Did Enoch and Elijah really not die?
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Most people believe that both Enoch and Elijah did not physically die, but were taken to heaven by God. I must admit to actually believing this myself before engaging in this study. It is claimed that these 2 men, unlike every other man, including Jesus it must be stated, did not die a natural human death but were taken by God, alive, up into heaven.
The verses that are most often cited as proof for this belief are
Genesis 5:24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
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.
These 2 verses used to prove that Enoch did not die.
As For Elijah just one verse is often cited.
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.
So it appears, at face value anyway, it is only when we simply take these verses alone and view them with the preconceived belief, as I did, that both these men did not die, that they do indeed show that both Enoch and Elijah did not die.
However, when we actually analyse the verses and put them back into the Bible and not simply on their own, which is not how biblical verses should be interpreted, along with proper context and understanding, the meaning of these verses completely changes.
The first thing we need to establish are some basic Bible teachings that automatically show an error in this understanding regarding these 2 men.
The Bible very clearly states that no man has ascended to heaven apart from Jesus. Jesus himself said this.
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.
The Bible also says that ALL men die
1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
And that it is appointed for ALL men to die once
Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
There is no exclusion here. All men die once. This as stated even included the Messiah, Jesus. Jesus was not even an exception to this rule.
Clearly the Bible and specifically the very words of Jesus would show the understanding that these 2 men did not die as being false. If the understanding that we hold goes against the very clear statement of Jesus then it is our understanding that is incorrect and not Jesus.
So how do we rectify these apparent differences? Many people have tackled this problem and most still assert that they both died. There are countless postulations that can be found on most Christian websites.
I shall give the FULL answer here of one of the leading Christian apologetic websites. I can give the full answer as amazingly it is is just 210 words long.
Answer: According to the Bible, Enoch and Elijah are the only two people God took to heaven without them dying. Genesis 5:24 tells us, “Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.” Second Kings 2:11 tells us, “Suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.” Enoch is described as a man who “walked with God for 300 years” (Genesis 5:23). Elijah was perhaps the most powerful of God’s prophets in the Old Testament. There are also prophecies of Elijah’s return (Malachi 4:5-6).
Why did God take Enoch and Elijah? The Bible does not specifically give us the answer. Some speculate that they were taken in preparation for a role in the end times, possibly as the two witnesses in Revelation 11:3-12. This is possible, but not explicitly taught in the Bible. It may be that God desired to save Enoch and Elijah from experiencing death due to their great faithfulness in serving and obeying Him. Whatever the case, God has His purpose, and while we don’t always understand God’s plans and purposes, we know that “His way is perfect” (Psalm 18:30).
So this multi million dollar Christian website with apparently some of the foremost apologists working for it has managed just 210 words and at the end of it basically said …..we have no idea how to reconcile it, we don’t understand some of God’s ways.
Really? Is that really the best you can do? I rather think we should be looking for a more concise and definitive answer than this.
So here goes.
The answer is pretty simple and straightforward. Both Enoch and Elijah died. Regardless of the usual teaching by most church denominations regarding these 2 men they both died normal human deaths.
Enoch
Let’s start with Enoch and show that both Moses and the author of Hebrews said that Enoch died.
Genesis 5:24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
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.
We need to break these verses down and analyse them in more detail.
Notice that Genesis 5:24 says God took Enoch and also that he was not. This is the first important piece of information that we shall analyse. He was not, does not mean that he did not die, he was simply not on the earth for God took him to heaven without having died. In fact it means the exact opposite.
Enoch did in fact die. Genesis 5:24 is talking about Enochs actual death which happened when he was 365 years old. Which we are told in the previous verse.
Genesis 5:23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
Al the days of is a reference to the days that a person is alive.
Genesis chapter 5 is a list of the descendants of Adam to Noah and Noah’s sons. So basically a list from Adam to the time of the flood.
In this chapter the term all the days of is used 9 times.
This includes Adam, Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel , Jared, ENOCH, Methuselah and Lamech.
ALL of these people died. And the days of them tells us the years that they were alive before they died. Enoch is included here in this list.
To be taken by God is an idiom for a person who is dead and is still an idiom used by people today to refer to someone that has indeed died.
Then there is the phrase and he was not. He was not is actually a very common biblical idiom for someone who is dead.
We see this is used by the brothers of Joseph, the sons of Jacob (Israel), during a conversation they had with Joseph, not knowing that they were indeed talking to their brother Joseph. They stated that one of the brothers was not.
Genesis 47:13 And they said, Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.
They were referring to Joseph who they themselves had sold into slavery and had presumed was dead or at least that’s what they had made their father believe and Jacob did believe that his son was dead
Genesis 37:31And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood; 32And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son’s coat or no. 33And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces. 34And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
Earlier the brothers had referred to Joseph as exactly this, dead.
Genesis 44:20 And we said unto my lord, We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him.
The little one referred to is Benjamin who was Joseph’s only full brother. Their Mother was Rachel. So they referred to Benjamin’s brother, Joseph, as being dead or one is not.
So we see they equated the term one is not with being dead.
