An Open Heaven

Scripture: Luke 3 v 21 - 22: "Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened,
 22  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."

Isaiah 25 v 7 - 8: "And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.
 8  He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it."

Daniel 10 v 12 - 14: "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.
 13  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. 
 14  Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days."


When Jesus was baptized in water by John, as He came up out of the water He prayed and the heaven was opened above Him and then the Holy Spirit in bodily form descended upon Him like a dove gently landing on Him. The Father's voice was heard blessing His Son. A clearer picture of the Trinity cannot be made.  

A prophecy about Jesus in Isaiah 25 says He will break the covering that is over all people and the veil over all nations then wipe away every tear from their eyes. 

In Daniel 10 where (the pre-incarnate) Jesus appears to Daniel, He says to him that the first day Daniel started fasting for 3 weeks  He responded, but that a demonic force called "the prince of Persia" withstood Me for 21 days until Michael the Archangel came to help Me break through to you. 

There is a demonic covering over the Earth aimed at blocking Jesus out! The only way through was for Him to be born on Earth as a human baby and grow into a man. When Jesus was baptized in water it broke the covering over Him so that the Holy Spirit could come in response to His prayer.

John 1 v 33 - 34: "And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
 34  And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God."

In the gospel of John came the Word from God to John the Baptist, that when he sees the Holy Spirit coming down upon, and REMAINING upon Him, that this is the Son of God who baptizes people with the Holy Ghost.  Previously the anointing to prophesy was given to Old Testament prophets only for the time of their prophesying.

Satan fights more against water baptism than against salvation and now we know why. The heaven gets opened over us as it did when Jesus was baptized and we receive power from on high. The demonic covering is broken every time a believer gets baptized! The veil over our hearts is removed so we can understand the scriptures.

This is why Jesus said that the veil remains unbroken over the hearts of His Jewish people who have not believed that He is their Messiah and Bridegroom. John the Baptist knew and declared in John 3 v 29 that he was the friend of the Bridegroom who stood and heard Him and rejoiced greatly at the Bridegroom's voice.

"The Heaven is Open" is a translation of the Hebrew words Rosh Hashanah, a feast of their September New Year. I believe this is also the time of year that Jesus was born as a baby on Earth because surely the heaven would be opened for such an event as the shepherds testified while out all night with their sheep.

They saw the angelic host rejoicing in the birth of the King of Kings!! I doubt that shepherds would be out with sheep in the dead of winter in December in Israel! So that could not be the birth time of Jesus. Likewise His baptism would have taken place on Rosh Hashanah when the heaven was opened for the fullness of the Holy Spirit to arrive upon Him.

All the things John the Baptist said about Jesus were true. He said Jesus was the Lamb of God who has come to take away the sin of the world; and that Jesus was the one who would baptize us in the Holy Spirit and fire. He called Him the Bridegroom and so He is, and Israel is His Bride, but she did not recognise Him, because she was brainwashed by Satan that He was evil.  (Think of Peter in "The Hunger Games" who was brainwashed against Catniss whom he dearly loved, and tried to kill her!)

Back to Daniel and the Prince of Persia demonic force which blocked Jesus from reaching him. A spiritual prince is a ruling spirit in high places. Persia is now called Iran but that same demon prince still hates Israel and causes the Ayatollahs who rule that nation to declare perpetual war until she is totally destroyed.  They are in cahoots with the terrorists which operate out of Gaza where the Palestinians live.  The Hebrew word for Palestinian is "the invaders".

They finance and arm Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Hamas in Gaza to fire missiles at Israel. When she fires back the whole world complains!! They refuse to even recognise the existence of Israel.  The nations who reject her will be put to a perpetual shame.  The UN supports the terrorists and gives them the right to destroy Biblical archaeological sites in places like Hebron.  

Recently, Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, declared at Israel brought the Holocaust upon herself!  Our God is not mocked and He will bring His judgment on those who aim to destroy the Apple of His eye.  Thousand of years of Syrian attack on Israel have resulted in God turning His face away from that nation to destroy itself.  Let other nations take heed of this in their attitude towards the Holy Land.

So let us rejoice that we are a baptized believers and the heaven is open above us to receive the abundant blessings of Almighty God who sent the Holy Spirit to make Jesus Christ real to us and to give us revelation knowledge out of His Word.  The Holy Spirit empowers us to be witnesses for the truth about Jesus through our testimony of salvation.

Prayer: Heavenly Father we appreciate You for Your thoughts which are toward us continually for our good. You made provision for every eventuality so that the Body of Your Son Jesus (us) could be kept from harm. We must adhere to Your rescue plan for us and follow Your Word to escape harm. We love You Father and ask for wisdom to understand all things. We praise You for opening the Heavens to let Jesus in. In Jesus' name. Amen.