mean we are going to heaven. I have written an article captioned “Some misconceptions about Heaven” on them.

Get the biblical facts right

The fact that “heaven” and “kingdom of heaven” are not the same thing cannot be overemphasized. The term “heaven” in this respect refers to the realm in which God dwells. Paul called the realm “unapproachable light” (1 Tim. 6:16). I want to believe that the phrase “whom no one has seen or can see” refers to God as well as the realm He lives in . The “Kingdom of heaven,” on the other hand, is the phrase used by only Matthew in reference to the Kingdom of God. It is a Kingdom owned and ruled by God from heaven through His Son Jesus Christ who will be physically present on the earth as the Governor or King. The citizens of the Kingdom will be on the earth, not in heaven where God lives.

Those who teach us about heaven often make reference to the Book of Revelation, citing mostly chapters 21 and 22. But all that is made known in the two chapters are pictures of the New Jerusalem, the great and perfect city which will be brought down to earth to replace the Paradise of Eden. That is the place where Christ will dwell with those who will inherit the promised Kingdom, not in heaven but here on earth – the new earth. Jesus said it will come down from heaven (Rev. 3:12). John saw the vision of it coming down from heaven (Rev. 21:2, 10). This is the city Jesus promised to go and build in heaven for those who believe in Him and overcome sin, persecutions, trials, temptations, et alia, to the end (John 14:2-3). It is a heaven-built city which will be brought down to earth at God’s appointed time. Whether the coming down of the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, from heaven is going to happen literally or not is not known. It is plausible that is takes place by God causing a supernatural transformation or renewal of the present earth to produce the new earth. We believe the new earth will come down from heaven but none of us knows how it will happen.

The only sense the new earth can be called “heaven” is in the metaphorical sense of it being a place of perfect peace, satisfaction, and delight – a place where sickness, disease, pain, death or any kind of sorrow is totally nonexistent. It is a place of perfect peace and splendour never seen on the present earth. It is a place to be desired by everyone. No suffering or deprivation in the present world can equate the pleasure and peace to be enjoyed by those who will be found worthy to enter it. But it is not heaven which is also called the throne or palace of God.

There are many scriptures which say that heaven is not, and will not, be the abode of humans. A few of them are the following:

“The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth He has given mankind” (Ps. 115:16, NIV).

“For this is what the LORD says – He who created the heavens, He is God; He who fashioned and made the earth, He founded it; He did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited” (Isa. 45:18, NIV).

“But will God really dwell on the earth with humans? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain You. How much less this temple I have built!” (2 Chron.6:18, NIV). To this we may add: Will humans really dwell in heaven with God which Solomon said is not enough to contain Him that He has to make the earth His footstool?

“This is what the LORD says: ‘Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool…’” (Isa. 66:1, NIV).

“No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven – the Son of Man” (John 3:13, NIV).

To the Jews Jesus said, “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to Him who sent Me. You will seek Me and you will not find Me and where I am you cannot come.” (John 7:33-34, ESV). See also John 8:21.

To His disciples, Jesus said the same thing. He said, “Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek Me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I say to you, where I am going you cannot come” (John 13:33).

“Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:5). See also Psalm 37:9-11,20,22.

“The righteous shall inherit the land [the earth] and dwell upon it forever” (Ps. 37:29, ESV).

“I direct you [Timothy] in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of the Christ Jesus… that you keep the commandment without fault or reproach until the appearing [or coming] of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He [God] will bring about at the proper time – He [God] who is blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To Him be honour and eternal dominion! Amen.” (1 Tim. 6:13-16, NASB).

“Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matt. 6:9, 10, NASB).

When Jesus Christ told the Jews and his disciples that they cannot come to where he was going, many of them could not grasp the depth of what he was saying. But he was telling them that the place or realm is not meant for humans. The reason Jesus Christ entered into heaven on our behalf (Heb. 9:24) is because the throne of God is not meant to be the habitation of humans, either in this age or in the one to come. (In the Old Testament, only the high priest entered the Most Holy Place every year. No one else dared to enter it. The earthly sanctuary served as a copy of heaven which is the original. That is why Jesus Christ, our great high priest from heaven, is the only one who is permitted by God to enter heaven with his own blood on behalf of mankind.)

