The Bible says, "Eliyah went up in whirlwind into
heaven." (2 Kgs.2:11); Enoch was translated by Yahweh (Heb.11:5); and
Moses appeared in the transfiguration with Yeshua (Mt.17:3). Do
these scriptures prove that the three were in heaven while Messiah
was alive on Earth? No!
Jn.3:13 - "And no man has ascended up to heaven, but he that came
down from heaven, the Son of Man." These words were spoken by Yeshua
himself in regards to being "born again" or resurrected from the dead
(vss 3-12). These words cannot be denied or misunderstood.
We also have the Apostle Paul's witness; Col.1:18 - "that in all
things he might have the preeminence." Yeshua had to be the
firstborn from the dead; the first to be resurrected unto eternal
life; the first to ascend into heaven and stand before Yahweh. If
anyone preceeded him then he wasn't the firstborn from the dead.
Since some people believe Enoch and Eliyah did not die, but that
Moses did die, then that would mean Moses had the preeminence over
Messiah.
In light of these two powerful verses, Jn.3:13 and Col.1:18, how can
we explain what happened to Enoch, Eliyah and Moses? Let's begin with
Moses;
Duet.34:5,6 - There cannot be any doubt that Moses died and was
buried. Therefore, for him to be in heaven, he had to be resurrected
from the dead. According to I Cor.15:52 that will not occur until the
last trumpet sounds.
What about Michael and Satan disputing about Moses' body? Jude 9 does
not say Michael won the dispute and then took Moses to heaven. Since
there is no mention of heaven here we should not assume he was taken
there.
Mt.17:1-9 - Notice verse 9 says, "Tell the vision to no man." a
vision is not reality. The same Greek word for "vision" was used of
Peter's vision of the abominations on the cloth in Acts 10:17. They
were not real but a supernatural picture. In the case of the
transfiguration it was a prophetic vision which would take place in
the distant future.
Mt.16:28 - This was quoted by Yeshua six days before the
transfiguration. He was speaking to the disciples, but what did he
mean? Surely he didn't mean they would live for almost 2,000 years
until his coming at the last trumpet. Those that would not "taste of
death" were Peter, James and John who saw the Son of Man glorified in
the Kingdom through a prophetic vision.
Heb.11:23-28 - These verses talk about Moses living by faith. Verses
39,40 - Moses did not receive the promise of a resurrection unto
eternal life and perfection.
What about Eliyah? We have already seen that the transfiguration was
a prophetic vision which does not prove that he was in heaven.
Heb.11:32 - Here we read about the prophets who lived by faith and
died without receiving the promise. Eliyah was surely one of those
prophets. But to be certain let's look at what happened to him in 2
Kgs.2:1,11 .
If Yeshua the Messiah said "no man has ascended to heaven," then
what heaven are these scriptures talking about? The Bible mentions
three heavens. The first heaven is Earth's atmosphere where birds fly
(Gen.1:20); The second heaven is outer space where the planets and
stars exist (Gen.1:16,17); The third heaven is what the Apostle Paul
calls "paradise" in II Cor.12:2-4. It is where Yahweh and the
heavenly sanctuary exist.
Eliyah was caught up to the first heaven where birds fly and was
transported to another location on Earth. Notice vss. 15 & 16;
the sons of the prophets, who knew Eliyah would be taken away (vss.
3,5), believed that Eliyah was taken to another location. They didn't
think he went to the third heaven.
A similar incident to Eliyah's took place in Acts 8:39,40 - Phillip
was caught up into the first heaven, as Eliyah was, and was
transported to another location approximately 3o miles away. Eliyah
may not have been found because he was transported further away than
the fifty men searched (vs. 17).
Proof that Eliyah did not die, but was transported, is found in II
Chr.21:12-15 . From the wording of this letter it is clear that
Eliyah wrote it after the events occurred for he speaks of them as
past events, and of the disease as a future event.
This letter was written by Eliyah more than four years after his
being taken up to the first heaven (see attached chronology). The
Bible does not reveal how much longer Eliyah lived after writing the
letter but it does say in Heb.9:27 that it is appointed unto men to
die once.
Heb.9:27 would also include Enoch among the dead. Based on that verse
and Yeshua's statement in Jn.3:13, "no man has ascended to heaven",
how are we to understand the account of Enoch?
Gen.5:21-24 - These verses do not tell us much except that Enoch's
days, alive on Earth, ended at 365 years old. The question is, did he
die, was he taken to heaven alive, or was he transported to another
location on Earth as Eliyah was?
Consider Ps.37:35,36 and Ps.39:12,13;
"I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found."
"Hear my prayer, O Yahweh, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were. O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more."
The Hebrew for the phrases in bold is the same Hebrew as Gen.5:24; "And Enoch walked with Elohim: and he was not; for Elohim took him." As in the Psalms, the phrase means the person "passed away" or would eventually die. Consider also Gen.42:13 and Gen.44:20;
"And they said, Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not." This was spoken of Joseph by his brothers. What did they mean by "is not"?
