RELATIVITY AND THE CIRCUIT OF HEAVEN

I used to think and say that outer space went on forever. There was almost a mind-blowing panic that set in at such a thought. Even though I read the related scriptures for years, I didn’t pay much attention to the subject until reading in the encyclopedia that there were differing views on the subject of whether the universe is closed or open. Taking certain scriptures from the Bible into account and reading what the World Book Encyclopedia (1974 edition) says about the density of hydrogen atoms in space I came to the realization that “eternal space” might not be true. Does space go on forever or will you eventually come back to where you started? What does it mean when the Bible says that the angels will gather the elect from the four winds and from one end of heaven to the other?

Evolutionarily speaking, if nothing (in outer space) is a normal state of affairs - gasses, planets, rocks etc., are all abnormal to the vacuum of outer space. If the universe is expanding, from where or what did it expand? How big was whatever it was when it started to expand? No matter how big it was or wasn’t, where did it come from in the first place? Furthermore, if whatever it was, no matter how big or small it was, was just always there, what caused it to start expanding? If I am correct, and there is only one universe, why? If one universe could exist in all of outer space (all on its own), then why not two or more? This question hinges on just how far does outer space go?

I say that the universe (all one of it) was the physical declaration, as a result of the realization of who and just how great, God is. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork, Ps 19:1. Who was responsible for this declaration? I believe it was no one less than the first of God’s creation, the pre-incarnate Jesus. See: Psalms 2:7, 8:5-6, 89:27; Proverbs 8:22 (-31), 30:4; Isaiah 45:11-23; Mica 5:2; John 1:9-14, 5:26, 8:42, 17:5, 24-28; Acts 13:33; Colossians 1:15(-19); Hebrews 1:5-6(-14), 5:5; Revelation 1:8, 3:14, 21:6, 22:13.

Let’s take a little deeper look into Proverbs 8:27, as mentioned above, which is quoted simply to show that Jesus was the first of God’s creation. “When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth:”

I believe the creation of the heavens and the earth probably happened at the same time but the fashioning of the earth could be summed up in this scripture and accomplished at a later date. If the working and reworking of the earth happened once before as suggested by the “gap theory,” then this work with a compass no doubt happened when the earth was fashioned in the first place with man’s upcoming occupancy in mind.

The instant creation of the heavens and the earth in no way suggests that the earth was fit and instantly ready for occupancy. It could have been, but the fact that God took the time to use a compass suggests the artistry and the skillful manipulation of say, the potter working with a lump of clay and eventually turning it into an intricate and beautiful vessel.

What is the circuit of heaven and how does relativity relate to it? When looking up the reference to the swaddlingband in Job 38:9, while working on another paper, I ran across, Job 22:14. It then hit me (thanks to the research I had previously done on relativity) that the Circuit of Heaven had to be the area inside the swaddlingband that we know as outer space or the universe. As I said before, I used to think that space went on forever. If it did, the swaddlingband would not be a swaddlingband; it would be eternal outer space. There would be nothing beyond it but more dark space. The swaddlingband mentioned in the Bible is the one that will be rolled up like a scroll someday, revealing the eternal (third) heaven and the throne of God, as told in Revelation 6:14.” And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together.”

The heavens beyond that swaddlingband, where the throne of God is, I believe are described in 1Tim 6:16. “Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.” This is the brightness that is beyond the swaddlingband. No man can approach the light because man cannot break through the circuit of heaven. Paul gives a glimpse into that part of the beyond, in 2 Cor. 12:2, 4. 2. “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. 4. How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.”

I think we sometimes get a mind-set because of scriptures like Gen 28:11-13, 17-18. We tend to look at it physically instead of as the dream that is was. 11. And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. 12. And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. 13. And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; 17. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. 18. And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.

As one day is as one thousand years with God and visa versa, so is the miracle of the third heaven from the second heaven. For us to travel from our heavens to the third heaven on our own is impossible. For God to transport us there, it is not a problem. I think 1 Timothy adds to this when it says, “Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto.” Time and distance are not a problem to God. If one thousand years is as one day and visa versa, the speed of light is slow compared to the speed of God.
There are things going on here that we just don’t know or realize, as of yet. Only death can give us a greater glimpse. But be warned, suicide will not give you a positive view of this upcoming reality of the third heaven. If you attempt to escape this life and try to attain the other, you will have to answer for it at the white throne judgment. You are not going to a better place if you kill yourself. It will be a place of isolation and regret until the white throne judgment, but that’s another story. See: Death – Anti-Suicide Scriptures.

