Revelation: A Tale of Two Heavens

My first post about my unique liberal and progressive views on Armageddon and Revelation (https://www.democraticunderground.com/12223274) got some interest, so here is another, about Revelation more generally. Thanks to all who encouraged me to post more.

Revelation begins with something like a preamble and introduction (chapters 1-3); then comes what I call "the action part" or the main body (4:1-22:5); and finally a conclusion (22:6-21).

The main body begins with a scene of heaven (all of chapter 4) and ends with another scene of heaven (21:1-22:5), which John of Patmos, the author of Revelation, calls New Jerusalem. The two scenes of heaven are completely different! Virtually everything about them is different: what God is like, how people interact with God, what God and people do there, what the physical place is like, and many more differences that are almost polar opposites.

Let's look at some of the differences between the two heavens and begin to see what those differences mean.

Where is heaven? The first heaven is up in the sky as John is called to "come up here" (4:1). The final heaven, New Jerusalem (I'll call it New J, for short), is down here on earth as it "[comes] down out of heaven" (21:2). The Greek uses the same word for "sky" and for "heaven" so there is sometimes some ambiguity, but the detailed description of New J shows it to clearly be down here on earth.

How big is heaven? The first heaven is small enough that John enters through an open door (4:1). New J is gigantic, 12000 furlongs/stadia (about 1400 miles) long, wide, and even high, with 12 huge city gates. It's a cube, like the Holy of Holies in Solomon's temple, but billions of times bigger.

Who and how many are in heaven? The only ones present in the throne room with God in the first heaven are 24 "elders" and four strange mythological creatures, that don't exist in any physical reality. The whole description of New J talks of "the nations" and lots of people doing various things (e.g., 21:24). Few vs. many.

What comes from God's throne? First heaven: Lightning, rumblings, and thunder (scary and threatening things to primitive people of John's time) come from the throne. New J: A river of the water of life comes from the throne (22:1). Quite a contrast!

What does God do in heaven? First heaven: God is aloof and completely unresponsive to the elders and strange creatures who worship him day and night; God does nothing but emit lightning and thunder, and he doesn't even acknowledge those who are worshiping him 24/7. New J: God is deeply involved with his people, giving all sorts of benefits, wiping away their tears, ending death, sorrow and pain (21:4), giving the river of the water of life (21:6), and giving the leaves of the tree of life for healing the nations (22:2).

What do people do in heaven? First heaven: All the elders do, 24/7, is throw their crowns before the throne, bow down, and say increasingly long and fancy streams of words of praise to God. They honor God with words and with submissive ritual. Nobody else is there to do anything. New J: They serve him; they honor God by serving rather than with words and ritualistic submission.

What is heaven physically like? First heaven: There's virtually nothing there but thrones, crowns, candlesticks, and a sea of glass before the throne; it's rather stark. The things that are there represent power and authority (thrones and crowns), ritualistic items (candlesticks), and separation from God (the sea of glass before the throne). New J: All sorts of opulence, with streets of gold, lots of precious stones, the tree of life yielding fruits and leaves for healing. "The first heaven had passed away ... and there was no longer any sea" (21:1). Many commentators try to explain "no longer any sea" with reference to ancient Israel's conflicts with the Philistines, the sea people, but I think that "no longer any sea (of glass)" makes more sense in Revelation. What becomes of the sea of glass on the way from the first heaven to New J is an interesting saga, beyond the scope of this post.

So what is the point of all these differences between the two heavens? They show two very different kinds of religion. One shows a distant God up in the sky who is not very involved with his people (until he starts unleashing all sorts of pain and destruction), and one shows a loving, caring God who is deeply involved with his people. One shows a religion of fear, and one shows a religion of love, healing, and nurturing. One shows separation from God (both the sea of glass and the fact that hardly anyone can even be in the presence of God), and one shows closeness to God (the sea of glass gone, and people even see God's face among them). One shows a religion of ritualism, gestures, and formal words while the other shows a mystical religion where people have a direct experience of God; they see his face. One shows a religion of authority and hierarchy (only a very few "elders" can even be in the presence of God), while the other shows much more equality among people without clear distinctions of class, power, authority, etc.

The vast and stark differences between the two heavens provide a framework for the whole main body of the Revelation story. Virtually everything that happens in between is part of the transition from the first heaven to New J, and it all shows a story of the growth and change of our tradition from almost primordial, early, Bronze Age origins through the long development of ancient Judaism, then to the beginnings of Christianity, and moving to the future of what John sees as our further development necessary to fulfill the great commandments and create heaven on earth.

Here's one example of the transition from the first heaven to the final heaven. Thunder and lightning come from God's throne in the first heaven; a river of water of life comes from the throne in New J. In a scene midway in the main body of Revelation between the two scenes of heaven (14:2), John hears a sound from heaven that is like rushing waters and loud thunder; i.e., midway between the two heavens in the Revelation story, John hears a mixture of sounds from the first heaven (thunder) and from the final heaven (the rushing waters of the river of water of life). It is a transitional scene showing that the change from the first heaven to the final heaven is not a sudden change at the end, but happens gradually throughout the main body of the story. There is a whole series of sounds from heaven that illustrates this change, but that is beyond the scope of this post. Besides the sounds from heaven sequence, there are literally dozens of intermediate steps between the two heavens.

Revelation is a story of growth and change in our spiritual tradition. From fear-based religion to love-based religion, from exclusion to inclusion, from authority and hierarchy to equality, from ritual submission to service, from separation from God to closeness to God. From formal, ecclesiastical ritual to vibrant living. In my view, all this makes Revelation probably the most progressive book in the Bible.