Heaven’s Library and Museum

Grace Thoughts

Heaven’s Library and Museum

I recently visited a major chain book store with my wife. As is my habit I went to two sections in the store: religion and martial arts. The martial arts section in book stores is almost non-existent these days, so it took only two minutes to see what they had to sell. I then made my way to the ‘religion’ section. It’s a larger section and includes books from many of the world’s major religions – Christianity being one of them.

As I looked through the ‘Christianity’ section, I was struck by the observation that the ‘vast’ majority of the ‘Christian’ books on the shelves were either heretical or frivolous. Unfortunately, even many Christian book stores I’ve visited in past years are filled with frivolous and heretical writings. Christians looking for theologically sound books won’t find many in book stores today. That was not the case when I became a Christian more than 50 years ago.

Looking through the terrible collection of ‘religious’ writings in the book store led me to a thought about what writings will be available for Christians to read in Heaven. I know that God won’t allow anything ‘heretical or frivolous’ in His Home. As I sat in a chair at the book store waiting for my wife to finish shopping, I began to consider what Heaven’s library would include. My mind went to several portions of God’s Word that focused on the importance of ‘writings.’ Here’s what came to mind.

[Podcast version available at the end of this study.]

The Writings

“Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets.” Exodus 32:16

“I watched till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, And the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, Its wheels a burning fire; A fiery stream issued And came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, And the books were opened.” Daniel 7:9-11

“But I will tell you what is noted in the Scripture of Truth.” Daniel 10:21

“Now when I looked, there was a hand stretched out to me; and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. Then He spread it before me; and there was writing on the inside and on the outside, and written on it were lamentations and mourning and woe.” Ezekiel 2:9-10.

“And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” John 21:25

“Bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas when you come—and the books, especially the parchments.” 2 Timothy 4:13

“And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.” Revelation 20:12

The Bible itself is a compilation of many ‘books’ (Scripture – כָּתָב – γραφή – ‘a writing’) that tells a central story focused on the Person of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, and His purpose in coming from Heaven to earth (Luke 24:44-45; 1 John 3:8). Even though we think there are 66 ‘Books’ in the Bible, more than that are mentioned. I’m not referring to the Apocrypha. These books are mentioned within the 66 Books of the Bible. Have you heard of them?

Book of the Covenant – Exodus 24:7
Book of the Wars of the Lord – Numbers 21:14
Book of Jasher – Joshua 10:13
The Manner of the Kingdom – 1 Samuel 10:25
The Annals of King David – 1 Chronicles 27:24
Book of Samuel the Seer – 1 Chronicles 29:29
Book of Nathan the Prophet – 1 Chronicles 29:29
Book of Gad the Seer – 1 Chronicles 29:29
Book of the Acts of Solomon – 1 Kings 11:41
Prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite – 2 Chronicles 9:29
Book of Shemaiah the Prophet
Story, Visions, Sayings, and Genealogies of Iddo the Seer – 2 Chronicles 12:15; 2 Chronicles 13:22
Book of Jehu – 2 Chronicles 20:34
Sayings of the Seers – 2 Chronicles 33:19
Missing Epistle to Corinth – 1 Corinthians 5:9
Possible Missing Epistle to the Ephesians – Ephesians 3:3-4
Possible Missing Epistle from Laodicea to the Colossians – Colossians 4:16
Book of Enoch – Jude 1:14

Some of the ‘writings’ mentioned in the Hebrew Bible may have been included in the larger writings (e.g. King, Chronicles, etc), but we don’t know that for sure. So, where are those writings today? Are they forever lost? I don’t think so. I believe we’ll find them in Heaven’s Library and Museum.

Other ‘writings’ mentioned in the Bible include –

The Book of Life- Daniel 12:1; Philippians 4:3; Revelation 20:12; 22:19
The Book of Judgment – Daniel 7:10; Revelation 20:12
The Book of Remembrance – Malachi 3:16
The Book with Seven Seals – Revelation 5:1
The Book in the Angel’s Hand – Revelation 10:8

What Will We Find In Heaven?

The greatest ‘find’ in Heaven is, of course, the ‘Presence of our God’ –

“And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.” Revelation 21:3

There is no hope greater than living with God as His people forever. He will be with us and be our God! Interestingly, just prior to those words, the Apostle John wrote this –

“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” Revelation 21:1-2

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to John and told him he was going show the apostle ‘the bride, the Lamb’s wife.’ The angel carried John away ‘in the Spirit’ to a great and high mountain. He showed John ‘the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.’ You can read the details of the city in Revelation 21:10-27.

