Expert: John Fields - 9/28/2010

Question
Please explain the following statement in Hebrews 1:10-11

v11. They will perish but you remain.  Heaven will perish???


Thank you for your time


Answer
It is so nice to hear from you. In answering this question we must bear in mind the difference between Heaven and "the heavens." The heavens is what we look up at when we see the stars or fly through when going from point A to point B when the distance is much too far to drive. It is the material physical realm that we all behold and know about. It can be experienced through our senses and studied via the scientific method as we learn more about it.

In contrast, Heaven is the supernatural realm that we will not see until God reveals Himself at judgment. Right now Heaven and our "heavens" are separate and distinct places.

This passage is pointing to the last days when the material heavens and earth will be burned up. I'm going to add a verse for clarification to the one you asked about.

Hebrews 1:10 And,"YOU, LORD, IN THE BEGINNING LAID THE FOUNDATION OF THE EARTH, AND THE HEAVENS ARE THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS; 11 THEY WILL PERISH, BUT YOU REMAIN; AND THEY ALL WILL BECOME OLD LIKE A GARMENT,
12 AND LIKE A MANTLE YOU WILL ROLL THEM UP; LIKE A GARMENT THEY WILL ALSO BE CHANGED BUT YOU ARE THE SAME, AND YOUR YEARS WILL NOT COME TO AN END."

Verse 12 helps add context. When our physical realm is burned up it will not be consumed, it will be purified and reborn through the flame. It says they will be changed like a garment. God will remain as He has always been, the same.

2 Peter 3:10-13 (10) But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. 11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! 13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

Revelation 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.

What is indicated is that there will be a realm where God and people who have been judged righteous through God's Son Jesus Christ will live together. The Bible is very clear that we will not be like ghosts. When the trumpet sounds and the Lord comes back those who are saved and alive at that time will be changed to their new form while those who had been saved previously will rise from the dead and have their new bodies that will live eternally. These will be physical bodies changed in ways to make them last for eternity.

Think of it as a re-birth through fire. Just as the world was destroyed and re-born in Noah's time so will our world be destroyed and re-born. But THIS time the earth and heavens that come through the cleansing will not be re-corrupted by sin. Heaven, where God is now and which is now separated from us will also be a part of this realm. God and His creation will have true fellowship and communion with no reference to sin. I hope this helps.