As Elijah was coming to the end of his ministry, God directed him to anoint a younger man named Elisha to take his place. Elisha was the son of Shaphat and lived in Abel Meholah, 1 Kings 19:16. In a matter of years, Elisha became God’s spokesman to the northern kingdom of Israel and his ministry would be one of signs, miracles, proclamations, and warnings. Over a period of time, he would become known as the prophet of peace and healing.
Elijah was commissioned to deliver fearless messages of condemnation and judgment to the king and the people, warning them to turn from sin and Elisha’s ministry was to build on the work that Elijah had begun by teaching the people God’s ways.
Elijah’s ministry began by shutting up the heavens for three and a half years, whereas Elisha’s ministry began by healing a spring of water near Jericho, 2 Kings 2:19-22. This spring of water was unfit to use and so, Elisha asked to have some salt in a new bowl brought to him, he threw the salt into the spring and the water was suddenly healed, 2 Kings 2:21.
His second recorded miracle granted an impoverished family of faith a financial blessing. A man dies and his wife becomes a widow. She was very poor and owned just one item of value, a jar of olive oil. She had two sons to care for, and she asked Elisha to help her as she feared her sons would be taken away to pay a debt. Elisha instructed her to go to all her neighbours and borrow as many empty jars as she could. The one jar of oil was multiplied miraculously, and she was able to sell enough of the valuable oil to pay off her debt and live off the rest, 2 Kings 4:1-7.
Two more miracles were performed for a married couple living in the town of Shunem. Elisha the prophet often stayed at the home of this childless couple, as his ministry would take him from town to town. As a gesture of appreciation for their hospitality, he prophesied that they would have a son who would bring them great joy.
Later, the little boy suffered an illness while out in the field, and his mother went searching until she found Elisha. He went back to her house to see what could be done. The boy had died but Elisha prayed, and God raised the boy from the dead, 2 Kings 4:8-22 / 2 Kings 4:23-37.
We were first introduced to Elisha back in 1 Kings 19:19-21, when Elijah was preparing him to take over as God’s prophet. God was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, and now was the time when Elisha was to take over as God’s main prophet for His people, 2 Kings 2:1.
Gilgal was about fifteen miles north of Lydda, in the country of Ephraim, not far from Bethel. It was known as the seat of false worship, Amos 4:4 / Hosea 4:15. Elijah tells Elisha to stay where he is because God has sent Elijah to Bethel, but Elisha isn’t haven’t any of it and refuses to leave him and so, they go to Bethel, 2 Kings 2:2.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This double oath, repeated three times, 2 Kings 2:4 / 2 Kings 2:6, is very remarkable. The two clauses of it are separately used with some frequency, Judges 8:19 / Ruth 3:13 / 1 Samuel 1:26, etc., but it is comparatively seldom that they are united.’
The company of prophets at Bethel, 2 Kings 2:3, weren’t false prophets but true prophets of God who were under Elijah’s leadership, 1 Samuel 10:9-13. There’s a strong possibility that this was a school for prophets which began with Samuel and continued after his death, 1 Kings 18:4 / 1 Kings 20:35 / Isaiah 8:16.
The company of the prophets come to Elisha and asked him if he was aware that God is going to take Elijah from him today, and Elisha tells them that he is aware but then tells them to be quiet, 2 Kings 2:3. Then Elijah tells Elisha to stay where he is because God sent Elijah to Jericho, but once again Elisha isn’t having it, he won’t stay and so they travel to Jericho, 2 Kings 2:4.
The company of the prophets appear to travel in groups and their main homes may have been cities like Bethel, Gilgal, and Jericho, 2 Kings 2:5. This is the first mention of a prophetic community in Jericho, 2 Kings 2:5. Jericho hadn’t long been rebuilt by Hiel, 1 Kings 16:34, in disobedience to Joshua’s words, Joshua 6:26.
