EZEKIEL 1:1 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.
NUMBERS 24:4 He hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:
We were designed by God to have access to His world while still on this earth. This is not just for prophets and seers.
We all have the capacity to access the realm of the Spirit of God by sight, sound and touch.
Heaven came to earth on few occasions in the Old Testament
GENESIS 28:12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the messengers of God ascending and descending on it.
Jacob spoke prophetically about this incident:
GENESIS 28:17 And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.
Jacob said the house of God is the gateway to heaven.
This was a profound prophetic statement. Jacob was saying that the House of God was a gateway to the other side, the other realm — that of heaven.
If we consider that this is the first mention of the house of God in the Bible, it takes on much greater significance.
The law of first mention is a principle of biblical interpretation, in which all the fulness of that word, idea or doctrine is contained in its first occurrence in the Bible.
The connection of the house of God on earth with an open heaven is of primary importance, and clearly signifies that it was always God’s purpose that the church — the house of God — would be a gateway to heaven.
This gateway is not figurative but must be taken literally, as it was when it was first declared. The House of God is twofold firstly, when you were born again you became the House of God:
1 CORINTHIANS 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
Secondly, the corporate body is also the house of God, where God dwells:
MATTHEW 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them (the corporate body).
1 TIMOTHY 3:15 But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou ought to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, (the corporate body).
The physical and spiritual worlds met in Jesus when He walked this earth:
JOHN 1:51 And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
We are not just physical beings. We are also spirit, and the spirit man within us has access to the unseen world in which he now lives.
We must remember that we all existed as a spirit long before we became human.