On our way with Jesus it does not always fail to happen that all three heavens (note: 1. earth, 2. air/atmosphere and 3. dwelling place of God; see 2 Corinthians 12:2) work synchronously with each other, which is why we wish to help us to better understand what the state of an open heaven is all about.
The Three Circles
I would like to use in conjunction with the Scripture from Ecclesiastes 12:6-7 an example of three circular gold plates fixed to a rotating silver cord which get their rotation from the top of the cord by the circular movement of a hand.
The circular gold plates are arranged from top to bottom and are thus located on different levels. Each gold plate is provided with a round opening that increases in size from the upper layer to the lower layer in the gold plates.
The highest gold plate represents the third heaven, the middle one the second heaven and the lowest one the first heaven.
Ecclesiastes 12:6-7:
6 Remember him – before the silver cord is severed, and the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, and the wheel broken at the well, 7 and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
Ecclesiastes 12:6-7:
6 Remember him – before the silver cord is severed, and the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, and the wheel broken at the well, 7 and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
According to this scripture, the rotating silver cord indicates the connection or divine legitimacy of our life on earth, which is to be taken as an umbilical cord. The silver cord can also be regarded as a measure of life on earth assigned by God, in which we move as saints, as Acts 17:28 describes.
Acts 17:28:
28 ‘For in him (note: God) we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’
The Dark ‘Prince of the Air’
Since the devil is also called the ‘mighty one who rules in the air’ and is present in the second heaven (see Ephesians 2:2 i.c.w. Revelation 12:7-9) in order to prevent or interrupt divine transfer to human beings, it is necessary for us to understand the synchronization of the three heavens correctly.
When the three heavens move in perfect synchronization, the power of the third heaven touches the earth directly and produces great manifestations of signs and wonders. An open heaven makes it much easier for us as God's people to flow in our spiritual gifts. The state of the open heaven is similar to lightning, thunder, …, which surround us in our atmosphere at this time, similar to what happens in the throne room of God (see Revelation 4:2-3.5).
Revelation 4:2-3.5:
2 At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. 3 And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. …
5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God.
The Shaking in the Second Heaven
The greatest battle or shaking take place in the second heaven, because Satan and his army of darkness want to prevent God's power from breaking through on earth. This is one of the reasons why heaven and earth must be shaken (see Haggai 2:6; Hebrews 12:26).
Haggai 2:6:
6 “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land.
Hebrews 12:26:
26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”
This kind of supernatural shaking results in a great increase of glory and provision for the people of God on earth (see Haggai 2:7-9).
Haggai 2:7-9:
7 I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty. 8 ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty. 9 ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”
Shaken Out of the ‘Treetop’
It is essential that the serpent is shaken from the treetop, where the fruits of God are for us. The seducer and evil guard is already defeated, but he only falls from the ‘treetop’ if we have a renewed conscience through the blood of Jesus (note: living in submission) and are conscious of our position in Jesus Christ (note: knowing our identity) according to Hebrews 9:14 i.c.w. Romans 12:2; Ephesians 4:23-24.
Hebrews 9:14:
14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
Romans 12:2:
2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Ephesians 4:23-24:
… 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
God is a sovereign Father and has given us, as His children, authority, a walk in triumph through the victory of Jesus Christ on the middle cross of Golgotha, and His movement doesn't change, that is, He lets the silver cord rotate in the same rhythm (see Hebrews 13:8 i.c.w. James 1:17). This is why it is important to understand how we must proceed when we encounter in our lives a closed heaven that contains nothing but rebellion of the devil and his dark forces between the first and third heaven.
The Baptism of Jesus
Here I would like to refer to the baptism of Jesus, who was baptized by the prophet John, who was also His cousin.
With the help of the various books of the Gospels, it is possible for us as to better comprehend the closed and open heaven and also what contributes to an open heaven (see Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22).
Matthew 3:13-17:
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.
14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.
16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.
17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
Mark 1:9-11:
9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.
