THE THIRD HEAVEN
Yahweh has just shown us another most incredible truth! In 2 Corinthians 12:1-5 we read Paul’s words:
Boasting is necessary, though it is not profitable; but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago – whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows – such a man was caught up to the third heaven. And I know how such a man – whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows – was caught up into Paradise, and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak. On behalf of such a man will I boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except in regard to my weakness.
Men up to this day have thought that this passage is talking about Paul going into a celestial heaven where God is and seeing it. But there is far more to this, as you will now see. We will begin by reexamining this statement, but translating it more literally.
Boasting is necessary, though it is not profitable/expedient; but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago – whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows – such a one was snatched away (not up) to the third heaven. And I know (“how” is not there) such a man – whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows – was snatched away into the (definite article is there) park ( same as Hebrew 6508), and heard unspoken words (rhema), which it is not lawful for a man to speak. On behalf of such a one will I boast, but on behalf of myself I will not boast.
Let us get straight to the point. Paul had a vision of being snatched away to what he knew to be the third heaven, or “the park.” Who was Paul? He was the main, the key, representative of Christianity. Will Christianity, especially dead Christians like Paul, receive the Shelah/Shiloh period of the kingdom of heaven, the Millennial promised land? No they will not, not any of them. Why? They are all dead, in the graves, cut off from the kingdom. Zechariah 13:8 says regarding the church, His “sheep,” that “two parts in it will be cut off and die.” What does it mean to be cut off? It means just what it says. The two parts of the church, or 2,000 years, even the 2,000 swine, will go to the sea of death and be cut off from the kingdom of heaven that is located HERE on this earth.
What did Paul see in the vision? He saw the “third heaven.” Where is heaven? What did Yahshua say that His will and really His work is? Is it not to bring heaven to earth? Did He not call the church the kingdom of heaven; and where is the church? Is it not here on earth? The “third heaven” that Paul was given a vision to see was none other than the third part of the church into which neither he nor any of the two parts of the church that have been cut off will enter. Even as all the sons of Israel who were over nineteen years of age died in the wilderness and could not enter into the land of promise – they were “cut off” – so none of the Christians who died in the forty Jubilee wilderness period of the church will enter into the Millennial reign, but have been cut off from it. This is Yahweh’s government and His sovereign design. This is what took place in the testimony of the sons of Israel, “the church in the wilderness” (Acts 7:38), and this is what takes place in the true fulfillment of that clear testimony, the church that exists in the “wilderness” with all of its wanderings and serpents and scorpions and rebellion and Judah leading the way and the manna that is not satisfying and gets worms in it and all that goes along with this sorrowful time of testing (Deuteronomy 8:15-16 and 29:4-5). And let us add one other testimony – Moses with his rod!
Let us ask a very revealing question here – Did Joshua have a rod, even as did Moses? No. We never read of Joshua bearing the rod. Why? Because the Remnant who lead the way into the promised land are told not to take the rod! So what happened to the one who bore the rod? It bit him like a serpent and he fell backward (Genesis 49:17). Moses’ rod cost him the promised land west of the Jordan. He took it and struck the rock in order to bring forth the water, and thus could only see that land from a distance and not enter in. Does this sound familiar?
What position was Moses in? Was he not the leader of the wilderness period of the sons of Israel? And who has occupied that place in Christianity? Clearly it has been Paul, who through his teachings has lead Christians in their wilderness wanderings for 2,000 years. He has had the rod of instruction and has been responsible, along with his followers ever since, to bring forth the water, to bring forth truth. But his/their failure in this, even as Moses experienced by striking the rock, has cost him/them his/their life/lives. But what did Yahweh go ahead and do for Moses? Did He not first take him up to a high mountain, Mount Nebo, and let him look over into the land of promise, yet not enter in?
And what was it he was actually viewing? Was he not in type viewing the third part Shelah/Shiloh Millennial period of the church, the third kingdom of heaven? And what did rod-bearing Paul see when he equally saw the “third heaven”? Even as wilderness-occupying rod-bearing Moses was given the opportunity to look into the promised land west of the Jordan but not enter in, in like regard wilderness-occupying rod-bearing Paul was given the opportunity by a vision to look into the third-part kingdom of heaven but not enter in.
