A) INTRODUCTION.

B) AN EARTHLY PARADISE.

C) A LITTLE HISTORY.

D) WHERE PARADISE IS.

 

 

A) INTRODUCTION

 

 

The Hebrew word “paradesa” literally means “a foreign ornamental garden,” that is attached to a mansion.  In Nehemiah 2:8 and Ecclesiastes 2:5, “paradesa” is translated as “gardens,” while in Song of Solomon 4:13 it is translated as “orchard.”  In the “LXX” version, Genesis 2:8 translates “garden” as “paradise” instead.

 

 

B) AN EARTHLY PARADISE

 

 

An earthly “paradise” can never make up for losing a Heavenly Paradise.  Take a look at Revelation 2:7:  “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.”  Then compare it with Revelation 22:1-2 & 14:  “And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. (2) In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (14) Blessed are they that do His Commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.”  In Eden, Adam and Eve lived in the earthly paradise.  By contrast, our Heavenly home shall be not merely a garden, but a city, the perfect communion of all saints.

 

 

C) A LITTLE HISTORY

 

 

In the apocryphal and pseud epigraphical literature, the word “Paradise” is extensively used in a spiritual and symbolical sense, signalizing the place of happiness to be inherited by the righteous.  Christ uses the word but once (in Luke 23:43), when He said to the penitent thief, “To day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise.”  This was a time to choose words with dialectical precision such as would give the consolation needed by the penitent thief suffering from thirst and agony and shame.  And this is what our Lord gave to the thief, the promise of a Heavenly abode, i.e., “Paradise.”

 

 

D) WHERE PARADISE IS

 

 

Paul, in Second Corinthians 12:4 speaks of having been “caught up into Paradise,” where he “heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.”  And he tells us where this is back in verse 2, where this is referred to more vaguely as “the third Heaven.”  Quickly:  the “third Heaven” in the Jewish conception, is that there is threeheavens: (1) the visible clouds where the birds fly; (2) then where the stars are above and beyond the clouds; (3) then the “third Heaven,” which would be the invisible region beyond the two heavens where our Lord dwells.  It is a Jewish expression for these Heavens to be expressed as that, which is beyond:

 

1) The air;

2) Beyond the sun and stars; to

3) The secret place of the Almighty.

 

Therefore to review, the Bible speaks of but three heavens.  And among the Jews, in the apostolic ages, the heavens were also divided into three:

 

1) The aerial, including the clouds and the atmosphere, the heavens above us, until we come to the stars.

2) The starry heavens, the heavens in which the sun, moon, and stars appear to be situated.

3) The Heavens beyond the stars; the residence of God; of angels; and of holy beings.

 

In conclusion, “Paradise” has come to literally mean, as portrayed in the dictionary:  “A place of bliss; Heaven, as the final abode of the righteous; a place of extreme beauty, delight, or happiness; a state of supreme happiness, i.e., bliss.”

 

For how to get there, see my Bible Study:  “SALVATION BIBLICALLY.”