Is Anyone Going To Heaven?

What Jehovah’s Witnesses Believe

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that people in general have the hope of living on a future paradise earth, similar to the Paradise where Adam and Eve lived. They believe that in the future, the original paradise in the garden of Eden will be extended to the entire earth. However, Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that 144,000 people are anointed as kings to rule with Jesus in heaven. This doctrine is based on Revelation 14:1,3, which states that John in a vision saw the Lamb (Messiah) standing on Mount Zion with 144,000 who had “sung … before the throne and before the four living creatures and the ancients, and no one could learn this song except the 144,000 who have been bought from the earth.” Verse 4 says that these “keep following the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been bought from man as first fruits to God and to the Lamb.”

What the Bible Says: Is Anyone Going To Heaven?

The Bible does not say that people will go to heaven. However, the Bible teaches that Jesus will return to earth and rule over the earth for 1000 years (Acts 1:11; Rev. 5:10; 20:6). Those who will rule with Jesus will do so on earth (Zechariah 14:4).

The fact that 144,000 people from the earth are “bought from the earth” and “from among men” refers to the fact that they are sanctified and anointed (Rev. 14:3,4). See the chapter Who is 144,000? This means that they are a selection of people who are given special tasks, not that they are physically taken away from the earth. Humans are meant to live on earth and not in heaven (Psalm 115:16). The Bible says bluntly that angels will not rule over mankind (Hebrews 2:5).

The fact that God chose a physical nation of Israel in the past is no coincidence. The prophecies about the 1000-year kingdom show that Jesus will follow a similar pattern when he establishes a physical capital on earth during the 1000-year kingdom. The capital of the 1000-year kingdom has the same name as the capital of historic Israel.

According to Luke 22:29,30, the 12 apostles, whom Jesus chose, will rule over all the 12 tribes of Israel, cf. Rev. 21:14.

Zechariah 14:4 prophesies that the Messiah will “stand on the Mount of Olives, which is east of Jerusalem.” Psalm 2:6 says that the King Jesus is installed “in Zion, my holy mountain.” This means that he will rule from a physical place on earth that has the same name as the original Mount Zion in Jerusalem. This prophecy is also confirmed by Isaiah 2:3, which says that “law will go out of Zion, and the word of Jehovah out of Jerusalem,” cf. Micah 4:1,2. The fact that Isaiah 2:2 says that “the nations will flock to the mountain precludes this future city from being in heaven. The nations cannot flock to a mountain in the invisible spirit world.

The physical city on earth, from which the saints will rule during the 1000-year kingdom, is the same physical city that Gog of Magog (King of the North) attacks after the 1000 years have ended. Revelation 20:9 says that Gog and Magog “advanced into all the earth and encircled the camp of the holy ones and the beloved city,” that is, the city from which the holy ones rule. This is consistent with the prophecies recorded at Psalm 87:2, which says that Jehovah “loves the gates of Zion,” the “city of true God,” and Daniel 9:24 defines Jerusalem as “your holy city.”

What about the promotion?

Some claim that 1 Thessalonians 4:16,17 provides a Scriptural basis for claiming that someone travels to heaven. It says:

16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a commanding cry, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead who were united to Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are still alive will be caught away in clouds with them to  meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.

This scripture is not about going to heaven, as many believe. The scripture is about the time that Jesus returns to earth.

This Bible text does not say that people should move to live in heaven, but that they were “caught away in clouds” where the purpose was “to meet the Lord in the air.” It’s like you’re running off to meet a friend who is approaching your house. The fact that you go to meet him outside your house when he arrives does not mean that you run all the way to his house. It would be completely meaningless because the friend is not at home just as Jesus at this time is on his way to earth and not home in heaven. In the same way, meeting Jesus in the clouds as he is about to arrive on earth does not mean that those who are moving up continue on to heaven where Jesus lived. It is only those who are “still alive” when Jesus comes who are caught up in the clouds. Note the words “clouds” and “air,” both of which refer to the physical heavens we see above the earth. This is in harmony with the fact that people from the earth should be able to see Jesus’ return with their physical eyes, and they must even lean their heads back so that they can “look up” at Jesus (Acts 1:11). Those who move up to meet Jesus will be within the reach of mankind as they stand on earth and look up.

