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W I N DOWSI N TO

T H E THI R D H E AV E N

A Look At How “Hidden Treasures” Of The Bible Are Revealed And The “Mystery” Surrounding The Number 3

J o a n n e C a r r a w a y

A D I V I S I O N O F T H O M A S N E L S O N

Copyright © 2012 by Joanne Carraway.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible unless other wise noted.

WestBow Press books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

WestBow PressA Division of �omas Nelson1663 Liberty DriveBloomington, IN 47403www.westbowpress.com1-(866) 928-1240

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. �e views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by �inkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © �inkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4497-4382-6 (sc)ISBN: 978-1-4497-4381-9 (hc)ISBN: 978-1-4497-4383-3 (e)

Printed in the United States of America

WestBow Press rev. date: 03/19/2012

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ......................................................... vii

ABOUT THE AUTHOR.............................................................ix

PREFACEA Little Lengthy But Very Necessary Reading...........................xiii

INTRODUCTIONWhat this Book is Not About ................................................ xxvii

CHAPTER 1Three Essential Keys....................................................................1

CHAPTER 2The Meaning of the Number 3 in the Scriptures .......................13

CHAPTER 3The Three Heavens ...................................................................20

CHAPTER 4Significant Old Testament Threes..............................................34

CHAPTER 5The Tabernacle of Moses and the Number 3 .............................53

CHAPTER 6Other Threes in the Tabernacle .................................................61

CHAPTER 7The Three Metals ......................................................................76

CHAPTER 8The First Three of the New Testament ......................................94

CHAPTER 9The New Testament Three Measures of Meal ..........................108

CHAPTER 10The New Testament Three To Which It All Pointed................125

CHAPTER 11The Holy Bible and Proof of Divine Authorship .....................147

CHAPTER 12 CONCLUSIONJesus: Who is He and What did He do?...................................162

AFTERWORD ........................................................................ 171

EPILOGUE ............................................................................. 173

ENDNOTES ........................................................................... 175

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First and foremost, my husband, David, and I give thanks and praise to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Who leads His sheep by His Word into all truth for His Name’s sake. Without the inspiration of His Holy Spirit, which quickens all Scripture, none of us could see anything of the Kingdom of God.

Secondly, we give thanks to God for leading us to the following three families who have been used to teach and admonish us:

International evangelist, author, and speaker Howard O. Pittman has shared volumes of insight into the realities of the Second Heaven. His near-death experience has inspired us to continue in the faith and to “strive for the faith that was once delivered unto the saints.” Thank you, Brother Pittman, and your special helpmeet, Joyce. Both of you are treasures to us!

Pastor Kenneth Worley has shown us that we must be rooted and grounded in the Word of God. We are truly indebted to Brother Worley and his wife, Faye, for their instruction in the Scriptures and their many faithful years of service in ministry. You both made the dunamis of God so very real to us!

Paul and Jan Crouch, whom we have never met, have been there for us through their television ministry of the Trinity Broadcasting Network. They have proved to us and countless

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others that God will do great miracles in the natural, as well as the supernatural, to accomplish His Will.

�ese three special families have dramatically impacted our walk with Christ and have truly affected us for all Eternity! Additionally, we have listened to many other preachers, evangelists, and teachers who paid the price to hear from Heaven. �ank you, precious laborers in the Lord’s fields. As for me, this once little lost lamb will be forever grateful!

Our journey has been a thrilling learning experience and, God willing, it’s not quite over yet. One thing is certain: we still have so much to learn, for the wells of God’s Holy Word are seemingly as deep and infinite as He is!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joanne Carraway and her husband, David, have always considered their role in the Body of Christ as one of a “ministry of helps.” In their earlier years, David served as associate pastor of New Philadelphian Church in Columbia, Mississippi, which was founded by the international author, speaker, and evangelist Howard O. Pittman. David later served as interim pastor for New Beginning Church, a nondenominational church also located in Columbia. He currently is a software developer and owns a successful national utility billing software company.

Joanne has edited two of Evangelist Pittman’s international best sellers: Placebo and Demons, An Eyewitness Account. �ese books have circled the globe, with several hundred thousand copies having been distributed! Currently in their 12th printing, Placebo and Demons, An EyewitnessAccount have been published in 18 languages. Most recently, the nation of Japan has begun printing and disseminating these books.

A former public school teacher, Joanne holds a Bachelor of Science degree in education with highest honors from the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. Additionally, she holds a Master’s degree in education with highest honors from William Carey University, also in Hattiesburg. During her teaching career, she assisted in designing curriculum for the public schools of Mississippi and has taught numerous staff development classes to her fellow teachers. Her family holds a record in the state with three members having been elected to the office of superintendent of education (her father and two brothers). Immediate family members have accumulated over 200 years of service

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to the public schools of Jefferson Davis County. Of this record Joanne says, “When you were born or married into this family, it was a given: You were expected to teach and serve.” She says her father, Dennis Fortenberry, put the principles of the Scriptures to work in his position of superintendent without being overtly religious.

Joanne comments, “For example, in his day he formulated the only school desegregation plan in the southeastern United States approved by the US Department of Justice and therefore the only public school district that was not court ordered to desegregate. He knew that segregation was morally wrong and that the time had come. His compassion for lower-income families and hungry children led him to develop the reduced and free-lunch programs as well as implement the breakfast program. He was eventually flown to Washington, D.C., to receive a commendation for his achievements from the President. It was a defining moment in his forty-three years of service and in my life,” she shares. “I came to realize that my dad had done the works of Christ right where God had sovereignly placed him: in the fields of the world.”

Utilizing her teaching background, Joanne has taught the Bible to all age groups. She also had her own radio program of Biblical teachings on AM and FM Gospel Radio in Mississippi. A highlight of her ministry was teaching the morning devotionals for the Christian Country Music Association’s Convention in Nashville at the World Baptist Center in 1996. Later, she taught at the national convention in Brinkley, Arkansas, for �e Country Gospel Music Association of Branson, Missouri. Many of her teachings/devotionals have been published in area secular publications such as �e Columbian Progress and �e Prentiss Headlight. During her years of Gospel Music ministry, she had a long-running column in �e U.S. Gospel News of Jonesboro, Arkansas. She currently serves as a community columnist for the Hattiesburg American, a Gannett newspaper publication in Mississippi with a daily circulation of approximately 16,000. �e Hattiesburg American hosts a World Wide Web presence at www.hattiesburgamerican.com where Joanne’s current and archived articles may be viewed online.

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A prolific composer of Gospel Music (she has two nationally produced albums to her credit), she uses her teachings in her music. Her first release to radio was “Even the Night,” adapted from Psalm 139:11. �e song, performed by Joanne and daughter Bree as Country Praise, went to number thirteen on the national Christian Country Music charts in 1993. �e duo was later awarded the International Country Gospel Music Association’s Gold Cross Duo of the Year. Joanne was honored and humbled to be named Miss Mississippi International Country Gospel Music and chosen for the International Country Gospel Music Association’s highest honor, the Hall of Fame.

Joanne and David Carraway make their home in Hattiesburg and are lovingly cared for by their Shetland Sheepdog (Sheltie breed), Sirron’s Shekinah, better known as Harley. �ey are the parents of two grown children and, most importantly, they are Mee Maw and Pee Paw to three beautiful grandchildren ages six, twelve, and thirteen.

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PREFACE

A Little Lengthy But Very Necessary Reading

�is book has been a long time in the making. Frankly, I would have felt more confident writing it about twenty-five years ago when memory served me much better (i.e., when my estrogen levels were higher!) However, I’ve come to understand that God is not one whit interested in how much confidence I have in myself. He is, though, obsessively interested in my confidence being placed supremely in Him—in being my God as I journey through this life; in letting me experience the ups, downs, good, bad, and ugly; and in letting me learn that He is the stabilizing, peace-sustaining force in a Christian’s life—the only One worthy of such confidence.

I don’t know if you ever had this problem, but my theology in my earlier years was just that—my theology and not His. It was such a comfortable, lovable theology because it allowed me to at least think that I was maintaining some semblance of control over my life. Much like Abraham bringing forth Ishmael in the strength of his flesh with a bondwoman, I was quite fond of my theology since it looked like me and talked like me. As with Ishmael’s birth, it was definitely well intended and was the only theology I had at the time, but it sorely lacked a crucial ingredient: the application of life experiences that can only be attained as we spend time sojourning with others and God. �ere is much that can be understood about God in this life, but in many

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instances, the understanding requires the passage of time. �is is not to say that “I’ve arrived” and that my doctrine is now perfect. Oh no, quite the contrary! But I have lived long enough to experience some of this life’s offerings and see whose theology works best. I think you know the answer to that one.