This is again seen in Lamentations where the Israelites were praying for the restoration of Israel. They said that their fathers who had sinned ‘are not’. Their fathers were dead.
Lamentations 5:7Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities.
Clearly again they used the term ‘and are not’ as a way of saying they were dead.
Now when we go to the new testament we see that the same phrase is used there.
In Matthew 2 we are told that Herod killed all the children under 2 in Bethlehem and the coast of.
Matthew 2:16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.
We are then told that this killing of the children by Herod fulfilled a prophecy as spoken by the prophet Jeremiah
Matthew 2:17 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, 18 In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.
Rachel weeping for her children who were not. The children who were not is a reference to the children that had been killed by Herod. So the children who were not had been killed. They were dead.
This prophecy, spoken by Jeremy (Jeremiah) is found in chapter 31 of the Book of Jeremiah
Jeremiah 31:15 Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.
So the phrase “he/she/they are not/were not” is simply another way of saying they are dead.
But we still have a problem with Hebrews 11:5 as it would seem to indicate that Enoch did not see death. That he was translated so that he should not see death.
Again we need to look at the language used. When we look at the verse again and analyse it in more detail the verse simply does not say that Enoch did not die. It says that he should not see death.
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.
We must remember that the writer of Hebrews is referring back to the verse in the Old Testament in Genesis which we already saw did not mean that Enoch did not die. We must interpret the verse in Hebrews constantly the with the writings of Moses as to not create a contradict that doesn’t actually exist. Moses did not say that Enoch died.
So how do we correctly understand the verse in Hebrews.
It’s important to notice that the author of Hebrews does not record Enoch as not seeing his OWN death, Enoch was translated so that he should not see death. The death that Enoch did not see was that upon the earth. Enoch was taken by God to spare him from the death on the earth. During Enochs time the earth was corrupt and evil. (the flood would come around 700 years after Enoch was taken)
Enoch was righteous. He had faith in God.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
But as we see in verse 5 Enoch did please God. So Enoch had faith.
We see that Enoch walked with God. This is actually stated twice of Enoch, once in genesis 5 verse 24 but also in verse 22.
Genesis 5:22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
Repetition of such indicates the information presented is of importance.
Walking with God is a biblical term to simply be following God.
We are told that Noah walked with God and Noah was perfect and just.
Genesis 6:9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
Enoch, being righteous was taken away from the evil of the world.
Isaiah 57:1 The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.
So we are told that the righteous die, they are taken away from the evil that was to come. However no man layeth it to heart , meaning that people do not understand this. There are times when a righteous person is taken by God, meaning that they die, not because they are wicked but actually because they are not and so that they are spared the evils of this world. Enoch being righteous was taken by God meaning that he died away from the evils of the world. As we also know by the time of the flood only Noah and his family were considered righteous enough to be spared.
The verse in Hebrews also says that Enoch was not found. Again this does not mean that Enoch simply disappeared, being taken by God into heaven without having died
He was not found is again another way of stating that the person died.
This is perfectly highlighted in Psalm 37:36
Psalm 37:36 Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.
So we see that we have the reference to but he could not be found. Why could he not be found? Because he had passed away, he had died. And again we have the reference to he was not.
Enoch could not be found because he had died.
When we put Hebrews 11:5 back into context of the chapter again we get a completely different picture. It even specifically states that Enoch DID die, just 8 verses after the verse that is used to show that Enoch did not.
Hebrews 11:13 These all 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.
In context the author of Hebrews list a number of people from the Old Testament, Abel, Enoch, Noah and Abraham.
Hebrews 11:4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. 5By 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. 6But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 7By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. 8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. 9By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: 10For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 11Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. 12Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.
Notice the term by faith…..
By faith Abel, By faith Enoch, By faith Noah, By faith Abraham
ALL of these are stated as by faith and ALL of the are stated as having DIED in faith.
Hebrews 11:13 These all 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.
Enoch is not excluded but included in the ALL that died in faith.
We also have the word translated. What exactly does this word mean? The Greek is μετατίθημι metatithemi it means to transfer or change (from one place to another). It does not mean to go to heaven or be to be changed into a spirit to inhabit heaven. Had Enoch been changed and gone into heaven then Jesus would have been incorrect in his statement regarding himself being the only man to ascend into heaven.
The same word is used in Acts where it is translated by the KJV as carried over
Acts 7:15 So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he, and our fathers, 16 And were carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor [the father ] of Sychem.
The bodies of Jacob and the Israelite fathers who had died in Egypt were carried over to Sychem. They were transferred, taken, from one place to another. They had died. They certainly were not changed physically here. Their remains simply moved from Egypt to Sychem.
Moses said that God took Enoch. Enoch died and God translated him, he moved him.
In the same way that after Moses died God buried him. None of the Israelite buried Moses. He was buried by God and nobody knows the exact location of where Moses was buried by God.
Deuteronomy 34:5 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. 6 And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.
Just in case someone wishes to use the, well that’s what the KJV translates it as but my Bible says …..argument.
The NIV translates metatithemi as brought back.
Acts 7:16 Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money.
