RedBlueThoughts

Where is the dwelling place of God?

By Richard Rivera

Whenever we ask ourselves where is God, readily we answer, He is in the heavens. But where in the heavens? And are we sure that, indeed, he lives in the heavens?

A study of the bible gives us the answer; no, God does not live in the heavens nor in the heavens of the heavens! He lives in a realm which is quite different from the heavens of the heavens and can be described as a universe by itself which has no boundaries of space and time!

The dimensions of the heavens

The biblical cosmological model describes the heavens with three dimensions (2 Cor 12:2). It is clear that these dimensions follow a hierarchical order:

• “The ends of the heavens” (God lives in the ends of the heaven, in the uppermost heavens. This heaven of heaven was created by God (Deut 10:14).
• “The heaven of the heavens”—the realm where angels and cherubims live
• “the heaven” (the physical or known universe)

 
“ Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee. (Neh. 9:6)”

What’s surprising in this study is, all dimensions being described in the bible, are universes by themselves, or self-contained realms but are mirror-images of the same universe originally created by God from the beginning. Only the ends of the heavens have a different description, signifying its special character.

Notice that the heaven and the heavens of heavens have boundaries because the writer in Nehemiah 9:6 says that “the heavens of heavens” cannot contain the Spirit of God.

“The ends of the heavens”

If we are to describe where God lives, He lives at the ends of the heavens. It is clear that this ends of the heavens does not have boundaries, because, in 2 Chronicles 2:6, the passage says that “the heaven and the heavens of the heavens” cannot contain God. In Psalm 57:5, 11) and Psalm  113:4, we find that, indeed God lives “above the heavens”. So, God, in truth, does not live in the “heavens of the heavens”, but somewhere above it. It implies that God has His own realm, high above the heavens, in the ends of it (Deut 10:14). Do we have a hint as to the composition of this ends of heaven?

Yes. In Psalm 148:4, we find a description of the ends of heavens. The biblical writer says that above the heavens of heavens, is water. But, does the bible have the same concept as ours of water? What kind of substance do the ends of the heavens really contain— ordinary water— as what we see here on earth?

No. God is Spirit. Being a spirit, He cannot dwell in water which is matter, a thing which He himself created.  If this is the case, it implies that God lives within a created thing, hence, by implication, possibly, the origin of His own creation.

It is possible though that this concept of “water” is actually, a description of a place teeming with life. Both Revelations 22:1 and 21:6, describes water as a source of life, everlasting life. So, this realm that God lives, teems with abundant life. This realm though, remember, is located high above the heavens of the heavens.

“The True Israel: Heavens of the heavens”

Below this realm lies the “heavens of the heavens”. Do we have evidence that God lives here in the “heaven of the heavens”

We contend that God does not live in the heaven of the heavens, but only His mirror image occupy this realm.

 In the bible, the heavens of the heavens is described as a kingdom. In this kingdom, we find a place in the northernmost part, the House of God, which sits atop the Holy Mount of Zion. This is the highest part of this kingdom.

 Inside this House, we find the throne of God, which is at the center of it. Beside it lies the ark. God or His mirror image, is being attended by four spirits.

The whole House is a tabernacle. From this house, we find the Fountain of Life which gives crystal-clear water of life. This water flows down from the mountain towards a river where the city of God can be found.

And where does this “water” comes from? We find that this water emanates from the very realm where God truly lives— in the ends of heaven!

more on this in the next installment…next article, “The Holy City of God”

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