- [Narrator] Three people in the Bible that never died.
Number one, Elijah.
During one of the worst periods of Israel,
God called Elijah.
In those times, Israel had one of the worst kings
and his name was Ahab.
He was one of Israel's greatest prophets
and was a Tishbite from Gilead in the Transjordan region.
Kings covers more of his life
than the majority of the kings themselves,
despite the fact that there is no book written in his honor.
His encounter with Baal's prophets on Mount Carmel
made him most famous.
King Ahab has incorporated idealism
into a system that was supposed to be run on God's agenda
because the Israelites were his people.
Israel was suffering as a result of poor governance,
but Elijah on the other hand,
represented a different kind of dominion.
He had no connections
to either the political establishment or the royal family.
He had the ability to tell the truth to earthly power
without being co-opted or corrupted.
Elijah was a bold person
who spoke up for the truth no matter who was in charge.
He represented a totally different kingdom
with a very different objective.
Elijah seemed to have reached
the pinnacle of life's adventures,
heroic almost beyond belief,
yet humble of heart.
But he was about to outdo them all.
He was about to avoid death.
Elijah's deathless departure
places him in the scarce category of deathless departures.
Although we are never told when or how God did this,
it is clear from the context
that he informed Elijah of his impending departure.
God revealed it to the sons of the prophets
as well as Elisha,
the old prophet's close friend
and divinely chosen successor as we shall see.
2 Kings 2:1-12.
When the Lord was about to take Elijah
up to heaven in a whirlwind,
Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal.
We have arrived at Elijah's last day on earth
when he will be carried up and a whirlwind.
The Hebrew here can also be translated, in a gust,
in a windy moment.
In some sweeping movement, Elijah would be caught up.
And in that instant,
he would be gone from this earth into God's presence.
Now, God had not only told Elijah that this would happen
and how it would happen,
he also had told him where it would happen.
This explains why we see Elijah moving quickly
toward the Jordan.
As you read the narrative, imagine the scene as it unfolds.
2 Kings 2:2-6, Amplified Bible.
"And Elijah said to Elisha,
'Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Bethel.'
But Elisha replied,
'As the Lord lives and as your soul lives,
I will not leave you.'
So they went down to Bethel."
Now the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel
came out to Elisha and said to him,
'Do you know that the Lord will take your master
away from you today?'
He said, 'Yes, I know it.
Be quiet about it.'
Elijah said to him, 'Elisha, please stay here,
for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.'
But he said, 'As the Lord lives and as your soul lives,
I will not leave you.'
So they came to Jericho.
The sons of the prophet who were at Jericho
approached Elisha and said to him,
'Do you know that the Lord will take your master
away from you today?'
And he answered, 'Yes, I know it.
Be quiet about it.'
Elijah said to him, 'Please stay here,
for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.'
But he said, 'As the Lord lives and as your soul lives,
I will not leave you.'
So the two of them went on.
The sons of the prophets asked Elisha the same question
in both Bethel and Jericho,
'Do you know that the Lord will take away your master
from over you today?'
Elisha responded the same way both times,
'Yes, I know.
Now please be quiet.'"
Gilgal was the starting point.
According to Joshua 4,
Gilgal was the location of the children of Israel's camp
after crossing the Jordan into Canaan.
If you recall your biblical history,
this was the point at which they were still safe and secure
just before they began their invasion into enemy territory.
Gilgal was the starting point for Elijah's last journey.
The next stop for Elijah was Bethel, a place of prayer.
Bethel means God's house.
Finally, Elijah went to the Jordan
which was a place of death.
Not just physical death,
but also death of the self life.
Elisha said to Elijah as he arrived at the Jordan,
his final earthly destination,
"As the Lord lives,
I will not leave you."
Elijah had been attempting
to distance himself from Elisha since Gilgal.
I don't think he was trying to get rid of Elisha
so much as he was putting his close companion,
his future successor to the test.
When the two men came to a halt to the Jordan,
the scene abruptly changed.
