RENDING THE HEAVENS
(week 28/01)
Olubi Johnson
In Isaiah 64:1 the prophet asks God to rend or you could say, open the heavens but God responds by revealing that it is Israel’s disobedience that has, as it were, closed the heavens and it is only genuine repentance and an effectual life of prayer and obedience that rend or open the heavens:
Isaiah 64:1 (KJV): Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence,
Isaiah 65:2 (KJV): I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts;
We see this in the life of Jesus: that it was His prayers and a life of pleasing the Father in obedience that caused the heavens to be opened to Him:
Luke 3:21-22 (KJV): Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.
Matthew 3:16-17 (KJV): And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
How then are we to rend or open the heavens? To do this we must understand that there are 3 levels of heavens.
The three heavens
The scriptures reveal to us that there are 3 heavens:
2 Corinthians 12:2 (KJV): I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.
The first heavens are the physical stellar heavens where we have the moon, planets and the stars:
Psalms 19:1 (KJV): The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
The second heavens are spiritual heavens occupied by Satan and evil spirits:
Ephesians 6:12 (NIV): For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
The third heavens are where God resides and from where we are to positionally reign with Jesus Christ from:
Revelation 4:2 (KJV): And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.
Ephesians 2:6 (KJV): And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
This third heaven is positionally higher than the second heavens and it is from where we should be reigning positionally in Christ Jesus, even though we are still physically on the earth:
Ephesians 1:20-21 (KJV): Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
John 3:13 (KJV): And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
Here we see that Jesus, though He was physically on the earth, operated from His spiritual position of authority in the third heavens.
We are now to do the same thing as Jesus said we would do the same things He did and even greater (John 14:12).
How to rend or open the heavens
We rend or open the heavens daily by effectual, fervent prayer in spirit, followed by proclamations of the Word of God that the angels will now hearken to and execute.
We see an example of this in the life of Daniel:
Psalms 103:20 (KJV): Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.
Daniel 9:21 (KJV): Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.
Here we see the angel Gabriel being caused to fly swiftly in response to the prayers of Daniel.
Furthermore in Daniel 10 we see Daniel’s effectual, fervent prayer with fasting, rending or opening the heavens so that angels of God could overcome the evil spirits: the prince of Persia, in the second heavens and bring the answer to Daniel’s prayer:
Daniel 10:2-3 (KJV): In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks. I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.
Daniel 10:12-13 (KJV): Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.
So we rend or open the heavens by daily effectual, fervent prayer and proclamation or confession of the Word of God with a background of regular fasting (e.g. 1 day a week: Isaiah 58: 6, 13-14). You can see our article on keys of the Kingdom for more details.
Also it is important to know that to live under an open heaven, so to speak, in addition to daily effectual, fervent, prayer with regular fasting as described above, you need to give your tithes and offerings promptly, completely and regularly:
Malachi 3:10 (KJV):
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
Here we see that faithfulness in giving of tithes will cause the heavens to be open.
