2 Corinthians 12:2-4

So just what is the Third Heavens?

The Jews spoke of three heavens. The first heaven consisted of the earth atmosphere where the clouds and birds were. The second heaven was where the sun, stars, and moon was. The third heaven was the dwelling place of God. When Paul said he was caught up to the third heaven (2 Cor. 12:2), they said he was referring to the very dwelling place of God.

On a side note, the Mormons (in my opinion) erringly teach that the three heavens consist of telestial, terrestrial, and celestial. They divide them into compartments dwelt by people after they die. There are various reasons that this cannot be a proper explanation. One brief explanation that this doesn't appear to be a proper explanation is because of the condition of the dead. Ecclesiastes 9:4-6 says: (4) There is hope for whoever is among the living, because a live dog is better off than a dead lion. (5) For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing at all, nor do they have any more reward, because all memory of them is forgotten. (6) Also, their love and their hate and their jealousy have already perished, and they no longer have any share in what is done under the sun. It was Jehovah that said in the garden of Eden that failure to be obedient to His instructions would result in death, Satan countered that by saying, "you positively will not die, but you will be like God!" Life in any form whether on earth or in the heavens would mean that Satan told the truth and that Jehovah God was the liar, which we know is not the truth. Genesis 2:16-17, 3:1-5. So you see, death is a punishment for disobedience, not an extension of life as Satan suggested.

Now, back to the discussion on the Third Heavens - At 2 Corinthians 12:2-4 the apostle Paul describes one who was “caught away . . . to the third heaven” and “into paradise.” Since there is no mention in the Scriptures of any other person having had such an experience, it seems likely that this was the apostle’s own experience. Whereas some have endeavored to relate Paul’s reference to the third heaven to the early rabbinic view that there were stages of heaven, even a total of “seven heavens.” However, this view finds no support in the Scriptures. As we have seen, the heavens are not referred to specifically as if divided into platforms or stages, but, rather, the context must be relied upon to determine whether reference is to the heavens within earth’s atmospheric expanse, the heavens of outer space, the spiritual heavens, or something else. It therefore appears that the reference to “the third heaven” indicates the superlative degree of the rapture in which this vision was seen. Note the way words and expressions are repeated three times at Isaiah 6:3; Ezekiel 21:27; John 21:15-17; Revelation 4:8, evidently for the purpose of expressing an intensification of the quality or idea.

The conclusion of the passage makes it clear that Paul is, indeed, referring to himself as the man “caught up to the third heaven,” but he uses the third person rhetoric to distance himself from the appearance of actual boasting.

The context does not suggest that “the third heaven” refers to the atmosphere around our globe, nor to outer space or to any parallel universes, as postulated by astrophysicists. The Bible often uses the number three to represent emphasis, intensity, or added strength. (Ecclesiastes 4:12; Isaiah 6:3; Matthew 26:34, 75; Revelation 4:8) Thus, what Paul saw in vision was elevated or exalted. It was spiritual.

Some have described the heavens into 3 categories, stages or divisions:
The First Heaven: Earth Atmosphere
•Deut. 11:17--Then the LORD's anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce . . .
•Deut. 28:12--The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands.
•Judges 5:4--"O LORD, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the land of Edom, the earth shook, the heavens poured, the clouds poured down water.
•Acts 14:17--"Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; . . .

The Second Heaven: Outer Space
•Psalm 19:4, 6--In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun . . . It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; . . .
•Jeremiah 8:2--They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of the heavens which they have loved and served . . .
•Isaiah 13:10--The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light.

The Third Heaven: God's Dwelling Place But then later clarified as being God's kingdom ruled by Jesus as the place where Paul visited in vision.
•1 Kings 8:30 (phrase repeated numerous times in following verses)--then hear from heaven, your dwelling place . . .
•Psalm 2:4--The One enthroned in heaven laughs; The LORD scoffs at them.
•Matthew 5:16--In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
•1 Kings 8:27--"But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you.
•Deut. 10:14--To the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it.

This "third heavens" event that seems to date to this period is described at 2 Corinthians 12:2-5. Saul said: ‘I know a man in union with Christ who, fourteen years ago was caught away to the third heaven, into paradise, and heard unutterable words which it is not lawful for a man to speak.’ Apparently, Saul was talking about himself. Since he wrote this in about 55 C.E., 14 years earlier would take us back to 41 C.E., in the middle of the “silent years.” That vision doubtless gave Saul unique insight. In describing "paradise" this must refer to the earth in the New System since "paradise" is an earthly term, it has never been used to describe the conditions of the heavens!

Q: Was it to equip him as “an apostle to the nations”? (Romans 11:13)
Q: Did it affect the way he later thought, wrote, and spoke?
Q: Did the years between Saul’s conversion and his call to Antioch serve to train and mature him for future responsibilities?

Whatever are the answers to such questions, we can be sure that when Barnabas invited him to help spearhead the preaching work in Antioch, zealous Saul was fully qualified to fulfill the assignment.—Acts 11:19-26.

Hopefully more information will be brought out in articles yet to be issued.