Now comes the miraculous event.
2 Kings 2:7-10, Amplified Bible.
"50 men of the sons of the prophets
also went and stood opposite them to watch at a distance,
and the two of them stood by the Jordan.
And Elijah took his mantle coat
and rolled it up and struck the waters,
and they were divided this way and that
so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
And when they had crossed over,
Elijah said to Elisha,
'Ask what aye shall do for you before I am taken from you.'
And Elisha said,
'Please, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.'
He said, 'You have asked for a difficult thing.
However, if you see me when I am taken from you,
it shall be so for you.
But if not, it shall not be so.'"
This is similar to the miracle that occurred centuries ago
when God miraculously parted the Red Sea,
allowing Moses and the children of Israel
to walk across on dry land.
In this case, the Jordan's waters parted,
allowing Elijah and Elisha to cross the river on dry land.
Then Elijah turns to his friend and asks
"What can I do for you before I go,
before the Lord takes me from this earth?"
2 Kings 2:11, Amplified Bible.
"As they continued along and talked,
behold, a chariot of fire with horses of fire
appeared suddenly and separated the two of them,
and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind."
That's fantastic.
They were walking together and talking.
Elijah was not preaching or prophesying at the time.
It was just the two close friends
walking and talking together.
That must have been a fantastic moment.
"A chariot of fire and horses of fire
appeared and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind,"
the Bible says.
Just like that,
he was up to heaven in a whirlwind in an instant.
2 Kings 2:12-15, Amplified Bible.
"Elisha saw it and cried out,
'My father, my father,
the chariot of Israel and its horseman',
and he no longer saw Elijah.
Then he took hold of his own clothes
and tore them into two pieces in grief.
He picked up the mantle of Elijah that fell off him
and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan.
He took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him
and struck the waters and said,
"Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?
And when he too had struck the waters,
they divided this way and that,
and Elisha crossed over.
When the sons of the prophets
who were were watching opposites at Jericho saw him,
they said, 'The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.'
And they came to meet him
and bowed down to the ground before him in respect."
Elijah's no death contract suddenly went into effect.
Nothing of God dies when a man or woman of God dies.
We tend to forget this.
Elisha is a prime example and God always has a plan.
Consider this.
He has had his man and women in every era
to carry on his work throughout the ages.
God has never been frustrated,
wondering what will my people do now that he's gone?
Now that he's not with them anymore?
Our creator, God, is all powerful
and he is never caught short on supplies.
Elisha was taken aback and startled for a brief moment,
but this did not last long.
He reached down and picked up the prophet's cloak,
recalling Elijah's words.
He crossed back over the Jordan,
claiming the power that was now his
and began his own prophetic ministry
from that point forward.
God's plan never faltered.
Exit Elijah, enter Elisha.
Number two, Enoch.
The first expression of Enoch is found in Genesis chapter 5.
There was an Enoch who was Cain's son,
and this is not the same Enoch.
Genesis 5:21.
"When Enoch had lived 65 years,
he became the father of Methuselah."
And from our Bible understanding,
we know that his son, Methuselah,
was the oldest living man as recorded in scripture.
When we studied the genealogies in the Bible,
we will discover that Enoch was Noah's great-grandfather.
Jude 14, Amplified Bible.
It was about these people that Enoch,
in the seventh generation from Adam,
prophesied when he said,
"Look, the Lord came with myriads of his holy ones."
Jude says that Enoch forewarned
about the Lord's coming judgment against them.
Enoch was a man who walked with God amid moral decay
in the days of Noah,
and spoke of the coming judgment.
In an era when most of his counterparts
only had the record of their birth
and the children they also gave birth to,
Enoch is like a breath of fresh air.
Enoch was introduced like others,
but his testimony is eye-catching.
His description is short but heavy and weighty.
This means something
about his pure walk with God translated him.
His life has provided a template for so many people
throughout different generations
as it teaches us to live for the audience of one.
