Did Elijah Going To Heaven Prove There Is No Paradise?

Acts 2:27, 31-32, “Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.... He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. A biblical event many cite to support belief that the righteous go to heaven when they die involves the prophet Elijah.”

There is an ongoing battle between the New IFB against the Old IFB. By “IFB,” I mean “independent fundamental Baptist” churches. Let me say that I am strongly against uplifting the IFB movement over the Old IFB churches. There is only local New Testament churches. The New IFB was started by Pastor Steven Anderson in 2006, when he founded the Faithful Word Baptist Church. Since then he has ordained dozens of ministers, who are today part of the New IFB.

Unfortunately, Pastor Anderson has some bugs in his theology (e.g., denying a Pretribulation Rapture, errantly teaching that homosexuals cannot be saved, errantly teaching that God and saints should hate homosexuals, and errantly teaching that Jesus went to burn in Hell for 3 days when He died on the cross). It is this last false doctrine about Jesus burning in Hell which promoted me to write this blog. Anybody who preaches that Jesus burned in Hell is woefully ignorant of the inspired Holy Bible.

A good rule to follow when interpreting the Bible is to never use an obscure passage to contradict a clear one. Having said that, a member of the New IFB recently wanted to debate and argue with me recently, which I simply reject and refuse to do. I won't argue with people. He insisted that Pastor Anderson is accurate in saying that Jesus burned in Hell. In this blog I will prove that Jesus did NOT burn in Hell. The dear Savior plainly told the repentant thief on the cross that they would be together in 'Paradise' that very day. Luke 23:43, “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” So unless you think burning in Hell is Paradise, then you must reject Pastor Anderson's heresy. I say that respectfully, because I love and respect Pastor Anderson for his hard work, aggressive soulwinning labors and faithfulness to keep going for the Lord. Brother Anderson is dear to my heart.

All of our lives we have been taught in churches and Bible colleges that the prophet Elijah was caught up into Heaven in a whirlwind of fire. But as I will show you, the truth is that Elijah was only caught up into the lower heaven, into the clouds, and did not go to Heaven.

Most of the following information I found at the 'Bible Answers' website. Since they use the New International Version (NIV), I rewrote the article in my own words, using the inspired King James Bible, but I want to give due credit for the information...

Elijah was a prophet of God in the ninth century BC. The inspired Holy Bible teaches that “Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven” (2nd Kings 2:11). But does this contradict the testimony of Jesus, who 1,000 years later said that “no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.” (John 3:13). So we have a biblical discrepancy here.

We also have have a discrepancy between Acts 2:27 and 2nd Kings 2:11. Acts 2:27 says that Jesus went to Hell (this evidences that there was a literal place called Paradise in the Old Testament. Hell (Greek: Hades) was compartmentalized. We see evidence for this truth in Luke 16:19-31, in the true story of the rich man and Lazarus, who both died and went to Hell. The rick man went to the Torment side of Hades, but Lazarus went to the Paradise side of Hades, and there was a Great Gulf fixed between them the Bible says.

Again, a good rule to follow when interpreting the Bible is to never use an obscure passage to contradict a clear one. Luke 23:43 is clear that Jesus DIDN'T burn in Hell, He went to Paradise. It is unfortunate that Pastor Anderson does not rightly divide the Word of Truth in this matter. Clearly, Paradise is not burning in Hell.

So, how can we explain this two seeming biblical discrepancies? The following Bible truth will resolve both of these seeming contradictions.

There are THREE different meanings of “heaven” in the Bible:

1. CELSTIAL HEAVEN - God's dwelling place — the place of His throne, and where the resurrected Christ is today (Colossians 3:1), interceding for the saints (Romans 8:24). Jesus Christ is our High Priest (Hebrews 4:14). The Bible teaches in Hebrews 8:1-2, “Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” Heaven is specifically called God's dwelling place (“thy holy habitation,” Deuteronomy 26:15).
2. THE UNIVERSE - Another heaven discussed in the Bible is what we call “outer space.” It is the domain of the moon, planets, asteroids, black holes, galaxies, sun and stars. David spoke of these wonders when he pondered God's awesome creative handiwork in Psalms 8:3-4, “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him?  and the son of man, that thou visitest him?” Multiple Scripture passages mention “the stars of heaven” (Genesis 26:4b; Deuteronomy 1:10; 28:62; Isaiah 13:10).
3. EARTH'S ATMOSHPHERE - There is another “heaven” that is the earth's atmosphere which surrounds our planet, consisting of oxygen, nitrogen and other trace gases. This heaven — the earth's atmosphere — is mentioned in such passages as Genesis 7:11b-12, which describes the great flood of Noah's day, “the windows of heaven were opened.  And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.” The Bible also speaks of “the birds of heaven,” those that fly overhead (Job 35:11; Jeremiah 16:4).

