Do we go to Heaven when we die? Do people see Heaven during a Near Death Experience?

I recently received a letter from a visitor to our website who was writing because an article conflicted with what they had been taught. She wrote, “Jesus said ‘I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.’ I’ve always been taught that place would be in heaven. But your article leads me to think eternity with Jesus will be here on earth. Am I understanding you correctly? If so, that brings me to the question of near death experiences — which always seems to take place in heaven. Can you clarify the thinking process behind your article?”

I thank all the readers of my articles for their comments, emails, and letters and I appreciate the thought they put into trying to piece together what I mean, whether their response is “for,” “against,” or just “questionable.” But a proper answer to the questions the writer raised, requires more than a quick, short statement, so I decided to put my thoughts into a new article particularly directed to her inquiries.

My approach to God’s word has always been in trying to follow the logic behind his plan and I’m well aware that many people will reject some ideas on the subject. I am not trying to change anyone’s mind, but only give food for thought, so they can decide for themselves. Anyway, let us investigate the writer’s two questions. First, after death, will we go to heaven, and second, will people actually see heaven or heavenly beings during a “near death experience?”

Will we obtain a place in Heaven?

The writer’s quotation of Jesus’ words was taken from John 14 in the King James Version. The New Revised Standard Version states, “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also, (John 14:2-3).1

Many people try to use these verses to prove that we go to heaven, but keep in mind that “Jesus said nothing about the nature of the place where he was going. It is sufficient that believers will be with the Father and Jesus.”2 And from that scripture, they make other assumptions, such as understanding the Father’s house only as a dwelling, rather than as a family or dynasty. They also narrowly define place as an ornate abode, a mansion, or a palace, instead of a position, an office, or a role.3

“They gloss over the fact that Jesus says directly in this context that he would ‘come again’. Where? To earth! He then says he will receive the saints to himself. If he remains on earth to rule the nations, then the saints will rule with him on the earth! Many scriptures show very plainly that God’s Kingdom will be on the earth (Psalm 2:6-8; Jeremiah 23:5; Daniel 2:35, 44-45; 7:27; Zechariah 9:9-10; Revelation 11:15).”4 So, this scripture says nothing about us going to heaven, although most people assume it does. Jesus is not referring to a particular location for us to live in heaven; he is referring to a place being “prepared” while he is in heaven. Let’s consider two scripture quotes.

The first, Matthew 25:34 says, “Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’” And Revelation 21:2-3 says, “And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them.’”

The Jerusalem Temple in Jesus’ time was symbolic of the Kingdom of God and the city of a new Jerusalem. So, Jesus was preparing a place for Christians in the Kingdom and in the new Jerusalem. The Kingdom of God/New Jerusalem will be on earth. It does not say we will go to heaven, but that Jesus, as promised, will return to earth. Keep in mind the part of the Lord’s Prayer, when Jesus said: “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). And remember, Jesus also said: “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5).

Jesus is returning to earth where Christians will help him rule over the nations. The place being prepared is not an apartment in which to live, but a position or place within the government of the Kingdom of God. The position we will hold depends upon many things: how we have been faithful and served God, how we have overcome the evil we faced, how honorably we have lived our lives and treated others, and much, much more.

What about Near Death Experiences?

Considering ‘near death experiences’ (NDE), the Bible says nothing about this concept and only speaks about actual death. It mentions a metaphorical “sleep” of death5 until the resurrection, which is yet to come. “For as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:11). As it says, this will be after his return. There is no activity or life between death and resurrection: “The living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no more reward, and even the memory of them is lost,” (Ecclesiastes 9:5).

What is it that people experience in NDE? Some say they saw Jesus, or angels, or dead relatives to guide them on their journey, or some other heavenly event. Some say they heard heavenly music or voices of their families. But what do they really see and hear? I don’t know; it could be a lot of things, I guess. Maybe the experience is caused by the side effects of a body and mind preparing to shut down, or the scrambled voices of people near them, or music from a radio, or a deep memory from long ago. Maybe the person sees mental images of things they have been taught to expect, or, maybe it is the effect of drugs upon the body and mind. Maybe it is some combination of these things.

