HEAVEN OF HEAVENS

THE THRONE OF GOD

ISAIAH 66:1- “Thus saith the LORD, the heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool; where is the house that ye build unto Me? And where is the place of My rest? “


Where is God’s Abode? By His grace and mercy we will be there one day. Jesus told His followers that He must go back to the Father to prepare a place for us; so that where He is, there we may be also.


King David thought of a dwelling place for God over three thousand years ago. In 1 Chronicles 28:2 David said “…hear me, my brethren, and my people. As for me, I had in mine heart to build an house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and for the footstool of our God, and had made ready the building.”


David gathered the materials, his son Solomon built the structure. At the completion of the First Temple Solomon prayed “But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? Behold heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee; how much less this house I have built.” (II Chronicles 6:18)


Before the construction Solomon said “who is able to build Him a house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain Him… Who am I then, that I should build Him a house, save only to burn sacrifice before Him.” (II Chronicles 2:6) Deuteronomy 10:14 says “Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the LORD’S thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is.”


David also said “the heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.” and “To Him that rideth upon the heaven of heavens, which were of old; lo, He doth send out His voice, and that a mighty voice. “ also “Our God is in the heavens; He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased.” (Psalm 19:1 - Psalm 68:33 - Psalm 102:25)


The heaven of heavens of heavens in II Chronicles 6:18 is reinforced in my mind by reading findings of NASA from the adventures of the HUBBLE SPACECRAFT as it travels through deep space. The Hubble has photographed some of our Milky Way, the galaxy where earth is located. It is estimated the Milky Way, where earth is located, contains 100 billion stars.


Our sun is located 24,000 light years from the center of the Milky Way - One light year equals over 6 Trillion miles traveled a year. In this context, there are of thousands of galaxies floating through lonely (?) regions of the universe.


In this context consider II Chronicles 2:6 “But who is able to build Him a house, seeing the heaven, and heaven of heavens cannot contain Him…?”


Job 9:5-9 says “Which (God) removeth the mountains and they know not: which overturned them in His anger. Which shaketh the earth out of her place and the pillars thereof tremble. Which commandeth the sun and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars. Which also speaketh out from the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea. Which maketh Arcturus, Orion and Pleiades (constellations in the sky visible from earth) and the chambers of the south.”


How great is our God?


The earth and the sky are the first heaven; Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Hebrews 1:10 “And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of Thine hands: they shall perish; but Thou remains; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment…”


It is unknown how many galaxies are in the universe. The HUBBLE photographed one galaxy 56 million light years from planet earth. Each galaxy contains large systems of stars, typically containing several million to some trillion stars. Psalm 147:4, 5 says “He telleth the number of stars; He calleth them all by name. Great is our LORD and of great power; His understanding is infinite.”


The Apostle Paul talks of being caught up to the third heaven (II Corinthians 12:2). Scripture speaks of heaven of heavens of heavens. The universe is beyond measure. God is in control of all. His throne is over all. Deuteronomy 10:14 says “Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the LORD’S thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is.”


What a Creator! What a Father! It is beyond comprehension.


King David prayed in Psalm 139:7 “Where shall I go from Thy Spirit? Or whither shall I flee from Thy Presence? If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me.”


When Christ rose from the dead Ephesians 1:20 says the Father set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places. What is the atmosphere there? “Glory and honor are in His presence; strength and gladness are in His place.” (1 Kings 8 26, 27).


Consider, as vast as the heavens of heavens are, Jesus comes to earth to die for us. The gentleness of the Creator of this vast universe says - “ Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne.” (Revelation 3:21)


Our God, who created His throne in the heavens and whose kingdom ruleth over all, living by His Spirit in our heart! To those who overcome in this world, the great King will say unto them on His right hand, “ Come ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” (Matthew 25:34)


When will this magnificent event occur? Presently, God is in the process of making Christ’s enemies His footstool. (Acts 2:35). We who are in Christ, and He in us, are in the process of doing this as we yield and let Him work through us.


Our battles are in the heavenlies. We do not wrestle against our fellow man, our enemies are principalities and powers of darkness revealing their evil deeds and rebellion through unbelievers. These rebellious principalities and powers of darkness are no match for the Spirit of God. We can pull down their strongholds; “ For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal (fleshly) but mighty through God for the pulling down of strong holds.” (II Corinthians 10:4).


Jesus settled these issues when He made a spectacle of them in His resurrection.


The earth will be His footstool, as the Father promised. A footstool in STRONG’S CONCORDANCE of the Bible is defined as “when one forces another into bondage, or when one treads upon or brings something under subjection.” God is in the process of doing this through His Spirit, working in us, against the principalities and powers of darkness, deception, and evil in this present world. It all goes back to Creation in the Garden of Eden with the failure of Adam and Eve.


The heavens and earth as we know them lay in wait for destruction. We await a new heaven and earth. Earth and heaven were defiled by Satan and a third of the angels during the rebellion in Heaven. This is our current warfare. Jesus called Satan the prince of the air; the atmosphere surrounding planet earth is defiled. His evil spirits are the ones who entice and tempt men to evil and rebellion against God.


The Book of Job gives a scene of Satan appearing before God to accuse. He is the Accuser of the Brethren. (Job 1:6-8). Revelation 12:10 speaks of Satan being cast to earth - “ And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ; for the Accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.”


Heaven and earth are corrupted by the evils of violence, accusation, and rebellion. Both will be renewed. John’s Revelation of Jesus Christ says, “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.”


II Peter 3:10,12,13 speaks of the day when both are replaced - “ But the day of the LORD will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with great heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” Heaven and earth suffer violence. God hates violence.


In Matthew 11:12 Jesus said that from the days of John the Baptist until now “the kingdom of heaven suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.” The heavens also will be cleansed.


An all consuming fire will destroy heaven and earth. Deuteronomy 4:24 says, “For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire; even a jealous God.” Deuteronomy 9:3 says “Understand therefore this day, that the LORD thy God is He which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire He shall destroy them, and He shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the LORD hath said unto thee.”


Heaven is His throne. The thousands of galaxies, the trillions of stars, the hundreds of thousands of light years with out end! Jesus says the Father’s house has many mansions, rooms, dwelling places for those who are loyal to His Kingdom. His house is beyond measure or human comprehension. I don’t think the HUBBLE Spacecraft has even photographed the outside of His dwelling place yet!


Those who overcome this present world receive a kingdom that cannot be moved. Let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: for our God is a consuming fire. As we also have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly (I Corinthians 15:49).


When I look up into the heavens on a cloudless night, I rest assured, with confidence, that the One who created this vast, immeasurable, beautiful universe is myr Father!


He lives in me! His Spirit dwells in me!


He has promised to never leave me nor forsake me!


The King of Glory who created this vast immesurable universe is so involved that He even sees a sparrow fall from the sky! Even the hair on our head is numbered; He saw us while we were in the womb, before our first breath. What a Father we have!


He will keep the immeasurable universe operating like a time piece, He is able to keep us from stumbling, and He will present us faultless before the presence of His Glory!


HE HAS PROMISED!