Did Elijah really go to heaven?
It's time to UNLEARN the lies.
Hey, welcome to UNLEARN.
My name is Lex, and I'd like to invite you to join us each week as we UNLEARN the lies
and search out Biblical truths together.
Now, let's get started.
Nearly everyone is familiar with the story of Elijah being carried away by a whirlwind
up into heaven, but in John 3:13 Yeshua said,
“No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of
Man who is in heaven.”
- John 3:13
Did Yeshua forget about Elijah?
I don't think so.
This may seem like a contradiction at first, but if we let the Bible interpret itself,
we find that there are no contradictions.
There are two questions we need to ask.
Why was Elijah taken? and where was he taken?
It is important to note that Elijah told Elisha three times,
“Stay here, please, for the Lord has sent me”
- 2 Kings 2:2,4,6
and every time Elisha responded by saying,
“As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you!”
- 2 Kings 2:2,4,6
This shows us that Elisha was unwilling to leave Elijah and that he refused to let Elijah
leave.
Likewise, the sons of the prophets also spoke to Elisha twice saying,
"Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over you today?"
- 2 Kings 2:3,5
The first six verses of this chapter are focused on the fact that God was going to take Elijah
away from Elisha, because Elisha was unwilling to let Elijah leave on his own.
But what happened next is where many people have gotten confused.
“Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire
appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind
into heaven.”
- 2 Kings 2:11
I have heard many people say that Elijah was taken into heaven by a chariot of fire, but
that is not what the Bible says.
It says that the chariot of fire separated the two men, and that a whirlwind (or tornado)
took Elijah into heaven.
This is why the sons of the prophets said,
“Look now, there are fifty strong men with your servants.
Please let them go and search for your master, lest perhaps the Spirit of the Lord has taken
him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley.”
- 2 Kings 2:16
They did not conclude that Elijah was taken out of the earth, but that he was simply taken
away to a different location.
So, why does the Bible say he was taken into heaven?
You may not be aware of this, but the Bible calls different things as heaven.
In Genesis, “God called the firmament Heaven” and explains that the birds fly in the firmament
of heaven.
“Then God said, ‘Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and
let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens’.”
- Genesis 1:20
The Bible also tells us that the sun, moon, and stars are in heaven.
“And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon,
and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them,
which the Lord your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage.”
- Deuteronomy 4:19
In fact, the word “heaven” seems to refer to anything that is above the earth.
This is further illustrated in the flood record which explains that everything under heaven
was covered in water.
“And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the
whole heaven were covered.”
- Genesis 7:19
There is nothing in the Bible to indicate that Elijah left the earth.
In fact, the Bible tells us that he wrote a letter to king Jehoram approximately ten
years after his whirlwind ride.
“And a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus says the Lord God of
your father David: Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, or
in the ways of Asa king of Judah…”
- 2 Chronicles 21:12
We know this letter was written long after the whirlwind took him, because Jehoshaphat
was king at that time, and it was a number of years later when his son Jehoram became
king.
In fact, right after Elijah was taken, Elisha spoke with king Jehoshaphat.
“But Jehoshaphat said, ‘Is there no prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of the
Lord by him?"
So one of the servants of the king of Israel answered and said, "Elisha the son of Shaphat
is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah.’"
- 2 Kings 3:11
But the Bible explains that Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, did not begin his reign as king
until after the death of his father.
“And Jehoshaphat rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City
of David.
Then Jehoram his son reigned in his place.”
- 2 Chronicles 21:1
“Now in the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Jehoshaphat having
been king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat began to reign as king of Judah.
He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.”
- 2 Kings 8:16-17
If Elisha spoke with king Jehoshaphat after Elijah was taken, and Jehoram did not begin
his reign until after Jehoshaphat died, then how could Elijah write a letter to king Jehoram
unless he was still on earth when Jehoram was king?
The only logical conclusion is that Elijah was taken up into the sky and transported
to another location on the earth.
He was able to write a letter to king Jehoram because he was still living on the earth when
Jehoram was king.
The Bible does not contradict itself.
Yeshua is still the only one who has ascended into heaven.
Now it's your turn.
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See you next time.