As a young Christian I can remember reading the book of Job and identifying with some of his statements, but especially when he said,

• “For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and thatwhich I was afraid of is come unto me.” (Job 3:25)

�at Scripture was disconcerting to me and, to be perfectly honest, Job was not one of my favorite books of the Bible. Back then I hoped against hope that Job was just not being very spiritual when he made that statement, but down in my heart, well, I knew better. �is man had an incredible understanding of God—without the benefit of any Scriptures! (�e book of Job is the oldest book in the Bible, predating the writings of Moses.)

Considering the law of averages, I knew that if I lived long enough I, too, would face some fearful and stressful times. As time has passed, I have found that life with Jesus is, indeed, a bed of roses—much beauty and sweetness. It’s just those doggone “thorns” that come with the package that seem to disrupt an idyllic state. As Christians, the thorns should come as no surprise since the great Apostle Paul spoke to us about his:

• “And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundanceof the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, themessenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted abovemeasure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it mightdepart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient forthee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladlytherefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power ofChrist may rest upon me.” (2 Corinthians 12:7-9)

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(As you read about the number 3 in this book, please remember that Paul petitioned the Lord three times for the removal of his thorn.)

Even though we are Christians, we still live in an imperfect world. Our world environment is in its own birth pangs while awaiting complete redemption (see Romans 8:22-23). Consequently, the curse pronounced by God in the Garden of Eden is still upon this earth, and interestingly enough, it specifically included “thorns:”

• “And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto thevoice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commandedthee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thysake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thornsalso and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat theherb of the field.” (Genesis 3:17-18)

As we age, our thorns and fears come in many different varieties and are known by different names. �ankfully, only a few of the imagined ones become reality, but those few can be severe enough to leave us reeling, as in the death of a loved one.

About fifteen years ago my oldest brother died unexpectedly at the age of fifty-seven. I wish you could have known him. He was such a special person and a true gift in my life. He thrived upon encouraging others and lifting them up—one of the few unselfish people I have been honored to know.

I think one of his greatest joys was playing Santa Claus and visiting the homes of underprivileged children. Always armed with a joke and an irrepressible sense of humor, he was perfect for the part.

As a highly educated school administrator, he had spent his life in service to the public school children of Louisiana and Mississippi, whom he dearly loved. Even as a young school principal, it was not uncommon to see him playing football with the elementary school students at recess. As a classroom teacher, he once received a touching letter from the father

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of one of his students. In the letter, the father eloquently spoke of how he attributed my brother’s influence with his son as the turning point in his son’s life—not only academically but psychologically as well. “We need more teachers like you,” the father had shared.

My precious brother loved the church and had once penned inside an old Methodist Church Cokesbury Hymnal that his youthful years in the white-framed church by the river were the “best years” of his life. He would “supply” preach when called upon and gladly assist his in-laws in setting cemetery monuments when his busy schedule permitted. Sometimes he found humor even in the somber task of monument placement. I vividly recall a particular engraving that brought a chuckle to him and everyone with whom he shared it. Written upon the monument of a one-hundred-year-old man were the words “Gone so soon.”

�e love he carried in his heart for children could only be matched by the love he had for our senior citizens, whom he greatly esteemed. As Sunday school teacher of the very senior adults, he would tease them that they had better take his class seriously since the next class up from his was “out of this world.”

He was serving his second term as elected superintendent of our county’s public schools when he fell gravely ill. �ough far removed in time and space from the land of Uz and Job of Biblical antiquity, my rural Mississippi family was now experiencing the same dreaded fears. Granted, God is called the Almighty, but how could He possibly conquer such paralyzing fear and uncertainty in the minds and hearts of His children?

I can’t begin to tell you of the faithfulness of our Lord during my brother’s illness. For example, my husband, David (who worked in my brother’s office), and I were on vacation nine hundred miles from home and did not have a clue as to how seriously ill my brother was. Toward the end of our vacation, I told David that I had the overwhelming sense

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of need at home and that I could not stay another night. �ere was an urgency in my spirit that was inexplicable.

When we arrived home everything seemed okay, but the next day when my husband went to work, my brother began having severe chest pain. David managed to get him into a vehicle and began speeding toward the hospital nearly forty miles away. Midway into the trip and for an otherwise unexplainable impulse were it not for the prompting of the Spirit of God, David turned into the clinic of a local doctor and family friend. �e timing was to the nanosecond because, once inside the clinic, my brother’s heart stopped beating. �is doctor’s previous experience in emergency room resuscitation proved vital. �e rescue helicopter was called, and a multitude of local townspeople gathered to offer assistance as the helicopter landed on the makeshift pad of grassy lawn of the rural clinic. In hindsight, I can see that God was letting us know that He was in control, that my brother was His child, and that our “times are in �y Hand” (Psalm 31:15).

�e next few months were heart wrenching in two ways: Watching death begin to claim my brother’s physical body as his heart muscle degenerated to the point of causing every major organ to fail and watching my frail parents (in their eighties) face the unnatural and surreal event of losing a child—their firstborn.

My brother’s last few weeks of life were those of great physical distress, yet I saw the magnificent Grace of our Lord evident in his suffering, for he never spoke a harsh word to anyone who came into his hospital room. Even in facing death he continued to put others ahead of himself.

At the end, he summoned what little physical strength remained and called our elderly parents to his bedside. Catching their hands, he praised them for being the best parents God could ever give anyone and assured them that it was “time for me to be moving on out of here.” �ough Mother and Daddy had always led us, it was fitting that at his end he would lead them in prayer. “A masterful prayer,” Daddy would later tearfully recall.

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I’ve shared these vignettes so that you might understand how much my relationship with my brother meant to me and the immeasurable impact of his death upon my life and the lives of so many others. �is fear, this thorn of death, is inescapable and visits all of humanity. One thing is for sure: For those left behind to grieve, they are not left unchanged.

�ere have been many other thorns or fears since my brother’s death, not the least of which has been my beloved husband’s four bouts of life-threatening cancer, beginning at the age of forty-nine. During the first episode, in 2001, he endured two major surgeries and seven weeks of radiation that would have taken his life had it not been for the insertion of a feeding tube three weeks into the treatment period. �e more serious of his surgeries was a four-hour, modified radical neck dissection in which most of the right side of his neck was removed, including the jugular vein. During this time I was also the primary caregiver for my disabled, elderly mother who now lived alone since my father’s death, which had occurred just seven months after the death of my brother.

At the beginning of his ordeal, my husband, David, was given a 17 percent chance of survival, providing us with some measure of hope. But with the insertion of the feeding tube, the doctor stated that David was dying from radiation complications—that the feeding tube was his only hope of survival. My fears had certainly “come upon me” yet again. My brother and father had died, my mother was dying, and now medical science indicated that my husband was dying.

On top of all this, my daughter, who had two toddler-aged children, was going through a painful divorce. She also began having health problems and was thought to have multiple sclerosis. Plus no doctor could diagnose the mysterious autoimmune disease that had necessitated my leaving the teaching profession. With Hemoglobin of 7.5 and a ferritin (iron) level of 1 (the normal ferritin range is 12 to 150), my strength was gone.

My son, a high school senior at the time, contracted mononucleosis and was eventually hospitalized with a body temperature of 104 degrees and liver complications. When he was placed on the gurney in the hospital

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emergency room, the medical personnel began removing clothing to cool him down. At that point, I realized just how serious his liver condition had become, for his entire body looked orange in color.

Financially speaking, my husband and I were really in a bind. Our income level was cut in half with the loss of my employment, and the family was dependent on David’s ability to summon the strength to continue writing software and programming for his employer.

May I be brutally honest with you? �is may not sound very spiritual, but I was so afraid—so very afraid. Our world was crashing in, and everything seemed beyond our control! �ere were many other troubling events that occurred during the height of all this stress which, for the sake of brevity, I won’t detail in this introduction.

At this time I wondered how Spirit-filled Christians could have all of this happen to them. Weren’t we doing all the “right things” to receive God’s blessings?

But our Lord, whose Name is Faithful and True, had graciously prepared David well in advance for his battle with his own Goliath, cancer. It occurred in 1981 when David had an unusual encounter with God while he was driving to work. He did not hear God’s voice audibly, but he did “hear” God “speak” to his heart and say, “Turn the car radio off. I want to speak to you.”

At first David thought the words were his own, but then the words were repeated. He turned the radio off and heard these words in his spirit: “Look at me through the eyes of Job.” Needless to say, when he arrived home and told me that God had spoken to him and told him to look at Him through the eyes of Job, I did not want to hear it. I knew what the book of Job said, so I told David that maybe he was mistaken—maybe God had told him to look at Him through the eyes of Abraham or Moses or Solomon or even one of the minor prophets, like Haggai—ANYBODY but Job!