The following scriptures set part of the foundation that closely ties scripture to science.
Job 22:12-14. 12. Is not God in the height of heaven? And behold the height of the stars, how high they are! 13. And thou sayest, How doth God know? Can he judge through the dark cloud? 14. Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.

Notice the Hebrew word for circuit according to Strong’s: 2329 chuwg (khoog); from 2328; a circle: circle, circuit, compass. I think this fairly establishes that whatever it is, it is round. It’s similar to that of Isa. 40:22, “It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:” I had taken notice many years ago that “ It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth,“ was a remarkable reference to the fact that the world was round, long before the scientific world recognized it. I did not realize the scientific correctness of the “curtain” or “tent” until recently, thanks to my study into the theory of relativity.

Job 37:18 Hast thou with him spread out the sky, which is strong, and as a molten looking glass? The New Living Translation says it this way. “He makes the skies reflect the heat like a giant mirror. Can you do this?”  If the skies of the earth weren’t there, it would be like being on the moon. It would be very hot in the sun and very cold in the shadows.

Job 38:9  When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it,…
This is so that man has to exercise faith and not be able to see directly into heaven and to the throne of God. We would be saved by sight and not faith. Darkness is supernatural; it had to be created. Notice how this swaddlingband is the same as (noted above) the curtain or tent that is mentioned in Isa. 40:22.

Revelation 6:13-17

13. And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. 14. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 16. And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17. For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

This mysterious darkness (swaddlingband, curtain and tent) will be “rolled together as a scroll” and we will be able to see directly into heaven, to the very throne of God. Is this the first time that we will get to see God’s face?

Job 26:7  He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.
I don’t know if anybody really knows what this (He stretcheth out the north over the empty place) means, but I think it has great significance to the Circuit of Heaven. Maybe it’s the place where it started out or maybe it is a reference to, “More than 100 billion stars are grouped in the shape of a giant circular galaxy called the Milky Way.” (1974-World Book ”U”, pg. 153) God had to cover the eternal heaven and His throne, and he had to start somewhere. The Hebrew word for stretch, in Strong’s says, (5186 natah (naw-taw'); a primitive root; to stretch or spread out; by implication, to bend away (emphasis mine) (including moral deflection); used in a great variety of application.”  I don’t know if, “to bend away,” means in any particular shape or any direction or other, but I think it fits into the above scripture and the science further mentioned below.

Isaiah 34:4  And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.

Isaiah 42:5  Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:

Isaiah 51:13 And forgettest the LORD thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth;…?

Isaiah 64:1 Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence,
These two references from Isaiah would tie into Rev 6:14.
I have read these following seven verses of scripture many times over the years and knew they were more important than to be (forgive the expression) spaced off.

Deuteronomy 4:32  For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it?

Deuteronomy 10:14  Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the LORD’S thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is.

Deuteronomy 30:4 If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee:

2 Chronicles 2:6  But who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him?

Nehemiah 1:9 But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.

Matthew 24:31  And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Mark 13:27  And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.

John 14:2  In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

Back when these last three scriptures were written, they must have seemed to be very figurative. As we entered the space age they seem less remote. Now we have people talking about colonizing Mars. Why we skipped the moon, I have no idea, unless it to avoid protests by environmentalists bent on keeping it just as it “evolved.” I’ve got news for them, it was created and I doubt the Creator created it with all those craters. Something happened to it later on, but that’s another story. At any rate, these scriptures seemed to fit into this whole “circuit of heaven” theme, that was taking shape in my mind.

With all this interest in space stations and colonizing out of the way planets, one can now see that these scriptures do not need to be diluted down by removing the references to “the uttermost part of heaven as mentioned in Neh. 1:9,” as does The Good News Bible (Today’s English version), The New Living Translation and the Contemporary English Version as well.
It kind of makes you wonder about all the people missing from the Bermuda Triangle and other such cases. If there is any such thing as UFO’s (as in extraterrestrial) maybe they are agents of God bringing about judgment as mentioned in Neh. 1:9 (above) and they in fact will be returned someday, albeit not at the Devil’s Tower in Wyoming.

Taking all the previous information into account as relates to an open or closed universe, what does it mean when the Bible says that the angels will gather the elect from one end of heaven to the other?

