Sabbath Message 05/11/37/120

Dear Friends

It is clear that 2 Kings 2:1 talks about Elijah who went up by a “whirlwind” into “heaven” most people think that this is literally where he went and still is.

Some people believe that he was not taken to the heavens but went somewhere on earth.  As a basis for this belief they use the text in 2 Chronicles 21:12.  Indeed the WCG and offshoots taught this error in order to prove that Elijah was dead and thus they could claim that Herbert Armstrong was actually Elijah in the same way Christ said John the Baptist was in the Spirit of Elijah.

Some claim that because the prophets knew he was to be taken and they searched for him there were thus witnesses who knew that he was taken somewhere else on earth, because that's where they searched for him after getting permission to do so from the prophet Elisha.  Thus they would not have looked for him on earth if they thought he went to heaven. Neither would the inspired Elisha have consented to their search. Some pose the question: “did he go up possibly into the first heaven and then placed somewhere else on earth?

Some then reason:  How else could he have written the letter to King Jehoram (2 Chr. 21:12) if he were not still here?

Some rightly point to the Scripture in John that states unequivocally that neither he nor anyone else save Christ has gone to heaven.  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.

Thus Elijah did not go to heaven nor could anyone else have gone to heaven; not even Enoch who was taken by God. Wherever they were taken it was not to heaven.

The answer is simple.  Elijah was a prophet of the Living God.  God is omniscient and He gave instructions to Elijah and also to Elisha.  Elijah was taken by the Merkabah Chariot of God as the Scriptures state.

2Kings 2:[11] And as they still went on and talked, behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Eli'jah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. [12] And Eli'sha saw it and he cried, "My father, my father! the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!" And he saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and rent them in two pieces. [13] And he took up the mantle of Eli'jah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. [14] Then he took the mantle of Eli'jah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, saying, "Where is the LORD, the God of Eli'jah?" And when he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other; and Eli'sha went over. [15] Now when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho saw him over against them, they said, "The spirit of Eli'jah rests on Eli'sha." And they came to meet him, and bowed to the ground before him. [16] And they said to him, "Behold now, there are with your servants fifty strong men; pray, let them go, and seek your master; it may be that the Spirit of the LORD has caught him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley." And he said, "You shall not send." [17] But when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, "Send." They sent therefore fifty men; and for three days they sought him but did not find him.

So the whirlwind was the fact of the actions of the chariot and horse of fire.  They went into the air of the atmosphere which is sometimes referred to as the First Heaven.

Why did Elisha allow the prophets to search for him even though they knew he was to be taken? 
Had he forbidden them it would have undermined his authority as he would have been thought uncaring and disregarding of Elijah’s well being.  This was in spite of the fact that God had already told them in the Spirit that Elijah was to be taken that day.  They wanted to make sure that he really had been taken and they were not being fooled.  Their faith was problematic.

The writing sent to Jehoram from Elijah was a prophecy. Elijah had long since been taken in the Merkabah Chariot of God forward in time (2 Kgs. 2:1; cf. 3:11).  He did not send a letter to Jehoram. The word is not "letter" which would have been "'iggereth" or "sepher" a book, but the word was "michetab" which is a "writing" or prophecy (cf. Bullinger fn. to Comp. Bible).

Even though Elijah was taken by God he was also told to place prophecy to be delivered to King Jehoram in the future because of his conduct.  He may have even sent it from the chariot as it moved through time. One thing is certain he was not on the earth acting as a prophet at the time. The restrictions of the Theory of Relativity allows for travel forward to this century within the life span of the prophets.

It is appointed unto all men once to die and that applies also to Elijah and to Enoch both of whom were taken by God.  They did not go to heaven as we know from John above. The only other option is forward in time to the Last Days.  They could not have died and been resurrected as there is only one Resurrection of the Dead to which all the Patriarchs and prophets are appointed (see the paper Heaven, Hell or the First Resurrection of the Dead (No. 143A)).  

God tells us that Elijah is not dead but will be brought forward in time before the Messiah comes and before the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord (Mal. 4:5-6). So also Christ said Elijah would come in the future and it was not John the Baptist to which he referred. Revelation 11:3-13 says that there are two witnesses that will be sent and the only other one in the past that was taken by God was Enoch. These are they who are the prophets God sends in the Last Days after the Danite Ephraimite prophet of Jeremiah 4:15-16 finishes his task.  They have to die and they have not died already to be resurrected as the Resurrection occurs with the coming of the Messiah.

We don't worship a superman. We worship a God who knows the future and commands the prophets. Elijah was able to deal with Jehoram while on the Merkabah Chariot with Enoch moving forward in time to the Last Days where they will prophesy for 1260 days clothed in sackcloth and with and on ashes in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount.

Wade Cox
Coordinator General