The company of the prophets back to Elisha and asked him once again, if he knows that God is going take Elijah away from him today, and once again, Elisha tells them that he is aware and once again, he tells them to be quiet, 2 Kings 2:5 / 2 Kings 2:3.
Then Elijah, once again tells Elisha to stay where he is because God has sent Elijah to the Jordan, and once again, Elisha is having none of it, he won’t stay and so the two of them walked on together, 2 Kings 2:6. Fifty men from the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan, 2 Kings 2:7.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘They fully expected this extraordinary event, and they could have known it only from Elijah himself, or by a direct revelation from God.’
Elijah takes his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it and the water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground, 2 Kings 2:8. It’s here we read that they received a revelation from God that Elisha was to take the place of Elijah.
When they had crossed the Jordan, Elijah asks Elisha, what he can do for him before he is taken away, and Elisha asks to inherit a double portion of Elijah spirit, 2 Kings 2:9. I don’t believe we’re to believe that Elisha has twice as many miraculous powers as Elijah had, only God could grant such a thing.
He was simply asking Elijah for the ‘double portion’ as someone would receive as the firstborn son, Deuteronomy 21:15-17. Elisha obviously saw himself as the firstborn son of Elijah, hence why he asks for the firstborn privileges. Elisha was asking to be recognised as the ‘heir’ of Elijah in relation to the other prophets.
Elijah tells Elisha that he has asked a difficult thing, yet if he sees Elijah when he is taken from him, it will be his, otherwise, it will not, 2 Kings 2:10. As they walked on together talking suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated them, 2 Kings 2:11. Elijah was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind, 2 Kings 2:12 / Exodus 19:16-25 / Psalm 18:7-15, and it appears that God wanted Elisha to witness this miracle, as a way of confirming the start of his ministry.
Elijah was taken up in a whirlwind to heaven and Elisha saw it and cried, ‘My Father, my Father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen and he saw him no more, 2 Kings 2:12. This basically means that one prophet had done more for Israel than all the earthly kingdoms’ chariots and horses. Significantly, these same words were uttered upon the occasion of the death of Elisha, 2 Kings 13:14. Elisha then he took hold of Elijah’s garment and tore it in two, 2 Kings 2:12.
Elisha picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan, 2 Kings 2:13.Elisha takes Elijah’s cloak and struck the water and asks, ‘where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?’ 2 Kings 2:14. He asks this question because he had been given the responsibility of being God’s prophet but he needed the power of God to demonstrate that God was working through him as He did with Elijah. When Elisha struck the water, Elijah’s cloak divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over, 2 Kings 2:14.
Elisha had asked for a ‘double portion’ from Elijah and Elijah’s cloak was the sign of the responsibility that was given to Elisha. In doing so, Elisha was ‘anointed’, and appointed to take Elijah’s place as God’s prophet. God’s power would now come upon Elisha as it did with Elijah, 2 Kings 2:15. This was going to be demonstrated when Elisha performed miracles and the people would now know that God was with him and working through him. Here the fifty prophets now knew that the spirit of Elijah was with Elisha, 2 Kings 2:15.
The prophets, 2 Kings 2:7, now go to meet Elisha and bow to the ground before him, 2 Kings 2:15, and it appears that they wanted to go and look for Elijah, 2 Kings 2:16, simply because no one else had witnessed Elijah being taken up to heaven. They suggest that the Spirit of the LORD has picked Elijah up and set him down on some mountain or in some valley, but Elisha refuses to let them go, 2 Kings 2:17.
They persisted until Elisha was too embarrassed to refuse, and so, Elisha tells them to go and look for Elijah’s body, 2 Kings 2:17-18. By doing this would remove any doubts about Elisha’s account of what happened to Elijah. When they returned to Elisha, he asks them, didn’t he tell them not to go? 2 Kings 2:18. They searched for three day but because they didn’t find Elijah’s body, this would reinforce the fact this Elijah’s departure was miraculous.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Elijah had finished his work as God’s prophet, it was intense work of judgment that became symbolic, Malachi 4:5-6, even idealised, John 1:21, and seen again at the end of the Jewish era in the person of John the Baptist, Matthew 3:1-10. After the work of Moses and Elijah, God had nothing fundamentally new to say to his rebellious people, until the coming of that Holy One whom Moses and Elijah would meet upon the mount of transfiguration, Matthew 17:1-8 / Mark 9:2-8 / Luke 9:28-36 / 2 Peter 1:16-18.’