I have to put down some information about relativity. Please bear with me, this is very important. This is what ties the Bible and science together and informs us which theory (closed or open universe) to believe.

World Book “U”: Pg. 153. “Suppose that all the matter that can be seen in the universe were spread out evenly. There would only be about one atom of hydrogen - the most abundant element in the universe - in 10 cubic yards of space. Under these conditions, the universe would be open. That is, it would continue to expand indefinitely, and would approach zero density at an infinite time in the future. If man were still living at that time, he would not be able to see any galaxies beyond those in his local supercluster. All the other galaxies would have receded to an infinite distance. The stars would have exhausted all the energy that makes them shine, and would be dark.

On the other hand, large amounts of matter may exist in space in some form that scientists do not know about. If the spread-out density of matter in space were as much as 100 atoms of hydrogen in 10 cubic yards, the universe would be closed. A light beam sent into space in this kind of universe would return to its sender many billions of years later. At some point in the future, perhaps billions of years, the expansion would stop. The galaxies in the universe would start coming together again, and the matter in the universe would approach infinite density.”

World Book “R”: Pg. 204. “According to some theories, a light ray sent from an arbitrary point in space returns, after a very long time interval, to the point of departure, like a traveler in his journey around our earth. Thus, if you were to start from your home and travel into space along a straight line, you would eventually return to the point from which you started. According to other theories, however, a light ray or traveler would continue an endless journey through space.”

Since (according to Job 38:9) there is a swaddlingband of space between the earth and eternal heaven, the ray of light will not continue its journey through the swaddlingband into eternal heaven-it has to come back to its point of origin.

Does the universe keep expanding until it comes to the place where it started? Or, does it stop and return to its point of origin? If it continues on to where it started, the pattern it would make, might very well look like the man made diagram of the electron circling around the outer part of the atom. In other words, the Atomic Energy symbol except that the lines would wind up at the point of departure - which just happens to be where God created the cosmos.

Bear with me on this next part, because I sound about like Darwin speculating on the origin of the species. The big difference is, he was saying that everything was just “there,” and started to develop, all by itself, whereas I use the premise that God created it and I am just trying to figure out how, using the Bible and what we know about science. Actually the Bible helps clarify which scientific version to believe.

Where did the circuit of heaven start? What does the Circuit of Heaven look like? I believe it started wherever Jesus declared, with that shout of acclamation, attesting to the Greatness of God. The world of science calls it, The Big Bang. The big bang was nothing less than the shout of Jesus. I call it the instant creation of the universe.

Unger’s Bible Dictionary, Pg. 188 - Chaos unformed mass of primeval matter mentioned in Gen 1:2. It comes form the Gr. Chaos (immeasurable space). First Jesus, then chaos (upon His shout of declaration; Gen 1:1) then the creation of the world that was brought about with God’s handy work, preparing the earth for habitation of the world before Adam and Eve. (Gen 1:2.)

I believe the “circuit of heaven” houses the universe. Whether they were made at the same time (of the big bang) or not, I don’t know. Let me illustrate by saying, I imagine it as the creation of the universe (stars, planets, etc.) being blasted outward in all directions from the SHOUT or declaration by Jesus, kind of like Luke 19:40, “And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.” Jesus’ enthusiasm for God had to have a similar thing that prompted this shout. If that could happen, then I have no problem with Jesus creating the universe with a shout, praising God.

I don’t think anyone can explain what the circuit of heaven looks like any more than somebody being able to draw a picture of God or Jesus. It is a dark boundary (tent, curtain or swaddlingband) that was set in outer space that separates us (on earth), and the rest of the universe from the third heaven and God’s throne. However, we have been given certain facts. If the shout was like an explosion, created matter would go in all directions. It would be like seeing fireworks on the 4th of July. There is a bright light; a loud report and streaks of fire go in all directions. Imagine those streaks as lines that keep going. When all of them have traveled, who knows how many billion miles, they return (continue on) to their starting place. To simplify the illustration, lets limit those lines to 360, to correspond to the number of degrees in a circle. This would also better correspond to the Cosmos - the universe thought of as an orderly, harmonious system. Those lines will not be able to pass straight through that curtain. They curve around and return to their starting place. If the universe was “open” they would in fact, go on forever.

