What will heaven be like? Using Bible scriptures let's take a
look at the kingdom of heaven and let's try to get as much of a picture
of heaven as we can. Keep in mind the first part of heaven we want to
look at is heaven during the thousand year reign of Christ which is
referred to as the "millennium" after the millennium the New Jerusalem
which is a fifteen hundred mile cube will come down from heaven and
reside where Jerusalem currently sits.
Zechariah 14:17
And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, on them there will be no rain.
The fact that the above verse states "on them there will be no rain" tells us first of all that in heaven there will still be rain. We will still have weather pretty much the same as we do now and secondly this verse implies that the people who survived the tribulation will be dependent on rain for their crops.
Isaiah 2:4
He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. That statement definitely implies that many of the human beings during the millennium will be farmers. We know that all human beings can't be farmers because the New Testament says we are to rule over the cities.
Neither shall they learn war anymore. If we could have just done this today think of the billions of dollars yearly we could apply to everybody's standard of living. We could eliminate the middle class as well as the lower class of people. Everybody would be wealthy living the way God originally intended. It's has been said that if the world's wealth was divided equally among every inhabitant on the planet earth there would be enough wealth for everybody on the planet to be wealthy. It has been said that three percent of the population controls all the worlds' wealth. God gave man enough wealth on this earth for everyone to live a rich life but because of a greedy few this planet currently suffers needlessly.
We can now take the information that we have just learned and start a list titled "Heavenly Attributes" and we will begin with the following attributes:
Heaven will be on earth
We will reign with Christ as kings and priests
There will still be rain in heaven
No more wars
No more military
Farms and farmers will play an important role in heaven
Isaiah 65:19-20
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
And joy in My people;
The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her,
Nor the voice of crying.
20 "No more shall an infant from there live but a few days,
Nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days;
For the child shall die one hundred years old,
But the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed.
"I will rejoice in Jerusalem and joy in My people": This shows that Jesus will reside in Jerusalem. I also know by reading Micah 4:1 that the Lord's house will be established on the mountain tops of Jerusalem above the hills and many peoples of all nations will all flow to it. The elevation of the Mount of Olives is 2,683 ft. I believe the elevation will be greatly increased when Jesus returns and His feet touch down at the Mount of Olives.
The Mount of Olives has been used as a Jewish cemetery for thousands of years entombing such greats as Zechariah and Absalom. Currently there are over 150,000 Jews buried or entombed there. Many Jews today want to be buried or entombed in the Mount of Olives because they believe that man's first resurrection will occur there when the Messiah touches down.
Micah 4:1
[The LORD's Reign in Zion] Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it.
Zechariah 14:4
And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south
.
The voice of weeping and crying shall no longer be heard in her. The "her" is referring to Jerusalem probably currently one of the most violent cities in the world today.
Verse 20 is saying a person who dies at the age of one hundred will still be considered a "child" so it appears that human beings will live throughout the millennium. "But the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed." This verse is telling us two things. The first thing that catches my eye is sinners will still be living during the millennium and the second is that death will still be present during the millennium. Let's take what we have just learn and add to our list of heavenly attributes.
Jesus will rule from Jerusalem
Jerusalem and all cities will be at peace
No more weeping or crying
Sinners will still be living in the millennium
The death penalty will be present for human beings who commit crimes
The life expectancy for people will greatly increase
Isaiah 65:21-23
New King James Version (NKJV)
They shall build houses and inhabit them;
They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
They shall not build and another inhabit;
They shall not plant and another eat;
For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people,
And My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
They shall not labor in vain,
Nor bring forth children for trouble;
For they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the LORD,
And their offspring with them.
"They shall build houses and inhabit them." Finally everyone on planet earth will have a house to live in. No more homeless people, no more bank mortgages, no more bad upside down loans that are sold to foreign countries. Everybody will have a piece of property of their own and they will have a thousand years to make it nice. I could never understand the reasoning behind the people who scrape their way to the top and amass a huge fortune and then die in eighty or so years just to leave their fortunes to a bunch of ungrateful children.
When I was growing up I was told that "you can't take it with you when you go" so I said, If I can't take it with me when I go then I don't want it! That's like playing Monopoly knowing that it is all fake money and when the game is finished you'll have to give it all back. Why do people cheat and kill to get their way only to give it all back in the end. God isn't concerned with who won the game as much as He is concerned with how the game was played.