Before we try and answer the question concerning whether Enoch and Elijah actually went to heaven or not, I think it would be useful to define what we mean when we use the word ‘heaven’.
The opening words of our Bible tell us that, ‘In the beginning, God created the heavens (plural) and the earth.’ Genesis 1:1. Speaking about himself, the apostle Paul says, ‘I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago, was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows.’ 2 Corinthians 12:2. So, we have here three ‘heavens’.
1. The heaven, which is God’s spiritual eternal home, Isaiah 6:1 / Acts 7:55-56.
This isn’t physical and isn’t created. This is the uncreated heaven where God has always been from eternity. It’s also described as the third heaven and paradise.
2. The heaven where the stars and planets are, Psalm 8:3. This is physical and is created.
3. The heaven surrounding the earth where the atmosphere is, and the birds fly, Psalm 19:1. This is physical and is created.
Notice that Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:2-4, that he was caught up to the ‘third heaven’, whilst in the same setting he says, caught up to ‘paradise’,. Surely, the phrases ‘caught up to the third heaven’ and ‘caught up to paradise’ mean the same thing! Surely, the ‘third heaven’ and ‘paradise’ are one in the same place!
The ‘third heaven’, or ‘paradise’ is God’s spiritual eternal home, which isn’t physical and isn’t created, this is the place where not only Paul found himself, but the place where Lazarus found himself when he died, Luke 16:22, and the place where Jesus and the thief on the cross went to when they died, Luke 23:43.
According to Revelation 2:7, the overcoming church will eat from the tree of life in the eschatological garden. Sin and death through redemption are now cast out of the human experience. The way is open for the faithful to return to the garden of God. ‘Paradise’ is the Christian’s final home.
We understand that God is everywhere, Acts 17:27-28. He is present in all ‘three heavens’, Psalm 115:2-3. We cannot get away from God, Psalm 139:1-16, but it is the ‘third heaven’, God’s spiritual eternal home, where Enoch, Genesis 5:22-24 / Hebrews 11:5, and Elijah went as we shall see in this study.
When we read 2 Kings 2:1-12, we read the Lord was about to Elijah up to heaven. The text tells us that Elijah, like Enoch, was not only spared death but also went straight to heaven. There are some who suggest that he went to ‘heaven’ but not the heaven where God dwells.
Earlier I mentioned that the Bible speaks of three heavens and if Elijah isn’t in heaven where God dwells, then according to some people Elijah was taken to the heaven where the stars and planets are or taken to the other heaven, the earth’s atmosphere where the birds fly.
There are those who suggest that Elijah didn’t go to heaven, but the whirlwind simply took him to another location on Earth. They argue this is why the other prophets searched for him, 2 Kings 2:16-17. I’m sure you would have noticed that the other prophets couldn’t find him, 2 Kings 2:17, just as people couldn’t find Enoch, Hebrews 11:5. Why? Because his ministry on earth was finished. Just as Enoch never died but was translated into an eternal fellowship with the Creator. Elijah was received into eternal fellowship with God without being obligated to pass through the experience of death.
In 2 Chronicles 21:12-15, we read that King Jehoram of Judah received a letter from Elijah. But based on the chronology of events in 2 Kings, we know that Elijah had been taken to heaven alive in a whirlwind by that point. How did Elijah send a letter to King Jehoram if Elijah had already been taken to heaven?
Remember that Elijah had been taken up in a whirlwind to God before the reign of Jehoram, 2 Kings 2:11. But it appears that Elijah had prophesied concerning the wickedness of Jehoram, even before Jehoram reigned. Elijah had prophesied against Ahab and Jezebel, the parents of Jehoram’s wife, Athaliah.
