CHAPTER 6
THE MAJOR LOCATIONS THROUGHOUT TIME
Let us now turn to time's twin, location. There are multiple locations which will exist over the course of time. We generally think of the primary ones which are the universe and heaven, but there are several others. Additionally, neither the current universe nor heaven will remain in their current status over time, so they need to be discussed in detail, both what has changed so far and how they will change in the future. And there are other locations which are not generally thought of, although the Bible discusses them. For instance, did you know that believers will not spend all eternity in the existing heaven? I didn't think so. But you will soon understand this issue and much more.
There could be several ways to divide locations, however the ones which can be most easily separated into distinct entities throughout the course of time are as follows, in order of their creation:
The original universe without the earth
Heaven (simultaneous creation)
Earth (original version prepared and created for angels)
The Lake of Fire (created after the fall of Satan)
The renovated universe and earth (prepared for humans)
Hades (several compartments: two for humans, two for fallen angels)
The future eternal universe, including the new earth and New Jerusalem
We have discussed how locations are created by God for souled creatures, not for Himself. God's plan for souled beings changes over time, not because God changes His mind, but because God wants to prove different issues at different points in time. Therefore the locations He provides for His souled creatures must also change over time. The original universe and heaven were created for the angels, but when God wanted to create man, the universe needed to be renovated to suit this new souled creature with a lesser body than angels. For one thing, the dinosaurs needed to go away since they were too dangerous for man.
Therefore, as souled creatures went from harmony with God to a fallen status, some of the locations were changed, and new ones were added. As seen from the above list there were originally only two locations, and over the course of time there will have been a total of seven major ones. After human history is complete there will only be three locations which will continue as time goes on forever into eternity. So we see that locations are not static, and God makes changes to them over the course of time, including additions, deletions, and renovations.
Regarding location, there could not be any location without time. These twins of time and location were created by God, with one complimenting the other to enable souled creatures to interact with Him. With God all parts of time are compressed into the present, and so also God is in all locations at once, all at the same time, which we call omnipresence, since He exists outside of location but can insert Himself into any and all as He desires. We will see that God withholds His presence from certain locations, including Hell and the Lake of Fire, although He still sees into them. God is not limited to a single specific location because as the creator of location He cannot be subject to or limited by it. If God were subject to location He would not be the God described in the Bible, and that is an absurdity. This is why there was no universe or heaven or any location until souled creatures needed such places in which to locate and relate to God. As the “I Am” His pure eternal existence is outside of both time and location, but He places Himself in all parts of both for the benefit of His souled creatures. God's chosen name “Existence” declares He is above all and outside of all. But as our Heavenly Father He inserts Himself into both time and location to benefit His believers.
With this overview of the major locations during time in mind, we will now proceed to delve into the details of each of those major locations. We begin with the original universe.