As we look in on the Apostle Paul we find him in Damascus with the scales removed from his eyes, baptised, and rejoicing in the fact that he had “seen Jesus.” It seems from his letter to the Galatians that his next experience was one that fitted him for the great purpose that God had for him. He was to suffer many things for the sake of the gospel, witness before kings and rulers, and finally lose his life for Christ’s sake. In Gal. 1 :15-17 he says : “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood : Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me ; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.”
It was the wisdom of God that sent Paul into Arabia to learn the true meaning of the Law and the Prophets before commencing to witness for Christ, just as it had been necessary for Moses to spend forty years in Median learning humility before leading Israel to the promised land. Paul had been well educated in the letter of the Scriptures without understanding the spiritual conception. His scholarly letter to the Romans and his other epistles, however, show that in Arabia he became versed in the spirit of the law which was perfected in the life and teachings of Jesus—that circumcision is of the heart, and the true Israelite is one who is born inwardly through water and blood.
I believe there is a parallel between Paul’s sojourn in Arabia and in the transfiguration of Jesus on the mount which was witnessed by Peter, James and John. In order to understand the meaning of the vision, it is necessary that we grasp the reason for the three apostles being there on the mount. Mark and Luke record the incident correctly, without dividing the chapters. The translators in Matthew have divided the chapters in the wrong place, and hence, unless we realise that originally there was no division by chapters in the sacred writings, we may not understand the correct sequence of events and thoughts in the transfiguration scene. Compare Luke 9:28-36 and Mark 9:1-9 with Matthew 16:28 and Matthew 17 :19.
The facts, of course, were that the “some standing there who would not taste of death before seeing the kingdom of God come with power” were Peter, James and John who were “eye witnesses of His majesty when they were with him on the holy mount,” as later expressed by Peter in his letter. Of course the majesty of Jesus beheld by them was a preview of His reigning as King over the entire earth in majesty and power. Thus they were taken in the vision into the millenial reign, if not beyond. John had much the same experience later on, only in greater detail, as revealed in the Revelation of Jesus Christ. (In our Bibles, this is wrongly termed “The Revelation of St. John the Divine,” but it is really the “unveiling” of the Apocalypse of Jesus, not of John.)
However, let us return to the parallel between Paul in Arabia, and the Mount of Transfiguration vision. The incident we have in mind is found in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians where he is telling them about the experience he had about “fourteen years ago,” which I believe took place in Arabia, where he “conferred not with flesh and blood” but undoubtedly with angels who are the instruments of God in revealing His purpose to man (2nd Cor. 12:1-5).
A study of chapters 10 and 11 of this second letter to the Corinthians points out the background for Paul’s words which we read in chapter 12, verses 1 to 5. Evidently there were some in the ecclesia at Corinth who spoke contemptuously of the apostle, that “his bodily presence was weak, and his speech contemptible.” There seems to have been one in particular who was quite prominent in this, probably the one that Paul mentions by name later on as hindering him in his work. Concerning this, the apostle says : “The Lord reward him according to his works” (2nd Cor. 10:10—marginal rendering).
There were some who demonstrated the very human trait of being impressed by the boasting of these adversaries of Paul. Hence the apostle’s words in chapter 11, verse 22 to the end of the chapter. Then in the first five verses of the l 2th chapter he tells them of the incident which seems to parallel the Mount of Transfiguration scene. (We suggest that you read again these five verses from the new American Standard Revised Version.) How can we compare the two ? Remember it was a picture of Jesus as King of the entire earth that the apostles saw on the mount. Paul states that what he saw when he was carried to paradise was not lawful for him to utter. Hence we would be very foolish to speculate upon what it was that he saw. However, the way he speaks it appears that he expected his listeners to understand what he was talking about when he says it was to the third heaven that he had been carried. In fact there would have been no point at all in telling them if they were absolutely ignorant as to what he meant by this statement.