"And we said unto my lord, We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him." Here the brothers recount their previous discussion about Joseph with Pharoah. When they first said, "and one is not," they meant Joseph "is dead." Finally, consider Mt.2:18;
"In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not." Where are Rachel's children? Dead.
Heb.11:5 - Does the phrase "should not see death"
mean Enoch never died? Let's read the first three words of Heb
11:4,5,7,8,11 and 13 . Everyone mentioned in the previous verses died
including Enoch. But not only that, verse 13 goes on to say that they
did not receive the promises. One of the promises was a heavenly
country (vs. 16). If Enoch were in heaven, wouldn't he have received
that promise? The fact is, Enoch is not in heaven but is dead in the
grave awaiting his resurrection along with every other saint.
Ps.89:47,48 - Why would the Psalmist ask such a question concerning
physical death if he believed Enoch did not see a physical death? The
fact is, the Psalmist believed Enoch was in the grave and therefore
asked the question.
So what does the phrase "should not see death" mean? In Lu. 2:25-29
we see that phrase to mean that Simeon would not die a physical death
or what is known as "the first death." Without any further Bible
study we would be led to believe Enoch never died and is still alive
in heaven. But let's look at Jn.8:51 . Here the phrase "shall never
see death" must mean "the second death" since all the Apostles,
including Paul, kept Yeshua's sayings and yet died the first
death.
Now we must decide whether the phrase "should not see death", as it
applies to Enoch, means the first or second death. Based on Heb.9:27
and Heb.11:13 we must conclude that he died the first death
prematurely so that he should not see the second death. To believe
Enoch did not die is to deny the plain word of many other scriptures
as well. For example, Rom.5:12,14 says all men die because all have
sinned. Are we to believe that Enoch did not sin or that the curse
for sinning did not apply to him? Are we to believe that a man who
was not yet cleansed of sin by the blood of Messiah could enter
heaven and dwell in Yahweh's presence?
Heb.11:5 - If Enoch did not die and was not taken to heaven then
where was he translated to and what does "translation" mean?
According to Strong's, Thayer's and Bullinger's Greek Lexicons,
"translate" means "to put or place in another place, to transport, to
transfer." The same Greek word was used in Acts 7:16 where Jacob's
body was "translated" or "carried over" to Sychem to be buried.
Yahweh took Enoch and buried him somewhere so as not to be found just
as he did with the body of Moses in Deut.34:6. Moses' body was never
found and neither was Enoch's because Yahweh hid them for reasons
known only to Him.
I Cor.15:20-23 - All die and all shall be resurrected, but Messiah
must be first in the order. Enoch could not possibly precede him,
especially if he were still flesh and blood as it says in verses
49-52. To be able to dwell in heaven we must be changed from a flesh
and blood natural body to a spiritual heavenly body. That change does
not take place until the last trumpet.
In conclusion, let's turn to Jn.3:13 . Are we going to believe
Yeshua based on the evidence just presented or are we going to hold
onto a false doctrine? The choice is yours.
B.C.E ............Judah.................................................. Israel
821.................................................................................
1 Ahab (IKgs 16:29,30)
820
.................................................................................2
819
.................................................................................3
818 ..............1 Jehosaphat (IKgs 22:41,42) .......................4
817.............. 2
................................................................5
816 ..............3
................................................................6
815 ..............4
................................................................7
814 ..............5
................................................................8
813 ..............6
................................................................9
812 ..............7
..............................................................10
811 ..............8
..............................................................11
810 ..............9
..............................................................12
809 .............10
.............................................................13
808 .............11
.............................................................14
807 .............12
.............................................................15
806 .............13
.............................................................16
805 .............14
.............................................................17
804 .............15
.............................................................18
803 .............16
.............................................................19
802 .............17 Jehoram-Jehosaphat ...............................20.....1
.......Ahaziah (IKgs 22:51)
801 .............18 co-regency begins ..................................21
....2.....1 Jehoram (2Kgs 1:17;3:1)
800
.............19
.............................................................22
..........2 Eliyah
(2Kgs 2:1-18)
799 .............20
............................................................................3
Alliance (2Kgs 3:5-7)
798 .............21
............................................................................4
Elisha (2Kgs 3:10-12)
797 .............22 ....1 Jehoram's reign
..............................................5
796 .............23 ....2 begins (2Kgs 8:16,17) ................
....................6
795 .............24 ....3
......................................................................7
794 .............25 ....4 Jehosaphat dies(2Chr 21:1-5)
...........................8
793....................... 5 Eliyah's letter(2Chr21:10-17)
........................9
792 .......................6 Jehoram sick (2Chr 21:18)
...........................10
791 .......................7
...................................................................11
790 .......................8 Jehoram dies,Ahaziah begins-
.......................12 .....1 Jehu begins
789 .......................9 (2Kgs 8:24)
..........................................................2
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