When these wealthy people die and stand before God, God will say to them "I blessed you with enormous wealth to help mankind, what did you do with all the wealth that I entrusted to you?" and they will reply "I own one of the biggest companies in the world, I bought three houses, I have two Rolls Royces, a Lear jet, I traveled the world extensively and I still died with 30 billion leftover. Do you think God will be impressed? What a waste! All the education they had and all the planning for their future. How shortsighted! Now they have no future! It obviously wasn't a very good plan was it?
"They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit." This verse indicates that all the people will be prosperous. This world's current system will be a thing of the past. No more will the people have to fight over the crumbs that are left over. Finally there will be enough of everything for everyone on the planet. No longer will there be "the wealthy few" all men will have plenty.
"For as the days of a tree are the days of my people," I know redwood trees live for thousands of years and I believe the people living in the millennium will live throughout the whole 1000 years unless they commit a crime worthy of the death penalty.
Psalm 2:9
You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel.
Revelation 19:15
Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God
Jesus will rule the nations with a rod of iron which implies that judgment will be swift. When a person commits a crime deserving of the death penalty he won't have to wait ten years for the trial to start costing the tax payers millions of dollars. Criminals telling lies won't work because we as kings and priests will already know the whole truth. Lawyers will be a thing of the past. Justice and sentencing will be instantaneous.
"And my elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain." No longer will man struggle to make ends meet. He will prosper by the work of his hands. Today most of us work to make other people wealthy in the millennium we will work to our own good.
"Nor bring forth children for trouble: For they shall be descendants of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them." This verse shows us that children will be born throughout the millennium. Let's go back and see what attributes we can now add to our list.
Everybody will own their own house and property
All people will be prosperous and considered wealthy
There will be a new world system
Justice will be swift
Children will be born during the millennium
People will work to their own good
People will enjoy the fruit of their labor
Isaiah 65:24
"It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.
This verse proves that prayer is still going to be the preferred mode of communication in the millennium. However it appears the service will greatly improve. Instead of waiting for an answer we will have the answer before we pray and while we are still in prayer. How's that for service! As it happens now when we pray the prayers with the answer of "yes" we find out most of the time immediately, however when we have a request with a response of "no" we will end up waiting for months and sometimes years before we get smart enough to figure out that the answer was no.
Isaiah 65:25
New King James Version (NKJV)
25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together,
The lion shall eat straw like the ox,
And dust shall be the serpent's food.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,"
Says the LORD.
"The wolf and the lamb shall feed together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox." I think most people have heard this verse. It does paint a beautiful picture of heaven. I believe heaven will be inhabited by all vegetarians from the animals to the human beings. That would be the only way that every person and every animal could peacefully co-exist. This verse shows us that no longer will animals hunt other animals for food.
"And dust shall be the serpent's food." What can I say; it looks like the serpent drew the short straw again. The curse of the serpent is alive and well in the kingdom of heaven. One thing I did observed is the serpent's food is now dust instead of rodents. It appears that the snake is also going meatless, not by choice but because his fangs no longer exist.
"They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain," Says the LORD. To get a better idea of what Isaiah the prophet is saying we need to look at the verses in Isaiah 11:6-9
Isaiah 11:6-9
"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play by the cobra's hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper's den.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea.
Currently there is segregation in the animal kingdom. All animals prefer to stay with their own kind. You don't see lions living with zebras or elephants living with hippos. In heaven that will all change. You will see mixtures and assortments of all different types of animals mixing together, feeding together, migrating together and sleeping together. In Isaiah 11:6 says "and a little child shall lead them". If you are like me you have probably heard this verse misquoted quite a few times. We can now see that this verse is referring to a child leading various types of animals all living in peace.
Let's now take what we have learned from the preceding verses and add them to our list of "heavenly attributes"
Heaven will be on earth
We will rule and reign with Christ as kings and priests for 1000 years
There will still be weather in heaven
No more war
No more military
Farms and farmers will play an important role in heaven
Jesus will rule and reign from Jerusalem
Jerusalem and all cities will be at peace
No more weeping or crying
Sinners will still be living in the millennium
The death penalty will exist for people who commit crimes
People will live much longer in the millennium
Everybody will own their own house and property
All people will be prosperous and wealthy
Justice will be swift
Children will be born during the millennium
People will work to their own good
People will enjoy the fruit of their labor
We will still pray in heaven
Prayers will be answered before we pray or during our prayers
Animals will be vegetarians
Animals will mix together with different types of animals
Animals will no longer be afraid of people
Animals and people will co-exist together
This concludes our study of the kingdom of heaven. I hope by me listing everything in one place like this that it will help you to have a more complete understanding of what heaven will be like.