The ESV has carried back
Acts 7:16 and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
And the ERV carried over
Acts 7:16 and they were carried over unto Shechem, and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a price in silver of the sons of Hamor in Shechem
All state the same thing here. The bodies were taken, translated, from Egypt to Sychem.
The verse also does not say that Enoch was taken to heaven when he was translated it says he was not found which we have seen is a biblical way of saying that he died.
So Enoch died, he was taken by God so that he would not see the death, the evil that was upon the earth to be spared the evil that was to come. As we know the world descended into such wickedness that God brought about the flood to rid the earth of this wickedness.
There is also another usage of the word translated. This is found in Colossians chapter 1
Colossians 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
Here we, believers, are translated, into the kingdom of God’s son. We are taken away from the power of darkness. Translated from the darkness to the light.
When we put the 2 verses together with the correct understanding they simply do not mean what people so commonly believe that they do.
Elijah
But what about Elijah. Let’s have a look at the verse again.
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.
The first thing we have to address is the statement Elijah went by a whirlwind into heaven.
If we understand this as Elijah went into heaven then we have a direct contradiction with the words of Jesus as we know Jesus said he was the only man to ascend into heaven.
So how do we reconcile this.
Again when we understand that scripture does not contradict scripture but rather scripture interprets scripture the true understanding is much easier to obtain.
The heaven that Enoch went up to is not the heaven that Jesus did. There are in fact more than one heaven mentioned in scripture.
There is the heaven where God is said to reside, the heaven to which Jesus ascended.
But there is the earth’s atmosphere and what we call the sky. This in Hebrew is also called a heaven.
Genesis 1: 6And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 7And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. 8And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
Genesis 1:20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
ALL of these heavens use the same Hebrew word שָׁמַיִם shamayim.
Elijah was taken up by a whirlwind into the sky (Heaven) . (which is where whirlwinds are).
Now we need to add some context to the story and find out the reason that God took Elijah up in a whirlwind.
Elijah and Elisha were travelling around Israel the day that Elijah was to be taken up to heaven.
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.
They went to Bethal (2 kings 2:2) Jericho (2 Kings 2:4) and Jordan (2 Kings 2:6)
In Bethal and Jericho place the sons of the prophets ask Elisha does he now that his master (Elijah) was to be taken away from him
2 Kings 2:3And 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.
2 Kings 2:5And 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.
As we can see Elisha knew.
We then see that the sons of the prophets wanted to look for Elijah. The men did not think that Elijah had been taken literally to heaven but they understood that he had simply been taken by the whirlwind, that they believed was the spirit of the LORD, and that he was carried off to a mountain or valley or somewhere.
2 Kings 2:15And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him. 16And 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 reason that God took Elijah was because it was time for Elisha to take over. Elisha couldn’t simply take over from Elijah while Elijah was still around as this would have been like good disqualifying him. So Elijah was taken away by the whirlwind, removed from their sight so that Elisha could take his place. Elisha was to take up the mantle of Elijah and take his place as a prophet of God.
We see that Elisha did in fact take take up the mantle dropped by Elijah as he was carried away.
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. 13 He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan; 14And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.
15 And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.
But Elijah was not dead at this time and neither was he literally in Heaven.
We know this because Elijah himself sent a letter to Jehoram the King of Judah.
2 Chronicles 21:12And 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, 13But 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: 14Behold, with a great plague will the LORD smite thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy goods: 15And thou shalt have great sickness by disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day.
Jehoram was King of Judah AFTER Elijah had been taken by the whirlwind.
Jehoram became King of Judah in 848 BC after the death of his father Jehoshaphat.
2 Chronicles 21:1 Now Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And Jehoram his son reigned in his stead.
However, he had been joint King with his father for 6 years before this (854 BC )
Then Jehoram the son of Ahab became king of Israel in 852 bc after the death of Ahaziah because Ahaziah had no son.
2 Kings 1:17 So he died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken. And Jehoram reigned in his stead in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; because he had no son.
So Jehoram the son of Ahab reigned as King in Israel in the 2nd year (his joint rulership) of Jehoram the son of Josephat Jehosaphat who reigned in Judah.
Elijah was taken up by the whirlwind before Jehoram the son of Ahab became King in Israel. But we also know that Elijah was around at the time of Ahaziah as Elijah denounced Ahaziah in 2 Kings chapter 1 (verses 1-16)
So Elijah was taken up by the whirlwind sometime between the 2 kings which can only be in 852BC
But as we saw Elijah sent a letter to Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat in 848 BC
Before Elijah sent the letter we are told of an event. The Edomites revolt.
This happened in the days of Jehoram (the King of Judah, the son of Jehoshaphat)
This is at least 4 years (probably more) after Elijah had been taken up.
Elijah was still alive and on the earth at least 4 years after the event of the whirlwind.
We are not told of the events of the actual death of Elijah however when we take all scripture together it is very clear that he did die and he was not taken to heaven (the abode of God)
When we do not simply take a verse or a passage and isolate it from the rest of scripture, scripture interprets scripture and demonstrates that both Enoch and Elijah, contrary to the popularly taught misunderstanding, did in fact die. Neither of them were taken up by God alive into heaven. Jesus is correct. NO man has ascended into heaven except HIM.
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