Stephen wrote:
Your reasoning looks sound....for Enoch, but I have a question...I am not a scholar and have been taught that Enoch (and Elishia) were translated to heaven and have not tasted death. Your reasoning applies to Enoch, but the verses you use do not fit Elishia. How do you explain his being delivered to heaven in a chariot?
In the Bible, it is said that it is appointed for man once to die and then The Judgment...
My question is If Elishia and Enoch died. Then, who do you think the two witnesses in Revelation are? I have always assumed they were Enoch and Elishia coming down from heaven. Didn't Jesus say the two would be prophets...it seems to fit because these prophets are eventually allowed to be killed by the antichrist. Who else could it be?
Love in Christ
Stephen
Dear Stephen,
God Bless you, and thank you for writing. First, we must consider that Elijah went to heaven on a number of occasions, and even though the Scripture mentions a chariot of fire at the end, it specifically tells us he was transported by a whirlwind into heaven (the Biblical word for anywhere above the earth) from one place to another and even took a friend and from city to city:
2 Kings 2:1 And it came to pass when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.
2 Kings 2:2 And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel.
The last mention is:
2 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.
2 Kings 2:12 And Elisha saw it , and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces.
Elijah saw him no more, but later, Elijah wrote a letter to Jehoram long after he supposedly went to heaven and stayed.
2 Chron. 21:12 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,
As for Moses and Elijah at the Transfiguration, the Word of God tells us this was:
Matt. 17:9 And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man is risen again from the dead.
The vision is the Greek word horama and means a supernatural spectacle.
John the Baptist was:
Luke 1:13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
Luke 1:15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.
Luke 1:17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
But John was not the man Elias, thus will be the witness in the time of Revelation.
Why do we believe it was a vision and not Moses and Elijah themselves? There are many reasons, too many to list here, but here are a few.
John 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
1 Cor. 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
1 Cor. 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
The dead are not alive now; how do we know this? Many Scriptures tell us this Truth; here are a couple:
Acts 2:25 For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:
Acts 2:26 Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope:
Acts 2:27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Acts 2:28 Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.
Acts 2:29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day.
Acts 2:30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;
Acts 2:31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
Acts 2:32 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
Acts 2:33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.
Acts 2:34 For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,
and
Acts 13:36 For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption:
Sleeping saints are dead:
John 11:11 These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.
John 11:12 Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.
John 11:13 Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.
John 11:14 Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.
and
1 Cor. 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
1 Co r.15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
1 Cor. 15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
1 Cor. 15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
This is, of course, at the Coming of the Lord.
Please read the Free Research Book in PDF. Click The Rich Man And Lazarus. We would like any feedback on how we could improve the teaching or any Scriptures we did not handle that you think should be included. So far, no one, individual, or institution has found fault in our research.
This subject is of great importance and is foundational for a true understanding of God's Word, for there are only two possibilities here:
Gen. 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.
Gen. 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
This topic is that important, and the dead being alive today before the Coming of the Lord is completely foreign to Scripture. As for the rapture and the tribulation period and the millennium, we will deal with those after we find the Truth of God's Word regarding this subject that so afflicts Christianity today.
God Bless you abundantly,
The Believers