It’s not the first time in this book, a prophet has spoken about an upcoming disaster, for kings, before it happens, 2 Chronicles 12:5 / 2 Chronicles 16:7 / 2 Chronicles 19:2 / 2 Chronicles 24:20 / 2 Chronicles 26:16. However, some commentators believe that Elijah was still alive at this point in time.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This is the only notice which we have of Elijah in Chronicles. As a prophet of the northern kingdom, he engaged but slightly the attention of the historian of the southern one. The notice shows that Elijah did not confine his attention to the affairs of his own state but strove to check the progress of idolatry in Judah. And it proves that he was alive after the death of Jehoshaphat, 2 Chronicles 21:13, a fact bearing.’
1. Upon the chronological order of 2 Kings 2:11.
2. Showing that Elisha, who prophesied in the time of Jehoshaphat. 2 Kings 3:11-19, commenced his public ministry before his master’s translation.
The Apologetic Press, say the following.
‘Even if the events in 2 Kings 1-8, are recorded in a more strict chronological order, however, and Elijah had actually left Earth prior to Jehoram’s independent reign as king began, there still is no proven contradiction between these passages and what the chronicler recorded about Elijah’s letter to Jehoram. Second Chronicles 21:12, does state that “a letter came to” Jehoram “from Elijah the prophet,” but notice that the text does not say that Elijah personally delivered the letter. One simply cannot prove that the text is implying that Elijah was still alive. Perhaps the differences are the result of the events of 2 Kings 2, not being placed in a strict sequential order in the text. Or it could very well be that Elijah wrote the letter of 2 Chronicles 21 as a prophetic letter before his departure from Earth and long before Jehoram became the sole King of Judah. One thing is certain: no justifiable contradiction has been proven.’
Some claim that Enoch and Elijah couldn’t have gone to heaven because of what Jesus said to Nicodemus. They say that Enoch and Elijah couldn’t have gone to heaven because Jesus clearly said, ‘No one has ever gone into heaven except Jesus Himself’, John 3:13. In other words, if Enoch and Elijah went to heaven before Jesus then this would contradict what Jesus says in John 3:13.
Remember Jesus is speaking with Nicodemus, a Pharisee, and a ruler of the Jews, John 3:1. After acknowledging that Jesus is a teacher from God and the proof was in the miracles He performed, John 3:2, Jesus now speaks to him about things concerning being ‘born again,’ but Nicodemus didn’t understand because he thought Jesus was speaking about being ‘born again’ literally, John 3:3-12. I think it’s important to note that Jesus isn’t speaking about being ‘born again’ literally, He is speaking about being ‘born again’ figuratively, that is, baptism, Acts 2:36-38 / Romans 6:3-6.
Notice that Jesus says, ‘We speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen’, John 3:11. A person can only ‘testify’ to something they know and what they have seen. The ‘we’ is Jesus and the Father, John 10:30. Jesus now says that He is the only person who is qualified to ‘testify’ about ‘heavenly things’ because only He has seen it, only He has come from there, John 3:12 / John 8:23.
There’s not a person who has ever lived or will live who will teach like Jesus, why? Because He was the only one who came from heaven. Yes, some of the prophets got glimpses of heaven, but only through visions, Ezekiel 1 / Acts 7:55-56 / Revelation 21-22.
God gave them the authority to speak about heaven, about the thing He revealed to them, but because Christ had come down from heaven, He had more authority to speak about heaven and ‘heavenly things.’ The point is this, Enoch and Elijah didn’t come back to teach the people after they ascended to heaven. They didn’t come back to ‘testify’ to anyone about things they had ‘seen’.
They did come came back on the Mount of Transfiguration Matthew 17:1-5, but I’m sure you will have noticed that they only spoke to Jesus, not the disciples who were with Him, Matthew 17:3. Remember Nicodemus acknowledged that Jesus is a teacher from God and the proof was in the miracles He performed, John 3:2.
