It is a common teaching among many religions that there are seven heavens to be had. Religions that believe in “Karma” also talk about seven higher worlds and seven lower worlds; the earth being the lowest of the higher worlds. The six higher worlds above earth are places of increasing wonder and delight where people who have accumulated good karma go after they die. This teaching goes further to say that when all the time their good deeds have earned them gets to be spent, they are reincarnated and return to earth. Those who live extraordinarily pious lives can break out of this cycle and experience Nirvana, a state of eternal existence.

Ancient Babylonians had a different version of this teaching. According to them the seven heavens were not for humans. They divided the different heavens into seven levels of space between the earth’s atmosphere and the spirit of the heavens; beyond was the Zodiac. Each of the seven heavens was associated with a particular god and a celestial body: the moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, the sun, Jupiter, and Saturn.

Historians find it probable for Abraham to have been exposed to Babylonian belief before he left Ur. Some also say that Hebrew scholars may have learned Babylonian teaching about the heavens while in exile. Either way, rabbis adapted the myth, integrating it into the Talmud—their extra-scriptural writings. The Jewish “heavens,” associated with the same celestial bodies, contain a mix of people, angels, demons, Nephilim, and natural phenomena, the specifics changing with the teacher. As the astronomical and meteorological sciences have advanced, Jews have rejected a literal seven heavens and now see them as metaphorical.

There are many other religions that teach about the seven heavens and most agree on them being rewards reserved for increasingly devout worshipers, but, the Bible says nothing that would validate such a belief.

What then does the bible say? Lets start with a study of the words used in the bible that are translated “heaven”

The Hebrew for “heaven,” shamayim, only appears in the plural form and can mean “sky” (Genesis 1:8–9), “outer space” (Genesis 22:17), or “the place where God dwells” (Joshua 2:11).

In the New Testament, the Greek ouranos can mean “the dwelling place of God” (Matthew 12:50) or “the sky” (Acts 10:11). And paradeisos (“paradise” or “garden”) can refer to the place where dead believers await resurrection (Luke 23:43), to where God dwells now (2 Corinthians 12:4), or to our eternal home (Revelation 2:7).

Careful study would tell us that the Bible does not give any indication whatsoever to the existence of seven heavens. On the other hand, Paul speaking in the third person saying that he knew a man (assumed to be himself) who went to the “third heaven.” implies the existence of only three (2 Corinthians 12:2). We could therefore conclude that the three “heavens” implied in 2 Corinthians 12:2 would be the three different realms that we call “the sky,” “outer space,” and the “spiritual heaven.”

God promises He will not always live above us, but He will live with us in the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:3). And although we will receive rewards according to our works (Revelation 22:12), the Bible never suggests that we’ll be segregated from each other.