PAUL
WAS CAUGHT UP INTO THE THIRD HEAVEN
SO
TOO SHALL WE
12-11-22
This
message may be viewed live streaming video at youtube.com and
tabernacleofmoses.org today Sunday at 11:00 am, and repeated 24/7
thereafter.
The video, audio, and study notes are archived.
(2 Cor
12:1-4)
It is not expedient [Gk: be good, be profitable]
for me [the
Apostle Paul] doubtless [Gk: therefore] to
glory [Gk:
(to boast); to vaunt (myself)]. [(But instead, I shall
speak of
Christ and)] I will come to [go on to]
visions and revelations
[Gk: disclosures /// disclose, reveal, to take off the cover]
of
the Lord. I knew a man in Christ [i.e.,
introspectively, Paul
speaking of himself] above fourteen years ago, (whether in
the body,
I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)
[at
that moment of experience, Paul was then in the likeness of a deep
trance]
such an one [was] caught up [Gk: harpazo; seized:
plucked, taken by
force] [e.g., Noah and Lot] [1,2] to the third heaven [3-6].
And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I
cannot tell:
God knoweth;) How that he was caught
up [Gk: harpazo;
seized: plucked, taken by
force] into paradise [Gk: an Eden (a place of future
happiness)],
and heard unspeakable [Gk: inexpressible] [Holy]
words
[i.e., revelations], which it is not lawful for a [defiled,
unholy] man to utter [“not permitted to utter”
Amplif.
Bible].
1.
(1 Thes
4:16,17) For the Lord himself shall
descend from heaven with a
shout, with the voice of the archangel [Michael], and
with the
trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise
first: Then we
which are alive and remain shall be caught up [Gk:
harpazo; seized: plucked, taken by
force] [i.e., raptured] together with them [the dead in
Christ]
in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be
with
the Lord.
2.
(Rev
12:3-6) And there appeared another wonder
in heaven; and behold a great red
dragon [Satan], having seven heads and ten horns,
and seven
crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of
the
stars [angels] of heaven, and did cast them
to the
earth: and the dragon stood before the woman [before
the church]
which was [pregnant and] ready
to be
delivered, for to devour [Gk: to eat down] her child as soon as it was born. And
she brought
forth a man child, who was
to rule
[Gk: to tend as a shepherd] all nations with a rod of
iron
[severe judgment]: and her child was caught
up [Gk: harpazo;
seized: plucked, taken by force] unto
God,
and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness,
where she
hath a place [of protection] prepared of God, that they
should feed
her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days [42
months or 3
½ years, of Great Tribulation].
a.
(Rev
12:14) And to the woman [the
church] were given two wings [the Old Testament and New
Testament, the
Bible] of a great eagle [alluding to God], that she
might fly
[spiritually (mentally)] into the wilderness,
into her
place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a
time [3
½ years of Great Tribulation], from the face of the serpent.
b.
(Exo
19:3,4) And Moses went up
unto God, and the LORD called unto
him out of
the mountain [Mount Sinai], saying, Thus shalt thou say
to the
house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; Ye have seen what
I
did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself
[(the Bible
brings (bares) us unto God)].
3.
Commentary:
“the third heaven” = the three
heavens are
symbolized by the tabernacle of Moses which
is properly named “the tabernacle of God” Rev 21:3, and
ultimately
describes the spiritual Body of Jesus Christ, Father God’s only
begotten Son.
4.
THE
FIRST HEAVEN:
Upon our conversion to God (becoming born-again), the first heaven that
we
experience is the “mingled” light (understanding) of the courtyard of the tabernacle
encompassing the brasen (Heb:
filthiness) (signifying sin) altar
of burnt offerings, i.e., for our worldly sacrifices
(identified as Jesus Christ), and the
brasen (Heb: filthiness)
(signifying sin) laver (Heb:
washbowl), i.e., for our purification
(identified as the Holy Spirit). The saved pilgrim (Dict: a
person who
travels to a shrine or holy place as a religious act) is exposed to and
therefore influenced by both the spiritual (religious) furniture and
the natural
(secular) elements of the courtyard, i.e., wind and sun, rain and snow,
light
and darkness, etc.
5.
THE
SECOND HEAVEN:
The second heaven that we experience is the
Holy Place wherein all
natural
light (understanding) is absent (shut out) and the only light is
the “pure”
spiritual light (understanding) of revelations (rhema) that is revealed
by the illumination
of the golden candlestick (composed of 66 physical parts, i.e.,
celebrated as
the 66 books of the Bible), further identified as the Holy Spirit
casting light
(understanding, illumination, rhema) that emanates from the burning oil of olives (us, our
understanding) focused
upon the table of shewbread,
identified
as Jesus Christ (“I am the bread of life” John 6:35). Also,
originally
positioned inside the Old Testament Holy Place was the
altar of burning incense symbolizing
the
prayers of believers wafting upward to God. But now in the New
Testament
that same altar of burning incense has been placed (positioned, moved
up to)
within the Most Holy Place and we are conversing with God through the
intercessional labors of the Holy Spirit.
6.
THE
THIRD HEAVEN:
The third heaven that we now only partially experience is a
fulfilling
prophecy inside the Most
Holy place which
ultimately shall be completely fulfilled
(accomplished) by our death (transition, translation) and
immediate
reception (“in the twinkling of an eye” 1 Cor 15:52) into heaven with
the full
mind of Christ. The pathway to God through the
tabernacle
(through Jesus Christ) has been opened by Jesus Christ who is now
leading our
way into the third heaven,
but we do
not yet fully experience Father God in His most intimate
personal presence
until our death when we shall have become completely and totally
sinless
and ONE WITH HIM in the Body of Christ.
Amen
(Prov
10:12) Hatred stirreth up strifes [Heb: discord /// quarrels:
brawling,
contention]:
but
love covereth all sins.