Zechariah 14:17
And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, on them there will be no rain.
The fact that the above verse states "on them there will be no rain" tells us first of all that in heaven there will still be rain. We will still have weather pretty much the same as we do now and secondly this verse implies that the people who survived the tribulation will be dependent on rain for their crops.
Isaiah 2:4
He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. That statement definitely implies that many of the human beings during the millennium will be farmers. We know that all human beings can't be farmers because the New Testament says we are to rule over the cities.
Neither shall they learn war anymore. If we could have just done this today think of the billions of dollars yearly we could apply to everybody's standard of living. We could eliminate the middle class as well as the lower class of people. Everybody would be wealthy living the way God originally intended. It's has been said that if the world's wealth was divided equally among every inhabitant on the planet earth there would be enough wealth for everybody on the planet to be wealthy. It has been said that three percent of the population controls all the worlds' wealth. God gave man enough wealth on this earth for everyone to live a rich life but because of a greedy few this planet currently suffers needlessly.
We can now take the information that we have just learned and start a list titled "Heavenly Attributes" and we will begin with the following attributes:
Heaven will be on earth
We will reign with Christ as kings and priests
There will still be rain in heaven
No more wars
No more military
Farms and farmers will play an important role in heaven
Isaiah 65:19-20
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
And joy in My people;
The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her,
Nor the voice of crying.
20 "No more shall an infant from there live but a few days,
Nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days;
For the child shall die one hundred years old,
But the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed.
"I will rejoice in Jerusalem and joy in My people": This shows that Jesus will reside in Jerusalem. I also know by reading Micah 4:1 that the Lord's house will be established on the mountain tops of Jerusalem above the hills and many peoples of all nations will all flow to it. The elevation of the Mount of Olives is 2,683 ft. I believe the elevation will be greatly increased when Jesus returns and His feet touch down at the Mount of Olives.
The Mount of Olives has been used as a Jewish cemetery for thousands of years entombing such greats as Zechariah and Absalom. Currently there are over 150,000 Jews buried or entombed there. Many Jews today want to be buried or entombed in the Mount of Olives because they believe that man's first resurrection will occur there when the Messiah touches down.
Micah 4:1
[The LORD's Reign in Zion] Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it.
Zechariah 14:4
And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south
.
The voice of weeping and crying shall no longer be heard in her. The "her" is referring to Jerusalem probably currently one of the most violent cities in the world today.
Verse 20 is saying a person who dies at the age of one hundred will still be considered a "child" so it appears that human beings will live throughout the millennium. "But the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed." This verse is telling us two things. The first thing that catches my eye is sinners will still be living during the millennium and the second is that death will still be present during the millennium. Let's take what we have just learn and add to our list of heavenly attributes.
Jesus will rule from Jerusalem
Jerusalem and all cities will be at peace
No more weeping or crying
Sinners will still be living in the millennium
The death penalty will be present for human beings who commit crimes
The life expectancy for people will greatly increase
Isaiah 65:21-23
New King James Version (NKJV)
They shall build houses and inhabit them;
They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
They shall not build and another inhabit;
They shall not plant and another eat;
For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people,
And My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
They shall not labor in vain,
Nor bring forth children for trouble;
For they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the LORD,
And their offspring with them.
"They shall build houses and inhabit them." Finally everyone on planet earth will have a house to live in. No more homeless people, no more bank mortgages, no more bad upside down loans that are sold to foreign countries. Everybody will have a piece of property of their own and they will have a thousand years to make it nice. I could never understand the reasoning behind the people who scrape their way to the top and amass a huge fortune and then die in eighty or so years just to leave their fortunes to a bunch of ungrateful children.
When I was growing up I was told that "you can't take it with you when you go" so I said, If I can't take it with me when I go then I don't want it! That's like playing Monopoly knowing that it is all fake money and when the game is finished you'll have to give it all back. Why do people cheat and kill to get their way only to give it all back in the end. God isn't concerned with who won the game as much as He is concerned with how the game was played.
When these wealthy people die and stand before God, God will say to them "I blessed you with enormous wealth to help mankind, what did you do with all the wealth that I entrusted to you?" and they will reply "I own one of the biggest companies in the world, I bought three houses, I have two Rolls Royces, a Lear jet, I traveled the world extensively and I still died with 30 billion leftover. Do you think God will be impressed? What a waste! All the education they had and all the planning for their future. How shortsighted! Now they have no future! It obviously wasn't a very good plan was it?
