Did the Hebrew Prophets speak of our dying and going to Heaven? No, they did not. They spoke of the Lord sending Christ to bring justice to the nations of the earth, never of people dying and going to Heaven.

When Jesus came, did He speak of our dying and going to Heaven? No, He did not. Jesus taught what the Prophets declared—that the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom that comes from Heaven, is soon to be installed on the earth among men. Jesus taught us to pray God's Kingdom would come, His will would be done in the earth as it is in Heaven. Doing God's will in the earth, as distinct from Adam's disobedience, is the fundamental concept of the Kingdom of God, of the goal of redemption, of the rest of God.

Jesus spoke of God's coming to us and dwelling with us and in us (John 14:23). The traditional "many mansions in Heaven" is based on the King James rendering of a Greek term that means abode (the same term translated "abode," in John 14:23). There is no scriptural or lexical basis for applying John 14:2 to beautiful homes in Heaven. Yet this concept is perpetuated dutifully wherever the Lord's elect assemble.

If the Prophets did not speak of our going to Heaven, and the Lord Jesus did not point us toward Heaven as our goal, what was true of the early Apostles? Didn't they write about our dying and going to Heaven?

No, they did not. The Apostles preached the coming of the Lord, the Day of the Lord, the resurrection from the dead. None of these topics has anything to do with our dying and going to Heaven. There are many passages of the New Testament that stress salvation in the Day of the Lord but none that emphasizes our dying and going to Heaven. One would assume from our traditions that the Scriptures are filled with references to our dying and going to Heaven. In fact, such references are very scarce.

Also, the Book of Revelation speaks of the judgments that are to fall on the earth, climaxing with the coming of the Lord Jesus with His saints to the earth.

The Scriptures end with the Church and the nations of the saved on the new earth, not in Heaven. The Scriptures begin and end with man on the earth.

Now, how about the interval of time between our physical death and the return of the Lord from Heaven?

The Scriptures have little to say concerning what happens to us when we die. The traditional concept of Heaven as a place of beautiful parks is based on the dreams and visions of the godly, not on the Scriptures. This is not to say the dreams and visions are not accurate. Some passages of the Old Testament reveal that we are gathered to be with our people. The New Testament doesn't state even that much.

To be continued.