To determine which heaven is meant in a Bible passage, we must carefully consider the context of the passage. It was the earth's atmosphere into which Elijah was taken up in a whirlwind of fire. 2nd Kings 2:11, “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.” Elijah was now gone.

Most theologians and other readers ass-u-me that Elijah was taken up to the Heaven where God lives. But, this was not the case. The sons of the prophets knew otherwise. They knew the whirlwind had simply removed Elijah to another location on earth. They exclaimed to Elisha: 2nd Kings 2:16, “And they said unto him, Behold now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master: lest peradventure the Spirit of the LORD hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley.  And he said, Ye shall not send.” The disciples of Elijah were concerned for his safety, so they sent out a party of fifty men to search for the missing prophet. The fifty men searched for three days, but did not find him. 2nd Kings 2:17, “And when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, Send.  They sent therefore fifty men; and they sought three days, but found him not.”

The Bible records that Elijah wrote a letter to Jehoram, the king of Judah, several years after he was removed in the whirlwind. 2nd Chronicles 21:9, 12, “Then Jehoram went forth with his princes, and all his chariots with him: and he rose up by night, and smote the Edomites which compassed him in, and the captains of the chariots. ...And 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,” How can this be? How did Elijah send a writing to Jehoram when he had previously been taken up in heaven? It seems that he was still alive on earth.

There are a few speculative suggestions how this could happen. Some Bible students think that Elijah penned the writing before he was taken up to Heaven and gave it to Elisha to deliver. I do not accept this theory. Others think that the spirit of Elijah the prophet penned the writing through Elisha to Jehoram. I also reject this theory. I humbly think that Elijah was simply taken up by God and moved to a different location, so that Elisha could take the mantle and carry on.

Notice the sequence of events recorded for us in the Bible. Elijah's last recorded and dated act occurred during the reign of the Israelite king Ahaziah when Elijah told the king he would die for his sins (2nd Kings 1:3-4, 17). Ahaziah's reign lasted only about a year (850 BC).

Elijah's removal and replacement by Elisha is then recorded in the next chapter, 2nd Kings chapter 2. The biblical story continues with incidents from Elisha's life, including an encounter with King Jehoshaphat of Judah (2nd Kings 3:11-14). Several years later, Jehoram, the son of King Jehoshaphat, succeeded his father as king of Judah (845 BC - 2nd Kings 8:16).

Jehoram was a wicked king, leading the nation of Judah into idolatry and rebellion against God. A few years later, the prophet Elijah penned a writing to Jehoram, warning him of the dire consequences coming because of his sins. This writing from Elijah is recorded in 2nd Chronicles 21:12-15. So it appears that Elijah was NOT taken up into Heaven to be with God, but simply moved elsewhere on earth. This resolves both discrepancies. Jesus was the first person to  asecend 

This letter proves the prophet was still alive and on earth some years after he was removed by the whirlwind and replaced by Elisha. God had chosen Elisha to succeed Elijah as His prophet, so He bodily removed Elijah to another place, where he continued to live for at least several more years — as his letter to Jehoram demonstrates.

The Bible tells us nothing more about Elijah after he wrote the letter. But he eventually died, since Hebrews 9:27 tells us "it is appointed for men to die once." Elijah, like the other prophets and righteous men of the Old Testament, died in faith, not having received the eternal life God had promised (Hebrews 11:39).

As these passages show, a careful reading of the Scriptures shows that Elijah's miraculous removal in a fiery chariot involved transporting him to another location in the area, not to eternal life in heaven.

What about Enoch? Wasn't he caught up into Heaven to be with the Lord?