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However David was unwavering and emphatic that God had shown him the ultimate test of true faith and what God desired to develop in every believer’s life:

• “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.” (Job 13:15)

Twenty years later David had not forgotten that event. With a 17 percent chance of survival that was shrinking with each week of radiation and having witnessed Divine healing, we certainly held on to the healing Scriptures. But included in the recitation of healing Scriptures was the recollection of that “sure word” from the Lord. David would faithfully declare, “�ough He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.”

He surprised the oncologists and was declared cancer free when my mother’s longing heart for her Lord and her loved ones was finally satisfied with Heaven in September 2004. Confined to a wheelchair until her death, her spirit was never disabled, and I attribute much of David’s initial victory over cancer to her faithful prayers, petitions, and a very tear-stained bed pillow.

Although David had been cancer free for four years at the time of my mother’s death, he was diagnosed with an unrelated cancer in 2005 that required precarious facial surgery on his left side and an additional six weeks of radiation to his head and neck. I continued working on this book while he underwent radiation treatment at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas—all the time wondering why God was leading us through the “fires” of cancer. �is particular cancer, mucoepidermoid carcinoma, accounts for only one-half of 1 percent of all newly diagnosed cancers and can be fatal in an aggressive, disfiguring fashion if not cured. It has been remarkable the numerous ways God has directed us to the book of Job during these cancer battles. Don’t let anyone convince you that the book of Job is not relevant to the contemporary Christian and is not about true faith.

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So what has my rural Mississippi family learned from Job? How have I changed through these life experiences that affects the perspective from which I now write my long-awaited book?

In Job I discovered that our loving Lord and Creator never allows one of His children to suffer in vain and that even the most devoted believer can find himself or herself in the deepest, darkest valley of his or her life. Job did all the “right things,” yet evil still befell him. To add to such despair, God, who had been so intimate in prior times, so conversant, and so knowable, suddenly became quiet and had seemingly hidden Himself in the midst of Job’s fiery trial.

• “Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and holdest me for thine enemy?”(Job 13:24)

God’s “hiding” was not unique to Job, for other Biblical characters encountered this same Behavior, as indicated in these verses:

• “Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself intimes of trouble?” (Psalm 10:1, King David of Israel)

• “To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. How long wilt thouforget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy facefrom me?” (Psalm 13:1)

• “. . . thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.” (Psalm30:7b)

When a Christian has enjoyed such times of sweet fellowship with the Lord and has experienced His manifest Presence, the hiding of God in times of trouble—the darkest of the dark valleys—becomes a most bitter pill to swallow. So why does He do it? Why does God hide when we need Him the most? How could He, Infinite Love, do this to us?

Perhaps the analogy is too simplistic, but why do children play hide and seek? I’ve watched elementary school children at play, and I know

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that they hide in order to be “sought out.” It would be meaningless to hide if no one was seeking. Could God be using the dark times of our Christian lives as a catalyst that sets in motion a fervent seeking? �ere are Scriptures that support this premise:

• “Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually.Remember his marvellous works that he hath done, his wonders,and the judgments of his mouth.” (1 Chronicles 16:11-12)

• “And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, andserve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for theLORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginationsof the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee.” (1Chronicles 28:9)

• “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for mewith all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the LORD:and I will turn away your captivity.” (Jeremiah 29:13-14)

• “. . . He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” (Hebrews11:6)

It is a hard saying but nonetheless true that the deep things of God are more readily heard in the deepness of the dark valley. In fact, the Scriptures indicate that something deep within the true believer calls out to and touches a deepness in God that can only be touched in such a manner:

• “Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts.”(Psalm42:7)

Do me a favor: Sit still and close your eyes very tightly for at least one minute. In such complete darkness and stillness, which of the five senses becomes keener or more useful? Which sense do you rely heavily upon when physical sight is gone and you are very still? Under such conditions, which is the only sense that can determine direction?

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Why, it would be the sense of hearing, of course. I think this physical illustration has spiritual parallels. When we are in a dark night or valley experience, we can’t “see” God, but if we listen long enough, if we are very still, we will “hear” from Him, for the Scriptures state:

• “For we walk by faith, not by SIGHT.”(2 Corinthians 5:7)

• “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word ofGod.” (Romans 10:17)

• “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” (Matthew 11:15)

• “Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)

Incredibly, He can even give us direction:

• “And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is theway, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and whenye turn to the left.” (Isaiah 30:21)

Much more could be said about the “Job factor” in the Christian’s life, but I will conclude with saying that just like the life of Job, God allows the time of unexplainable suffering to, typically, remain unexplainable—except for the irrefutable Scriptural evidence that such times are allowed to deepen us and not to destroy us. Job wanted answers to his suffering but instead he got Almighty God showing up in a whirlwind and declaring the great mysteries of His creation. In declaring these wonders, was God showing Job His Sovereignty, even in Job’s anguish and suffering? Was God giving Job something deep from within Himself that could only be understood in Job’s suffering and in God’s declaration of His creative acts—perhaps His mysterious Eternal Purpose in the lives of His chosen servants?

I want to encourage you that God will show up in your suffering—in your deepest, darkest valley. But until He does, just keep walking—keep walking in faith and by faith. Keep saying, with Job,

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• “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.”

It may seem that God has abandoned you and left you to wallow in your anguish. Even the very Son of God exclaimed in the agony of the cross,

• “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)

�e darkness of our Lord’s Soul at the Crucifixion was such that it manifested upon the earth as literal darkness:

• “Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the landunto the ninth hour.” (Matthew 27:45)

Your lot may be the very valley of the shadow of death, even a dreaded diagnosis of an extremely rare cancer. But don’t wallow—just keep walking. Your affliction may keep you from physically walking, but a higher law, the law of faith, will enable you to step high in the Spirit and fearlessly walk the marathon distance, if needed:

• “Yea, though I WALK through the valley of the shadow ofdeath, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thystaff they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4)

Be assured that the Omnipotent God has not lost control of the events of your life, else He would cease to be the Most High God. (�ink about it: If He ever lost control at any point in time, then even getting to Heaven becomes an uncertainty.) Neither are you, beloved child, being singled out and punished for “not dotting all the spiritual i’s and crossing all the spiritual t’s.” While you may not receive the answer to “Why” in this life (in many instances, if He gave the answer, our finite mind could not comprehend it), keep hanging on to the goodness, faithfulness, and unfathomable Love of our Lord Jesus! By the authority of the Word of God I promise that you will receive just what you need: something from very deep within the Heart of God and, as with Job, it will be all sufficient. You will once again be comforted by God and

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will find a spiritual enlargement in your life—dare I say, at least doublewhat you were before! �ere’s certainly a spiritual precedent for it! After all, “once upon a time” it happened to a man in the land of Uz:

• “. . . also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.”(Job 42:10)

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INTRODUCTION

What this Book is Not About

Since this book will deal with the significance of the number 3 as it is used repeatedly throughout the Scriptures, I feel it is necessary to explain what this book is not about and make a very clear distinction.

Windows Into the �ird Heaven is not about numerology. Numerology is an occultic practice that attempts to ascribe a mystical and controlling influence upon a person’s life through the use of numbers. For example, horoscopes (astrology) incorporate numerology to supposedly foretell an individual’s future and, consequently, give guidance to that individual. Such practices are strongly condemned by the Scriptures and with good cause, since participation in such practices opens the door for deception and demonic activity. Consider these excerpts from Scripture:

• “There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his sonor his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, oran observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch. Or a charmer,or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord.”(Deuteronomy 18:10-12)

• “Call out the demon hordes you’ve worshiped all these years. Callon them to help you strike deep terror into many hearts again. Youhave advisors by the ton—your astrologers and stargazers, whotry to tell you what the future holds. But they are as useless as

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Joanne Carraway

dried grass burning in the fire. They cannot even deliver themselves!You’ll get no help from them at all.” (Isaiah 47:12-14 LivingBible)

It is an absurd notion that numbers such as birthdates dictate a person’s destiny but, then again, Satan is always at hand to take advantage of the gullible and those who have not been instructed in the Word of God. In fact, God’s Word warns us that ignorance of His Word makes us little more than pawns in Satan’s schemes:

• “And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of thedevil, who are taken captive by him at his will.” (2 Timothy2:26)

God tells us in His Word to seek His Guidance and His Guidance only. �is is for our own protection and certainly for our good. Such guidance can come only when the sinner is reconciled to God through the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ. �rough the indwelling Christ we have:

• “The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye mayknow what is the hope of his calling.”(Ephesians 1:18)

�rough the Lord Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, we can petition God as did the Psalmist of old:

• “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things outof thy law.” (Psalm 119:18)

With that having been said, we do find in the Bible that this Great God we Christians serve is a God of meticulous order and subsequently He is the God of mathematical design. He is neither arbitrary nor random in any of His acts, although to the finite human mind, some acts may appear so. However, upon closer examination and illumination by the Holy Spirit, we come by faith to understand that His acts are manifold

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wisdom and that every “jot” and every “tittle” of His Word are carefully ordered with nothing wasted or frivolous.

