Are Enoch And Elijah In Heaven?

Hello Mike,

I just found your web site, and I have to say, it is very informative. And it has shed some light on some questions that I have had.

Now to the point. For the last couple of days, I have had a question on my mind to which I do not have an answer. I was hoping you may be able to shed some light on the subject.

In Joh 3:13, we read that “No one has ascended to heaven but he who came down from heaven, that is, the son of man who is in heaven.”

But if this is true, which I believe it is, how do we account for 2Ki 2:11, in which Elijah was taken up to heaven; Gen 5:24, when Enoch was taken by God; and finally, Mat 17:3, when Peter, James, and John saw Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus on the mountain?

Thank you, Mike,

C____

Hello C__,

I would first point you to 2 Pe 1:20 “no… scripture is of any private interpretation.” Meaning no scripture stands alone , rather “The sum of thy word is truth,…” (Psa 119:160).

2Pe 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private [Greek: idios – self] interpretation.
Psa 119:160 The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting.

Armed with these principles, let us look into your first question pertaining to Elijah. Despite the dramatic way in which he was transported, we are given no reason to believe that Elijah was carried up to any other heaven than that in which the birds travel. Indeed it appeared to the sons of the prophets that he must have been deposited on some mountain or into some valley. The fact that he did not leave the Earth altogether is born out by the fact that he sent a letter to Jehoram in 2Ch 21:12 years after Elisha had taken up his mantle.

2Ch 21:4 Now when Jehoram had taken over the kingdom of his father [Jehoshaphat] and made himself secure, he killed all his brothers with the sword, and some of the rulers of Israel also.

2Ch 21:12 Then a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet saying, “Thus says the LORD God of your father David, ‘Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father and the ways of Asa king of Judah…”

The writer of Hebrews provides the fullest explanation of Enoch’s fate. Verse 5 reads “By faith Enoch was taken up so that he might not see death; and he was not found because God took him up;” While verse 13 concludes “All these died in faith, without receiving the promises,…” We are not told who was seeking Enoch to put him to death, but there has never been a shortage of opposition to those walking with God.

Heb 11:13 All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

As for your reference to Mat 17:3, I believe Christ’s own words reveal the true nature of what Peter, James, and John saw. In verse 9, He commands them, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.”

Mat 17:9 As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.”

While this was all very real to James and Peter and John, it was really just a vision of Enoch and Elijah. They were not really there any more than your dreams are real. It was “the vision.”

In conclusion, I pray that you will be encouraged and strengthened in Christ as your studies of God’s holy word continue; that we might stand together in high places (as Peter, James, and John did) witnessing Christ in all His glory being testified of by both the law (Moses) and the prophets (Elijah), knowing that, through Christ, we can walk closer to God than Enoch, and like Elijah, we will be sustained through drought when the holy rain of God’s spirit is being withheld from the world.

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Your servant in Christ,

Mike

Hello there Mike,

I wanted to say hello and thanks for all the effort you put into your site.

The last 2 months of my life have been overwhelming. It’s truly like scales have fallen off my eyes and that I have ears to hear. I’m restless at times, because my mind will not stop thinking. I’m praying that God will continue to reveal his truth to me.

I do have a few questions, if you could spare the time to answer.

In Mat 17:3, it says “And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.”

Can you explain how this happens if they are still in the grave awaiting Resurrection?

Thanks, Mike.

D_____

Hi D_____,

Thank you for your encouraging words and for your question. Letters like yours make all the work worth while.

I get this question regularly and it is easy to explain: It was a vision. No one was really there with Christ but Peter, James and John.

There is a response to an email here on this site that deals with this question and with its sister question about where Enoch and Elijah were taken.

Mike