As far back as the days of Prophet Isaiah, who lived between the 8th and 7th centuries BCE, God has given the promise that He will create new heavens and a new earth to replace the ones created at the beginning (Gen. 1:1, Isa. 65: 17-25; 66:22). Around 96 CE, God gave John the vision in which he saw a new heaven and a new earth which he said replaced the first ones (Rev. 21:1). He also saw in his vision the new Paradise which is called the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God (Rev. 21:2, 10). It is clearly made known that no sinner or anything that causes sin will be found in it. Nothing that causes pain, tears and sorrow will be in it (Isa. 35:1-10; Rev. 21:1-22:15; 1 Cor. 6: 9-11).

The question we must ask ourselves is this: If we will go to heaven to be with God forever why would God create a new earth? Who will be in the earth after all of God’s people have been taken to heaven to live with Him forever and the sinners will not be in it?

We must bear the following facts in mind. First, the heavens (Hebrew: shamayim) which were created in the beginning (Gen. 1:1) do not include the invisible and supernatural realm that God uses as His house. This “heaven” which God uses as His dwelling place has been before the creation of the “heavens and the earth.” That realm has been from all eternity; it has no beginning just as God has no beginning. The heavens that will be changed are the ones God created at the beginning. See Matt. 24:29; Rev. 6:12-14; 21:23. No verse of the Bible says that God will change the eternal and invisible realm in which He lives. Neither has God shown any person a picture of how that realm looks like.

Secondly, there is no verse of the Bible that says we will go to heaven to live with God at the end of this age. What is promised is entrance into the Kingdom of God which Matthew also called the Kingdom of heaven, the word “heaven” being a metonymy for God. It is going to be a Kingdom that lasts forever (Dan. 2:44; 4:3; Rev. 11:15) and it will be on the new earth. It is a heavenly kingdom because God Himself will rule over the Kingdom through His Son Jesus Christ (John 18:36; Eph. 5:5; Rev. 11:15).

Thirdly, none of the patriarchs, prophets and worthies of the Old Testament as well as the first disciples of Jesus Christ, including the apostles, ever nursed the ambition of going to heaven to live with God after their lives on the earth. The Old Testament faithfuls looked forward to the city that has foundation, [a material, physical city] whose designer and builder is God (Heb. 11:10, 16). The New Testament believers, as citizens of heaven, were looking forward for the Son of God to come from heaven and bring the kingdom of God down to the earth (1 Thes. 1:9-10, Phil. 3:20-21; 2 Tim. 4:8; Heb. 9:28). They clearly understood the promise of new heavens and a new earth which God had made for those who remain faithful in holiness to the end. The promise is that they will inherit the earth (Ps. 37:9-11; Matt. 5:5). They confessed their hope or expectation in these words, “But according to His [God’s] promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells” (2 Pet. 3:13). They did not look forward to going to be with God in heaven, something God never promised.

The Genesis of “Going To Heaven” Teaching

If the teaching of “going to heaven to live with God” does not have its origin in the Bible, where did it come from and when did it start?

There is scanty information about the genesis of this doctrine which has long become mainstream in Christian theology. Read the following excepts from the writings of some Bible scholars:

“They [the followers of the Jesus-movement] believed that with the resurrection of Jesus this new creation had already been launched. Jesus embodied in Himself the perfect fusion of “heaven” and “earth”. In Jesus, therefore, the ancient Jewish hope had come true at last. The point was not for us to “go to heaven,” but for the life of heaven to arrive on earth. Jesus taught His followers to pray, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” From as early as the third century [CE], some Christian teachers tried to blend this with types of Platonic belief, generating the idea of “leaving earth and going to heaven,” which became mainstream in the Middle Ages. But Jesus’ first followers never went that route” – Online article tilted “The New Testament Doesn’t Say what Most people Think It Does About Heaven” by Prof. Nicholas Thomas Wright, FRSE, Bishop of Durham (2003-2010), Research Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

“In Christianity, heaven is traditionally the location of the throne of God and the angels of God… The 1st century early Jewish Christians from whom Christianity developed as a Gentile religion, believed that the Kingdom of God was coming to earth within their own lifetimes, and looked forward to a divine future on earth. According to Bart Ehrman, when the Kingdom of God did not arrive, Christian beliefs gradually changed into the expectation of an immediate reward in heaven after death, despite the churches continuing to use the major creeds’ statements of belief in a coming resurrection day and world to come” – “Heaven in Christianity” by Wikipedia, the Online Encyclopedia.