When the Lord Jesus Christ (�e Incarnate Word of God) walked the dusty roads of Galilee, His followers respectfully called Him “Master,” a common title for those presumed to be the learned of that day. At that point in time, their veiled minds could not possibly comprehend that Jesus was not just a master but here among them was �e Master—Emmanuel, God with us.

Unlike the human being who attains mastery in a subject such as mathematics, the Lord Jesus’ mastery has its basis in the fact that not only does He give truth, He is Truth. Truth is His Being and Essence. �erefore, He not only possesses mastery of all things visible and invisible, but these visible and invisible things could not exist had Truth not given them meaning and definition in the creative moment:

• “For in Him we live, and move, and have our being.” (Acts17:28)

As a former educator, I have always been intrigued by the intricacies and complexities of mathematical design that our Master Creator has woven into our physical universe. �e precise 23-degree tilt of our planet is an excellent example, for without it life as we know it would cease to exist.

However, it has been even more thrilling and rewarding to see �e Master of Mathematical Design incorporate principles of mathematics within His Holy Word. Since, as I stated earlier, God does nothing in an arbitrary or frivolous manner, why does the Holy Writ contain repetitive usage of certain numbers?

According to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, one definition of “number” is “complement.”1 �is same dictionary defines “complement” as “something that fills up, completes, or makes perfect.”2

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Furthermore, numbers in and of themselves are abstract and intangible, much like the spiritual world that we presently can view only with the eye of faith. Numbers are meaningful to us only as they are used to bring expression on a tangible or concrete level through association with that which is tangible and concrete.

Could it be, then, that �e Master Mathematical Designer has purposefully used numbers in the revelation of Himself to humanity to assist us in comprehending the unseen? To help us get the “filled up,” “complete,” and “perfect” picture? To form a bridge of understanding between the tangible and intangible that cannot be ascertained in any other manner?

I think the answer is a resounding yes! It is my sincerest prayer that on the following pages our Lord would graciously open the Windows ofHeaven and enable us to behold the beauty, breadth, and depth of His Holy Word. May we poor blind beggars rejoice as He anoints “our eyes with salve, that we may see” (Revelation 3:18) and opens them that we may “behold wondrous things out of His law!” (Psalm 119:18).

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C h a p t e r 1

Three Essential Keys

“I just can’t understand the Bible. I just don’t get it.”

Have you ever heard anyone say this? �rough the years of a teaching ministry, I’ve heard it all too often. It breaks my heart when I hear Christians say that they are “not smart enough” or “not educated enough” to understand the Word of God. Hey, we’re not talking about a book on quantum physics here! We’re talking about the Book given in Love by our Creator for the express purpose to communicate Himself to us (us as in anybody—the prince, the pauper, the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker—you get the picture). It’s a bit incongruous to think that He would give us His Book and then permanently hide its meaning from us, but if I were the Devil, I surely would want people to believe such a lie.

However, this should be a hard sell for Satan since historical evidence indicates otherwise. For example, take a circumspect look at the twelve disciples. I don’t recall a flaming theological elitist in the whole group. In fact, weren’t most of them just common, hardworking fishermen? How was it that ordinary folks were able to lay hold of the “mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations” (Colossians 1:26)

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and then communicate it so eloquently to a dying world in desperate need of the message of Life?

�e answer can be found, in part, in the “nature” of the Word of God. Jesus said the words He spoke were “spirit and life.” Do you realize the import and grandiosity of such a declaration? �e great Nobel Laureates of this world dare not make such lofty claims. Spirit and life asserts the exclusivity and uniqueness of His Book, for it is far, far more than ink on paper! You cannot hear the “breathing” of the writings nor detect a discernible “pulse” as you hold the Word of God in your hands, but make no mistake about it—it is Alive and Eternal!

Unlike all other literary pieces that, at best, can only stir us on a nobler—nonetheless sensual—plane, the Bible is the only book that can ignite the spirit of man and communicate spiritual truth. To understand the Scriptures then, we are totally dependent upon illumination in our spirits given from a Source other than ourselves. True understanding is not contingent upon a high IQ or a college degree, else God would be cruelly unfair and seriously disadvantaged in communicating to the masses.

�e fact of the matter is we can have more degrees than a thermometer and be educated well beyond our intellect yet have no grasp of even the most fundamental Scriptural truths. �is is a difficult admission for human pride. In such a condition, the best for which we can hope is an understanding of the “letter of the Law,” while the much-needed and Life-giving understanding of the “spirit of the Law” evades us.

Since a high IQ and college degrees do not make for an entitlement to deep spiritual truths, let me hasten to add that God is not opposed to academic excellence either, and He certainly places no premium on ignorance. However, regardless of a person’s lot in life, I am persuaded that God is fair and has made all of us equally “quickened” at the foot of His cross. �rough redemption our spirits have been made alive unto God and in this quickening He has opened His Word to all believers.


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�e Word of God refers to “keys” in association with opening Heaven’s truths to us. Jesus spoke of these keys in Matthew 16:19:

• “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of Heaven:and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound inHeaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosedin Heaven.”

Jesus further enunciated about the misuse of a powerful key when He pronounced His scathing indictment of the religious leaders of His day:

• “Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key ofknowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that wereentering in ye hindered.” (Luke 11:52)

Other Scriptures clearly show that not only is the key a symbol of administrative authority but, concomitantly, the key opens up that which was previously locked away or hidden:

• “And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder;so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and noneshall open.” (Isaiah 22:22)

�e New Testament fulfillment of this Old Testament type and shadow is found in the Lord Jesus’ own declaration in Revelation 3:7:

• “These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that haththe key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; andshutteth, and no man openeth.”

Using these Scriptures as a basis, we discover three essential keys in understanding the Bible and opening the Windows of Heaven:

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KEY #1 KNOW THE AUTHOR

• “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only trueGod, and Jesus Christ, whom thou has sent.” (John 17:3)

�ere is a great chasm that exists over which no revelation of spiritual truths can transverse. �at chasm separates those who know the author from those who know about the author. When the Bible uses the term “know” in the context of a marriage relationship, the reference is to the conjugal act of physical union between a husband and wife. �e two become one flesh. It is said of Adam that he knew Eve and she conceived. When the Lord Jesus speaks of the believer knowing Him, He (the second Adam) is speaking of us, His bride (spiritual Eve, the mother of all living), coming into a spiritual union with Him.

For example, do you remember when Jesus spoke the words, “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” in Matthew 7:23? What a strange statement for Omniscience to make! Jesus knows everyone, and even the hairs on each head are numbered by Him. In the context of this passage, these particular people whom He said that He never knew were very religious people. �ey had prophesied in His name, had cast out devils in His name, and had done many wonderful works in His name. Yet, because Jesus said He never knew them, they faced an eternity separated from God in a Devil’s Hell.

It then becomes a matter of Life or Death and of eternal significance to understand exactly what Jesus meant by knew. Clearly He is speaking here about a spiritual union—the spiritual counterpart of the physical knowing that is descriptive of the Biblical marital union. �e Apostle Paul gives us further insight into this “great mystery concerning Christ and the church” that is foreshadowed in the beauty of the knowingrelationship between the husband and the wife:

• “For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. Forthis cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be


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joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is agreat mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”(Ephesians 5: 30-32)

�ough unseen to the human eye, there is a very real yet mystical union that occurs with our Lord at the moment of our salvation, the final consummation of which is to occur at the “Marriage Supper of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:9). Much like the physical submission of the wife to her husband and the acknowledgement of his headship, when Christ knows us and we know Him, we are submitting to Him and acknowledging His Headship in our lives. �is knowing, or spiritual union, is so intimate that we become “members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones” (Ephesians 5:30). Furthermore, the remarkable assertion is made in the Scriptures that “they two shall be one flesh” (Ephesians 5:31).

�e thought is incomprehensible that we vile sinners can become a new creation, partakers of His Divine Nature, deemed worthy by Him to be joined to His Holy Body, yet this transformation is the crux and the unspeakable joy of the Gospel. �is Divine union is knowing Jesus and is the first essential key, without which the Scriptures will remain closed and hidden, even to the most brilliant and academic of readers.

KEY #2 BE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

• “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled withthe Spirit. (Ephesians 5:18)

Interesting, isn’t it that the same chapter of Ephesians which beautifully compares the union of husband and wife with the union of Christ and His Church also contains the admonition to be filled with the Spirit.

