Heaven part three

We have been scanning the scriptures for information about heaven. I used Strong's concordance to find all the instances the word heaven is used. A lot of what I have found is redundant, so, I skim through looking for the unique passages that have bits about heaven that we haven't covered yet. We left off in Psalms.

 Proverbs 30:4 asks, "Who has gone up to heaven, who has come down?" This was written at a time when it was inconceivable to be able to leave the earth. It was also unknown that we live in solar system that inhabits a galaxy that is just one of billions of galaxies in a universe of which we have found no boundary.  Airplanes have flown up into the atmosphere and found no gods. The astronauts went up above the atmosphere and found no gods. Space probes have gone out into the solar system and found no gods. Space telescopes have plumbed the depths of the universe and found no gods.

Ecclesiastes 5:2 says,"...god is in heaven and you are on earth." Song of Songs does not mention heaven. In Isaiah 13, Yahweh is mustering an army that comes "from faraway lands, from the ends of the heavens...to destroy the whole country." On that day "the stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light."

In Isaiah 14:12, the king of Babylon is told, "How you have fallen from heaven, o morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of god; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will make myself like the most high." It is interesting to note that this passage has been associated with Satan in a round about way. The morning star mentioned is actually the planet Venus. In Latin, and hence in the Latin translation of the Old Testament, it was rendered as "lucifer", a lower case noun, not a proper name. In context, that is obviously not a reference a reference to Satan. It is also important to note that in many cultures kings were considered divine, gods in the flesh. More about this later.

In Isaiah 34, we read a rant against the nations. Yahweh is angry with them all and will take out his wrath on them. Verse 4 says, "All the stars of the heavens will be dissolved and the sky rolled up like a scroll; all the starry host will fall like withered leaves from the vine...his sword has drunk its fill in the heavens." Isaiah 37:16 says that Yahweh is enthroned between cherubim. Isaiah 63:15 tells Yahweh to look down from his lofty throne in heaven. In Isaiah 66:1, Yahweh says, "Heaven is my throne, earth is my footstool."

In Jeremiah 7:18, Jeremiah speaks at the temple gate and says Yahweh is upset because the Israelites make cakes of bread for the "queen of heaven" and pour out drink offerings to other gods. In 8:2, Yahweh says the bones of Jerusalem's dead will be "removed from their  graves. They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of heaven, which they have loved and served and which they have followed and consulted and worshipped." In 23:24, no one can hide from god because he fills heaven and earth. In chapter 44, Jeremiah received word from god about Jews living in various parts of Egypt. They are doomed for worshipping other gods, including the aforementioned Queen of Heaven. The people said it had been done for many generations by their forefathers, kings, and officials back in Jerusalem. They did not intend to stop.

It is clear from these passages that the Jews were not monotheists. Along with Yahweh worship, they also worshipped a female goddess and "the starry hosts" or "the hosts of heaven" which were heavenly bodies thought to be deities. This is called astrolatry. They believed the heavens or heaven to be filled with heavenly beings.