11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
Luke 3:21-22:
21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
The Greek word for open heaven used here in the Gospel of Mark is ‘schizō’ and means ‘to split or sever (literally or figuratively): - break, divide, open, rend, make a rent’. (Part excerpt from the Strong’s Concordance to the Greek word ‘schizō’ with the word key number G4977)
With the explanation of this word one can see that during the baptism of Jesus there was a kind of shaking in the second heaven, similar to the time of the crucifixion of Jesus when the curtain in the temple was torn from top to bottom to reveal the presence and glory of God (see Matthew 27:50-51a).
Matthew 27:50-51a:
50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. 51a At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. …
The tearing of the curtain was nothing else except the power of the Father, giving mankind the opportunity to come into His glory through the blood of His Son Jesus Christ.
The invisible battle in the second heaven at the time of Jesus' baptism is evident by the fact that John the Baptist first didn't want to baptize Jesus (see Matthew 3:13-15). Hebrews 5:1-6 shows that baptism heralded the priesthood of Jesus and was the natural and supernatural ‘ordination’ into the priestly ministry.
Hebrews 5:1-6:
1 Every high priest is selected from among the people and is appointed to represent the people in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.
2 He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness.
3 This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people.
4 And no one takes this honor on himself, but he receives it when called by God, just as Aaron was. 5 In the same way, Christ did not take on himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father (see Psalm 2:7).”
6 And he says in another place, “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek (see Psalm 110:4).”
And exactly this priestly ‘ordination’ the devil wanted to prevent with his horde of darkness.
Relating this to the three rotating gold plates, this means nothing else than that at the time of Jesus' baptism the circular opening of the highest and the circular opening of the lowest gold plate rotated synchronously, but the middle one swayed due to the rebellion of the devil, so that its opening wasn't in harmony with the others.
When all three circular openings were in accord with the motion of the Holy Spirit, they transmitted to the earth like a megaphone the Father's instruction or His statement.
The Synchronization of the Open Heaven
If we now look at the biblical passages from Mark and Luke, we can see the approach of Jesus that led to the synchronization of the open Heaven. The Gospel of Mark tells us that heaven was opened when Jesus came out of the water of the Jordan (see Mark 1:10).
From the Gospel of Luke we can see that heaven opened during the prayer of Jesus (see Luke 3:21).
At this point I would like to state that at this moment there was an audible or visible manifestation of the Trinity of God, similar as it was at the creation of the first Adam (see Genesis 1:26).
Genesis 1:26
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
So it was no coincidence that Paul mentioned Jesus to be the last Adam to the Corinthians (see 1 Corinthians 15:45).
1 Corinthians 15:45:
45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being” (see Genesis 2:7); the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.
Through His Son Jesus Christ, God established His redeeming, living being on earth. Jesus has reflected the face of the Heavenly Father before the eyes of men (see John 14:9).
John 14:9:
9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Leaving the Jordan and the Power of Prayer
Jesus knew that at the time of His baptism, which was a supernatural priestly ordination, there would be a confrontation in the second heaven in which Satan, through his rebellion, wanted to prevent the ordination of Jesus and the open heaven, which even had an effect on John the Baptist, who first seemed to refuse to baptize Jesus (see Matthew 3:13-14).
Jesus also knew the mystery of an open heaven and gave us a strategy with His approach during and after His baptism that reveals how to synchronize the three heavens so that God can speak to us through the three ‘circular openings’ like a megaphone through signs and wonders.
The open heaven was created by Jesus who understood the power of prayer and also the leaving of His present place. Jesus didn't stay at or in the Jordan, but left it.
Since the Jordan is a symbol of the place where the old nature is laid down, and also in Hebrew (note: Isaac) means ‘the one that descends’ as well as in Arab (note: Ismael) ‘the watering place, the major watering place’, this indicates to us as saints at this time that we must be ready to go through the cross of Jesus Christ in order to walk in the promises of the Heavenly Father.
