Nine Days in Heaven: A True Story (4 page)
I watched spellbound as all these spirits mingled together undergoing these strange experiences for the first time. I wondered if it was all just a dream.
Reading my thoughts, my guide took my hand. “These people have just left their bodies and will now begin a new existence. The change from physical to spiritual existence is very new and strange for them. But you, Marietta, will learn more about all this later. We have to leave this now and go to that shining heavenly place you saw before.” With that she took my arm, and we sped toward the cloud of light.
Having passed through this intermediate zone, she stopped again and touched my eyes. I looked in wonder as new and different scenes opened up before me.
“Look!” she said. “Look at all those planets, the rolling heavens, the suns and systems of suns. See how they move in complete silence and perfect harmony. It is a huge expanse of universes built in infinite wisdom. Happy, holy people live in these—at different stages of development and different degrees of spirituality. These people will never die again.”
Once again she touched my eyes, and immediately above me, around me, and far away I saw spirits of pure light passing us, traveling at the speed of thought.
“These are serving angels,” my guide told me as they passed. “More than anything else they love to go on trips of mercy. They are protectors and messengers to people below them.”
“T
HESE ARE MINISTERING ANGELS
;
THEIR SUPREME DELIGHT IS TO
GO ON ERRANDS OF MERCY
.”
As I was watching them come and go, an angel passed close by, holding in her arms a baby spirit. The baby lay nestled in calm security, obviously well aware of its safety in the arms of its protector. We attracted the angel’s attention and asked where the baby had come from.
“I received it from its mother,” the angel replied. “She was brokenhearted. I am taking it to the infants’ heaven in the Paradise of Peace.”
As the angel passed us, we moved silently in the same direction. I lost sight of the scenes below, and my attention was drawn by the bright light of the heaven that we were approaching.
We stopped on a plain filled with trees laden with fruit. We passed beneath their shady branches, and I heard birds singing.
3
Their beautiful melodies filled me with delight. They were the sweetest songs I had ever heard. I thought we must have been on some planet, so I asked the angel its name.
“This is the outer region of the spiritual paradise,” she told me. “These trees, flowers, and birds are so pure and refined that humans cannot see them. Their eyes are veiled from it all. Their hearing is dulled too, so they cannot hear the sounds. In fact, they don’t even believe such pure and perfect things exist. You can see and hear them because you have left your body and can now experience them through your spiritual senses.
“Remember,” she said, “that this region is only the outer boundary of the home of spirits. These are the lower levels of the homes of those who have been made holy.
4
When redeemed people die, this is the first place they are brought to. Here their guardian protectors teach them the basics of eternal life. They learn about heaven and pure love, which is love not contaminated by sin. They meet old friends here—those who have preceded them and have advanced spiritually to take on higher tasks. Family members can meet them here and talk with them for the first time.
“This is the place where they first learn to sing the song of redeeming grace. They can rest here too and enjoy the pure atmosphere.”
…
MY SPIRIT BURNED TO MEET THE
FRIENDS LONG LOST TO ME ON EARTH
.
It was all so strange, but I was utterly absorbed. I found myself yearning to meet friends I had lost long ago, but the angel said, “You are not allowed to stay here. You have to learn what happens to people after they die. When your earth life finally ends, you will come back and be with your family. Then you will begin your immortal state and be taught how to prepare for higher things.”
With that she picked a rose, held it for me to smell the fragrance, and touched my lips with it. My eyes were opened further, and I saw many, many happy people moving everywhere through the flowery landscapes. I desperately wanted to join them, but my guide moved forward and upward, through forests that became purer and more beautiful with each moment.
As we rose, a thousand questions flooded my mind. I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the place we were leaving, yet the angel had referred to it as only the outer boundary, the region of lower homes. How could anything be more beautiful? Then my mind went back to what I had seen earlier. What of the dark clouds where the other spirits had been taken? What lay behind them? It was overwhelming, unexpected, and yet real. I was filled with a mixture of apprehension, fascination, and anticipation.
Support From
the Word of God
1.
Life on earth is a testing time to determine what is in our heart—good or evil, choose God or reject Him. At the end of earth life, we receive the consequences of our choice. (See John 5:28–29; Hebrews 10:27.)
2.
Revelation 21:4 says, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” The original Creation and the Garden of Eden were perfect—everything was “good.” Sorrow, death, suffering, and pain were consequences of the sin of man. In heaven, perfection is restored once again, and all suffering ends for the believer.
3.
“…
birds singing
.” There were animals and birds in the Garden of Eden:
Now the L
ORD
God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.
—G
ENESIS
2:19–20
We have animals and birds on earth, so we can expect them in heaven. The Book of Revelation describes horses in heaven: “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war” (Rev. 19:11). The expression “living creatures” in Revelation 4:8–9 is from the Greek word
zoon—
usually translated
animals.
Note that the covenant God made with Noah specifically included animals—repeated several times. (See Genesis 9:9–17.) Animals are important in God’s plan.
4.
“…
those who have been made holy.
” There are two aspects to holiness—first, the holiness gained through our own holy actions (see Hebrews 12:14), and second, the holiness God gives to all believers as a
free gift
—the holiness of Christ. The angel refers here to the second:
And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
—H
EBREWS
10:10
It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
—1 C
ORINTHIANS
1:30
W
E MOVED ON UNTIL, IN THE DISTANCE
, I
SAW A DOMED
pavilion of light. “That is the gate to the City of Peace,” my guide told me.
“We are going there now and…” She paused. “You will meet your Redeemer.”
She continued. “It is a beautiful place. Angels live there, and also the people whom God has made holy. They love to play golden harps, lyres, and other stringed instruments. They sing the song of redemption over and over. It is the song of peace and never-ending love.”
As we drew closer, a group of angels even more glorious than the ones I had seen gathered around the gateway to the city. We approached them, and their leader spoke to my guide in a language I could not understand.
1
The gate was made of jasper and diamonds. It opened, and two angelic beings approached me. I was trembling with fear, but they each took me by the hand and led me toward another gate, which led directly to the pavilion of light. I could not speak. The sight of this perfect beauty and holiness was beyond description.
As I tried to take it all in, I was suddenly overcome by my sinful state and rebellious nature. My mind flooded with memories of past sins and doubts. Unable to cope with the sheer glory of everything around me, I fell to the ground. Then the angelic attendants gently picked me up and carried me through the elaborate doorway. They placed me at the feet of the most glorious Being I could ever imagine. A crown of pure light rested on His head, and hair, white as snow, fell upon His shoulders. No words could begin to describe His splendor.
2
