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tragically lost his children, his possessions, and his servants in one day. Note that these words of Job are based on his restricted earthly view of his situation. He was unaware of the exchanges between God and Satan and the fact that it was Satan’s hand that delivered his calamities.
    4. “Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these’” (Matt. 19:14).
    5. “See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven” (Matt. 18:10).
    6. “ Abraham’s tender care ” indicates heaven.
The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.

—Luke 16:22

    This passage tells of a rich man and a poor man who both died—the rich man consigned to hell and the poor man to “Abraham’s side.” The event is probably factual—not a parable. Parables never identify people involved as this story has done with Abraham, Lazarus, and the rich man.

S IX

    Heaven’s Architecture

    A VOICE ABOVE US CALLED , “C OME UP HERE! ”
    A chariot-like cloud of light picked us up, and we rose inside a circular area rather like the interior of a tower. Its spiral walls formed galleries, winding ever upward, and it seemed to be formed of rainbows wreathed in spirals of prismatic shades. Each one reflected many beautiful colors of matchless luster.
    A profound sense of peace and delight filled me as we emerged at the top. We found ourselves on an aerial plain suspended above the lofty dome of the central temple. From here I could see the complete layout of the great city, stretching out on every side. Its beauty was breathtaking.
    Beneath me was the infants’ Temple of Instruction. Built of the most precious materials, it was an architectural wonder, rising from the center of a vast circular lawn of soft, lush, green grass. Spaced at regular intervals were groups of majestic trees with luxuriant clusters of fragrant flowers. Beneath them in the open spaces were tiny garden beds filled with every variety of flower, blossoming shrubs, and vines.
    Fountains of dancing waters caught my eye. Some bubbled up from the green grass to flow with a low and pleasant murmur through marble channels or beds of golden sand. Others gushed up very high, cascading down in streams that fed into basins. Some of these basins looked like diamonds, others like polished silver or the whitest pearl.
    The circular lawn was surrounded by high, open trelliswork with a gateway at its eastern side. Flowing out through the gateway was a river, supplied by the fountains within.
    Looking around at the surrounding city, I noticed it was divided into twelve great divisions by this river. The river flowed in a spiral course, in twelve huge curves proceeding out from the center to the circumference. On each side of the river was a wide avenue, and twelve other straight streets intersected this spiral avenue. The straight streets began in the consecrated ground about the temple and radiated out to twelve equally divided points on the outer boundary. So the city was divided into 144 great suburbs, or divisions, arranged in increasing degrees of magnificence and beauty.
    As my gaze followed the pathway of the flowing river and the stately avenues, I lost all sense of time and self-awareness. I had never seen anything like it in its splendor and complexity, and I became completely absorbed in studying it.

A S MY VISION FOLLOWED THE PATHWAY
OF THE FLOWING RIVER AND THE STATELY
AVENUES, MY MIND BECAME ABSORBED
TILL ALL SENSE OF PERSON OR TIME WAS
MERGED IN THE ENTRANCING SIGHT .

    Each building in the city was extremely large and perfectly integrated with all the others. The entire city gave the impression of being one garden of flowers, one grove of shady trees, one gallery of sculptures, and one sea of fountains. All of these, together with