Understanding Heaven and Human Destiny

Before I get into it, I want to lay the groundwork for the concept so you don’t immediately dismiss it without at least seeing the reasonableness of it. So think…Have you ever known of any government where those in authority exceed (in number) the masses that were being ruled?  How about a government where everybody is ruling and nobody is ruled over. I’m sure you’ll agree both scenarios are ridiculous.

What does this have to do with heaven? Notice what the Bible states about humans going to heaven.  In the last book of the Bible, we read that Jesus: “bought persons for God out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they are to rule as kings over the earth.” (Revelation 5:9,10) (The KJV, DRA and NIV all say they will reign “on” the earth; the AMP says they will rule “over” the earth.)

So these “bought” ones are heaven-bound not to play golf or laying around aimlessly on clouds as pictured by so many. They have a very specific purpose—to act as rulers with Christ over the earth, restoring the earth to God’s original purpose. 

But back to the illustration…. Many are also taught that besides living in bliss in heaven, all deserved mankind will go to heaven. That cannot be because that places everyone as rulers in heaven with no one on earth to be ruled over. How can those in heaven be “kings and priests” if they rule over nobody? Yet the scripture above is quite clear that they will rule over the earth.

Indeed, the more sensible concept is that they rule over a large multitude of people on earth. This is mentioned pictorially in Revelation chapter 21, wherein “New Jerusalem,” the heavenly administration, is seen “coming down out of heaven” and the resulting benefits will be a cleansed earth, ecologically, morally and spiritually speaking. So while a small number become rulers, the vast majority of mankind will benefit from that rulership right here on earth.

But some have taken Jehovah’s Witnesses to task about their belief in the literal number of 144,000 being invited to heaven. Ok, so you can’t accept that now. But can you accept that whatever the number is, it has to be a smaller number than those being ruled over? Just as we already covered, it makes sense that the number of rulers would be less than those on earth who are being ruled over.

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