The Third Heaven and Earth

The Third Heaven and Earth II Corinthians 12:2 has caused considerable confusion in Christian circles. If we have respect for the integrity of God’s Word, however, and if we believe that the Word of God is the Will of God and that it means what it says and says what it means, then we will have no difficulty in establishing in our minds the “what and where” of the third heaven. We certainly cannot go by secular literature nor by what denominations have written about this subject, but we must adhere to the Word of God. II Corinthians 12:1-4: It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. In order to have an accurate understanding of The Word, let us consider first the words “caught up” of verse two. Whenever we speak or think of the words “caught up,” we think of them in terms of height. However, that is not the meaning of the word used in the text; “caught up” would be more clearly translated as “caught away.” The same Greek word, harpazō , is used in a number of other instances. John 10:12: But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. “Catcheth” is the same Greek word that is also translated “caught up,” “caught away,” “taketh away” or “snatcheth away.” I will give all the usages of this word harpazō in the New Testament, so that each student may study the passages and come to his own understanding of it. It is translated as follows: “catcheth,” John 10:12; “catcheth away,” Matthew 13:1