And so in relation to those statements, when Jesus says to Nicodemus, ‘No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man,’ John 3:13, He’s simply telling Nicodemus that He came from heaven, and He will return to heaven, John 16:28. He’s saying to Nicodemus, ‘If you don’t believe me when I tell you (teach you) about things on earth, how will you believe me when I tell you (teach you) things about heaven.’
After digging into the texts and providing some reasonable solutions to the alleged contradictions, we are left with no doubts that both Enoch and Elijah went to heaven, God’s dwelling place. Although the Bible doesn’t tell us why these two men were spared death, it’s possible that God spared them both from physical death because of their faithfulness and obedience to Him.
We certainly know it signalled the end of Elijah’s ministry on Earth, 2 Kings 2:1, and we certainly know that Enoch was faithful to God, Genesis 5:22-24, and obedient to Him, Jude 14-15. It’s also possible that God was signalling to mankind that salvation was indeed possible, that, in time, God would provide it, John 3:16-18, and that it ultimately includes victory over death, 1 Corinthians 15:55-58 / 2 Corinthians 5:8-9.
The people of the city tell Elisha that the water is bad and as a result, the land couldn’t produce any food, 2 Kings 2:19. Elisha asks for a new bowl and tells them to put salt in it, and they did what he asked, 2 Kings 2:20.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The ‘new cruse’ and the ‘salt’ are evidently chosen from a regard to symbolism. The foul stream represents sin, and to cleanse it emblems of purity must be taken. Hence, the clean ‘new’ dish previously unused, and thus untainted and the salt, a common Scriptural symbol of corruption, Leviticus 2:13 / Ezekiel 43:24 / Matthew 5:13, etc.’
Elisha went to the spring and threw salt in it and doesn’t hesitate to produce a miracle and so, he asks God to heal the waters so that they will never cause death or make the land unproductive again, and God did so immediately, 2 Kings 2:21. The reason God acted quickly here in performing this miracle was simply to establish and reinforce the fact that God was working through Elisha. The water remained pure, according to the word Elisha had spoken, 2 Kings 2:22.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘What Elisha did on this occasion, getting the new cruse and throwing in the salt, was only to make the miracle more conspicuous. If the salt could have had any natural tendency to render the water salubrious, it could have acted only for a short time, and only on that portion of the stream which now arose from the spring; and in a few moments its effects must have disappeared. But the miracle here was permanent, the death of men and cattle, which had been occasioned by the insalubrity of the waters, ceased, the land was no longer barren; and the waters became permanently fit for all agricultural and domestic uses.’
Here we read an account which many believe is very disturbing, a story. On the surface it seems a little ‘unjust’ for those involved and for some a little ‘over the top,’ in terms of their punishment. It’s the account where Elisha receives some verbal abuse from some ‘boys’ which results in those very same boys being eaten by bears. Let’s go ahead and look at some background information before we deal with the text.
Elisha travelling from Jericho went up to Bethel, 2 Kings 2:23, which was at this time the centre of idol worship and home to many false prophets, 1 Kings 12:32-33 / 1 Kings 13:1-32. Notice as he is walking along the road, some ‘boys’ came out of the town and jeered at him, 2 Kings 2:23. The N.I.V uses the word, ‘boys’ but other translations like the E.S.V. and the K.J.V. use the words, ‘little children’.
Often people will ask how could Elisha do such a thing to these ‘little children’? They are only ‘children’, why should they receive such a horrible death? This is a bit much, it’s just children being children! The phrase ‘little children’ or ‘boys’ is very misleading in our English language, the word used is the Hebrew word, ‘na’ar’ which is a word used to describe any child from the age of infancy to adolescence, 1 Kings 3:7 / Jeremiah 1:6-7.
