reserved to the day of judgment and of destruction of the ungodly men.”—2 Pet. 3:7, NW.

The end of these wicked heavens and earth will be followed by the promised righteous new world: “But there are new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according to his promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell.” This new heavens will consist of Christ and his bride, “the holy city, New Jerusalem.” John had a vision of these: “And I saw, and look! the Lamb standing upon the mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand . . . who have been purchased from the earth.” These, as the spiritual Seed of Abraham, will reign a thousand years over mankind, blessing and restoring it to perfection as a “new earth.”—2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 14:1, 3; 20:5, 6, NW.

MINISTERS AS “HEAVENS”

There are yet two uses of the term “heavens” mentioned in the Scriptures, the locations of the ministers of God and the ministers of Satan. Thus Paul writes regarding Christians who have heavenly hopes: “And he raised us up together and seated us together in the heavenly places in union with Christ.” These ministers of God, having been born of the spirit and made members of the body of Christ, can properly be said to occupy an exalted or heavenly position.—Eph. 2:6, NW.

In a similar way spokesmen for the religion of Satan the Devil, his ministers, are as in his heavens in that they occupy an exalted position and represent themselves as lights of the world. Included among these are the apostate “stars with no set course.” (Jude 13, NW) Such ministers of Satan are the spiritual or religious counterpart of the stars referred to by Jesus at Revelation 1:20; 2:1; 3:1.

As for the “third heaven” mentioned at 2 Corinthians 12:2 (NW) and cited by Harper’s Bible Dictionary and to which the apostle Paul was caught up: This does not refer to a plurality of heavens, but rather to the great degree of rapture experienced by Paul. Similarly, for emphasis or intenseness, “overturn” is mentioned a third time at Ezekiel 21:27. Jesus told Peter three times to feed his sheep, as noted at John 21:15-17, and at Revelation 4:8 “holy” is mentioned three times for emphasis.

So we see that in the Scriptures the term “heavens” is used to apply to both the atmosphere and the starry heavens. It is also used to designate the very presence of Jehovah as well as the location of his myriads of spirit creatures. Further, “heavens” also denotes the lofty, invisible part of a world or “system of things.” And finally, “heavens” is also applied to those ministers of Christ on earth who have heavenly hopes and to the ministers of Satan who occupy exalted positions and who profess to be lights of the world.

Make the Spiritual Your Goal

● Materialism prevails today. The goal of many persons is to gain possessions, to buy nicer clothes, to build a nicer home, to get a newer car, and to pamper their passions. Satisfying personal desires is their goal, so when a Christian witness of Jehovah comes to their door they wonder what he gets out of it. Yet, his spiritual reward is far greater than any reward received by those who are looking to the things of the flesh. As Paul wrote to the Galatians: “He who is sowing with a view to his flesh will reap corruption from his flesh, but he who is sowing with a view to the spirit will reap everlasting life from the spirit.” How you are sowing will determine which reward you will reap.—Gal. 6:8, NW.