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Let us now come from the known to the less known, and the unknown. Let us turn
from ge, "earth", to ouranos, "heaven". The concordance presents us with a list of 283
occurrences. Let us proceed as we did with ge:
"The kingdom of ouranos (plural) is at hand" (Matt. 3: 2).
"Behold the fowls of the ouranos (sing.)" (Matt. 6: 26).
"The ouranos (sing.) is red and lowring" (Matt. 16: 3).
"The stars shall fall from ouranos (sing.)" (Matt. 24: 29).
"The ouranos (sing.) gave rain" (James 5: 12).
"Descending out of ouranos (sing.) from God" (Rev. 21: 1).
Here we find that "stars" and "fowls" and "rain" and the "New Jerusalem" all belong
to ouranos, in the singular, but that the kingdom which the Lord came to establish upon
earth was the kingdom of ouranos, in the plural.
We read in Eph. 4: 10 that the Lord ascended "far above all ouranos" (plural), and
that we have a Master in ouranos (plural) (Eph. 6: 9). It is easy to pour ridicule upon
the attempt to distinguish things that differ, and, as we know less of the heavens than we
do of the earth, the attempt is sometimes sadly successful. But "Bereans" are not daunted
by columns of words, they "search and see" whether the things taught about those words
"are so": they use the concordance as a servant, but do not let it become their master.
Furthermore, what arguments could be invented as to the basic distinction that must be
observed between the heavens (plural) or heaven (singular)! Yet Matt. 3: 16 says
"heavens" (plural) and John 1: 32 says "heaven" (singular).
John 3: 13 says,
concerning the ascension, "The Son of man which is in heaven" (singular), whereas
Heb. 8: 1 says He is in the heavens (plural) and Eph. 6: 10 that He ascended far
above all heavens (plural).
Now, just as, from one point of view, a Jew living at Jerusalem could be described as
living in (en) the ge (in the land), he could also be described as living upon (epi) the ge
(on the surface of the earth) without involving a contradiction. So also, and in a greater
number of ways, can the heavens be spoken of without confusion or contradiction.
We now turn from this polemic to more constructive reading. In Matt. 6: 10 we
must remember that our Lord said, "Thy will be done ON (epi) earth as it is IN (en)
heaven". Again, speaking of the selfsame kingdom, He said, "All authority has been
given to me IN (en) heaven and UPON (epi) earth" (Matt. 28: 18). Epigeios, "earthly
things" occurs seven times in the N.T. In I Cor. 15: 40 it is translated "terrestrial"
and refers to the resurrection body of those whose inheritance will be "on the earth". In
II Cor. 5: 1 the reference is to the present body, before resurrection. Phil. 2: 10
contrasts things on earth with things in the heaven (epouranios), and things subterranean
(kata), and in Phil. 3: 19 the exhortation is to avoid the example of those who "mind
earthly things". James uses the word to contrast heavenly wisdom which cometh from
anothen (James 3: 15).
In Volume XXVII, page 126, we have suggested, in chart form, the relationship that
exists between the teaching of John and Paul's prison ministry, and that while John goes
to the "world", Paul addresses the "saints" who already have "faith in our Lord Jesus".