STAND FIRM: Heaven is Better Than We Can Imagine

I took a detour the past few weeks sharing the why of the Millennial Kingdom, but I want to go back to the details of the age to come, most of which are from the Millennial Kingdom. Through these details, I want to reinforce the idea that Heaven is better than we can imagine. I shared previously that my view of “Heaven” has not always been all that great. It always sounded far better than the alternative, but maybe not something that sounded fun for eternity. That sentence sounds horrible, doesn’t it? I don’t feel I’m alone though. The reason I believe I had such a low view of Heaven and possibly you might, too, is because we’ve not looked at the many details Scripture gives on the age to come.

Previously, I shared some misconceptions I’ve had and then how recognizing the different “phases” of Heaven can help show us how amazing the age to come is for believers. We looked at when a believer passes now, their soul is with the Lord and is in paradise, as Jesus said to thief on the cross. Then when Jesus returns, the physical bodies of believers are resurrected and made new. Those whose souls were with the Lord come back with Him in their prefect, eternal bodies. Raptured and resurrected believers will then reign with Jesus on earth through the 1000-year Messianic or Millennial Kingdom. Then after those 1,000 years, the Earth and Heavens are made new. The amazing city, the New Jerusalem, comes to earth. God the Father returns to live among His people on the new Earth for eternity. Just through the identity of those phases, Heaven becomes more tangible and real. Beyond the defining of those phases, there is one passage that helped it become even more real to me. Are you ready?

The passage that brought the Millennial Kingdom to life for me is found in the Book of Ezekiel. The context of the passage is Ezekiel telling about the final campaign against Israel which culminates in the Battle of Armageddon. According to the timeline in Revelation 19-20, it is at this time when Jesus returns, defeats the Antichrist, binds Satan in the Abyss and begins His rule. Therefore, the resurrected and raptured Saints are on earth with Jesus. Ezekiel’s prophecy in this passage tells what believing survivors and resurrected saints will do at the start of this 1,000-year kingdom and following the Battle of Armageddon.

Again, this verse transformed my view of Heaven and made it better than I could imagine. Are you ready?

“And I will make a vast graveyard for Gog (Antichrist) and his hordes (army of the Antichrist) in the Valley of the Travelers, east of the Dead Sea. It will block the way of those who travel there, and they will change the name of the place to the Valley of Gog’s Hordes. It will take seven months for the people of Israel to bury the bodies and cleanse the land. Everyone in Israel will help, for it will be a glorious victory for Israel when I demonstrate my glory on that day, says the Sovereign Lord. After seven months, teams of men will be appointed to search the land for skeletons to bury, so the land will be made clean again. Whenever bones are found, a marker will be set up so the burial crews will take them to be buried in the Valley of Gog’s Hordes. (There will be a town there named Hamonah, which means ‘horde.’) And so the land will finally be cleansed. (Ezek. 39:11-16 NLT with clarification added).

Did that get you excited about the Millennial Kingdom? Did you catch it? Ezekiel said that those is Israel, which would be survivors of the Great Tribulation and possibly the new residents of Israel — the resurrected Saints, will bury bodies for seven months. Then after that, we will be in teams to locate remains and mark them for burial. That was it, that was the verse that made Heaven better than I could imagine.

Okay, maybe I’m not that excited about burying bodies. Maybe as resurrected saints, we will get to serve as supervisors. Seriously, though this particular task doesn’t sound all that fun, but it does point to the gritty, realness of the Millennial Kingdom. We will be back on earth. We can travel to places we have known. We will live and function in this world in perfect glorified bodies. Satan will be bound. Jesus will be reigning on earth. Doesn’t that sound amazing? And we’ve only scratched the surface.

There’s actually another passage in Ezekiel that sounds more fun than this passage we just read:

“He said to me, ‘This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Dead Sea. When it empties into the sea, the salty water there becomes fresh. Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds — like the fish of the Mediterranean Sea.’” (Ezek. 47:8-10 NIV).

So, after seven plus months of burying and marking bodies, anyone who likes can join me on this fishing hotspot revealed to Ezekiel. Heaven is better than we can imagine.

— Jake is the newest state missionary and would love to share about the work in Northwest Arkansas and encourage your church to stand firm. (standfirmministries.com)