Tuesday, 13 August 2019

The heavens were opened ...

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The question of the day: Please read this verse and the question that follows. Matthew 3:16 "After being immersed, Yeshua rose up out of the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Ruach Elohim descending like a dove and coming upon Him."

What does it mean, "the heavens were opened to Him?"

Answer: An open heaven is when the divine presence meets humanity. Let's first define heaven. Heaven is any spiritual realm. It is the opposite of the physical world in which we live and breathe.

The laws of physics (no two pieces of matter can occupy the same place at the same time - see the Pauli exclusion principle and the Bose-Einstein Condensate) only apply to our physical world, so the spiritual heavens can and do exist in the same place and at the same time as the physical world. God is not over yonder in the great by and by, but right here, right now.

Satan and his demons are the adversary of God. Satan and his demons have been cast out of God's presence (God's heaven), but Satan is still a spirit, so he still must exist in a spiritual realm (a heaven). Satan, who is the author of confusion, loves to interfere with our ability to hear clearly from God. It is called deception.

An open heaven (as the one described in Matthew 3:16) takes place when we are given direct access to God's heaven without Satanic interference. This occurs when we draw near to God so that Satan cannot continue in God’s presence. This happens regularly at times when we partake of communion. When we praise God is another (not generally with an instant of praise, but through a season of praise).

We don't scare Satan, but Messiah in us does. Jacob(James) 4:7 "Therefore submit to God. But resist the devil and he will flee from you." Notice "submit to God" comes first. Without that first part, you can resist in the flesh all you want without effect.

The Bible speaks of a mystery that includes both Jewish and non-Jewish people ... Colossians 1:27b "Messiah in you, the hope of glory!" Go in the victory of the Lord and seek those seasons of an open heaven.

Tuesday, 13 August 2019
Comment -

As Jonathan Allen pointed out in his d'rash on this week's Torah parasha, Deuteronomy 4:36 also speaks of a word from an open heaven, "From the heavens He made you hear His voice to instruct you,[e] and on earth He caused you to see His great fire—you heard His words from the midst of the fire."

Would Rabbi Michael care to comment?

Posted By Glenn D Blank 03:10pm