Was Enoch Taken to Heaven?

Some people believe Genesis 5:24 and Hebrews 11:5 declare that God took Enoch to heaven. But is that what these verses say?

Some people believe Genesis 5:24 and Hebrews 11:5 declare that God took Enoch to heaven. But is that what these verses say?

Genesis 5:24 tells us that "Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him." Hebrews 11:5 adds: "By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, 'and was not found, because God had taken him'; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God."

Some erroneously jump to the conclusion that Enoch was taken up into heaven, but notice the Bible nowhere says this. It simply says that God "took him." It does not specify where he was taken.

Jesus Christ later states in the Gospel of John that "Scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35). One of the points He makes is that one passage of the Bible cannot contradict another passage.

This same Gospel of John reveals a startling fact very pertinent to this matter: "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).

Clearly, Jesus Christ was the only human being who had ascended into heaven. The phrase "who is in heaven" lets us know that this was written by the apostle John after Christ's return to heaven. So even as late as this statement, no human being—and that includes Enoch—had ascended into heaven.

We later read about Enoch's fate in Hebrews 11:5: "By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, 'and was not found, because God had taken him'; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God." The word rendered "taken" can also mean "transferred elsewhere." And the New American Standard Bible says this was done "so that he would not see death"—a better translation than "did not," as we know from the same chapter of Hebrews that he died.

Notice in verse 13 the summary given of all of the men and women of faith listed here, including Enoch: "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth" (Hebrews 11:13). So Enoch definitely died as well as all the rest.

How, then, can it be that Enoch was transferred elsewhere so he wouldn't see death? God doesn't give us all the details of what happened, but a few scenarios have been proposed that do not conflict with the fact that Enoch died as the Bible says.

It may be that God transported Enoch elsewhere to keep him from being killed at a certain time—perhaps protecting him from martyrdom at the hands of angry persecutors who didn't like his announcement of coming divine judgment (see Jude 14-16). God likewise supernaturally transported Elijah and Philip to other places on earth (see 2 Kings 2:11; Acts 8:39).

On the other hand, we should observe that Enoch died young for his time—at age 365 while those before and after him lived into their 800s and 900s. Because of this, some speculate that God "took him" from life prematurely so that he would not have to live out his remaining centuries in a miserable world (compare Isaiah 57:1-2). His next moment of consciousness will be the resurrection. In this case, "so that he would not see death" would refer to his not having to experience the process of dying—his life ending instantly.

Still others, putting the likelihood of Enoch experiencing persecution together with his early death, have concluded that Enoch was murdered—martyred for his preaching. Enoch being taken and not found would then refer to God removing his body and burying it—as happened with Moses (Deuteronomy 34:5-6).

In this case, Enoch being taken or transferred so that he would not see death is taken as separate matter—that of him being spiritually converted, transferred from the world's ways to God's way of living, so that he would not see ultimate death in the lake of fire (compare Colossians 1:13; John 8:51).

Again, we don't have enough details to know exactly what is intended. But we do know that Enoch did not skip death and go to heaven. He died, and no human being has ascended to heaven except Jesus Christ.

SOURCE: Was Enoch Taken To Heaven?

Wow! That's a lot of information to process. As you can see dear reader, there is a lot of speculation, but let me state the FACTS which cannot be argued:

1. Jesus did go to Hell (Acts 2:27-32).
2. Jesus did not burn in Hell for 3 days, because He went to Paradise (Luke 23:43).
3. Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31 did not go to Heaven when he died.
4. Jesus was in the heart of the earth for 3 days and 3 nights (Matthew 12:40).

Therefore, from these FACTS we can logically deduce that Hell is in the heart of the earth. We can also deduce from the FACTS that there must be a place of Paradise in the heart of the earth. Since Acts 2:27-32 teaches that Jesus went to Hell, we can deduce that Paradise must be in Hell. Thus, we can conclude that Hell must be compartmentalized between the places of Torment on one side, and Paradise (or Abraham's Bosom - Luke 16:22) on the other side, with a great gulf fixed between (Luke 16:26).

Although Bible students can debate and argue until the cows come home, the FACTS that I have just given you cannot be debated. Everyone has a right to their own opinion, but no one has a right to their own facts.