Tabernacle of David (4) Open Heaven

The associated teaching about an “Open Heaven” is another idea that is not supported by the scriptures.

The Holy Spirit provides the link between us and God. During the Old Testament, his presence on earth was intermittent. Only special people experienced his presence, and even then, he came and went. The Old Testament writers spoke of the heavens being closed as a way of saying that the Holy Spirit was not present with them. They often felt as if God was far away, and this was a good way to describe it. This was true, because Jesus had not come.

Jesus changed everything in the spiritual realms. On the day of Pentecost, he poured the Holy Spirit out on all those who believe and trust in him.

Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear (Acts 2:33).

This event changed everything. The Holy Spirit is with followers of Jesus all the time. He no longer comes and goes as he did in Old Testament times. We should expect him to be with us all the time, and if he is there, we have a direct connection to the Father, because he and the Father are one.

The Holy Spirit only moves away from us if we grieve him by persisting with unrighteous behaviour, but even when we push him away, he keeps on knocking on the door to come back to us (Eph 4:25).

Following Pentecost, we no longer have a closed heaven in the sense used by the Old Testament. Since the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the heavens are open to God’s people all the time, unless they move away. That is why, when the Holy Spirit came down on Jesus at his baptism, John saw the heavens being opened (Matt 3:16). Saying that the heavens were opened was another way of saying that the Holy Spirit had come. The heavens have remained open for believers ever since. When people are baptised into Jesus’ name, the Holy Spirit will come onto them in all his fulness and the heavens are opened to him all the time through his presence.

Because we humans are locked into the physical world, we often have difficulty in discerning the presence of the Holy Spirit. Different personalities discern his presence in different ways. Some people find it easier to discern the presence of the Holy Spirit in a large group of people singing and praising together (other things work for different personalities). If that helps them, that is really good. But they need to understand what is happening.

The worshippers are the ones who have changed and become aware of the Holy Spirit’s presence. The Holy Spirit has not come back, because he has never gone away from his people. The heavens have not opened, because they are always open for God’s people. The spiritual powers of evil have not been pushed away by the praise. The Holy Spirit is always present on earth with his people, so if our awareness of his presence increases, it is because we have changed, not him.

The associated teaching that the evil powers control the second heaven and that they can prevent our prayers from passing through it to reach the father is nonsense (for more on this topic see Third Heaven Intercession. The Holy Spirit is with us and he hears our prayers directly (Romans 8:26-27). The powers of evil cannot prevent him from hearing us.

The spiritual powers of evil cannot separate us from the Holy Spirit. We can always communicate with him, just by thinking and speaking. The evil powers can try to make us take actions that will grieve the Holy Spirit, but they cannot become a barrier that stops us from connecting with the Holy Spirit.