When we think about this logically, we know that ‘little children’ or ‘very young boys’, wouldn’t be roaming around in a forest on their own, never mind roaming around in a forest in gangs of forty or more. The NET uses the words, ‘young boys’, and the A.S.V. uses the words, ‘young lads’, both of which would indicate that they were probably teenagers.
Whatever age they were, they were old enough to assume responsibility for their disrespectful behaviour toward a man of God. Remember that Elisha was well known in the area and these young men would have known him or at the very least, heard of him.
By telling Elisha ‘to get out of here’, 2 Kings 2:23, implies they were saying Elisha didn’t belong amongst them, he wasn’t wanted, and the reason he wasn’t wanted is simply because Elisha was reminding them of the sinful lifestyles they were living. They wanted to continue in their sin without being reminded about how God felt about their sinfulness. The KJV has the words, ‘go up’ which would indicate they wanted him to leave the earth, just like Elijah did, 2 Kings 2:11.
It’s highly possible that Elisha was around thirty years of age during this time, and most commentators agree that he was around eighty years old when he died, 2 Kings 13:14. Twice these youths shouted, ‘Get out of here, baldy!’ 2 Kings 2:23. It’s not likely that Elisha was completely bald but possibly starting to go bald, keep in mind that baldness was also the mark of a leper.
Some believe these youths were pronouncing a divine curse upon Elisha, for which baldness was often the outward sign, Isaiah 3:17 / Isaiah 3:24. The point is that these youths were insulting him, an insult which Elisha took as an insult against God Himself.
When Elisha cursed them in the name of the Lord, 2 Kings 2:24, we must remember that there are a few words in Scripture used for the word ‘curse’. Here it is the word, ‘qalal’ which simply means a severe rebuke. In other words, Elisha gave them a firm telling off. As we will see in a moment, Elisha wasn’t responsible for their death.
We know that Elisha wasn’t responsible for the youth’s death because he simply cursed them. He gave them a severe telling off, he rebuked them, and he didn’t call upon the two bears to devour them. It was God who brought the bears to the youths to punish them for their disrespectful and insulting behaviour towards one of His prophets, 2 Kings 2:24.
God using animals to punish evil people shouldn’t come as a surprise to us as God had done this on many occasions, He sent snakes to bite the disobedient Israelites, Numbers 21:6. He sent a lion to punish a disobedient prophet, 1 Kings 13:23-25.
It was God who closed the mouths of the lions to protect Daniel whilst he was in the den, Daniel 6:22, and it was God who prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah, Jonah 1:17. It was God who guided Peter’s hook to the fish He provided to pay the temple tax, Matthew 17:24-27. Surely, this tells us that it was God who brought those bears out of the forest.
Their destruction was a righteous and moral act of God’s judgment upon the wicked. We must remember there were ten offences under the Mosaic Law which carried with it the death sentence, one of those offences was disobedient children, Deuteronomy 21:18-21. They subsequently reaped the consequences of their insults, receiving immediate judgment from God, 2 Chronicles 36:16.
The purpose of the miracle was to instil fear in others to greatly respect Elisha as a prophet of God. The people who lived in and around Bethel would certainly now know that they can’t play with God, but they would also know they have to respect Him, Deuteronomy 6:4-5. It’s very easy to read a passage of Scripture without thinking about the background and circumstances.
What we’ve read in 2 Kings 2:23-25, is one of those passages, which can easily be misunderstood. These ‘children’ were old enough to know what they were doing and old enough to be severely rebuked but also old enough to be punished for their actions, Deuteronomy 21:18-21. Elisha now goes to Mount Carmel and from there, he returned to Samaria, 2 Kings 2:25.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘On this occasion only do we find Elisha a minister of vengeance. Perhaps it was necessary to show, at the outset of his career as a prophet, that he too, so mild, and peaceful could, like Elijah, wield the terrors of God’s judgments, 1 Kings 19:19. The persons really punished were, not so much the children, as the wicked parents, 2 Kings 2:23, whose mouth-pieces the children were, and who justly lost the gift of offspring of which they had shown themselves unworthy.’