It might be a good spiritual exercise to ask ourselves if we have any idea what the apostle meant in saying this to the Corinthians. Then it might be well to spend a little time trying to understand some of the things that Peter said were spoken by Paul and were “hard to understand.” For perhaps the best explanation of the third heaven, I would recommend reading Dr. Thomas in “Eureka,” volume 3, pages 680-682. We will discover as we examine the Scriptures that the third heaven is a period of time in the dispensation of God rather than a geographical location.
In this connection, let us turn to Isaiah 65, verse 17 to the end of the chapter. Verse 17 says in part, “for the former shall not be remembered nor come into mind.” That, at least, would indicate that there was another heaven and earth previous to this one. The conditions concerning Jerusalem as related in this chapter, and also her people, have never before existed, much less the herbivorous creatures feeding together (verse 25), and the changing of the eating habits of the king of beasts so completely. This chapter has been used, and rightly so, to describe the conditions that will prevail in the kingdom of God. We connect it with the prophecy in Zechariah. chapter 14, and tell our friends and neighbours that this is the period known in Bible prophecy as the millennium.
Now to consider the words of Peter with relation to the heavens and earth which were to pass away to make room for a new heaven and earth wherein dwelleth righteousness (2nd Peter, chapter 3, and particularly verses 8-16). The key to the understanding of these verses lies, in the acceptance of the fact that God does not measure time as we do ; nor must we make the mistake of trying to estimate the infinite with the finite mind, but must realise that a thousand years with the Lord are as one day. (Read again verses 8,9).
God is long suffering, in that he desires humanity to come to repentance. He is not willing that any should perish, which is quite contrary to the manner in which man would deal with his fellow man. It is a true saying borne out by the annals of history “that man’s inhumanity to man makes countless thousands groan.” The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly small. Thus “the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and the earth also and the works that are therein shall all be burned up” (verse 10).
Verse 10 which we have just quoted must be understood and confined to the facts to which it relates, for you will notice that it does not by any means give a complete picture of the day of the Lord which is the subject matter of Peter’s discourse. In other words, this is not the time that Ezekiel speaks of in chapters 38 and 39, nor the period when all the nations -are gathered together for battle as portrayed so graphically by Joel in chapter 3. It is the literal passing away of the Israelitish heavens and earth in fire and fervent heat a mere four years after these words of Peter were written. We are familiar with the terrible devastation and horrors that befell Jerusalem under the hands of the Roman desolator led by Vespasian and Titus. The prophet Isaiah long ago had prophesied the same desolation coming upon Israel when he said : “The heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner” (Isaiah 51 :6). The heavens and earth in Peter’s epistle are primarily the Jewish dispensation, and they relate to the period referred to in Hebrews 8:7-13. Here the old covenant, having waxed old, was to pass away, and in its place the time would come when God would write his law in their hearts. The first heaven and earth passed away with the destruction of Israel’s commonwealth, and thus the apostle says : “Seeing that ye know these things, what manner of people ought ye to be in all holy conversation and Godliness, looking for, and hasting unto the coming of the day of God ?” And again there is the reminder of the destruction four years hence wherein the heavens shall melt with fervent heat, etc. Jesus reminded them of the same period when he said : “When ye shall see things come to pass, let him that is on the housetop not go back to take anything out, etc.” History has shown how some heeded the warning and fled to Pella when the destruction came, and were saved.
Between the twelfth and thirteenth verses, there has passed an interval of almost 1900 years, and still we look for the new heavens and earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. It is yet future, yet not too far in the future that we should not lift up our heads and be prepared. If we study the prophecies of Isaiah, Zechariah, and Malachi, in particular, and others, of course, we shall find that the new heavens and earth to come with the reign of Christ are the second heaven period. In this respect let it be said in passing that God has never measured time by Gentile dispensation. Israel has always been God’s yardstick of history, and never has the Gentile era of rule been considered by God as a Gentile heaven period. The kingdom of God which was a heavenly kingdom, in that it was arranged and ruled by God, was the Jewish kingdom that passed away because of wickedness, and although the Gentiles are to fill the cup of their iniquity to the brim, as did Israel, and are also to pass away, they have never been a “heaven” period in the measure of time with God.