In the fourth chapter of Acts, the same believers who had been filled with the Holy Ghost previously on the day of Pentecost experienced

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another filling. Since these people were already saved, why were they in need of being filled with His Spirit yet again? I think that part of the answer is found in the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. Even though Jesus was fully God and fully man, He ministered to the needs of the people as a man filled with the Holy Spirit. In fact, Jesus was given the Spirit without measure (see John 3:34). When the woman with the issue of blood touched His garment, Jesus declared, “Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me” (Luke 8:46). �e word translated as “virtue” in this text is the same word translated as “power” in Acts 1:8: “But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” 1

We must conclude then that the virtue in Jesus that “went out” from Him is one and the same power that believers are given when they are filled with the Holy Spirit. We must further conclude that, as with our Lord, this power can be released from us when we minister to others, thus necessitating a fresh infilling or infusion of the Holy Spirit. (In fact, the word filled means “supplied” or “furnished with.”)2

Additionally, not only as we minister to others, but also in our personal crucifixion of the sinful flesh nature, we are completely dependent upon the Holy Spirit’s power and filling to enable us for victory over these “enemies” within. As with Samson of old who was supernaturally strengthened by the Spirit of God to war and overcome the Philistines, so we, too, need the fullness of His Spirit in order to overcome the “Philistines” within our own personal promised land—these “land” or earthen physical bodies.

How then are we filled with the Holy Spirit? Again, since our Lord Jesus ministered as a man filled with the Holy Spirit even though He was God in the flesh, He is our example of complete reliance and dependence upon the Spirit of God. We see then that coupled with His knowledge of the Word, Jesus repeatedly engaged in a particular Behavior throughout His ministry that strengthened Him in the Spirit. �is Behavior is the


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secret to being filled afresh with the Spirit of God: �at Behavior is intimacy with our Father through solitude and prayer.

• “And it came to pass in those days, that He (Jesus) went out into amountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.”(Luke 6:12)

Further insight into being filled and strengthened in the Holy Spirit is gleaned from the Master’s Behavior prior to the culmination of His mission at Calvary. Aware that His time was at hand—the time when all the destructive fury of Hell would be unleashed against Him, the time when the fate of billions of souls would rest in His ability to accomplish His mission—what did our Lord do?

• “Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, andsaith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.”(Matthew 26:36)

• “And He went a little farther, and fell on His face, and prayed.”(Matthew 26:39)

• “He (Jesus) went away again the second time, and prayed.”(Matthew 26:42)

• “And He left them, and went away again, and prayed the thirdtime.” (Matthew 26:44)

�e book of Luke gives us more information about the third prayer of Jesus:

• “And being in agony He prayed more earnestly: and His sweatwas as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”(Luke 22:44)

�rough prayer our Lord Jesus was supplied with the power of the Holy Spirit, which enabled Him to begin the redemptive process and to begin

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the fulfillment of types and shadows even here, at Gethsemane, the garden. For, you see, the fall of man began in a garden called Eden. �e fall of man brought about a curse from the lips of God that involved “sweat” and “the ground” in that garden:

• “And unto Adam He (God) said . . . cursed is the ground for thysake . . . In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread.” (Genesis3:17,19)

But true to His Word and though thousands of years later, in this Garden of Gethsemane, the lips of God would utter blessed prayer—prayer energized by the fullness of the Spirit that would empower Jesus to take the curse at every point, even the sweat, and redeem it with His Holy, Divine Blood. (Incidentally, the complete anticipated redemption from all points of the curse is foreshadowed in the command given to the futuristic spiritual priesthood of the sons of Zadok (the Church) in Ezekiel 44:18: “�ey shall not gird themselves with any thing that causeth sweat.”)

Furthermore, when our precious Lord stood face to face with enemy soldiers in that garden, He was so full of the Holy Spirit that when He declared Himself to be “I Am,” the soldiers collapsed under the power and authority of His Words:

• “Jesus . . . said unto them, Whom seek ye? They answered him,Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he (“he” inserted bytranslators for clarity) . . . As soon then as He had said unto them,I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground.” (John 18:4-6)

It is little wonder that the Son of God set an example for us in a life of prayer, for this is the secret to staying full of the Holy Spirit and walking in the Spirit. It can be stated no plainer than is found in the Book of Jude:


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• “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith,praying in the Holy Ghost.” (v. 20)

So why is this fullness so necessary and such a vital key in understanding the Scriptures? My explanation is that the work of the Holy Spirit is much like the Divine Conduit of Truth from God’s �rone in the �ird Heaven to the believer’s heart. He is called the “Spirit of Truth” who will “guide us into all Truth” and will “show us things to come” (see John 16:13). His power must not be diminished in our lives through our failure to seek God for fresh fillings needed after times of giving of ourselves to others.

Additionally, His power must not be blocked in our lives through our failure to address the “sins that so easily beset us” (Hebrews 12:1). Walking in the fullness of the Spirit keeps the “line” open from Heaven to Earth and is a crucial key in having an “ear to hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches” (Revelation 2:7). It is irrefutable that the Great Author of the Word wants to talk with us through His Word. �e question to be asked is, “Are we equipped to hear Him?”

KEY #3 INTERPRET SCRIPTURE WITH SCRIPTURE

�e Word of God is an amazing collection of sixty-six books, written by forty authors in three languages on three different continents over a period of approximately sixteen hundred years. Moreover, it has endured and outlived the godless despots through the centuries who foolishly vowed to annihilate it.

Personally, I’ve never read a book that even remotely compares with �e Book and I know I never will. But how does it stay relevant when its settings were cultures of antiquity that bear little or no resemblance to contemporary cultures? How do we today—the cyber generation—understand the deep spiritual truths contained therein since it was written so long ago in such different times? �e answer is that God

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placed His Fingerprint upon these writings by giving this Living Word a unique “ability”—the ability to interpret itself.

Scripture interpreting Scripture is incontrovertible evidence of Divine inspiration and is a Masterpiece of design that opens Biblical truths without the reader having had prerequisite knowledge of other cultures or historical times. Considering the diversity of the Biblical writers and the conditions under which they wrote, this unique ability of Scripture interpreting Scripture is no small feat but, then again, this Great God Jehovah is no small God either! More clearly stated, this exclusive ability of the Word of God makes it completely nonrestrictive and limitless in communicating to all peoples for all times. (Sounds like an Eternalattribute, doesn’t it? I wonder why!)

A fairly simplistic example of Scripture interpreting Scripture is found in the Old Testament book of Daniel and the New Testament book of Revelation. To understand the meaning of the word “beast” in Revelation, we look to passages in Daniel that define the beast as a strong world power or nation. �e “horns” on the beast in Revelation are further interpreted by Scriptures in Daniel (and the Psalms) as being rulers or kings.

Another example can be found in the crucifixion of our Lord. �rough the Determinate Counsel and Foreknowledge of God (see Acts 2:23), the Lord Jesus was crucified on a tree. Why did God Incarnate choose to enter human history at such a barbaric time when criminals were sentenced to such an inhumane punishment? Why didn’t Jesus enter human history when such punishment was relegated to the gas chamber or the electric chair? We are helped in understanding God’s choice of timing and the use of the tree in Jesus’ death by looking at a Scripture in Galatians:

• “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made acurse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on atree.” (3:13)


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Further insight is gained from the origin of the curse in the book of Genesis:

• “And unto Adam He (God) said, Because thou hast hearkenedunto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which Icommanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is theground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thylife.” (3:17)

In the Garden of Eden, Eve’s deception by the serpent led her into disobedience which, in turn, led to Adam’s disobedience. All of this disobedience centered around the serpent’s use of a tree. �rough disobedience Adam and Eve had now become the recipients of the malignant nature of God’s arch enemy and, thus, the progenitors of a sinful race.

As is God’s Way in the Scriptures, He would use the very instruments that Satan used for man’s downfall to lift mankind up again. Satan used a tree and a woman named Eve. God would use Calvary’s treeand a woman named Mary. Satan scored a victory through using man’s disobedience, but God won the war through one man’s obedience:

• “For as by one man’s (Adam’s) disobedience many were madesinners, so by the obedience of one (Jesus Christ) shall many bemade righteous.” (Romans 5:19)

�rough Scripture interpreting Scripture, it becomes obvious that God is in control and is able to precisely choose events and times of human history to validate His Word. �is is not a hard feat at all for Omniscience, the exclusive attribute of the Almighty God. (Satan must not have given much thought to the concept of Omniscience when he planned his coup d’état in Heaven. What was the Devil thinking?)