He teaches us to passionately seek an intimate communion
and companionship with God,
knowing that as we do this,
we will experience God in a new dimension.
Genesis 5:18-24, Amplified Bible.
When Jared was 162 years old, he became the father of Enoch.
Jared lived 800 years after the birth of Enoch,
and had other sons and daughters.
So Jared lived 962 years and he died.
When Enoch was 65 years old,
he became the father of Methuselah.
Enoch walked in habitual fellowship with God
300 years after the birth of Methuselah,
and had other sons and daughters.
So all the days of Enoch were 365 years.
And in reverent fear and obedience,
Enoch walked with God.
And he was not found among men
because God took him away to be home with him.
Enoch's case was the first rapture documented
as God just took him.
Perhaps the fellowship was so intense
that the presence of God
just enveloped and whisked him away.
The book of Hebrews
talked about the man of whom this world was not worthy.
Hebrews 11:5-6, Amplified Bible.
"By faith that pleased God,
Enoch was caught up and taken to heaven
so that he would not have a glimpse of death.
And he was not found because God had taken him.
for even before he was taken to heaven,
he received the testimony still on record
that he had walked with God and pleased him.
But without faith,
it is impossible to walk with God and please him.
For whoever comes near to God
must necessarily believe that God exists,
and that he rewards those
who earnestly and diligently seek him.
It is a great reassurance
to know that God will always prepare sufficiently
and abundantly for his own,
and tenderly watch over us
till we blossom in every miraculous way.
2 Chronicles 16:9, Amplified Bible.
"For the eyes of the Lord
move to and fro throughout the earth
so that he may support those whose heart is completely His.
You have acted foolishly in this.
Therefore, from now on, you will have wars."
So while the Father lavishes his goodness on us
in order to see us grow,
what he really wants from us
is an honest and unpretentious response
to the love he gives us.
But a time is coming and is already here
when the true worshipers
will worship the Father and Spirit
from the heart and the inner self,
and in truth,
for the Father seeks such people to be his worshipers.
God is spirit,
the source of life yet invisible to mankind.
And those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.
John 4: 23-24.
God is always looking for faithful and loyal seeds
who will live their lives completely for him.
These are the vessels
through which he can truly use and manifest his glory.
Enoch, according to scripture,
did not share Adam's and the rest of his descendant's fate.
He did not die.
Enoch is used as an example
of the rapture in the New Testament.
One goal of Enoch's translation
is to emphasize the truth of scripture,
which is that there is an ultimate redemption
for all of us who have placed our faith in the Lord.
Though the vast majority of believers
will pass away physically,
Enoch example gives believers hope
that they will ultimately triumph over death.
Number three, Christians in the end times.
Now we are entering recorded prophecy.
This is one that is yet to come to pass as it is written.
Although many of us, if not all of us,
as we do not know the accurate time Jesus will come back,
will experience the pangs of death,
Christians in the end times will experience a rapture.
It's also important to note that in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18,
both Christians who have previously died
and those still alive
will participate in this event together.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Amplified Bible.
Now we do not want you to be uninformed believers
about those who are asleep in death
so that you will not grieve for them,
and others do not have hope beyond this present life.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
as in fact he did,
even so God, in this same way by raising them from the dead,
will bring with him
those believers who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
For we say this to you by the Lord's own word,
that we who are still alive
and remain until the coming of the Lord
will in no way proceed into his presence.
Those believers who have fallen asleep in death
for the Lord himself will come down from heaven
with a shout of command,
with his voice of the archangel,
and with the blast of the trumpet of God,
and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Then we who are alive and remain on earth
will simultaneously be caught up,
raptured together with them, the resurrected ones,
in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
And so we will always be with the Lord.
Therefore, comfort and encourage one another
with these words concerning our reunion
with believers who have died.
So in either case,
we will experience the rapture.
During that time, like Enoch,
Christians will be caught up in the air.
Therefore, one of the reasons for Enoch translation
is that he prefigures an entire generation of believers
who will not taste death.