Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

I would say that, by the imagery cited in the question, Jesus was wanting to address any uncertainty on the part of the apostles -- and, by extension, of all believers down to the present day -- in terms that they would understand, of the eternal state of those who are redeemed through their faith in Him.

They will not be existing in some nebulous, incomprehensible environment, but -- just as they have defined dwellings during their earthly lives -- they will have similar habitations in God's presence and in the structure of the everlasting kingdom under His rule. 

The existence of such abodes (whatever their full nature may be) implies a sense of permanence and stability that -- unlike in this life and world -- cannot be lost, shaken, or taken away, meaning that those occupying them will never have to fear or deal with those contingencies, or with any adverse effect that they might have upon their eternal peace.

April 12 2021 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Chris Eleam Chris Eleam

The Hebrew expression behth ʼav (plural, behth ʼa·vohthʹ) could refer (1) to a dwelling place (De 22:21); (2) to the household of one’s father at his place of dwelling (Ge 31:30; 38:11); (3) to those making up the household itself, even in a location away from the ancestral home (Ge 46:31; Jg 9:18); or (4), as variously translated, to a “father’s house,” “chief house,” “ancestral house,” “paternal house,” which, in some cases, took in several families. For example, at the time of numbering the Israelites in the wilderness, four families were regarded as making up the paternal house of Kohath. (Nu 3:19, 30; see also Ex 6:14; Nu 26:20-22; Jos 7:17.) Several paternal houses constituted a tribe (such as the tribe of Levi, made up of the paternal houses of Gershon, Kohath, and Merari).

The terms “paternal house,” or “fathers’ house,” “house of our father,” and so forth, were not always limited to the above usages, however. (For a broader use of “paternal house” see Nu 17:2, 6, where a paternal house is a tribe.)

As the population of Israel increased and as various areas of the Promised Land became settled, paternal houses also increased in number. The priests were organized by David into 24 divisions of service according to their paternal houses, 16 divisions for Eleazar and 8 for Ithamar. The 24 headmen were called “heads for their paternal houses.” (1Ch 24:4-6) The rest of the Levites were selected for certain duties by lot, without regard to any priority of age of the heads of their paternal houses.—1Ch 24:20-31.

Each Israelite paternal house was represented by its hereditary head in connection with official tribal business and the administration of justice. (Ne 7:70, 71; 11:13) At the celebration of the Passover in Jerusalem in King Josiah’s time, the people apparently entered the court of the temple by their paternal houses to offer their sacrifices. The Levites, by their divisions based on paternal houses, received the sacrifices of the people and prepared them.—2Ch 35:4, 5, 12.

Jesus Christ promised his followers that he was going his way to prepare a place for them in his ‘Father’s house,’ by which he had reference to the heavenly dwelling place of Jehovah.—Joh 14:2

April 15 2021 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report