Structure of the Universe and Things Biblical
According to the scriptures, there is a physical/spiritual structure to the universe.
In the previous linked page reference about the " Third Heaven" it is shown that there are three (3) heavens and two (2) different "seas"; one sea upon the face of the earth and the other between the second and third heaven.
The Apostle Paul makes reference to the importance of this knowledge in the book of Ephesians where he wrote:
"That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what [is] the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." (Ephesians 3:17-19 KJV)
Pay close attention to the structure of the grammar. Paul is speaking about two different things in this passage. The first is the structure of things ("the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;") and the second is ("to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge"). The important key word here is the conjunction "And" which separates the two clauses.
In other words, Paul is saying there are two things the believer can and should know: 1) the dimensions and structure of all things, which can be defined: 2) the love of Christ, which is beyond full definition by man. A corollary to the truth of this passage is found in an Old Testament proverb:
"The heaven for height, and the earth for depth, and the heart of kings [is] unsearchable."
(Proverbs 25:3 KJV)
The structure of all things, three (3) heavens, is also likened to the floors of a building, which we call stories. Sure enough, the same word is even used in the KJV Bible.
1. To describe the design of the heavens:
"[It is] he that buildeth his stories in the heaven, and hath founded his troop in the earth; he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD [is] his name."
(Amos 9:6 KJV)
2. This pattern of three (3) levels is also found is some other important things in the Bible. Another example, to describe the design of Noah's Ark:
"A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; [with] lower, second, and third [stories] shalt thou make it."
(Genesis 6:16 KJV)
3. To describe the construction of the Temple:
"The door posts, and the narrow windows, and the galleries round about on their three stories, over against the door, cieled with wood round about, and from the ground up to the windows, and the windows [were] covered;" (Ezekiel 41:16 KJV)
And in the construction of Moses' Tabernacle in the wilderness there were three main parts: 1) The outer court, where the brazen alter of sacrifice was. 2) The Holy Place, where the candlestick, table of shewbread, and golden alter of incense were. And then 3) there was the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the covenant was. And also note, between parts 2 and 3 was a curtain for a partition, which matches the "sea" above the firmament (in type) in the structure of the Three Heavens. It is no coincidence that all these Biblical things have a similar three tier structure. There are spiritual lessons in further study of those things:
Three Heavens
Three levels inside Noah's Ark
Three floors in a section of the Temple
Three sections to Moses' Tabernacle
Concerning the design of the Temple, keep in mind that Moses' tent Tabernacle and Solomon's Temple both had three (3) main parts:
The outer court
The holy place (where the table, lamp and incense alter was, outside the veil)
The Most Holy Place (where the Ark was, behind the veil)
As you can see this theme of structure based on threes is consistent throughout the Bible. For what it is worth, even the structure of the Earth has three (3) main divisions; the core, the mantle, and the crust.
