Introduction
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’.
Three Heavens
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.
Paradise
‘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. And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows—was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell.’ 2 Corinthians 12:2-4
Notice that Paul says 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 and Elijah went as we shall see in this study.
God Took Enoch Away
‘After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years. Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more because God took him away.’ Genesis 5:22-24
Enoch was the father of Methuselah, who was the oldest living man, Genesis 5:27. Notice that ‘Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years’, implying that he did what God wanted him to do for that length of time, Jude 14-15. After 365 years on earth, God took Enoch away.
The Hebrew word for ‘took’ is the word, ‘laqach’ and it is defined as to take, it carries with it the idea of being snatched up or carried away.
‘By faith, Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.’ Hebrews 11:5
The Hebrew writer tells us that Enoch didn’t experience death, which tells us he never died. The words ‘he could not be found’, suggest that people were for looking for him in the same manner as the prophets looked for Elijah, but could find him, 2 Kings 2:17.
The word ‘taken’ used twice in the Hebrew passage is the Greek word ‘metatithemi’ and it means to transfer.
Willis, in his commentary, says the following, concerning the Hebrew passage.
‘The word ‘taken’ functions as a technical term for man’s translation by God to a higher existence.’
In other words, the Hebrew writer explains what the words ‘God took him away’ means in Genesis 5:24. Enoch never died but was translated, transferred into an eternal fellowship with the Creator. He was received into eternal fellowship with God without being obligated to pass through the experience of death.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following, concerning the Hebrew passage.
‘Here the apostle explains what God’s taking him means, by saying that he was translated that he should not see death; from which we learn that he did not die, and that God took him to a state of blessedness without obliging him to pass through death’.
MacKnight, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Enoch’s translation by faith is mentioned by the apostle, not to raise in believers an expectation of being translated into heaven, as he was, without dying, but to excite them to imitate his faith, in the assurance of being admitted into heaven in the body after the resurrection.’
Alleged Contradiction
‘All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.’ Hebrews 11:13
There are those who insist that Enoch never died because the Hebrew writer says, ‘all these people died in faith not receiving the promises.’
In other words, ‘all these people’, that is, everyone mentioned in all the previous verses, that is, Hebrews 11:1-12, including Eunuch, actually did die in faith not receiving the promises. Surely the Hebrew writer isn’t contradicting themselves!
Solution
Answers in Genesis give a simple solution to this so-called contradiction.
First, there is a simple theological explanation. In Hebrews 11 there appears to be a division of main ideas presented in Hebrews 11:1-5 and Hebrews 11:6-13. Notice that verse 13 states, “These all died in faith, not having received the promises.” What promises?
When we look back on verses 7-11, we see that each person who is mentioned received and believed a promise, so verse 13 only refers to Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Sarah, not Enoch or Abel. Hebrews does not mention any promises concerning Enoch and Abel in verses 4-5. And the author specifically mentions Abel was dead and Enoch was not.
Second, there is a simple grammatical explanation. Enoch is the exception to the rule. The rule is that everyone listed did not escape death. And then Enoch is the exception since it was stated, “He did not see death.”
Enoch Taken To Heaven
Although neither the Genesis passages nor the Hebrew passage mention the word ‘heaven’, doesn’t mean that God didn’t take him there. I believe there is more than enough evidence to prove that he was not only spared death, but God also took him 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 Enoch 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.
Common sense tells us that God took Enoch to heaven, God’s dwelling place because he faithfully walked with God, Genesis 5:22-24, and because of his obedience to Him, Jude 14-15.
Elijah Taken Up To Heaven
When we read 2 Kings 2:1-12, we read the Lord was about to Elijah up to heaven. Elisha asks Elijah for a ‘double portion of his spirit’, 2 Kings 11:9. I don’t think 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.
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 in a whirlwind to heaven, 2 Kings 2:11, 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.
Elijah was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind, 2 Kings 2:11 / Exodus 19:16-25 / Psalm 18:7-15, it appears that God wanted Elisha to witness this miracle, as a way of confirming the end of Elijah’s ministry on earth and the start of his ministry.
‘As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.’ 2 Kings 2:11
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.
Alleged Contradiction
‘Jehoram received a letter from Elijah the prophet, which said: “This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: ‘You have not followed the ways of your father Jehoshaphat or of Asa king of Judah. But you have followed the ways of the kings of Israel, and you have led Judah and the people of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves, just as the house of Ahab did. You have also murdered your own brothers, members of your own family, men who were better than you. So now the LORD is about to strike your people, your sons, your wives, and everything that is yours, with a heavy blow. You yourself will be very ill with a lingering disease of the bowels, until the disease causes your bowels to come out.’” 2 Chronicles 21:12-15
Here 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?
Solution
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.’
Another Alleged Contradiction
‘No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.’ John 3:13
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’.
In other words, if Enoch and Elijah went to heaven before Jesus then this would contradict what Jesus says in John 3:13.
Solution
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.
‘Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still, you people do not accept our testimony.’ John 3:11
Notice that Jesus says, ‘We speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen’. A person can only ‘testify’ to something they know and what they have seen. The ‘we’ is Jesus and the Father, John 10:30.
‘I have spoken to you of earthly things, and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?’ John 3:12
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 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.’
Conclusion
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.
