Heaven: A Believer's Final Resting Place?

One of the greatest myths ever foisted upon the church... not quite as much as the Church being separate from Israel, is that believers go to heaven when they die.  Did you realize that nowhere in the Bible does it teach that believers go to heaven when they die?  Now there are some believers who were beheaded, seen under the altar in Revelation, waiting for God's justice to be poured out on His enemies.  But that's a weird place to spend eternity.  That passage is primarily teaching about Yhwh's dealings with fallen man and their fallen leader.

In doing a word study on heaven, I went through, and looking at the uses of the word heaven in scripture, and in most cases, it is referring to the atmosphere over our heads.  There are cases where it states that Yhwh lives in the heavens... and there are cases where believers, when they die, are with the Lord, but nowhere in scripture does it say that that is in heaven, above the earth.

Deuteronomy 4:19  (19) "And beware not to lift up your eyes to heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, and be drawn away and worship them and serve them, those which the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.

Exodus 31:17   (17) "It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed."

Deuteronomy 9:1   "Hear, O Israel! You are crossing over the Jordan today to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than you, great cities fortified to heaven,

Deuteronomy 11:11  (11) "But the land into which you are about to cross to possess it, a land of hills and valleys, drinks water from the rain of heaven,

Judges 5:20   (20) "The stars fought from heaven, From their courses they fought against Sisera.

And there are many more such verses, but for sake of brevity, I will not include them here.  It would make a excellent bible/word study though to go to your favorite online bible, and simply study on the word "heaven," and I think you will be greatly encouraged and amazed at what you find.


The Bible does teach however that believers in fact go to Abraham's bosom, located in Hebraic thought, under the earth. 

Luke 16:22  22 "Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried.

Another passage we see a glimpse is where king Saul went to inquire of the prophet Samuel by a witch, at En-dor.  1 Samuel 28:15  15 Then Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?"

When the Messiah Y'shua, after his crucifixion, where did he go?  This is probably the most agreed upon by students of the Bible, his spirit descended down into hades, the place of prison of disobedient spirits. 

1 Peter 3:18-20  18 For Messiah also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to Elohim, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;  19 in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison,  20 who once were disobedient, when the patience of Elohim kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.

In extra-biblical Hebraic literature, there is a picture of many things that dwell under the earth.  It is taught that under the earth there are indeed two places, both Abraham's bosom, the place of paradise and comfort for all followers of the Messiah, and of Hades or Sheol, a gloomy place of punishment for those spirits who rejected Yhwh's Covenant of forgiveness and life in Messiah Yeshua.  We see a glimpse of this in the already quoted parable of Lazarus and the rich man:

Luke 16:25-26   25 "But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.  26 'And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.'

So we can see here the Y'shua believed and taught about believer's being carried to Abraham's bosom.  And this was believed by the disciples, and by the entire early church.  Through the ages there has been a slow departure from these beliefs and teachings of our older, wiser fathers, as man entered into eras of "enlightenment," realizing he could know things apart from the word of Elohim.  But we didn't consider the words of Proverbs: "The fear of Yhwh is the beginning of knowledge." (Pr. 1:7).

There is also a passage I love speaking of the redeemed Israelites in the last days, as they are bought into the kingdom of Elohim, the land of Israel (cf. Ezek. 36), and they report to the Yhwh:
Jeremiah 16:19  19 O YHWH, my strength and my stronghold, And my refuge in the day of distress, To You the nations will come From the ends of the earth and say, "Our fathers have inherited nothing but falsehood, Futility and things of no profit."

In these last days, the Father is exposing corruption everywhere, and has shown us that most of what we have been taught, is wrong, and/or a lie.  I know that this post is far from conclusive concerning the matter of believers, and their final resting place, but I hope that this will spur you on to read, and search, and you too will conclude that a believers final resting place is in the land of Israel, with Messiah, keeping Torah.

Luke 16:16-17  16 "The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.  17 "But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.

After the Tribulation, Connecting the Testaments

In the Gospel of Matthew, the now famous chapter twenty-four, verses 29-31, Y'shua tells us:

“And immediately after the tribulation of those days, 

‘the sun will be darkened 

and the moon will not give its light, 

and the stars will fall from heaven, 

and the powers of heaven will be shaken.’

And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man arriving on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect together from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other end of it.


Was Yeshua (Jesus) making a new claim, or reinforcing an old Israelite hope?
What did the Rabbi Shaul (aka apostle Paul), teach?  

