Wasn't Elijah taken to Heaven alive?
From EJ Hill & Friends
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Answer
"And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven." (2 Kgs. 2v11, AKJV, p.180)
For years Elijah functioned as leader to the sons of the prophets. It was time for Elisha to assume leadership. God wanted Elijah to by-and-large "retire" - at least in an active and public directorship.
"{3} And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he said, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace. {4} And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me to Jericho. And he said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho. {5} And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he answered, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace." (2 Kgs. 2v3-5, AKJV, p.180)
The whole purpose of removing Elijah was to replace him with another man who would assume his office in Israel as head of the prophets.
So WHERE did Elijah go?
We know from Jesus' testimony that he didn't go to the third "heaven" bodily. (Jn. 3v13) Logically, he couldn't remain in the air for ever, either. Neither did God give indication as to whether Elijah was to die at that time.
The sons of the prophets who knew Elijah was to be removed did not believe he was to die then or "to be with the Lord". They sent "fifty strong men" to search for Elijah, "lest peradventure the Spirit of the Lord hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley." (2 Kgs. 2v16, AKJV, p.180) "... they sought three days, but found him not." (2 Kgs. 2v17, AKJV, p.180)
Several years AFTER Elijah was taken away, King Jehoram received a letter from him! How long after? Due to difficulties in the exact chronology, it varies from 2 to 10 years.
According to Josephus (a Jewish historian of the first century AD) suggests 4 years, while the Jewish Encyclopedia figures it at 7 years.
Regardless of the exact number of years,
"... there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of David thy father, Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah. {13} But hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father's house, which were better than thyself: {14} Behold, with a great plague will the Lord smite thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy goods: {15} And thou shalt have great sickness by disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day. {16} Moreover the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians, that were near the Ethiopians:" (2 Chr. 21v12-16, AKJV, p.219)
Some have suggested that Elijah's Letter was written some time before his removal. However, the wickedness of Jehoram, for which he was being rebuked in the letter, took place AFTER Elijah's removal. Also, the letter speaks of these events as PAST, and the punishment to come upon him as yet FUTURE. Therefore, the assumption of some, that Elijah's Letter was written some time before his removal, is proven wrong.
Elijah, therefore, was taken up by a whirlwind into the first heaven, being transported to another location on Earth.
Some copies of Josephus' "Antiquities of the Jews" makes it plain "For he was yet upon the earth" [1|2]
Regarding Elijah's "Death"
If Elijah was taken up into a whirlwind to the third "heaven", as some have assumed, he would not have died.
Yet, a marginal note found in some editions of the Bible concerning Elijah's Letter says that it "was written before his death", referring to the death of Elijah. There also exists a traditional site known as Elijah's Tomb near a tributary of the Jordan River. [2] "Harper's Bible Dictionary", which lists various feasts and fasts of the Jewish calendar, says the tenth day of the second month ZN was a "fast to commemorate the death of Elijah". [2]
The main proof, however, that Elijah died like any other, is from the Bible itself.
Paul, in speaking of those "of whom the world was not worthy" (Heb. 11v38), writes:
"And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:" (Heb. 11v32, AKJV, p.534-535)
Elijah was one of those "prophets", who like Enoch, "died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth" (Heb. 11v13, AKJV, p.534); so "that they without us should not be made perfect" (Heb. 11v40)
Bibliography
1. Josephus; Antiquities of the Jews, 9, 5:2.
2. Keith Hunt; Are Enoch, Moses, Elijah, in Heaven? (Restitution of All Things, 1981) (30/03/2008) http://www.keithhunt.com/Enochhea.html --- confuses the 'third heaven' with the 'new heaven'.
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