Is it true that people who have died and gone to heaven can observe what we are doing on earth? Some people believe the first line of the following passage supports this idea:
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2, NKJV).
As usual, we should read the passages before and after in order to gain a context for what is written. Are the passages before and after it talking about or mentioning the deceased looking at us from heaven?
An overview is in order. This epistle seems to be addressing the church’s need to keep on in faith instead of returning to their Judaic roots. Over and over, we see how much better Jesus is over the Old Testament revered figures like angels (chapter 1), Moses (chapter 3), the high priest (chapters 4–5, 7), law and covenant (chapter 7), and animal sacrifices (chapters 9–10). Hebrews encourages the readers to endure in faith, even through suffering. That’s because they have many more blessings through faith in Jesus than anything the Old Testament could give them. As far as I can see, the focus is on the superiority of Jesus, and not on deceased people in heaven.
That’s when chapter 11 comes in (the chapter just before the verse at top), which talks about the many examples of people who had a faith that endured to the end. How did they endure? They diligently sought Him (11:6); they endured, seeing Him who is invisible (11:27); they all died in faith (11:13). There is no mention from chapters 1-11 of people looking down on them from heaven. There is no encouragement to even consider the dead as witnesses down at us from heaven.
So who are these witnesses mentioned in the Hebrews 12:1 verse? According to Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, a witness “denotes one who can or does aver what he has seen or heard or knows.” They are witnesses of enduring faith: “And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise” (11:39).
So Hebrews 12 is about drawing encouragement from the witnesses in chapter 11, those who obtained a good testimony before God because they endured in faith, believing and obeying God. In other words, Hebrews is telling them to draw on the good example of these famous people from the Old Testament:
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us (Hebrews 12:1, NKJV).
Also, “Therefore” is summing up or drawing a conclusion based on what came before. There was no indication of people in heaven looking at us in the previous chapters, so it doesn’t make sense to use that idea as a summary. Why keep telling them about the superiority of Jesus, only to point them to dead people looking down from heaven? The witnesses are those in Hebrews 11 who endured in faith.
Where is heaven located? When Jesus rose into heaven in Acts 1:9, the disciples saw Him go up until a cloud covered Him. So heaven is beyond the clouds. At that altitude, it would be impossible to see people or vehicles. A bit after airplane takeoff and just before landing, we can see vehicles the size of Matchbox cars, and can barely make out people’s faces. In the sky, we can’t really make out people at all. So unless heaven were less than several stories above us, the people there couldn’t make out who we are and what we’re doing. But heaven is beyond the clouds! If they could look out at all (and Scripture doesn’t say they can), all they would see is a universe of stars, and our planet a speck.
If we are convinced that people in heaven are observing us, then how are they doing so? Do wide-screen TVs show someone’s home town through a heavenly satellite reception? Do they have Superman’s super-vision eyesight? Once we start speculating of things the Bible is silent on, then we start getting strange ideas; then there will be people blurring the line between fact and speculation who confidently assert, “There are TVs in heaven!” “Dead people see like Superman!” Silly, I know, but that’s how fact and fiction merge and make religion look ridiculous. And we don’t want that, do we?
Good post Steve. I never conjecture about moot points or things that are very open to interpretation, things exactly like you have mentioned here, because they invariably lead to arguments, sometimes very heated arguments, and they can cause rifts between people who are supposed to be Christians that care for each other. If it involves too much pride and ego, I believe it is far better to simply agree to disagree. Such arguments also cause different denominations but whether one interpretation is right or not usually cannot be proved, however well argued. Scientific theories often go the same way; one group believes. another doesn’t. Sooner or later, we may get to the truth. And Christians should not go about trying to win arguments for the sake of it because that may make us feel good but it tends to make us many enemies.
I’ve seen all kinds of people argue the toss over all kinds of things, and I have learnt that however clever each side may be, either only one is right or often no one is right, but usually people who like to argue to win arguments cannot see that nor often how obtuse and arrogant they may appear to others. I was very very opinionated myself in the past, it was just my bombastic nature but slowly I began to understand that though I and everyone else has a right to an opinion, it doesn’t mean I necessarily have to give everyone else the benefit of it!!! It usually gets people’s backs up in my experience. I now write a blog! Where all opinionated people end up!!! ;~)