Just about all religions have painted heaven as a wonderful place in the clouds, with winged angels and everyone you have every known and loved waiting, with open arms, to welcome you there when you die.
But is that really what awaits us?
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Yeshua tells us that there is no marriage in heaven (Matthew 22:30), so even if our dead spouses are there, the relationship we had when alive doesn’t exist anymore.
At the end of the Book of Revelation, the most definitive Bible book about the Acharit haYamim (End Days), we are told there will be a new earth and a new heaven, and that all things will be created, anew.
So, if earth and heaven are to be created new, not to mention that in 2 Corinthians Shaul says that we are a new creation in Messiah, as well, then it seems likely that all the earthly relationships will also be created new.
The Tanakh (Old Covenant) also has references to heaven, in the Psalms and some of the prophets, such as Daniel and Isaiah, although those references do not specify anything about meeting loved ones, or being in the clouds, or every time a bell rings someone in heaven gets their wings (good for you, Clarence!)
No.
In fact, there is no reference anywhere in the entire bible that tells us we will be floating in the clouds, or have halo’s, or playing harps, or for that matter being angels.
The angels are not human beings that go to heaven, the angels are created spiritual beings who are God’s messengers. Actually, we are a little lower than the angels; at least, according to David (Psalm 8:6), so if we are lower than the angels, where did people get the idea that we become angels?
And if the Bible doesn’t support any of the rose-colored glasses view of heaven that almost every Western religion has created, then why have the leaders of those religions told us this is what happens when we die?
Time Out: all religions are man-made because God never had, doesn’t have, and never wanted to have a “religion”. When God writes the Torah on our hearts, as he promises in the new covenant (Jeremiah 31:31), then we will not be practicing a form of worship- we will be a living worship!)
My answer to why religious leaders have created the heaven we all hear about is the same reason they preach about all the wonderful things God will do for you: it is designed to get you to join their religion.
If you do as my religion says to do, and you love each other, and you are a good person, then you get to go to heaven, where all your loved ones are waiting for you with open arms and you will be happy, forever after.
Well, who wouldn’t want that?
Of course, if you actually read the Bible, you might recall Yeshua telling us about how many people get into heaven in Matthew 7:13-14, where he says the gate to destruction is wide and easy to enter, but the gate to salvation is narrow and the way is hard, and only a few will ever find it.
The truth, as uncomfortable as it may seem, is that when you get to heaven, assuming you make it, it is unlikely that many, if any, of the ones you have loved will be there.
Your religion has probably told you more lies about the afterlife than truth.
Wait a minute! How can that be? I trust my Rabbi/Pastor/Priest/Minister- they would never lie to me or mislead me!
True- they can be trusted to tell you what they have been taught, by those who were taught by those who were taught- all the same drek since Christ was Corporal (that’s a military saying for something that’s been around for a long time).
Very few religious leaders will tell you anything other than what they were taught when they were getting their certification.
The sad truth is that religion is a business, and to survive they need customers- people who buy their product, so the product has to be desirable.
Telling people that they have to give up worldly pleasure and follow the rules that God gave to us in the Torah, such as restricting our diet, taking one day a week to rest and not just go to shul or church in the morning, to treat others with kindness, and study God’s word is not very attractive to most people.
And, of course, to accept that Yeshua is the Messiah God sent is even harder to accept, especially for my Jewish brothers and sister because religions has corrupted who the Jewish Messiah is.
(Get my latest book, “The Good News About the Messiah For Jews- Debunking the Traditional Lies About the Jewish Messiah” to really understand why accepting Yeshua as the Messiah is so hard for Jews to do.)
Why do we have to accept Yeshua? Because every sin is a sin against God (Psalm 51) and must be repented, and in order to receive forgiveness we must present a sacrifice. That sacrifice can only be made where God places his name (Deuteronomy 12:11), which since the time of Solomon, has been the temple in Jerusalem. Well, ever since 174 CE there has been no temple to bring a sacrifice to, and the only way to be forgiven now is to accept Yeshua as your Messiah so that by means of his sacrifice you can receive forgiveness.
Look, here’s the bad news: because religions have so lied and misled people, causing them to reject God instead of embrace him, the hard truth is that most everyone you know and love will most likely NOT be waiting for you in the afterlife.
The good news is that because all things will be new, the way we now feel about people and things will be very different.
I believe it is more likely than not the way we feel now, as corporeal beings, will not exist anymore. We will be emotionally evolved beyond what we can feel now, overcoming the emotional limitations to love we are restricted to as fleshly beings.
So look forward to salvation, and work at it because it is NOT religion’s “come as you are” party: it is God’s “come as I say you must” party.
Most people you have ever known will not be invited, but if you are there, you will be so full of joy reveling in God’s presence, you won’t even miss them.
Thank you for being here and please share these messages with everyone you know to help this ministry continue to grow. Subscribe to my website and YouTube channel, buy my books, join my Facebook group called “Just God’s Word” (please read and agree to the rules), and remember that I always welcome your comments.
That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!