The rapture supports the rest of the Bible’s text, which confirms that Jesus will return to earth and rule over the earth.

What about “citizenship in heaven?”

At Philippians 3:14, the apostle Paul says that “I press forward toward the goal in order to obtain the prize to which God has called us in heaven through Christ Jesus.” Furthermore, Philippians 3:20,21 says,

But we have our citizenship in heaven, and from there we eagerly await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.21 He will transform our insignificant body so that it becomes like the body He has in His glory. He will do this by his great power, which enables him to  subdue all things.

Having citizenship in heaven does not make people more spirit persons, than a purchased Roman citizenship in Paul’s time could make a Jew a native Roman just because he got Roman citizenship. Obtaining citizenship in this way refers to the acquisition of rights and duties related to a kingdom. Citizenship says nothing about where you are, only which kingdom you are subject to.

To have one’s body transformed like the body Jesus receives after the resurrection does not mean that they become spirit persons in heaven, but that they become immortal and glorified like Jesus (cf. Rev. 20:4,6). These bodies enable them to “subdue all things” as persons with special power over the earth like that of Jesus. Their bodies are not like the bodies of the rest of the Millennial population, who are still sinful and mortal (see book chapter 7 for further explanation).

What about the inheritance that is “hidden up in heaven from you”?

In 1 Peter 1:4 it says, “… so that we may have an imperishable heritage that is pure and never withers away. It is hidden in heaven from you, …” If you look at this verse in isolation, you may get the impression that someone is going to heaven. However, this text does not speak of a specific place for humans to reside, but speaks of an inheritance hidden in heaven. This inheritance is explained in verse 4 to be “a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, …”. Verse 5 makes it clear that this hope will be revealed only “in the last period of time.” Although the inheritance is kept in heaven until it is revealed to those who will have hope, the Bible does not say where this inheritance will be used. Until it is revealed and put to use, it is safely kept in heaven with Jehovah God.

What about the voice from heaven?

Revelation 19:1 says: “After this I heard what was like a loud voice of a great crowd in heaven.” The Bible does not directly say who this great crowd is, but the introduction to verse 1 helps us to see that this great crowd is referring to angels and not men. The verse begins: “After this I heard …” This means that we should look to the preceding chapter 18 of Revelation to understand the events leading up to 19:1 so that we can better understand who this great crowd is. Rev. 18:2 says that an angel with authority “cries aloud” cf. verse 1. Rev. 18:4 says “another voice from heaven.” It does not specifically say that this is an angel, so it could be either an angel or Jehovah himself. Verse 21 speaks of an angel lifting up a millstone to illustrate how Babylon the Great will be cast down. None of the events in the preceding verses are about humans, but only about angels or Jehovah himself. It is therefore obvious that the great crowd who praise Jehovah at 19:1 are also angels.

What about the buildings and rooms that are being renovated?

In 2 Corinthians 5:1,2, it says:

For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, should be torn down, we shall receive a building from God, an eternal house not built by human hands, in heaven.2 While we are in this earthly house, we sigh and long eagerly to put on our heavenly dwelling place.

In the preceding verses, Paul speaks of our outward body being worn away but still being renewed every day (2 Corinthians 4:16). Paul then speaks in verse 18 about focusing on what we do not see rather than being focused on the things we see around us and our bodies. Hence, the tent and the “earthly house” of which Paul here speaks refer to the body being torn down. We humans live in our bodies and therefore our bodies are like a tent and a house to us (2 Corinthians 5:6). The fact that our new bodies are constructed in heaven (cf. the wording of 2 Corinthians 5:1 “not with human hands”) for the purpose of freeing us from sin, sickness, and death does not mean that our new bodies in Paradise make us spirit persons. We can compare it to a car that is designed in the United States, but is produced in China. In other words, our physical body is designed in heaven, but is produced and used on earth. It cannot refer to a heavenly or spiritual body, for verse 10 says that each one will “receive his reward according to what he has done in his human body, …”.