"They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit." This verse indicates that all the people will be prosperous. This world's current system will be a thing of the past. No more will the people have to fight over the crumbs that are left over. Finally there will be enough of everything for everyone on the planet. No longer will there be "the wealthy few" all men will have plenty.
"For as the days of a tree are the days of my people," I know redwood trees live for thousands of years and I believe the people living in the millennium will live throughout the whole 1000 years unless they commit a crime worthy of the death penalty.
Psalm 2:9
You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel.
Revelation 19:15
Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God
Jesus will rule the nations with a rod of iron which implies that judgment will be swift. When a person commits a crime deserving of the death penalty he won't have to wait ten years for the trial to start costing the tax payers millions of dollars. Criminals telling lies won't work because we as kings and priests will already know the whole truth. Lawyers will be a thing of the past. Justice and sentencing will be instantaneous.
"And my elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain." No longer will man struggle to make ends meet. He will prosper by the work of his hands. Today most of us work to make other people wealthy in the millennium we will work to our own good.
"Nor bring forth children for trouble: For they shall be descendants of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them." This verse shows us that children will be born throughout the millennium. Let's go back and see what attributes we can now add to our list.
Everybody will own their own house and property
All people will be prosperous and considered wealthy
There will be a new world system
Justice will be swift
Children will be born during the millennium
People will work to their own good
People will enjoy the fruit of their labor
Isaiah 65:24
"It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.
This verse proves that prayer is still going to be the preferred mode of communication in the millennium. However it appears the service will greatly improve. Instead of waiting for an answer we will have the answer before we pray and while we are still in prayer. How's that for service! As it happens now when we pray the prayers with the answer of "yes" we find out most of the time immediately, however when we have a request with a response of "no" we will end up waiting for months and sometimes years before we get smart enough to figure out that the answer was no.
Isaiah 65:25
New King James Version (NKJV)
25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together,
The lion shall eat straw like the ox,
And dust shall be the serpent's food.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,"
Says the LORD.
"The wolf and the lamb shall feed together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox." I think most people have heard this verse. It does paint a beautiful picture of heaven. I believe heaven will be inhabited by all vegetarians from the animals to the human beings. That would be the only way that every person and every animal could peacefully co-exist. This verse shows us that no longer will animals hunt other animals for food.
"And dust shall be the serpent's food." What can I say; it looks like the serpent drew the short straw again. The curse of the serpent is alive and well in the kingdom of heaven. One thing I did observed is the serpent's food is now dust instead of rodents. It appears that the snake is also going meatless, not by choice but because his fangs no longer exist.
"They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain," Says the LORD. To get a better idea of what Isaiah the prophet is saying we need to look at the verses in Isaiah 11:6-9
Isaiah 11:6-9
"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play by the cobra's hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper's den.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea.
Currently there is segregation in the animal kingdom. All animals prefer to stay with their own kind. You don't see lions living with zebras or elephants living with hippos. In heaven that will all change. You will see mixtures and assortments of all different types of animals mixing together, feeding together, migrating together and sleeping together. In Isaiah 11:6 says "and a little child shall lead them". If you are like me you have probably heard this verse misquoted quite a few times. We can now see that this verse is referring to a child leading various types of animals all living in peace.
Let's now take what we have learned from the preceding verses and add them to our list of "heavenly attributes"
Heaven will be on earth
We will rule and reign with Christ as kings and priests for 1000 years
There will still be weather in heaven
No more war
No more military
Farms and farmers will play an important role in heaven
Jesus will rule and reign from Jerusalem
Jerusalem and all cities will be at peace
No more weeping or crying
Sinners will still be living in the millennium
The death penalty will exist for people who commit crimes
People will live much longer in the millennium
Everybody will own their own house and property
All people will be prosperous and wealthy
Justice will be swift
Children will be born during the millennium
People will work to their own good
People will enjoy the fruit of their labor
We will still pray in heaven
Prayers will be answered before we pray or during our prayers
Animals will be vegetarians
Animals will mix together with different types of animals
Animals will no longer be afraid of people
Animals and people will co-exist together
This concludes our study of the kingdom of heaven. I hope by me listing everything in one place like this that it will help you to have a more complete understanding of what heaven will be like.
For more articles by Tim Fay please go to http://www.godhelpme.ws
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