We see in a letter to the believers in Thessalonica:

"For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who remain, will be snatched away at the same time together with them in the clouds for a meeting with the Lord in the air, and thus we will be together with the Lord always." 1 Thess. 4:16-17


Zechariah 8:2-8 ² "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'I am exceedingly jealous for Zion, yes, with great wrath I am jealous for her.' ³ "Thus says the LORD, 'I will return to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD of hosts will be called the Holy Mountain.' ⁴ "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Old men and old women will again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each man with his staff in his hand because of age. ⁵ 'And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets.' ⁶ "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'If it is too difficult in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, will it also be too difficult in My sight?' declares the LORD of hosts. ⁷ "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Behold, I am going to save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west; ⁸ and I will bring them back and they will live in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God in truth and righteousness.'


So we see, reading our Bibles contextually, that Y'shua did come to fulfill the Messianic hope.  He is both Messiah ben Josef, and Messiah ben David, still to come in glory and conquering power!  The Protestant and Catholic churches have been steeped in the tradition of men for so long that there is a difference, a separation between the first and the Renewed Covenant (Jer. 31:31-33), that for many, the Old Testament is not a serious object of inquiry (to their own destruction).


But in truth, the Bible contextually has one theme throughout, and Yeshua came to restore the lost ten tribes (Mat. 15:25, 10:6), to reunify the tribes of Israel (Ezekiel 36:22-28)) under Torah (Zech. 14:16: Is. 2:3; Mic. 4:2).


The Gentile Church is not a separate people from the Jews, nor should it be.  Any simple student of history can verify that Sunday observance by the Church shifted formally under the reign of Constantine.  The early church kept Sabbath, observed Yahweh's feasts (Lev. 23) and observed the teaching of the clean and the unclean.  Who the Gentiles are... is that they are now the prophetic fulfillment of Ephraim, who was prophesied by our father Jacob to be the "fullness of the Gentiles" (Gen. 48:19).  As the one who received the blessing of the firstborn (along with Judah), Ephraim was also known as the head of the ten northern tribes (the "lost tribes").


This is why, Jeremiah tells us, the New Covenant (Jer. 31:31-33) is for the house of Israel and the house of Judah (no one else is named).  But the tribes were to be dispersed through all the world and mixed with all the peoples (Hos. 8:7) so that they could be brought back in to Covenant with Yhwh, and walk in His commandments (1 John 2:6).


Y'shua lived a sinless life, by walking according to the words of life, Torah (Deut. 30:15,16).  All who follow Him are commanded to walk as He walked (1 John 2:6).

The Boston Bombing, Federal Control and Walking by Faith

"Never waste a crisis!" we remember being told a few years ago.  In the wake of the terrible bombing that was carried by adherents of Islam, simply following the Qur'an's dictates to wage jihad on unbelievers, we see that the government can impose a lock-down and quickly execute a man-hunt.  I was talking to a man the other day who said that he thought, in light of R. Emmanuael's words, that this was a practice run at a military state.

I'm not saying that it necessarily is, but I can see how he would think that.  Indeed, the reasoning and justifications for that line of thought are there.  And you can tell what the government is getting ready to carry out, by watching their words, or phrases on television.  Reporters, in following up on the suspects of the bombing, speak of them learning to "make bombs on the internet."  And so now they have introduced alot of fear about the internet being "open to everybody".  Looking quickly at Drudge news headlines last night  I saw where they are trying to pass an internet sales tax.  

It appears that this incident with the bombing in Boston is going to lead to more government controls over the internet, and that they are ready and able to do a "police-state."  Growing up in my generation, in the Bible-belt, I can see that this is not the country that I grew up in, nor the one founded at first.  But this doesn't bother me.  In all their strivings to control this once great nation, and to level it, reduce its population, and bring us into the global government, or the New Age as some would call it, they are merely fulfilling my Lord's word, which he predicted 3,000 yrs ago would happen, through the prophet Daniel.

Evangelical Christians are labeled as enemy threat no. 1, and Catholics are not too far off either.  Another news headline I read where I notice a phrase about the Boston bombers is that they were "following religion."  Another key phrase similar to that you will notice is "followers of religion".  It's like, duh.  The Quran teaches and advocates war against unbelievers.  The Bible and Chrisitianity teach loving your neighbor as yourself, resisting evil, and leaving vengenance to God, for the last day.  But we are to pray for those who persecute us and repay them for their evil with blessing, so that we can be children of our Father in heaven. Sounds pretty threatening to me, doesn't it you?

