Nehemiah when rebuilding Jerusalem requested timber from the FOREST (paradec) of Artaxerxes. The New Jerusalem will be built from materials originating from the Paradise of God. Ecc. 2:5 Solomon built all kinds of ORCHARDS (paradec). Christians are to be fruitful in many ways. Christ and His church will be fruitful. SOS. 4:13 ORCHARD (paradec) of pomegranates. A replica of the pomegranate was worn on the bottom edge of the garment of the high priest. Ex. 28:33 The pomegranate is a type of the Holy Spirit because of its multiplicity of seeds. The fine linen, the righteousness of God. Twined, the unity of the Triunity of God. The blue the color of the Spirit. Purple, the color of royalty. Scarlet, the color of Calvary, the blood. There is no O.T. record of the location of the paradise of God being
anywhere but in Heaven.
THE PROMISE TO THE THIEF ON THE CROSS. Today you will be with me in paradise {a place of happiness, a park, the Eden of God}. A repentant thief about to be received into the eternal, wonderful and glorious presence of the Lord. Lk. 23:46 Remember also, that Jesus said to His Father; into thy hands I commend {to deposit, or commit} my Spirit. The hands of the Father would most assuredly be in heaven. It is hard to conceive of them being anywhere else. Lk. 23:46
THE APOSTLE PAUL CAUGHT UP INTO PARADISE. The key word here being UP. 2 Cor. 12:4 The only direction relating to paradise or heaven found in the Scriptures is UP. There is no record of paradise ever having been a compartment next door to hell. That thought originates from myths, and a so called place of cleansing called purgatory and a religion that presents a very sensuous paradise. There is no real Bible bases for such a teaching. The revelation of the Lord was presented to Paul where he heard things that cannot be expressed, but will be revealed in the workings of the Lord in His church. While it could be claimed that these are N.T.statements and the transportation of paradise from down to up was after the Crucifixion. The following scriptures place paradise, heaven, Gods presence or the place of the departed spirits of the just, as up. Solomon in all his wisdom declared that the spirit of man rises upward while the spirit of an animal goes down into the earth. Eccl. 3:21 Enoch, was translated because he pleased the Lord. Heb. 11:5 Elijah, that great prophet of God was taken UP by the whirlwind. 2 Ki. 2:11 In the case of the angel who visited Manoah and his wife. When the offering was burned by the fire the angel stepped into the fire and ascended with the fire, toward heaven.Judges 13:20 We have a multiplicity of witness and testimony that the direction of the presence of the Lord was up. So, in the O.T. the direction the righteous took was UP
THE TREE OF LIFE. This is the very nucleus of Paradise and all that can be found pertaining to Spiritual life. Rev. 2:7 Jesus is the tree of life. The tree of life is in the midst of the paradise of God. It is in the midst of the street or the square of the city. The New Jerusalem, the Bride of Christ is the paradise of the Lord, eternally.Amen.:END”