And this death and not entering into the promised land is not only relevant to Paul, for even as Moses was the representative of the people who died in the wilderness, so Paul was the representative of the people who are a part of the 2,000 year, two-part, period of the church who have equally died in the wilderness, and will not enter into the Millennial reign.
There is a teaching today that generally goes by the name – the “overcomers.” It teaches that there will be a select group of Christians who will qualify to rule and reign in the Millennial period. They are false Remnant. They say that there has been a group, that they like to call the “elect,” who throughout the period of the church (and even before) will be included with them and will rule and reign in the Millennial kingdom. They are false teachers who have equally taken the rod and it has bitten them like a serpent and they will fall backward. All testimonies confirm that those who have died DO NOT enter into the promised land. For many reasons, what they teach is false, it is dung, and should not be accepted. That teaching makes Christianity (via the “elect” Christians) able to redeem the kingdom of heaven; and if that were true, then there would be no reason for Yahweh to cut the church’s days short and establish a new work, the second Remnant. If what they say is true, then Yahweh would simply need to let the church continue as it has gone for 2,000 years, and at the end call all of those supposed “elect” people out and perform the much needed work with them. But clearly, this is not an option; and that teaching is built on a false premise and violates the government and the laws of Yahweh.
Christianity, per its ability to effect the true and much needed fruits of the kingdom, is “worthless” (1 Samuel 25:25, Jeremiah 13:4-7), and is the fig tree which Yahshua cursed because it had NO fruit (Mark 11:12-14, 20-21). Yahweh looked at the breach of Christianity and declared – “And I searched for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found not a one” (Ezekiel 22:30)! If Yahweh had found a man in all of Christianity, including Paul, who could stand in the gap for it, then he would still be alive today! Any man who has died as a Christian is like the sons of Israel who died in the wilderness – they do not enter into the third-part Shelah/Shiloh Millennial reign! They are dead! They are asleep! They are cut off! Even as Samson, Samuel, and John (who represent the 3,000 year period of Christianity) failed in their Nazirite vow because they could not defeat death, so every man to this day who has died, of whom one might boast that he is the “elect,” is equally unable to effect or participate in the restoration of the kingdom of heaven in its third part. (Read Death and the Passing of Christianity.) They will not be in the first resurrection, which is wholly limited to the Passover first Remnant and second Remnant. Christians are cut off and cannot and will not be a part of the first resurrection, despite this notion that there is a dead elite within them! That is why they are dead! They failed!
Where are the Jews who died in the period of time prior to the church? Did Yahweh bring them back to life so they could be in the church? Surely there were “overcomers” and “elect” in that period as well. But no, they too remained in the grave. (The only slight exception to this would be the ones who came out of the tombs after Yahshua’s resurrection – Matthew 27:52-53.) So what makes Christians any different as He now begins another new work? Time has established people in their place in Yahweh’s works. Time is a determining factor. In this regard, Paul said he was “untimely born” (1 Corinthians 15:8). Time determined where Paul would be in Yahweh’s plans; and this is in fact true with all people. Christians who have died and are in the grave cannot be a part of the Millennial reign – they too were “untimely born.” Eventually this will all be worked out, but the three resurrections are for three established groups that are determined in much regard per this issue of time – the two-part Remnant, Christianity, and the nations.
As we see evidenced over and over and over, all those who are in Christianity, all those who are in the lampstand work of Zechariah 4, are not a part of the “two sons of fresh oil,” the two olive tree works, the Moses and Elijah on the mount of transfiguration while three-part Christianity sleeps. None of those three sleeping witnesses stood with Yahshua and the two-part testimony, but were told to not speak but to listen, in a very true sense to put down their rod and to listen. It is not Christianity we need to hear from today; it is the one who has the legal right to bear the rod, the one “to whom it belongs” (read Until Shiloh Comes), and now is the time of the second golden rod.
