ENOCH AND ELIJAH The complication in examining the death of Enoch, stems from the word
"translated." Some people believe that Enoch never saw death because God translated him directly to heaven
Hebrews 11:5 --- By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had
translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. The word
"translated" is the word
transported or
transferred meaning "taken from one place to another." He was not taken from one "spot up" to another place; he was taken from one "place over" to another....that he should not see death.The word "see" is
eidon, which means "
to look at with actual perception with one's eyes" or to literally
"see someone die." When checking the Old Testament one discovers that Enoch had never seen anyone pass away
(Enoch is mentioned in the following places in the Bible: Genesis 5:21-24; Hebrews 11:5; Jude 14.)
Enoch pleased God all the time. For this fidelity God so loved Enoch that He took him from the place Enoch's loved ones would pass on and put him in a place where he could not literally see them die. Enoch did not see anyone else die, but he himself died. The Bible says so in Hebrews 11:5: "By faith Enoch;" verse 7 says, "By faith Noah," verse 8 says, "By faith Abraham, and verse 11 says, "through faith also Sara...." Then in verse 13, after listing Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Sara, Hebrews 11 says. "These all died...." All with exception died. If they all died, then Enoch is dead.-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Elijah and ElishaIn order to understand verses 8-11 of 2 Kings 2, we need to look at the previous and following verses of verse 11.
2 Kings 2:1, 3, 7, 8, 11, 16-18: (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.
(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.
(7)And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood to view afar off: and they two stood by Jordan.
(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.
(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.
(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.
(18) And when they came again to him, (for he tarried at Jericho,) he said unto them, Did I not say unto you, Go not? Elijah and Elisha moved ahead over the Jordan at Jericho. While the fifty sons and the prophet Elisha watched, Elijah was taken up to heaven as The Word discloses. However, this taken up cannot mean he was transported into the presence of God to abide with Him forever because the fifty sons of the prophets looked for Elijah for three days in the rocky slopes.If 2 Kings 2:11 meant that Elijah went straight up, the fifty sons of the prophets would never have looked for him on the land. "And Elisha went up by a whirlwind into heaven" means that God took Elisha. Elijah died away from Elisha and the fifty prophetic sons and is buried awaiting the resurrection.-----------------------------------------------------------------------
MosesAccording to Deuteronomy 35:12, The Word says: "So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD."The Vision at the Transfiguration recorded in Matthew 17 has been used to show that Moses and Elijah are presence with God in heaven; however, this is not what the Word of God teaches.
Matthew 17:1-3:(1)And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,
(2) And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
(3) And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. A key word is appeared.
"Appeared" is translated in the Greek,
optomai, which means
"seeing objectively" or
"envisioning," while ordinarily blepo, which means "using the eyes to look at" would be used. Peter, James and John did not see this phenomenon with their eyes but rather with their minds. Thus eye-sense was completely bypassed.God simply gave a vision of Moses and Elijah to Jesus who had gone up on a mountain to ponder his ministry and, specifically, his death. Moses and Elijah were not alive or made alive to have a rendezvous with Jesus Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration for Joshua 1:2 declares that "Moses my servant is dead." Elijah was also dead.Moses and Elijah were shown to Jesus and his three companions in a vision; the real persons did not appear because they are both dead awaiting the resurrection!Blessings,Agape