What Are The Three Heavens?

What Are The Three Heavens?

According to Paul, there seems to be more than one Heaven. "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," (2 Corinthians 12:2 KJV). We see this concept in other places such as the book of Genesis where it says: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth," (Genesis 1:1 KJV). The Hebrew word used for "Heaven" here is likely meant to be read as plural "הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם", and most translations render it as this such as the NASB, NIV, NET, NKJV, and NRSVCE. 

According to Moses, "Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord's thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is," (Deuteronomy 10:14 KJV). It would seem that is the highest Heaven, God lives there. This idea is repeated in a Psalm, "The Lord looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men. From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth," (Psalm 33:13-14 KJV).

We too see again in a Psalm: "When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained," (Psalm 8:3 KJV). It seems that the moon and the stars or space are also a Heaven.

Finally, we see once again in Genesis that it can refer to the sky. "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air(or Heaven), and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth," (Genesis 1:26 KJV). Here, we see that the fowl or birds fly in the air(or Heaven). 

Based on these findings, it would seem that the three Heavens are air, space, and Heaven or the home of God.