�rough the years, there have been people who have failed to apply the key of Scripture interpreting Scripture and, consequently, have taught the traditions of men, which make the Word of God of “none effect”

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(Matthew 15:6). We dare not bring our own experiences, definitions, or cultural notions to the Bible when we study it for, in so doing, many have erred and created traditions of men that are not rooted in the Word of God. Nor can Scripture interpret Scripture for us if we have not studied the whole counsel of God. (�e Old Testament is as necessary reading as �e New.) Not only does the Bible contain a central theme that is inexplicable apart from Divine inspiration, it possesses the miraculous ability to teach us its truths ad infinitum—even though cultures change—when we consider the three keys of

1) Knowing the author.2) Being filled with the Holy Spirit.3) Interpreting Scripture with Scripture.

What an awesome book is the Holy Bible! What an awesome God we serve! He is Omniscience and Immeasurable Love. It makes it kind of a no-brainer to follow Someone like that, don’t you think?

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C h a p t e r 2

The Meaning of the Number 3 in the Scriptures

• “And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gatheredtogether unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it wasso. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering togetherof the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. AndGod said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed,and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is initself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forthgrass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yieldingfruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw thatit was good. And the evening and the morning were the THIRDday.” (Genesis 1:9-13)

As discussed in the introduction, there is an obvious and repetitive usage of certain numbers throughout the Bible. Since we as Christians not only believe but know that the Scriptures are inspired by Almighty God—

• “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holymen of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” (2 Peter1:21)

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• “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable fordoctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”(2 Timothy 3:16)

—we must then logically conclude that such numbers were chosen by the Divine Author to complement spiritual truths that could not be as clearly communicated without their use, as well as to demonstrate proof of Divine authenticity. In fact, I am persuaded that God, because He is God, does absolutely nothing in a disorderly fashion or in an arbitrary manner. His very character precludes such a notion, for with Him “there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (James 1:17).

�is Omnipotent God Jehovah does not grandstand His acts of power as did the mythological gods of Greek literature who were portrayed as toying with pathetic mortals by tossing bolts of lightning to the Earth. Whenever Scriptures seem to indicate that God is simply showing off His power, it behooves us to search deeper in understanding God’s Wisdom in such acts or displays of His strength and, likewise, when He chooses to complement the Scriptures with certain numbers. When the Master of Mathematical Design designates specific numbers in the Bible, you can rest assured that His Wisdom dictated the numerical selection. His numbers are not an eenie, meenie, mynie, moe guess with one number being about as good as another.

For example, in the first chapter of Genesis, God gives us a numerical outline of creation. Since God inhabits Eternity where there is no time, it is reasonable to assert that the numbering of the creative acts in days is not necessarily for His or Heaven’s benefit but for ours. It is here, within the first chapter of creation, that God begins unlocking mysteries or opening windows of understanding His Word.

It is significant that Day 3 is associated with the creation of Earth or the terrestrial. Day 3 describes Elohim involving Himself in a creative act with this realm. �at at some time in the dateless past God had a plan for creating Earth goes without saying, but on Day 3 the Divine Plan (or Purpose or Will) became evident, that is to say, was made manifest


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in the earthly arena or sphere. As we continue to study the use of the number 3 in the Bible, this same pattern will emerge:

The number 3 is a signpost that God’s Purpose or Plan has been brought to Earth—the supernatural to the natural, the celestial with the terrestrial. The number 3 is a number of agreement, i.e., Heaven’s will being united with or fleshed out upon Earth.

�e number 3 as associated with agreement is further reinforced in the following Scriptures:

• “Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell himhis fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thouhast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take withthee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnessesevery word may be established.” (Matthew 18:15-16)

• “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, theream I in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:20)

After Saul of Tarsus was struck blind when persecuting the Church of �e Living God, he is found coming into agreement with the Divine call of God upon his life. It took three days:

• “And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, hesaw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him intoDamascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither dideat nor drink.” (Acts 9:8-9)

It is, my friend, no coincidence that we live in what science classifies as the third dimension. On Day 3, our Creator designed this world and everything associated with it as having (1) height, (2) width, and (3)depth. As the world continues into perpetuity, it will only produce that which is three-dimensional.

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As we read further into the creation passage of Genesis, we discover that man was created on Day 6. �e number 6 is a multiple of 3. It has been rightfully stated by others that 6 is the number of man or that number which is associated with the fleshly (beastly) nature of man. Understandably, then, is the numbering of the beast in Revelation 13:18:

• “Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count thenumber of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and hisnumber is Six hundred threescore and six. (666)”

Moreover, to add credence to the premise that the number 3 is God’s signpost of His Plan coming into the Earthly realm, 1 �essalonians 5 gives us a look at how man was created on Day 6:

• “. . . I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body bepreserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1Thessalonians 5:23)

�is New Testament Scripture associates the number 3 with the creation of man, for man was created, NOT in three parts but triune. Man is, after all, created in the image of God Who is not three parts but is triune, having revealed Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Adam was not a committee and neither is God. However it is unmistakable that the number 3 is associated with both man and God as a complement to help us understand that there is more—it is that which is beyond ourlimited comprehension of three physical dimensions.

In retrospect, on Day 6, when God created this triune being called man, the creative act merits our attention.

• “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground,and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became aliving soul.” (Genesis 2:7)


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At the creation of Adam, we have the first recorded incident of when God “stooped.” He did so in order to touch the dust of the Earth and intimately involve Himself with the creation of the being fashioned in His image. �e Hebrew text is poignant, for the word translated “ formed” means to “squeeze” as a “potter.”1 �e word “man” is the Hebrew “Adam,” which means “red, ruddy.”2 It is a derivation of the word “ground” in this text, “adamah,” which means “red soil, clay.”3

Here on Day 6 the triune man is formed when God touches Earth, and the typology is that of a potter engaging himself with that which he is creating. Since Scripture interprets Scripture, it becomes understandable that hundreds of years later the Old Testament prophet Isaiah would declare by Divine unction:

• “But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, andthou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.” (Isaiah64:8)

Little wonder that the weeping prophet Jeremiah was told by God to go down to the potter’s house and learn a lesson in how the potter works with his creation.

• “Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, O house of Israel,cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, asthe clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O houseof Israel.” (Jeremiah 18:5-6)

Truly, humanity was intimately created by His Hand and continues to be held in His Hand—the Hand of the Sovereign Potter. During His earthly ministry, Jesus made that claim:

• “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish neithershall any man pluck them out of my hand.” (John 10:28)

Also noteworthy is the fact that God refers to the place of His �rone as being the �ird Heaven.

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• “I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether inthe body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell:God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.” (2Corinthians 12:2)

Additional support to the assertion that the number 3 is a signpost that God’s Will has touched Earth is found in Exodus 19. God told Moses to prepare the people for a momentous occasion: God was coming down from �ird Heaven to meet with a nation.

• “And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctifythem to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes, Andbe ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD willcome down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai . . .And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, andsanctified the people; and they washed their clothes. And he saidunto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at yourwives. And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, thatthere were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon themount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that allthe people that was in the camp trembled. And Moses broughtforth the people out of the camp to meet with God.” (Exodus19:10-11, 14-17)

You see, I just cannot entertain the notion that God arbitrarilypicked a number to mark the unprecedented occasion that He would touch Earth in presenting Himself to a “called-out” group of people. I cannot believe that God is fonder of the number 3 than He is the other numbers.

I can believe, however, that there is Wisdom in the repetitive use of the mysterious number 3 throughout the Scriptures, for it serves as a complement to what God is communicating to us. I believe that the complement of the number 3 is descriptive of both Heaven andEarth. It signifies that one Grand and Glorious Day, the two shall


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be one. God’s ultimate Plan and Purpose for Earth will have been accomplished, for the writer states:

• “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down fromGod out of Heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.And I heard a great voice out of Heaven saying, Behold, thetabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them,and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them,and be their God.” (Revelation 21:2-3)

�ere was a hit pop song in 1962 about a guy sending a love letter everyday of the summer to his girlfriend and sealing it with a kiss.4Truly, the Bible is God’s love letters to His people and as one of the proofs that it is from Him, He sealed it with the number 3. Yes, God has kissed Earth and He uses the number 3 to validate it. �is is the original and only legitimate “close encounter of the third kind!”