Just how much faith can you put into what a person says when their body and mind are so badly afflicted and distressed, that they are dying? Besides, ‘near death’ does not mean ‘actual death’. From my point-of-view, actual death is the last event in our existence here — one that everyone will experience. The biggest problem is that we know little about death, except by observation, for it is impossible to obtain statements of experiences from the victims who are actually dead.6

Even ancient Greek literature contains information of heros having NDE, but as pagans, would they have been experiencing going to heaven to live with God? From research in the literature, they believed it was to be a descent into the Underworld,7 not some heavenly realm above. Also, different cultures seem to have different experiences in NDE, as well as do different time periods in history. “The mechanism of judgement, the nature of the barrier, and the role or character of the guide are clearly shaped by sociocultural context. . . .”8

So, what is God’s actual promise?

One thing we can be sure about is that until Jesus’ new Kingdom arrives upon his return to this world, we will all die and our bodies will return to the dust of the earth, and our spirit will be returned to God for safe keeping. “The dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it,” (Ecclesiastes 12:7, ESV).

No human, however, goes to heaven, for the Bible tells us that no one has gone to heaven except Jesus. “No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man” (John 3:13). In the promised resurrection, our awakened spirit of life will be united with a new perfect body here on an earth under Jesus’ rulership. It is here that we will live.

The Bible teaches us that we will not travel up to heaven, but that heaven will come down to us. “And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away,’” (Revelation 21:2-4).

Copyright © 2019, Dr. Ray Hermann
OutlawBibleStudent.org

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References & Notes

  1. Unless otherwise noted, scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible (NRSV), ©1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission.
  2. Blum, Edwin A., “John,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, (Eds.) J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), vol. 2, p. 322.
  3. Ritenbaugh, Richad T., “Caught Up in the Rapture,” in Forerunner Commentary, (Bible Tools, retrieved 29 September 2019), https://www.bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Bible.show/sVerseID/26672/eVerseID/26672
  4. Ibid.
  5. metaphorical “sleep” of death – suspended consciousness; an abrupt, but limited, cessation of activity; a temporary loss of consciousness resembling death.
  6. Hermann, Ray, “The Grim Reaper & the Bible,” (The Outlaw Bible Student, OBS, 18 September 2019), https://outlawbiblestudent.org/the-grim-reaper-the-bible/
  7. Brueggemann, Dale A., “Descent into the Underworld, Critical Issues,” Lexham Bible Dictionary, Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016.)
  8. Shushan, Gregory, Conceptions of the Afterlife in Early Civilizations, (London: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2009), pp.38-40.

10 thoughts on “Do we go to Heaven when we die? Do people see Heaven during a Near Death Experience?”

  1. There is no way to receive heavenly truth and teach it, except by one who has been to heaven.

    I would actually dispute this claim, because how then can we accept anything written from the bible? Heavenly truth was revealed by God /Holy Spirit to prophets and other writers – but these prophets and people had not been to heaven.
    Thus they did not receive heavenly truth and did not teach it……

    caroline

    Reply
    • No ‘human’ has been there and returned to teach of heavenly things, except Jesus Christ. Plenty of heavenly creatures have carried God’s messages to humans on earth throughout history and messages have been sent in visions, too.

      Reply
  2. Thank you Ray for your response. But I stand by the bible words that speak of some going to heaven as I mentioned in my last comment. If they did not go to heaven as stated – then where did they go?

