There is only one heaven, in the sense of which you are speaking and which most mean when speaking of "going to heaven" when one dies.
Heaven is juxtaposed, not postponed. There is a similarity to the concept of a postponed heaven, in that there is a limit to transmigration, which limit occurs after one translates. Post-translation existence is not eternally secure, however, but one may thereafter maintain their upper room position by abiding according to rule. Concerning the juxtaposition of the lower spiritual heavens;
Eph 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
Eph 2:5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
Eph 2:6 and raised
us up together, and made
us sit together in the heavenly
places in Christ Jesus,
Eph 2:7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
This passage is rather hard to misinterpret, as it begins with “when we were dead in trespasses”, and proceeds to “raised
us up together, and made
us sit together in the heavenly
places”. Not only does heavenly juxtaposition become apparent hereby, but so also the general concurrent resurrection becomes apparent.
Multiple biblical heavens are a generally acknowledged fact, which at the least, are in Genesis given as being composed of the face of heaven which is the atmosphere, the outer-space firmament heaven, and the spiritual waters above the firmament heaven. I refer to these three as the tertiary heavens. The face of heaven is defined by the birds which fly in it, and the firmament heaven is defined by the lights of the moon and sun which were placed in it (and apparently by the fixed and wandering stars, as well). The waters below the firmament were defined by their gathering into the sea. The waters above the firmament are not immediately defined in Genesis. Later in scripture, however, we find evidence that the “waters which
were above the firmament” Gen1:7 is the first indication of a spiritual heaven. What is above outer-space? Only a spiritual heaven can be above outer-space, for “above the firmament” is understood metaphorically.
Waters above the firmament:
Living water; John4:10 / John4:11 / John7:38
Living waters; Song4:15 / Jer2:13 / Jer17:13 / Zec14:8
Water of life; Rev21:6 / Rev22:1 / Rev22:17
So, the question now becomes, is the spiritual heaven divided into multiple heavens? Is it a heaven of heavens?
Neh_9:6 You alone
are the LORD; You have made heaven, The heaven of heavens, with all their host, The earth and everything on it, The seas and all that is in them, And You preserve them all. The host of heaven worships You.
Nehemiah was the Persian governor of Judea who went to rebuild Jerusalem, following Ezra who began the work some years earlier. Here Nehemiah wrote of a heaven which is a heaven of heavens, which is inhabited by a host of worshipers. The host of heaven is understood as being either a hierarchy of spirits, or as the visible celestial bodies, which are the lights of the sun and moon along with the fixed stars (constellations) and wandering stars (planets).
The belief in seven spiritual heavens was a well established belief in Judaism even before Nehemiah, which belief was also held by Solomon, who’s wisdom was stated in the Bible as being greater than any man’s. Solomon said;
2Ch_6:18 "But will God indeed dwell with men on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!
Before Solomon, the belief in seven heavens was also compatible with the tradition of Jacob’s ladder.
The temple menorah, the seven branched Jewish candle-stick, was given of God in the Old Testament, and was reflective of the belief in seven heavens. The sun, moon, and five classical (visible) planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter) were likely understood as being for signs in the firmament that there were seven heavens.
Gen 1:14 Then God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years;
Indeed, the visible host of heaven was understood to be the habitation of the spiritual host of heaven. The seven wandering stars would be the signs of seven heavens which are inhabited by seven spirits, or seven divisions of the hierarchy of the persons of the Holy Spirit. This belief has been carried through to our New Testament belief in the seven Spirits of God. Rev1:4 / Rev3:1 / Rev4:5 / Rev5:6
Indeed, we who spiritually ascend are promised a heavenly habitation.
Joh14:2 / Exo32:13 / Dan8:10 / Deu4:9
The number of spiritual heavens has actually increased in the New Testament from 7 to 12, rather than decreasing to only one spiritual heaven. The New Jerusalem is the city four-square which has 12 foundations, which are 12 heavens. Again, the New Jerusalem is not postponed, but rather juxtaposed. The signs in the stars of heaven are the 12 constellations, which represent the 12 heavens, that are the 12 foundations of the New Jerusalem.
This expanding knowledge of the heavens is consistent with the ancient idea of the four winds (Spirits) from the four corners (pillars) of the earth, which expanded to the seven Spirits of God which correspond to the cross and six legs of the Pauline plane, xzy (later known as the Cartesian plane, xyz).
Eph 3:17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
Eph 3:18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what
is the width [x] and length [z] and depth and height [y]—
Eph 3:19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge [cross]; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
So, we went from an understanding of 4 heavens to 7 heavens to 12 heavens. This corresponds to the 4 dimensions (corner pillars) with which we map the Earth from the heaven of the atmosphere, to the 7 dimensions (axial pillars) with which we map the stars from the heaven of outer-space, and then to the 12 dimensions (string pillars) with which we map the heavens of the underlying structure of the space-time continuum using string theory; 10 dimensions, time, and the Power. String carvings are something which requires some practice in the spirit realm (after one’s spirit body is concurrently resurrected), like practicing cursive lettering.
It’s relevant to note that there are five pillars of Islam, six pillars of Judaism, and seven pillars of Christianity.
1) Gen28:18 / 2) Gen31:45 / 3) Gen35:14 / 4) Gen35:20 / 5) 1King7:21 / 6) 1King7:21 / 7) Mat27:32
So, as deism is the idea of a remote Creator, I’ll say that daism is the idea of a personal Creator who has given multiple 1,000 year Days within which an abiding body’s soul/spirit is given to ascend through multiple heavens; a Day, at most, per heaven. Hence, the heavenly Days of daism.
Be blessed, be well.