For any intelligence operatives out there reading this, the big O is pursuing and making way for this religion of violence in our country, while you guys are trying to demonize those who have showed by their religious actions to care for and hurt those in need.  Christians were the only ones who remained behind during the bubonic plague in Europe to care for the sick and dying.  Everyone else fled.  Why does that make us enemy no. 1?  Because we believe that our creator is the only way of salvation?

I served in Kenya for a bit back in 2002.  As my work was finished, I got to visit with some fellow missionaries doing work among a tribe in northwest Kenya.  This tribe had recently become open to the gospel, and it was amazing to see the changes that it was bringing to the community.  The men were now appearing with the women in public, the women were no longer being circumcised after or upon marriage.  The women were being elevated in status as being equal in the eyes of the Creator God.  And the people no longer lived in fear of the spirits which used to rule and dominate their lives with fear.

So do I advocate resisting the state?  No.  I say we render unto Ceasar, that which is Ceasar's, and to God, what is God's.  I say that we should continue to pray for those in politics and law enforcement, that they may come to see the true light.  But remember, the darkness has not comprehended the light.  It just doesn't make sense to the world (1 John 5:19).

Father's will is being carried out.  The alien deception is close, and all those who did not love the truth, according to 2 Thess 2, will be given over to believe the lie.  The Fourth Beast is about to emerge.  But I will continue my walk with my Savior, Lord Yeshua, in faith, love and prayer.  The righteous shall live by faith.

Do Islam and Christianity Worship the same God?

Yesterday I spoke with some Muslims, and they pretend and act as if we worship the same God. But they call their God Allah, but when God gave His memorial name to Moses, it was "Yahweh" or "I Am". And Muslims deny that Jesus is the eternal Son of God, very God Himself! My Bible says: 1 John 2:23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father;

There you have it. Islam does NOT have the same God as Christianity! Yahweh said it!

It will be interesting to see the new Pope's approach to relationship with Islam.  The end-time belief of Muslims is that Jesus will return and point people to Muhammed.  Now this figures in the "new Biblical parchment" that disappeared from the news, that supposedly has Jesus confessing Muhammed as the prophet of God (although not Yahweh)!  The Pope claims the title "Vicar of Christ," which in simple English, is "Christ on earth," pretty blasphemous!  But that's how the End-time Muslim belief will play out.  When the Imam Mahdi appears (will it be Asshur, Moaz al-Khatib - Micah 5:5-6?), the Vicar of Christ will stand with him and confess Mohammed, the man who married a 9 year old girl, as the prophet of God.  The Mahdi and the Vicar are the men of Satan.

Huge Explosion in Damascus!

As the civil war continues on in Syria, one wonders if the Isaiah 17:1 prophecy of Damscus' destruction is not caused by Bashr al-Assad himself.  But on a closer reading it appears that Israel is the one who pays the final crushing blow to the city.  In fact, when you read verses 13 and 14, it seems that it may take place during the ongoing war with the other nations named in Psalm 83, which leads to the delegation and (no doubt) UN members who make a peace treaty, out of which will arise the one world leader.

Tomorrow on the 26th, there was a large explosion in Damascus, though not much is being reported on it yet.  Apparently this has been done by Assad's party against the Syrian rebels.  But according to Isaiah 17, if Israel is going to destroy the capital, Syria or the Muslim parties must somehow bring the attack or the war onto Israeli soil.  Perhaps all the countries as they are stocking up on arms, are conspiring to bring a united, synchronized attack on Israel.

Right now I am reading L.A. Marzulli's book, Prophecy, Politics and the Supernatural.  I know it's about 5 years late, but I figured, better late than never, eh?  Anyways, he speculates in it that after a great war, the "aliens" (i.e. fallen angels) will unveil themselves and make contact to intervene and help preserve mankind.  It would also be at this time that world leaders will come together, and they will work out a peace plan with Israel and the survivors of the Middle East.  The Jews are at this time going to rebuild the temple, for scripture to be fulfilled.

As a Christian man who follows Y'shua ha Mashiac, I desire peace, and want the good of all these people in the Middle East that they will come to know Messiah and be reconciled to G_d (Jn 17:3, 14:6).  But as a man of faith, I look and see that all the prophecies are being fulfilled, and many that precede the second coming of Messiah in power and glory, the battle known as Armageddon (Zech. 12:1-10), and I am excited to know that my Savior is soon returning!  And I know that my G_d is faithful to accomplish all He promised in His Word!  Amen, Maranatha!