And do not be confused here regarding the testimony of Moses and the mount of transfiguration. This is a living parable, even a divine pattern, and one man often represents multiple prophetic testimonies or fulfillments. The first resurrection will be the Moses and Elijah two-part Remnant. But resurrection does not end here. As we read in 1 Corinthians 15:22-23, it is Òeach in his own order.Ó
The second resurrection will be the resurrection of Christianity. This is when Paul, and all Christians who were in the body of Christ at the end of their lives or who remain here in this day, will receive their incorruptible bodies. Remember, Moses did not enter into the Shelah/Shiloah Millennial reign, and neither will Paul. But at the second resurrection, the second mount of transfiguration, Moses will be all of Christianity, and Elijah will be the previously glorified Remnant. Even as Paul stood in the place of Moses and was taken up his own “Mount Nebo” to see what was to come, so he and all of Christianity will likewise stand in the place of Moses with Yahshua and the Remnant, the Elijah. Via Paul’s identification with Moses, he gained for Christianity a legal right to do so. What next?
The third resurrection will make it possible for the nations to enter into immortality, wherein the nations will be the Moses, and the two-part church, the two-part temple of the body and the Bride that become one, will be the Elijah. Thus the same pattern is repeated, only adding a new Moses work each time that comes out of death into resurrection.
It has been noted here numerous times in these writings that Ishmael is Christianity, the work of the Hagar flesh, and Isaac is the true first-born Remnant, the son of the promise. In Genesis 21:8-13 we read what Sarah said concerning Ishmael - “Drive out this maid and her son, for the son of this maid shall not be an heir with my son Isaac.” Even as some might want Christians to be an heir with the Remnant, so Abraham was likewise distressed greatly because his son, Ishmael, would not be an heir with Isaac. But Yahweh told Abraham - “Do not be distressed because of the lad and your maid; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for through Isaac your descendants shall be named.” Those in the first resurrection will not be named through Christianity, but through the name of the Remnant. Though Yahweh blessed Ishmael, all that Abraham had went to Isaac; nothing went to Ishmael (25:5).
Even as Yahweh took care of Ishmael and preserved him alive (21:14-21), so He will take care of Christianity. But equally true, Christians have no inheritance with the Remnant; none of them. If they did, then there would be no reason whatsoever for the call to go forth - “Come out of her, my people, that you may not participate in her sins and that you may not receive of her plagues” (Rev. 18:4). If any could be in Christianity and receive the inheritance, then why come out? But to remain in Christianity, either by choosing so today or by being asleep in the grave, is to be an Ishmael; and as we read here, Ishmael Christianity will not be an heir with the son of promise Remnant.
In equal testimony, when the remnant of Judah came out of Babylon to rebuild the temple, could any who lived before this or any who remained in Babylon, receive the reward for the rebuilding work? No. If they were born before this and had died, they neither had the opportunity nor could they receive the reward, for they were cut off by death (as we see declared in Zechariah 13:8 per the kingdom). They died in Babylon and were buried there. And those alive who remained in Babylon could not receive the reward, for they chose to not come out. Only those who were an active part of the rebuilding work could be counted in the number of those who were a part of this company of people. Their names were numbered in Ezra for one reason and one reason only – they were present in that time and place, and actively participated.
So it will be with the book of life, for the Remnant work is no different. It is a work of rebuilding the temple in the latter days, and only those who are here in this time and place will equally be numbered with the first Remnant. Active participation was the criteria for being numbered in the book then, and so it will be today. Again, anything else defeats and annuls the message today to come out.
There is a warning that is set before us in the Scriptures to which we must take note with serious regard. Found only in second Remnant Luke 17:32 when there is indeed the opportunity to do so, we read Yahshua’s warning to the second Remnant – “Remember Lot’s wife!” We have clearly noted before that Sodom is Christianity, the work that is burned with fire in the third part (Zechariah 13:7-9) after the Remnant comes out. It has also been noted that “Lot” means “covering,” and Lot’s wife and his two virgin daughters were to be delivered from this destruction IF they kept their eyes forward toward their covering and did not look back to Sodom. Did they do this? The two virgin daughters did so, but Lot’s wife was a testimony to us all. We read in Genesis 19:26 that she looked back and “became a garrison of salt” (salt – #4414-4419). In every other case, the Hebrew word here that is typically translated “pillar” (#5333), is used per a garrison, or a city in Judah (which has had the rod) – Nezib (Joshua 15:43).
