Today’s Topic: Signs in the Heavens Part 1: The Heavens
Scripture: Matthew 24:29; Hebrews 12:25-28; Numbers 24:17; 2 Corinthians 12:1,2; Ephesians 6:12; Revelation 12:7-10
Greetings Kingdom Citizens
Now I know there are many scriptures but we will look at all of these over the next few messages to understand the signs in the heavens of the return of the Lord. Now in the past three or four messages we look at signs in the Earth and Jesus informed us that these signs are the beginning of sorrows. Now if there are going to be signs in the Earth, better believe there are going to be signs in the heavens. Now I said that right being heavens, plural. Now since the word heavens is plural we need to define them and per my study I have only seen in scripture three heavens. But how do we know there are at least three? 2 Corinthians 12:1,3 Paul says that he knew a man that was caught up to the third heaven (verse 2). Then to describe this heaven in verse 4 it is described as paradise and heard unspeakable words that could not be uttered. What a powerful place, that what this man saw and heard, he could not utter or even put into words. Now that we know of at least three heavens, what are they then.
First Heavens
This heaven is the one that is visible to our eyes such as the stars, moons and planets. Now Jesus in Matthew 24:29 stated that the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give her light and the stars shall fall from the heaven. Now this is actual for us. We will see the stars fall, the sun and the moon darkened. This is not a symbolic thing. This will happen in the heaven we can see. So in actuality God uses the stars as a billboard to let us know that something has happened or about to happen. How do I know? Let’s look at a famous story in the Bible. The wise men, how did they know that the King, Jesus was born? Matthew 2:2 says: “Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we (the wise men) have seen HIS STAR IN THE EAST, and are come to worship Him”. So it was a star that the wise men saw that told them that Jesus had been born. Now does that mean we need to turn to the stars to know everything or predict the future? No! There is a difference between astrology and astronomy. Astrology is using the stars to predict the future and this is witchcraft. Zodiac signs, palm readers and psychics use astrology to tell you your future. Astronomy is the study of the stars, what they are and how they align. Now, it is evident that these wise men were astronomers because they study the stars when they saw this one star appear in a certain constellation, they knew that Jesus had been born and we will discuss this soon. But the first heaven involves the planets, stars and the moon that we can visibly see.
Second Heaven
This is the seat of power for the demonic. Remember when Satan and the other angels that rebelled against God, they were removed from the highest Heaven (3rd) and displaced to the 2nd Heaven. Now, this second heaven is still eternal because these fallen angels for the time are still eternal creatures. But to prove that there is a second heaven let’s look at Ephesians 6:12: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities (Areas), against powers (Ability), against the rulers of the darkness (Authority) of this world, against spiritual wickedness (Forces) in high places (Heaven). Now based on that, this proves a functional kingdom of darkness and this scripture tells you they have authority, powers and areas to function in. So the second heaven is represented by the demonic and please keep that in mind because this will go to prove and disprove many myths about these fallen angels and their place during the end of the age and the return of the Lord.
Third Heaven
Of course in our scripture in 2 Corinthians 12:1,2 we see that the man being caught up to the third heaven which represents the Highest Heaven. It is also where the Seat or Throne of God resides.
It was important to lay this foundation because as we progress to the return of the Lord these signs will come from not only the visible heavens but the invisible or eternal heavens. Now with all of that said, Jesus said in Matthew 24:29 that the stars will fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. In the next message we will look at the concept of shaking the heavens because it has been stated not only in the New Testament by Jesus, Paul and the written visions of John in Revelation but also in the Old Testament by the prophets.
At the Father’s Service,
Elder Calvin Calhoun Jr.