The millenial heaven period, the one wherein as Daniel said, they that turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars for the ohlam of the ohlams (the age of the ages), is the second heaven and earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. But you must notice from Isaiah, chapter 65, that even this blessed period is as yet not perfect. It is again in a probationary period, though far, far advanced over the first heaven and earth period which leads to the finale, when at the end of the 1000 years death shall be destroyed and sin be no more, and God Himself shall dwell with men and be their God. The 21st chapter of Revelation, to which we shall refer, brings us to the third heaven as seen by Paul, and which was such a blessed state that it was not possible for him to speak of it. Can we see why ? It takes all of our spiritual perception to grasp the glories of the millenial age, much less the beyond. (Read Rev. 21:1-4).
The new heaven and earth replacing the first heaven and earth of verse one is self explanatory, for after one comes two. “And there was no more sea” (verse 1). Isaiah has said that the wicked are like the troubled sea that cannot rest, casting up mire and dirt. How true this has always been, from the dawn of history to our day. But now, says the revelator, “the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ.” He further states that “He (Christ) shall reign for ever and ever” (the oh-lam of the ohlams, the period of 1000 years). The millennium is the time when the marriage of the bride shall take place, and the New Jerusalem that John saw will come ( own from heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. This is the time for the new heavens and earth to be established wherein dwelleth righteousness, but perfection shall not be attained until sin and death are completely abolished.
But even this blessed millenial reign comes to an end, as shown in the next two verses, and again take note that there is a period of a thousand years between the 2nd verse and the 3rd and 4th verses. The third verse takes us to the completion of the plan as God has revealed through the prophets. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. When God dwells with man the “former things that pass away” in verse 4 are the second heavens and earth which make way for the final plan of God, the establishment of paradise on earth again, this third heaven to which Paul was caught up, and about which he could not speak. I would like to conclude this thought on the third heaven with Dr. Thomas’ words in “Eureka,” volume 3, and certainly recommend that you read it for yourself.
“The third heaven, or paradise in full manifestation, is John’s new heaven and earth, in which there is no more sea. In the former earth which passes away, there is sin, and generation, and death ; and because of the existence of sin, flesh and blood, and death, there are mediator ship, and priesthood, and ruling with an iron rod, in the ‘Former Heaven.’ These things are not to continue permanently. Sin, which is the transgression of the law, must be wholly and finally suppressed, flesh and blood must be exterminated from the earth ; disease and death, which are the wages of sin, abolished ; mediator-ship and priesthood, necessary in the offering to the Deity of gifts and sacrifices for the sins of the erring and the ignorant, delivered up to the Father; and religion which is a divinely appointed remedy for an existing breach between the creature and the Creator, superseded, as having answered its purpose, and being therefore no longer necessary. All these things pertaining to the former, or millennium heaven and earth, John saw had passed away. Henceforth the earth, not burned up, but perfected and rendered the paradisaical arena of all the unutterable joys and beauties and ecstatic things beheld and heard of Paul, becomes a fitting habitation of Deity in unmediatorial intimacy with the humblest of mankind ; for then the Father will be all things in all men.”
Sufficient then of the wonderful revelation given to Paul at the period of his life when he was to set out and suffer all things, and count them as but dung that he might win Christ and the glory to be revealed in Him. This he expresses most pungently in writing to the Philippians in chapter 3, verse 8. In reading these words, let us remember that he is giving us also the correct appreciation of values, so that we may attain to that Paradise of God which he saw while in Arabia, when all the unutterable things will be revealed in their fullness to the sons and daughters of God. Let us strive to attain unto that third heaven period, which will be assured if we become the righteous immortals of the second heaven and earth period, and reign with Him for a thousand years.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One