After coming out of Sodom, Lot took his two daughters to a little town named Zoar, which means “little.” And there Lot and his two virgin daughters escaped the fiery judgment that came on Sodom. The Remnant is a Zoar, a little work.
If you think you can seek to be a part of the Remnant and come out of Christianity, yet in your coming out to look back at it and cast your eyes and heart once again on its teachings, then you too will become a part of the garrison of salt to which Lot’s wife attests and will not be delivered with the Lot, the covering. This is a very serious warning, and only those who heed this clear warning will be delivered from Sodom Christianity. Do not think you can look back at Christianity’s false teachings on any matter, including the false teaching regarding the “overcomer,” and be able to escape the third-part burning of the church. That promise is only to those who do not look back at Christianity and its false teachings.
And let us add one other critical and highly revealing point regarding Sodom. When the men of Sodom surrounded Lot’s house and wanted the two angels to be sent out to them, Lot offered to send his two virgin daughters out to them instead, and they could do with them whatever they pleased. But the men despised Lot and accused him of acting as a judge over them and threatened to treat him even worse. The angels then delivered Lot, and struck with blindness the men who were at the doorway.
And they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the doorway (Genesis 19:11).
Once again, let us get straight to the point concerning what is being evidenced here. Some have wondered if anyone else before now has ever seen what Yahweh has shown this man regarding the two-part Remnant. Undoubtedly not (with one evident exception – Paul’s “Mount Nebo” view at a distance of the “third heaven,” which he was not allowed to tell). You will not find anyone in history who has ever seen and revealed this incredible truth. As clearly stated by Paul in his vision of the “third heaven” when these things are being fulfilled, these truths up till now have been “unspoken words.” Why? The answer is clearly evidenced in this account regarding Sodom.
As has been addressed, Sodom is a testimony of Christianity. By the power of the two angels, both Lot and his two virgin daughters were delivered out of Sodom alive. But in order to protect them, the angels blinded the men of Sodom, both great and small, who were at the doorway. This is precisely what Yahweh has done to Christianity, to those who press to enter through the doorway. In order to protect the Lot, the second golden rod (A Lesson From Intercession, page 4), and the two virgin daughters, the two-part Remnant, Yahweh struck the church with blindness. If He had not done so, then Christians would have tried to fulfill the second golden rod and the two-part Remnant, and thereby equally defiled those works. That could NEVER be, for these works are entirely TOO critical!
And to repeat what has been said before, there are no Remnant, and there is no second golden rod, in Christianity. The second golden rod and the two-part Remnant have been hidden from them; they have been blinded from finding and passing through that door, which they have wearily sought in trying to take the kingdom by force. (Actually, the phrase “take it by force” as found in Matthew 11:12, is the identical Greek word for when Paul was “snatched away” to the third heaven.) But that work has been entirely reserved and kept for this day alone. Sodom Christianity has pressed the doorway so as to apprehend the covering, the Lot, but Yahweh has prevented them from entering. There have been NO Christians who have been able to apprehend that covering, and are forbidden in their entirety from entering into the Remnant work. They are all blinded, and cannot enter in.
How do we know that the Remnant work is for today? There is one simple answer – because our eyes are now being opened to see these marvelous things! Now is the time for the Remnant to be established, otherwise this truth would still be hidden.
And what of the Sodom Christians who have all died and await their resurrection, the “small and great” who have wearied themselves to try to pass through the door? They will resurrect, but at the second resurrection that is seen in Revelation 20:12, at the white throne judgment, where we read:
And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.
It is here that these purported “elect,” these “overcomers,” will find their place. This is the government of Yahweh – each in their own order.
Continue to final page of The Third Heaven for PART TWO