“The early Christian church was heavily influenced by Plato, and the effects of Plato’s teaching can still be seen within Christianity today. This is particularly true when it comes to the topic of heaven. Many Christians today would be surprised to learn that they hold a Platonic view of heaven which is not Biblical… For many Christians today, heaven is seen as an ethereal, ideal, otherworld place where disembodied, perfected, spirits roam. It’s largely an unfamiliar, non-Earth like environment where everything remains the same. It’s seen as a purely spiritual place without time and space, where there’s nothing to do but float around and gaze at God.” – Online Article, “Christianity’s Platonic Heaven” by Shawn Nelson, MDiv.

“Clearly, the early church was heavily inundated with Greek, namely Platonic thought. But perhaps the theologian who is most responsible for shaping the church’s Platonic view of heaven is Augustine [Bishop of Hippo]. The famous theologian, Augustine (354 AD), was very heavily influenced by Plato… Augustine went so far to say in his Confessions [of faith] that he thanked God that he became familiar with Plato first, because had he not, he probably would never have been able to receive the Gospel. With such a high view of Plato, it’s no surprise, then, that Augustine’s view of heaven was so heavily affected by him [Plato]… For Augustine, “the Kingdom of God consists in eternal life with God in heaven.” …It was then his spiritualized view [of heaven] which became the accepted Roman Catholic view, which remains the dominant view within the Catholic Church today, as well as a popular view within the protestant church at large, and general Western secular thought. Thus the origin of Christianity’s unbiblical view of heaven can be found in the church’s adoption of key concepts from Plato.” – ibid.

Conclusion

The great expectation we have is the second coming of Christ to establish the Kingdom of God here on earth. On the day of His second advent all the holy people of God who have died will be resurrected to life. Both they and the living saints will be given divine physical bodies with which they will live forever here on earth.

There is no single verse of the Bible that can be shown as a proof of God’s promise that we will go and live with Him in heaven after our lifetime here on earth. The idea of going to heaven to live with God is a distortion of the truth. That notion was unknown to the first followers of Christ who handed Christianity to the Gentile world.

God, in the person of Jesus Christ, will come down to the earth to live among God’s people in the Kingdom that will last forever. He never gave mankind the promise that He will one day take us to dwell with Him in that realm which no one has seen or can see (1 Tim. 6:16). He has given the earth to mankind as man’s eternal habitation.

The New Earth which will be inhabited by God’s faithful and holy people is a place to be desired by mankind. Only the faithful, holy and overcoming ones will inherit it. By His grace I will be one of them.

Over time, the true teaching of the scriptures have been distorted by men who were influenced by pagan religions and Greek philosophies, especially those of Plato. Many Christians today take too many things for granted, including warnings given through God’s holy Spirit. Many today take whatever is taught by the leaders of their groups as absolute truth. They never do any review of them no matter how loud the warnings coming from any source outside their denomination may be. Denominationalism has therefore become one big tool being exploited by Satan to prevent many from knowing the whole truth. The result is the proliferation of false doctrines in our churches such as Rapture, Trinity, Sabellianism, immediate reward in heaven at death, and many others

The influence of Greek philosophy was already a problem to the Christian faith in the first century. That was what made Apostle Paul warn the church in Colossae, “Be careful not to allow anyone to captivate you through an empty, deceitful philosophy that is according to human traditions and the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ” (Col. 2:8, NET). Many Christians are ignorant of the fact that this warning has been unheeded by many theologians who arose after the death of the first apostles and have handed over to us many doctrines tainted with human philosophies. That is the bane of our modern-day Christianity. Unfortunately for many, they are so full of denominational pride and prejudices that they don’t listen to others. Perhaps the greatest and gravest of the consequences of the gradual departure from biblical truth is what our Lord had foreseen while on earth the first time. He asked, “However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8).