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C h a p t e r 3

The Three Heavens

• “Thus the heavens (plural) and the earth were finished, and allthe host of them.”(Genesis 2:1)

The Third Heaven

Yes, the Bible does speak of more than one heaven. We will begin with looking at the “�ird Heaven,” since the other heavens are not specifically named “First Heaven” and “Second Heaven” by the Scriptural text. However, the fact that the Bible declares a �ird Heaven presupposes the existence of a First and Second. When people speak of going to Heaven, they are referencing the Heaven that the Apostle Paul experienced:

• “I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether inthe body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell:God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.” (2Corinthians 12:2)

It is obvious that the �ird Heaven to which the Apostle Paul alludes in his incredible supernatural experience is the �rone of God. Although


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God is Omnipresent (“If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there” Psalm 139:8), this mysterious place called the �ird Heaven is the place He uniquely and specifically reserves as His�rone. �e Apostle John, in the apocalyptic vision of Revelation, was also privileged to view the �ird Heaven �rone of God:

• “And immediately I was in the spirit; and, behold, a throne wasset in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat wasto look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was arainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: andupon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in whiteraiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. And out ofthe throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices:and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne,which are the seven Spirits of God. And before the throne therewas a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne,and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes beforeand behind. And the first beast was like a lion, and the secondbeast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and thefourth beast was like a flying eagle. And the four beasts had each ofthem six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: andthey rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord GodAlmighty, which was, and is, and is to come. And when thosebeasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on thethrone, who liveth for ever and ever, The four and twenty eldersfall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship himthat liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before thethrone, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory andhonour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thypleasure they are and were created.” (Revelation 4:2-11)

Did you notice in this passage the number of times John referenced the throne? A throne is the chair of a king; it is the place of absolute governing authority. �ere is no supreme court in �ird Heaven to

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which an appeal of the King’s decree can be made; there is no need, for this �eocracy rules from the attribute of Omniscience emanating from a Being whose Essence is Perfect Wisdom and Pure Love. Make no mistake about it: all decrees from this �rone are Perfect, Pure, and always in the best interest of the King’s children!

It is also worth our attention to notice that in �ird Heaven there is a depiction of the Plan of God as it has touched Earth. It is no coincidence that John first notices a rainbow around the throne. Why would there be a rainbow in �ird Heaven, which has no sun, no moon, no climate, or environment capable of producing the prismatic effect of a rainbow? Since Scripture interprets Scripture, we understand that the first rainbow was a token of the first covenant between Heaven andEarth. �ough the rainbow was placed in the physical, First Heaven, it was to signify to Noah and all who would live upon Earth thereafter that this covenant was between the �ird Heaven�rone of God andHis creation. �e Noahic Covenant is still in force as seen in the vision of the rainbow around the �ird Heaven �rone. It will be eternally so. �e Almighty God does not alter that which goes out of his lips:

• “My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is goneout of my lips.” (Psalm 89:34)

I can’t predict Wall Street and the stock market, but this I do know. As long as the Earth stands, the Noahic rainbow will be in its clouds—an eternal token of the faithfulness of our God and it shall ever be a characteristic of the very �rone of God since His covenant isinseparable from His Being.

�e scene around the �ird Heaven �rone is resplendent with evidence of the number 3 as associated with the Plan of God touching Earth. �e six-winged creatures eternally circle the �rone saying a triunechorus, “Holy, holy, holy.” �ey further declare a triune action of God as it relates to His coming to Earth: “which was, and is, and isto come.”


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�e terminology of �ird Heaven can be used interchangeably in the Scriptures with the word “Eternity:”

• “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth Eternity,whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with himalso that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit ofthe humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” (Isaiah57:15)

�ird Heaven is Eternity—“world without end.” �is unfathomable place, understood only by faith, is the destination of the redeemed and the nucleus of the Government (Kingdom) of God. But let us take heart that His rulership extends to Earth, for the Bible also tells us:

• “Thus saith the LORD, TheHeaven is my throne, and the Earthis my footstool.” (Isaiah 66:1)

When the Bible declares that Satan is the “god of this world,” it is notstating that God has lost control of the Earth or its inhabitants. A better translation would be that Satan is the world’s god; the lost, by nature, serve him. (Remember Jesus told the unbelieving Pharisees and others in John 8:44 “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.”) �e Almighty God is Sovereign and the Earth is “under His feet”—the redemptive feet of the Lord Jesus Christ.

• “The earth is the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the world,and they that dwell therein.” (Psalm 24:1)

So if God’s �rone is located in the �ird Heaven, what are heavens one and two?

The First Heaven

In Genesis 1 it is evident that Earth’s physical or natural firmamentis First Heaven. In Scripture, that which is first is typically associated

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with the natural or physical. For example, in the first testament (Old Testament) first Adam was the natural or physical man then, afterwards, as the second testament (New Testament) begins, secondAdam is born, the spiritual man who is the Lord Jesus.

�is pattern is seen again in the life of Jacob, who at first was a natural, physical man completely dominated by his carnal, sensual nature. However, when God intervened, Jacob (the supplanter) was changed. �e second Jacob became a spiritual man and, consequently, God changed his name to “Israel,” which meant “for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed” (Genesis 32:28).

�ere are other passages in the Bible that demonstrate the first being associated with the physical or natural order. �erefore, since Scripture interprets Scripture, we conclude that First Heaven is the physical, natural atmosphere surrounding our planet. Whether we are looking up into a beautiful blue sky on a clear sunny day or enjoying the nighttime beauty of stars glistening as if jewels upon a bed of black velvet, we are beholding our Creator’s First Heaven.

The Second Heaven

Since �ird Heaven is God’s�rone and First Heaven is the physicalfirmament or atmosphere surrounding Earth, we must conclude that Second Heaven is real and exists somewhere between first and third, of course. Some theologians have suggested that Second Heaven is the physical heaven beyond the Earth’s atmosphere, that is, the remainder of the physical universe. �is could be a correct interpretation since there is no explicit statement in the Bible regarding Second Heaven, its location, or even what it is.

However, given the stark differentiation made clear in the inspired Scriptures by denoting these heavens in distinct numerical terms, I’m inclined to believe that Second Heaven is very real and that it is the


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invisible spiritual world or realm that coexists alongside this physicalworld.

As stated previously, the second in Scriptures is typically associated with the spiritual. Strong evidence for this reasoning is found in Ephesians 2:2, which gives us insight into this area of Satan’s domain as well as another of his descriptive titles as it relates to that realm:

• “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of thisworld, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spiritthat now worketh in the children of disobedience.”

In this Scripture, Satan is called a prince, which means he has ruling authority in that realm—the authority (dominion) Adam forfeitedto him in the Garden of Eden. When the crucifixion of Christ was drawing near, the Lord Jesus alluded to this prince and this fallenworld (air) over which he exercises jurisdiction:

• “Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of thisworld cometh, and hath nothing in me.” (John 14:30)

�e word “air” in Ephesians 2:2 certainly does not mean the literaloxygen inhaled for our physical bodies to maintain life but is used in a metaphorical sense in order for us to understand that—just like theair we breathe—

1) Second Heaven is invisible.2) Second Heaven envelopes us.3) Second Heaven permeates and affects us.4) Second Heaven is always present with us.5) Second Heaven has an ongoing exchange with us.

After the resurrection, Jesus, in His Glorified body, demonstrated the reality of this Second Heaven and the truth that only Glorified fleshcould traverse between the two worlds. With doors shut and windows closed, He could suddenly reappear in a room as if He were stepping

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through some sort of invisible dimensional wall that separates this physical world from Second Heaven.

• “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week,when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled forfear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saithunto them, Peace be unto you.” (John 20:19)

�ough unseen with the human eye, Second Heaven is teeming with spiritual activity—angels elect and angels evil (1 Timothy 5:21 and Psalm 78:49) who are not idly standing by. Since the human’s ability to perceive reality is very limited, we cannot see them (unless God grants us a special enablement for a specific moment or purpose), butthey can see us. �e Old Testament gives us but a peek at this unseen world on the occasion when the prophet Elisha was sought by the armies of the Syrians. Elisha’s servant was fearful at the sight of the formidable Syrian army, but

• “Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that hemay see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and hesaw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariotsof fire round about Elisha.” (2 Kings 6:17)

Just as the fiery chariots of God’s angels were there to protect His beloved and faithful prophet on that day, the elect angels in this Second Heaven are here with us today, operating alongside all believers as God’s “ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation” (Hebrews 1:14). �ese holy angels of the Second Heavennot only ministered to the prophets of Old Testament renown, but they also ministered to our Lord Jesus Christ during His wilderness temptation:

• “Then the devil leaveth him, (Jesus) and, behold, angels cameand ministered unto him.” (Matthew 4:11)


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�ey ministered to Him during His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane prior to His impending crucifixion:

• “. . . And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven,strengthening him.” (Luke 22:42-43)

Even as the time was imminent for His betrayal, the holy angels in this coexisting Second Heaven were very real to the Lord Jesus, for He stated,

• “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and He shallpresently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew26: 53)

Like their holy counterparts, the evil angels also “minister,” but they minister their abundance of iniquity, rebellion, and their anti-Christ spirit to the unsuspecting and untold billions of human beings going about their daily business. Psalm 78:49 gives insight into the horror and devastation these evil angels can cause when God lifts His Almighty restraining Hand. �e Psalmist, hundreds of years after the fact, received Divine illumination in how the ancient Egyptians were humbled and the catalysts behind God’s judgments upon them that eventually forced Pharaoh to let Jehovah’s people go:

• “He (God) cast upon them (the Egyptians) the fierceness of hisanger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angelsamong them.”

