While we have looked at what exactly heaven is we have not found a direct answer to this question, does the Bible say if loyal human souls/consciousness go to heaven when they die?
The Bible mainly says that all humans go to “hell” upon death, not heaven
As covered in the last article, the only really known place humans go to after death is “Sheol-Hell” or better yet “the physical grave” it says this many times referring to the place after death. But what about the soul of a human? Does that go to heaven? While the Bible mainly seems to be silent about that, Jesus (God Almighty in the flesh) says a profound statement about humans going the third heaven to the Pharisee Nicodemus. A saying and many people/Christians often ignore today:
John 3:13
“No one (humans that is) has ever gone into heaven (the third heaven that is), except the one who came from Heaven-the son of man (talking about himself: Jesus Christ).”
While talking about the third Heaven to Nicodemus:
John 3:12
“I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? “
Jesus tells him he is the only human that truly knows what the third heaven is like because he is the only one who has been there: by saying this, he is basically saying there are no humans who have ever gone to the third heaven!
How can this be? Don’t loyal/good humans go to heaven when they die? According to this (the very words of Jesus Christ, not taken out of their context, and are absolutely referring to the third heaven) very directly tells us: Humans don’t.
Another reference to this:
Jesus also says an interesting statement seeming to pertain to this subject to the Jews listening to him:
John 8:21-23
“Once more Jesus said to them, ‘I am going away,…Where I go, you cannot come.’ This made the Jews ask: ‘Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?’ But he continued, ‘You are from below (from the Earth); I am from above (not from the Earth: from Heaven). You are of this world (worldly/sinful); I am not of this world (Godly/holy).’”
So where was he going where these Jews Could not go? Could he be referring to the third heaven where he was eventually going to be taken?
He confirms this is exactly what he meant, speaking about the same subject later to his disciples right BEFORE he leaves earth!
John 13:33
“My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.”
The beginning of John 13 confirms this is what Jesus had in mind: He knew since he was from God (from the third heaven) that the time was close for him to return back to God in the third heaven!
John 13:1-3
“It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world (Planet Earth) and go to the Father(God in the third heaven) …Jesus knew that…he had come from God and was returning to God;…”
So, Jesus in these statements is pretty clear concerning humans going to the third heaven to be with him (as well as God and the loyal angles): They don’t, in fact they CANNOT COME!
Then, where are loyal human souls if not in heaven? Don’t the saints: the people in both the Old Testament and New Testament, who followed God and obeyed his commands and laws, go to heaven when they die?
Peter only has this to say about the dead loyal humans of God: speaking specifically about where King David was. By the way, King David is considered one of most top righteous/loyal humans to ever follow God. Because God describes him as "a man after his own heart" (that means, wanting/desiring God's desires and will):
"...the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart..."
A Human being described this way by God would definitely be expected to go to heaven after his death: Since King David had long been dead by the time Peter was speaking all this, we would expect Peter to mention here that King David (or at least his soul) was now in Heaven with God and his angels praising him and enjoying paradise there, but this is not what Peter says about where King David is at this present time here:
Acts 2:29
“Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch [king] David, that he is both dead and buried,…”
The only thing Peter has to say about King David at this time is King David is dead and buried in a grave (He is in Sheol-Hell: that is, his physical grave: there is absolutely No mention of King David's soul in Heaven enjoying paradise) Then Peter goes on to say the exact opposite of what any Christian/Human would expect him to say: He also says, unlike Jesus at this time, King David has NOT gone to the third heaven!
Acts 2:34
“For David (himself, compared to Jesus) is not ascended into the heavens (gone through the first two to get to the third)...”
So, it seems in the New Testament, the Bible becomes clear concerning Humans going to the third heaven after death: They don’t! This greatly contradicts the common conception of loyal/good human souls going to this third heaven after death, but the truth seems to be that they don’t.
In conclusion, the Bible (by looking closely at the definition of Heaven and then looking at everything the entire Bible has to say about heaven) Heaven is not necessarily just referring to God’s home up in the sky but is refereeing to anything upward from the surface of the earth. This heaven is divided into three major “layers”: The Earth’s atmosphere, then the rest of the physical universe beyond that atmosphere, then finally (most likely) a whole other universe/dimension where God actually is. So therefore, the common perception of God living up in the clouds (the first heaven) or even on another planet (the second heaven) is wrong: The Bible strongly hints that God lives in an entirely different universe/dimension. However, there is a major problem with Heaven also being an afterlife: Human souls do not go to this third heaven as commonly believed by many Christians: Because Jesus himself says no human has ever set foot in the third heaven and could not go anyway (along with Peter confirming this). So, if this is true, then why do some verses in the Bible seem to say that Humans have gone to heaven? So, which is it: do humans go to heaven upon death or not?