The judgment does not take place until after the thousand years have ended. This means that those mentioned in this Bible text keep their human bodies right up to the judgment after the 1000-year kingdom.

Something similar is written in John 14:2-4:

In my father's house there are many dwellings. If it were not so, I would have told you, for I am going to prepare a place for you.3 And when I have gone and prepared a place for you, I will come back and take you to my house, that you may be where I am.4 And where I am going,  do you know the way.

Here we talk about the time after Jesus has returned to earth. The Bible does not say that Jesus will return to heaven after he has returned to earth. On the contrary, the Bible says that a holy city is established on earth where the Messiah has his throne. The house with many dwellings is in this case on earth because Jesus takes them home to him after he has “returned” to earth. Jesus is referring to the dwellings he will prepare for the apostles who will rule with Jesus from the capital of the earth during the 1000-year kingdom.

What about “spiritual death“

Jehovah’s Witnesses dismiss that Revelation 20:5 speaks of a physical resurrection. They believe that this text must be understood metaphorically as “spiritual death.” There is no Biblical basis for such an interpretation. The concept of “spiritual death” as a human condition is not mentioned in the Bible and has arisen as a misinterpretation of the Bible.

True, the word “death” in the Bible is sometimes used with different meanings. Yet Revelation 20:5 and John 5:28,29 are not examples of figurative language. These scriptures clearly describe a physical resurrection of people who have been really dead. This is in harmony with how the Bible itself defines death, as we see at Ecclesiastes 9:5 where it says that “the dead know nothing” and Psalm 146:4 “the day he dies his thoughts perish.” Such verses show that death is not a spiritual state of death in which one still has consciousness, but a complete cessation of life and thought.

Therefore, it becomes problematic to interpret “the dead came to life” at Revelation 20:5 or “the dead will hear his voice” at John 5:28-29 as symbolic. Turning these promises into images or metaphors weakens the clear and repeated message of the Bible about an actual, physical resurrection of dead people. Such an interpretation also blurs the distinction between the first and second resurrections.

In the case of Ephesians 2:1, it is clear that Paul is not talking about immediate physical death. Yet what he describes is still about physical death—as an inevitable consequence of Adam’s sin. This becomes clearer in verse 3, where Paul makes it clear that people deserve to die because of original sin. Paul’s point is that this death can be avoided by the resurrection, thanks to God’s mercy. The context is not about a symbolic death, but about the certain, future death that all people are heading towards if they are not raised to life through Christ. When God “makes us alive with Christ,” it is not meant figuratively but as a promise of a concrete, future resurrection.

The same is true of Luke 9:60, where Jesus says: “Let the dead bury their dead.” We have no information about the spiritual condition of the person(s) who is burying. There is therefore no Scriptural basis for saying that these were “spiritually dead.” What Jesus is referring to is that they are mortal humans under Adam’s mortal sin. All who bury others are mortals themselves and will follow the same cycle of life as those they bury —as a result of Adam’s sin, as also shown at Romans 5:12. There is no reason to introduce an alternative, symbolic definition of death in this context that the Bible itself has not introduced. If we allow the Bible itself to define death as it consistently does – as an unconscious and inactive state – the verse makes complete sense. If we begin to interpret resurrection texts such as Revelation 20:5 or John 5:28-29 symbolically, are we not moving in the same direction as those who denied the resurrection? The Sadducees did so (Matthew 22:23), some believers in Corinth did (1 Corinthians 15:12), as well as the false teachers Hymenaeus and Philetus (2 Corinthians 15:12). —2 Timothy 2:17–18). All of these groups and individuals in various ways rejected or distorted the biblical hope of a real, physical resurrection from the dead.