    You made good arguments about living on the new earth after death. Perhaps it is for another article to explain what happens when one dies – esp if they do not go directly to heaven!!
    Cheers
    Caroline

    Reply
  3. Hello Ray:
    Thank you for the article, brief as it was!
    I would perhaps have another viewpoint about the bible verse of John 3:13 and here is why;
    As Christians we (hopefully) are on a constant search and study of God’s word, learning, growing and maturing as we ask the Holy Spirit to reveal his truths to us.
    We need to remember that throughout the bible things are explained in a variety of ways – parables, symbols, stories, chiastic structures of writing, literal truths, symbolism etc – for example when it talks about Abraham’s bosom in Luke 16:23 – we know that it is a parable – a story with a point and that Lazarus was not actually living in Abraham’s bosom – as that would be physically impossible.

    We need to recognize the places in the bible that speak literally and symbolically – so that we don’t get confused about the meaning of something and wind up making the bible fight against itself.
    God is not the author of confusion.

    So when you mentioned John 3:13 “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven” –
    at first reading this verse it seems that no one else is in heaven – but one needs to be very careful to not take a bible verse out of context – as the saying goes – “a text without context is pretext”.

    In order to understand what verses mean in the bible – we need to read the whole section – the before and after verses of the one that is being studied so that we get a complete understanding.
    And then to get a well rounded picture, we find other areas in the bible that address similar issues and study them as well.

    The reason for this is to avoid confusion and upset at verses that may seem to contradict each other.
    Meaning that it talks in the bible about Enoch (Gen 5:24) and Elijah (2 Kings 2:11) and Moses (Deut 34:5-6, Jude 1:9) being in heaven – all taken by God to heaven – and this was in the OT – before John 3:13.

    Therefore John 3:13 must mean something different.
    And with further study, prayer and revelation we find that John 3:13 alludes to the fact that only Jesus (who is God), who has come from heaven and knows heavenly things can discern them and share them. How do we know this? Because the verses before (John 3:1-12) are talking about how Nicodemus (who was a teacher of Israel) was struggling to understand basic things that Jesus was telling him and was unprepared to discuss more profound heavenly truths (John 3:14-21).
    Cheers!
    Caroline

    Reply
    • Thank you for your comment. Your thoughts indicate not only your interest in this article, but your knowledge as well, so your opinion is appreciated.

      Before writing this article I knew my own opinion was not popular, so I included the statement, “I’m well aware that many people will reject some ideas on the subject.” However, I haven’t changed my mind, so for the present time let us agree to disagree, but please allow me to add a bit more to the discussion.

      Concerning John 3:13—yes, the context indicates that Nicodemus was visiting with Jesus, who was trying to explain heavenly matters to him. Jesus was probably quoting Agur in the Old Testament who said, “I have not learned wisdom, nor have I attained to the knowledge of the Holy One. Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Whose hands have gathered up the wind?” (Proverbs 30:3-4, NIV).

      There is no way to receive heavenly truth and teach it, except by one who has been to heaven. And no man has been there, except the Son of Man, who was then speaking to Nicodemus at that very moment. Since he is the only man to have been in heaven, he was able to communicate heavenly knowledge. This was a unique qualification, for sure, for Jesus was witnessing from personal experience, not hearsay.

      Regardless of the context, there is no contradiction to the statement that humankind will not go to heaven at death. Humankind was made lower than angels (Psalm 8:4), and was created to live on earth which we inherit (Psalm 37:11). Therefore, we will not go to live in heaven at death.

      Reply
  4. Thank you. As a Christian, this was very inspiring, as I sometimes wonder about the after-life, not with doubting thoughts but wonder what a Heaven could be like.
    I’m an excellent musician … perhaps I could be invited into Heaven to entertain. 🙂
    I also have this question, that I think about a lot, “Why am I now here on this Earth?”

    Reply
    • I appreciate your response to the article and I like your humorous comment about needing an invite to enter heaven for a short time for a “look around.” I’m sure angels enjoy a tune every now and then.

      Concerning your question, “Why am I now here on this Earth?”, I think most people ask that question.

      Reply

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