�e evil angels, along with their prince, are driven to do what their nature dictates, even when such acts ultimately accomplish the Will of God, as occurred in Egypt. �ough Satan and his hordes of evil angels have jurisdiction in this physical world and the unsaved are as marionettes that too easily do Satan’s bidding, this prince’s authorityover the believer was broken at Calvary. (Time to shout “Hallelujah” right here!) Second Adam, the Lord Jesus, did not fail in His Love Mission. Just how powerful is the Love of God? As Jesus hung on the

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cross, His body was so marred from the cat-of-nine-tails whipping that the Scriptures tell us He barely appeared human.

• “. . . his visage was so marred more than any man, and his formmore than the sons of men.” (Isaiah 52:14)

Can you picture that moment in which He summons all the strength left within that bludgeoned form? Can you hear Him gasping for each precious breath of air as he labors to push his legs up from that rugged cross so that He can breathe just one more time? Can you see the crimson Divine Blood as it yet slowly trickles from the stripes of Pilate’s scourging and the wounds from nail-pierced hands and feet? May I take you to that moment when His precious body was almost depleted of blood volume, yet He struggles to raise Himself upward for another breath and to utter the words that would deal Satan his deafening and lethal blow to the head:

• “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not whatthey do.” (Luke 23:34)

I can only imagine the Evil One’s reaction as he watched the crucifixion from his vantage point in Second Heaven and heard the unanticipatedDivine Utterance:

“ forgive them . . .”

It rocked Satan’s world! I’m sure he shrieked in horror with a hideous scream of such breadth and depth that it permeated all of Second Heaven. He probably was having a diabolical tantrum and yelling:

“What did he say!? Oh, no—no! He cannot forgive them! He must not forgive them! He must curse them! I shall have them all—every one of them—if He, the Holy One of God, would but curse them!”


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Satan’s plan of eternal captivity of humanity had begun unraveling in the Garden of Gethsemane and continued to unravel here, at the Divine Utterance on the cross. He should have known better because centuries earlier he attempted to influence a foreign prophet by the name of Balaam to curse the people of God as they were journeying to the Promised Land. Look at Balaam’s own words:

• “How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall Idefy, whom the LORD hath not defied?” (Numbers 23:8)

�ough Balaam—the “prophet for hire”—was hopeful that he could curse Israel, as he viewed their encampment from the lofty height on the mountain, he could only bless them! It is little wonder that all Balaam could do was bless since he was viewing an encampment in the shape of a cross! No power—human or superhuman—can curse that which the Omnipotent has forgiven and blessed! (You can shout “Hallelujah” here, too!)

Can you or I even begin to fathom the Power in the forgivenesscatalyzed by the Love of God and so freely given by the crucified Son of God in such a tortuous moment of frenzied demonic activity occurring in that Second Heaven realm? �ough empowered by the Love of God, what else was different about His forgiveness that would make the efficacy of it Eternal in nature?

Make no mistake about it. Jesus was a strong, mature thirty-three-year-old man. He was, as modern vernacular characterizes, “a man’s man”—definitely no passive weakling. However, this concept of Him sometimes leads us to tritely say that He didn’t deserve the crucifixion—that He did nothing worthy of such a horrible death—and then we tend to rationalize His Passion by feeling somewhat comforted that, after all, other men had experienced death by crucifixion. But we fail to think of the Purity and Innocence that was violated upon the cross that day and the immeasurable magnitude of what He said.

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On a human level, I think of the purity and innocence of a child when I attempt to make a feeble comparison of what happened at Calvary. It would be unthinkable and untenable for a defenseless, innocent child to ask his or her loving parents to please forgive someone who was abusing him or her, especially while that abuse was taking place! Can you imagine how the parents and any other decent human being would feel about such a plea for forgiveness? Our immediate response would be to stop the abuse, rescue the child, and hold the endeared little one in the safety of our arms. We would be sickened at the act of such violation of purity, sweetness, and innocence. Our hearts would be aching as we would rush to say,

“My precious one, you are not the one who needs to be asking for forgiveness for this vile person and for what he did to you.”

Admittedly, this comparison is woefully inadequate since there can be no human comparison—even with a child—to the Purity, Innocence, and Meekness of our precious Lord Jesus Christ. But in this illustration it becomes easier to understand that what Jesus was, and still is, made His pronouncement of forgiveness eternally efficacious.

Yes, the evil angels of Second Heaven were quite active on crucifixion day, inciting perverse, wicked men to participate and facilitate the greatest violation that would ever be witnessed upon this Earth for:

Like no other blood, His Blood was Innocent Blood, PerfectBlood, the Very Blood of Jehovah God!

It coursed down the rocky, dry slopes of Golgotha’s hill. Of necessity, His Blood was spilled upon Earth’s cursed ground that day. Blood “speaks!” In the first recorded murder of the Bible, when Cain slew Abel, God said,

• “What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood criethunto me from the ground.” (Genesis 4:10)


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I am sure that if Abel’s blood spoke, then how much more so did the Blood of the Divine Son of God speak that day into the Second Heaven and beyond, crying,

“Justice served! Redemption freely given to whosoever will.”

Yes, the evil angels of Second Heaven and misguided men at the foot of the cross thought they had broken Him there at the place called “�e Skull,” where He was suspended naked between Heaven and Earth and humiliated for all of Jerusalem to behold. Little did they realize that they were but instruments in the Almighty’s Hands, used for the breaking of Satan’s power.

Evidently, Satan just can’t grasp this concept of Omniscience and Omnipotence and that “all things work together for good” principle of Scripture! Maybe it hit him that he had been used yet again when Jesus’ response to such injustice and to such physical misery was not railing and cursing but was:

“Father, forgive them.”

Maybe, just maybe, the way this crucifixion was beginning to turn out was hauntingly reminiscent to Satan that God had turned the tables on him. Maybe he thought about when God’s people were in Egyptian bondage so long ago. He and his evil angels had been permitted by God to afflict Egypt and that did not turn out with the expected goal, either. In fact, that was a debacle for the kingdom of darkness for it resulted in the freedom of the Hebrew nation.

I don’t know if Satan and his evil angels realized they had been “had” at that moment of Jesus’ utterance, but I believe that the unanticipated response of forgiveness by the Lord Jesus caused Satan great consternation and widespread confusion throughout the domain of Darkness.

I further believe that had He, the Perfect Son of God, not forgiven all, He would have ceased at that very moment to be Perfect and

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thusly, could not have been raised from the dead. Instead of not seeing corruption as the Psalmist had prophesied hundreds of years prior, unforgiveness would have corrupted even Him! Unforgiveness would have been His Death bondage.

�e example is clear for all of us who call ourselves His followers. If we remain in unforgiveness, part of us dies—right here, right now in this life. We become corrupted. But if we forgive those, especially those whose attacks were planned, purposeful, and hate filled, God will resurrect a treasure in us—something in us that is needed in this life and needed to get through this life. He that “hath begun a good work . . . will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” He will raise Christ in that area of our day-to-day lives so that we may walk in His resurrection power! To allow Jesus to be raised in us as we journey here on Earth is crucial for successful and joyful, Spirit-filled living in this world.

Yes, the types and shadows were played out there on Calvary’s hill. In Scripture, Egypt is a picture of this fallen world, its enslavement of the people of God, and its opposition to the Will of God. God judged Egypt at Calvary, and the judgment fell upon His only begotten Son. �e parallel is striking for, as in the judgment of Old Testament Egypt, God once again lifted His restraining Hand in that Second Heaven. With no Divine restraint, the prince of devils, fallen angels, and demon-inspired men became intoxicated with their own vileness to the point that they unwittingly murdered the Prince of Life, thus facilitating the Plan of God for the redemption of ALL mankind.

• “Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had theyknown it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” (1Corinthians 2:8)

In conclusion, the number 3 was undeniably a signpost in this crucifixion that would result in “whosoever will” receiving so great a salvation. �ird Heaven had sent to First Heaven (i.e., the Earth with its firmament), the Very Best—the physical terra firma manifestation of


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the Son of God. Second Heaven was the scene of the greatest and mostintense spiritual battle ever waged for the souls of men. �ird Heaven touched Earth with the God-man, Jesus, and as is associated with the number 3, God’s plan of redemption was made manifest in the Earthly arena. His plan was successful! �e “Man of War” (Exodus 15:3) was victorious and, praise be to God, we, too, share in that Glorious victory! Earth will never be the same for His having visited us!

• “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited andredeemed his people.” (Luke 1:68)

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