Jesus was and is the peeled staff in the ‘drinking trough’ who gave us new life in strength and richness, similar to what Jacob experienced with the goats when he was with his father-in-law Laban (Genesis 30:37-43).
Genesis 30:37-43:
37 Jacob, however, took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond and plane trees and made white stripes on them by peeling the bark and exposing the white inner wood of the branches.
38 Then he placed the peeled branches in all the watering troughs, so that they would be directly in front of the flocks when they came to drink. When the flocks were in heat and came to drink, 39 they mated in front of the branches. And they bore young that were streaked or speckled or spotted. 40 Jacob set apart the young of the flock by themselves, but made the rest face the streaked and dark-colored animals that belonged to Laban. Thus he made separate flocks for himself and did not put them with Laban’s animals.
41 Whenever the stronger females were in heat, Jacob would place the branches in the troughs in front of the animals so they would mate near the branches, 42 but if the animals were weak, he would not place them there. So the weak animals went to Laban and the strong ones to Jacob.
43 In this way the man grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks, and female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.
God, the Father didn't call us to stand before the cross of Jesus, but to lay down our old life and then to go through the cross (see John 14:6).
John 14:6:
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
When we have laid down our old life and past in Jesus Christ, the time of standing before the cross of Jesus is over and the time of the movement in His cross has begun, which makes us even stronger and stronger in the Holy Spirit, even when the enemy tries to dissuade us from the way of truth.
We have the victory and live in triumph through Jesus Christ!
Jacob and the Open Heaven
Jacob also experienced an open heaven, which meant nothing more than a synchronization of the three heavens. The result of that synchronization was that he saw the angels of God ascending and descending above him and heard God speak (see Genesis 28:10-17).
Genesis 28:10-17:
10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran.
11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep.
12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
13 There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying.
14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.
15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.”
17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”
The Four Friends and the Open Heaven
It may sound paradoxical, but God can use an adverse circumstance to open up heaven in our lives, as happened in Capernaum, where Jesus was in a house and four friends settled their handicapped friend through the roof of the house. They opened the roof top violently by removing the tiles and then piercing through the ceiling of the house to get inside (see Mark 2:1-12).
Mark 2:1-12:
1 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them.
3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on.
5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things?
9 Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’?
10 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, 11 “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.”
12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
This is not about to accuse at this point, but unfortunately, it sometimes happens in Christian congregations that Jesus is present but a religious spirit or an event blinds the eyes of believers by the sphere of self-righteousness. It is necessary for saints to rise, who understand how to open heaven through Spirit-filled revelation and the power of the Word of God by removing slavery that ‘covered’ them (see Exodus 1:14; note: e.g. to be justified by deeds) and to contribute to a renewed mind which is activated by the applied blood of Jesus Christ in communities (see Hebrews 9:14).
Exodus 1:14:
14 They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.
Hebrews 9:14:
14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
I describe the four friends who ‘pierced’ the roof of the house also where Jesus was as the four gatekeepers who were at the ‘Parbar’, which means the extension on the western side of Solomon's temple, whereby Jesus Christ and the paralyzed person were right at the ‘Parbar’ (note: in the center of the predestined will of God; see 1 Chronicles 26:18).
1 Chronicles 26:18:
18 As for the court (note: Parbar) to the west, there were four at the road and two at the court (note: Parbar) itself.
The word ‘Parbar/ Parvar’ is a Persian word and means translated ‘light-bringer, open hall’.
These four friends, though possibly not aware of it, were stewards of fresh revelation of Jesus' forgiveness, which led people who were weakened by accusations from the past entering the process of restoration in Jesus Christ and thus silencing the accuser of the brethren.
May we put aside the thinking of the old day and turn to the preparation of the new day that is about to begin! Only then, we will be part of the synchronization of the three heavens and enter the blessings of the only true and living God, YAHWEH.
Amen and Amen.
In His Wisdom,
Daniel Glimm