Revelation 22:1-5 continues with a description of ‘a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.’ We also read that there will be ‘no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.’ We learn that the New Jerusalem will have no need of the sun or the moon to shine in it, ‘for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.’

So, where will we find Heaven’s Library and Museum? What we see in this description of Revelation 21 and 22 is that there will be –

a new heaven and a new earth
a new city called the New Jerusalem that will descend out of heaven from God
the New Jerusalem will rest on the new earth or hover above it
the new earth will have ‘nations’
the nations will have ‘kings’
the kings of the earth will bring ‘their glory and honor’ into the New Jerusalem

We see Heaven, the New Jerusalem that descends out of Heaven from God, and we see the new earth that will include nations led by kings. Revelation does not describe the size of the ‘new earth,’ but it exact in describing the size of the New Jerusalem. It will be a massive cube-shaped city –

“The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal. Then he measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.” Revelation 21:16-17

It may be that Heaven’s Library and Museum will remain in Heaven. It may also be that the Library and Museum descend out of Heaven with the New Jerusalem. The ‘city’ will certainly be large enough to hold the Library and Museum. A ‘furlong’ is 0.125 miles. Twelve thousand furlongs equals 1,500 miles. That’s 1,500 miles long, wide, and high (‘length, breadth, and height are equal’). There is even a possibility that the Library and Museum will be located on the ‘new earth,’ which would also be large enough. My personal belief is that the Library and Museum will probably be located either in Heaven or the New Jerusalem.

What’s In The Library and Museum?

I believe we will find all of the ‘original’ Writings of the Bible in Heaven’s Library and Museum. People today wonder why we don’t have originals of biblical books. We have copies, and copies of copies, but not the originals. That has led many people to believe the writings in the Bible were ‘made up.’ They are woefully wrong. I believe God took the ‘original’ writings, those the Holy Spirit inspired the prophets and apostles to write, to keep in His private Library – much in the same way He took and kept the ‘Tree of Life’ (Revelation 2:7; 22:2; 22:14) and the ‘Ark of the Covenant’ (Revelation 11:19) in His private Museum. Those original writings of His Word are precious to Him.

Will we find the lost ‘Garden of Eden’ in Heaven’s Museum? I believe we’ll find aspects of the ‘Garden’ that God wants to use, in addition to our enjoying His creativity –

“And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.” Revelation 22:1-5

I also believe Heaven’s ‘Library and Museum’ will contain the books, songs, and prayers of His people that pleased Him through the ages (e.g. Revelation 5:8; 8:3-4). I also believe we may find many of the ‘unfound’ archaeological proofs of the existence of God, His people, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and other items that will fill up a museum in Heaven.

We know that the people God ‘saved’ from all humanity will be there –

“After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands. and crying out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb! Revelation 7:9-10

“And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, ‘Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.’ And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.” Revelation 19:6-8

“And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.” Revelation 22:3-5

I also believe we may be able to witness some of the great events of biblical history in some type of ‘recorded playback’ or ‘live look’ (depending on how ‘historical time’ works in the new heaven and earth). I believe we may have access to read and/or see the words and deeds of Jesus that are not included in the Gospel accounts. Even as the Apostle John wrote – “And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written” (John 21:25). The Library of Heaven will be able to ‘contain the books that would be written,’ and you and I will most likely have access to those writings.

I also believe that Heaven’s Library and Museum will contain the great music that has been written and sung by God’s people for thousands of years. We already have the songs of King David and other psalmists in the Book of Psalms. We also have some of the songs that Israel sang in the wilderness (e.g Exodus 15; Numbers 21) along with ‘new songs’ we will sing to our God –

“Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.” Revelation 5:8-10

“And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God. They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: ‘Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints! Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, For Your judgments have been manifested.” Revelation 15:2-4

There are many other biblical songs and the music God’s people have written and shared through the centuries. I believe that we will learn and sing those songs that pleased God. Even as the Apostle Paul wrote – “be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:18-20). As God’s people have been truly ‘filled with the Spirit’ through the centuries, they have sung songs that pleased the Lord. Those songs will be part of Heaven’s Library and Museum, and we will join with hundreds of millions of other saints to sing them together in praise to our God.

No Library Cards Necessary

I don’t believe any of God’s people will have to show a library card or museum ticket in Heaven. That’s just one of the many benefits of receiving the ‘gift of eternal life.’ God wants to give us answers to our questions. Some things He will tell us. Other things He may say are in the ‘library or museum’ and invite us to visit and see for ourselves.

I’ve always loved libraries and museums, but Heaven’s Library and Museum will definitely be the best!

[Click here for Podcast version.]

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