We have a sketchy picture of what Heaven is like. We have an even more cryptic description of who or what will be there.
As you read through the Old Testament it is never revealed that humans had any hope of being citizens of Heaven. There are a few visions of Heaven, but nothing more. Old Testament believers understood that they were heading first to Sheol (preferably a good part of it) and that their ultimate hope was their resurrection from the dead and a New Earth.
I don’t believe that this means that Heaven wasn’t in the plans for humans or that the idea of going to Heaven was a “development of theology” or borrowed from other cultures at a later time. Our place in Heaven had to be secured before it was promised. Satan held some leverage over us. Our species were rebellious sinners just like he was and like a significant minority of angels. As long as humans were “under the Law”, we were stuck.
Jesus’ fulfillment of God’s Law as a human and His sacrifice of Himself to reconcile creation to God caused some major reorganization. Satan and his minions lost their legal leverage and being inferior in power to God were cast out (Revelation 12:7-10). Humans were lead in a victorious procession in. (Ephesians 4:7) So for now, Heaven is the destiny of redeemed humanity until Judgment Day and a New Earth.
Who else will we find in Heaven? Angels are one form of resident. It is said of angels that they are “spirits”. What does that mean exactly? I think it means that they are properly citizens of Heaven’s dimensional space and not properly a part of this universe. They can take on a form here or not, but it is not necessarily their form. So what does an angel in Heaven look like? We don’t know. How many are there? Beyond saying that there are many, we don’t know. What are their abilities? We can say that they are intelligent beings and that in some ways have higher capabilities than we presently have. The name by which we know them, “angels”, speaks more to their function as “messengers” than as a proper name of their species. I would expect them to be human-like in many ways.
Angels should be distinguished from Cherubim/Seraphim. Isaiah 6, Ezekiel 1 and Revelation 4 described these beings as “living ones”(cherubim) or “burning ones” (seraphim). They are described as intelligent and powerful beings who surround the throne of God. Their physical description may be more symbolic than actual. The description includes multiple faces, four to six wings, and covered with eyes–a rather frightening appearance. Satan is described as being a disowned, guardian cherub (Ezekiel 28), beautiful, part of the council of God, and blameless until wickedness was found in him.
The only other citizens of Heaven that are described in the Bible (that doesn’t mean that their aren’t others) are a mysterious group of 24 elders. Who are these beings? What are they? They could be humans. They do not appear in the only other descent description of God’s throne room in Daniel 7. They are described in Revelation 4. Since Revelation is full of symbolism, this could be a group symbolic of a greater portion of humanity. Or not. It is intriguing to think about how the picture given in Revelation 4 (a New Testament if not future picture) relates to references to a divine council found throughout the Old Testament. More about this in my next blog.
afterdeathsite 