To make a diagram of this creative act (thinking in terms of a single dimension drawing), put a dot in the center of a piece of paper. From that dot draw a very light almost imaginary cross - centered on the dot. It will go straight up 1 _ inches from the dot. Then do the same at the bottom and the same thing on each side. Place the point of the compass on the center dot and the pencil on the end of the vertical line and make a very light line connecting the four ends of the cross with a circle. Now place the compass point on the end of the line and the pencil lead on the center dot. Draw a circle on all four ends of the lines. Then start splitting the difference between the two outer points of the circles, putting the compass point on the very light circle line that connected the four points of the cross and the pencil lead on the center dot. Keep doing that until you have one large circle, which will be almost perfectly round. With enough lines drawn, it would be.

The center is the moment of creation. The lines furthest away from the center dot are the outer border of the circuit of heaven and the area contained within the lines is the universe. All the remaining white on the paper represents the eternal or the third heaven. This is where God goes to escape all of our radio and TV clatter. “A far country,” Matt 21:33, so-to-speak.
Please allow me a little poetic license. Beyond The Swaddlingband. It is God’s “far country.” Jer. 9:2 Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! For they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. Christ is the mediator that passes along our prayers and defends us against the accusations of the Devil. Does Christ forgive our sins before they get to God? And insulate God where He sits on His throne in peace and quiet from our day-to-day nonsense?

If the universe is expanding does it mean the Circuit of Heaven is expanding also? Or is the circuit big enough to contain the expansion up to the point and time of the new heavens and the new earth? Of the two, I believe the latter. A black hole could enter the picture here somewhere. Re: Paul Harvey; There is a black hole so big that 21 million stars the size of our sun would fit into it, because gravity is so strong. I don’t know what that means or if it is even true, but it sure is interesting.

Another illustration is that before the instant of creation, God could have started from a spot just below His throne and made lines shoot out of that spot and he bent (definition of the Hebrew word stretcheth, “to bend away”) them so they curved around to a point on the bottom directly opposite from where He started the lines above. It would resemble the vertical lines on a globe of the world.

The end of heaven is a relative term and depends on where you were when you started your trip. Earth has to play a “central” part in this. It would seem that the end of heaven would have to be half way around the circuit that you would follow if you went straight out from your place on earth and came back to where you started. I don’t know that the earth is in the center of the circuit of heaven but it could be. Half way around the circuit, as relates to you, is as far as you can get into the circuit of heaven. What about if we changed our direction from the furthest most distance we could go? It would seem that the circuit of heaven has to be much bigger than the circuit from which we would travel, from wherever on the earth or anywhere else we started our trip. This is a mystery, to say the least.

To further point out this mystery, there is a good Bible question from Stephen J. Lang’s trivia book, (The Whimsical Quizzical Bible Trivia Book, published by Tyndale) page 501. #2, “On what day did God create the sun. Answer: The 4th day (Genesis 1:14-19); interestingly, light was created on the 2nd day before the sun and the moon.” Is the sun just a big reflector, or Prism or what?

I hope this has been of some assistance in understanding the scriptures as related to the circuit of heaven and the gathering from the furthermost parts of heaven and all that it really means.

When the closed universe is proved out, all these scriptures about the Lord making the heavens and the earth will come alive. (Like they should be now) Also in reference to the Big Bang: The fact that the noise from the creation of the universe is still reverberating around the universe is more proof that the universe is closed.

In Unger’s Bible Dictionary, Note, Pg. 584, under the topic of, Jesus Christ, in the discussion of who He really was/is, and speaking of the belief in His resurrection: “The prevailing problem in modern thinking is the difficulty of resurrection fitting into the scientific atmosphere of our day, which assumes that the universe is shut up to the rigid and irrefragable rule of natural law…An adequate view of natural law does not preclude the possibility the of divine intervention in the space-time universe any more than it rules out human exercise of mind over matter.”

Oddly enough, taking off on the words, “the universe is shut up,” (mental) brings me to the point of the open vs. the closed universe (physical). Scientists thinking that they are sitting in an open universe are focused on natural laws. If they were to suddenly realize that the universe is in fact closed, they would soon have to ponder the question of what is beyond that closed universe and how did it get closed? “All the world is a stage,” takes on greater and supernatural meaning.

As long as the “nay saying” critics think they are safe in an open universe they will continue to be critics of what they don’t, and may never understand. They will have no choice but to accept a new (to them) truth, that the universe is closed and it is God dwelling beyond our universe in the third heaven, just like the Bible has said for thousands of years. Science is always going to be playing, “catch up” to the Bible.

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