September 10, 2022
Tabitha was taken to another place in the museum. She was told that the next area was a “test” simulation of how well she understood the eternal life Jesus has purchased for those who believe in Him. The simulation was meant to represent heaven. When she crossed through the museum gate, she was to assume she had died and gone to heaven, and that “heaven,” in this simulation, was portrayed in a way that reflects the mentality that many Christians have of eternal life. The simulation was interactive to Tabitha, with digital overlays that created a virtual reality based on her own mindset. In other words, heaven would be for her what she saw of it in how she presently lived in the spiritual. She would have to reflect during and after the simulation on whether or not it was an accurate, Biblical portrayal. Before she entered, she was given a scroll with the following premises on which she should base her understanding of the simulation:
Scripture says, “Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment. Indeed, he has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24). The Lord makes it clear that He has–present tense–given eternal life to those who believe in Him, and that such a believer has–already–crossed over from death into life (“We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life.”–Rom 6:4). This means that we are already living spiritually in heaven (“And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.” –Eph 2:6), and if we are unaware of this, we have not broken out of the ignorance of darkness (worldly mindedness) in which we were once bound (“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2in which you used to walk when you conformed to the ways of this world and of the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh and indulging its desires and thoughts.” –Eph 2:1-3). Continuing in sin–outward or inward–is failing to resist the devil, which is as divination (“Therefore subject yourselves to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” –James 4:7; “For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance is like the wickedness of idolatry.” –1 Sam 15:23).
Tabitha proceeded through the gate after reading the scroll. She was immediately in a gorgeous mansion in which she was given a room, where she was to “live” until the simulation was over. It was to represent her heavenly habitation. She was introduced to a mentor/tour guide and told that he was going to be popping in and out of realms. He would be reachable by phone only within the current realm, which was the lowest level of heaven. Tabitha was given a celestial phone that clearly had significant upgrades from earth. Her tour guide left but told her she could text him and that she would be met by various people along the way to help guide her.
Tabitha had moved out of the mansion and was texting her tour guide, and then she saw a notification: “James has left this realm,” which reminded her she couldn’t text him anymore. She wondered how he moved from realm to realm, if she could one day follow him, and what it would take to get there.
She was now on an ordinary road; it was very much like earth. She did meet up with people, as James had told her, who were very kind to her and helped her understand things she needed to know. But the general “townsfolk” were unfriendly, like they were annoyed to have to get to know a newcomer. Tabitha thought that maybe if she bought them candy as a gift, she would feel more welcomed, but when she went searching for a store, she had a hard time finding one. She was told by one of the appointed guides that people hardly ever bought anything because they just went to the cafeteria for their food and were very robotic in their activities. They seemed to have no appetite for variety or involvement in what they ate.
Tabitha felt dissatisfied with this arrangement. She finally found a shop that was sparsely stocked. The shopkeeper spoke to her of people buying loaves of cakes from him for secretly exercising divination. Tabitha felt bewildered. How is this heaven, she thought. It felt safer and more “cleaned up” than earth, but it still felt polluted by sinful attitudes, even “secret” divination! Could this be true?
Tabitha moved on and met up with another assistant who began talking to her about working her way to the more-glorious places of heaven. "It took one person I knew 20 years to get to the next level," the lady said. Tabitha felt sad. All that she had so longed for–instant glory and joy–was an illusion. Was this really “purgatory”?
This post is to get you thinking! Go to the Forum to engage in general questions related to this “heaven” tour to get you ready for the next few posts that will dig in more deeply to the metaphors conveyed here.
*All Scripture is in the Berean Study Bible (BSB) version unless otherwise noted.
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