Smoodock's Blog

It is commonly believed by most folks who believe the Bible is true that Elijah never died. When he ascended in a fiery chariot, it is commonly thought that Elijah went directly into heaven, living forever, without ever having to die. Is this so? If it is so, how does this understanding square with Jesus’ words in John 3:13 that “…no man has ascended into heaven except for he who came down from heaven…”, namely Jesus, himself?

We are told in the Old Testament that Elijah was taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire (2Kings 2:11) presumably during the final days of the reign of Ahaziah, king of Israel. Nothing is said in 2Kings chapter two about the reign of any king that would date its events. However, Elijah’s chariot ride in chapter two comes between the reigns of two kings of Israel. 2Kings 3:1 says that Jehoram, son of Ahab reigned in Ahaziah’s stead. Ahaziah died of a disease not leaving a son, so his brother, Jehoram became the King of Israel (cp. 2Kings 1:15-18).

The beginning of Jehoram’s 12 year reign coincided with the eighteenth year of the reign of Jehosaphat, king of Judah. This is important, because the kings of Judah and Israel were allies. Before going to war with Moab they consulted the prophets, but Judah and Israel were not united in their faiths. Only Judah worshiped the Lord. Therefore, Jehosaphat desired a word from a prophet of the LORD before going to war, and in this case we are told the great prophet was Elisha (2Kings 3:11). Therefore, the time of this Scripture is definitely after Elijah ascended to heaven in a fiery chariot (2Kings 2:11).

In order to show that Elijah did not die and was not taken into heaven where God is, we need to consult the book of Chronicles. Elijah was merely taken into the visible heaven where the clouds are. Consider the fact that Elijah’s student prophets or disciples wanted to go look for him after the whirlwind had taken him up. They feared that he was thrown down (2Kings 2:16-18), so they may have seen a great deal of Elijah’s miraculous journey, perhaps all of it. Notice in 2Chronicles 21:1 Jehoram, the son of Jehosaphat, reigned in Jerusalem in the stead of his father. Jehosaphat was dead, but remember that Elisha was the prophet of the Lord that Jehosaphat had consulted concerning the war with Moab. Therefore, by this time in 2Chronicles 21, Elijah had already taken his chariot ride into the heavens which had to have occurred before Jehosaphat’s death. Moreover, Jehoram the son of Ahab referred to in 2Kings 3:1 with whom Jehosaphat was allied is not the same Jehoram mentioned here in 2Chronicles 21:1. This Jehoram was king of Judah and son of Jehosaphat. He did not walk in the ways of his father but in the ways of the kings of Israel, for he had married Ahab’s daughter and led Judah astray (2Chronicles 21:4-6).

The point of all this is that in 2Chronicles 21:12 we find that Elijah wrote a letter to Jehoram, the king of Judah, chastising him for walking in the way of the kings of Israel. Knowing that Elijah’s chariot ride in 2Kings chapter two took place while Jehosaphat was still alive, how could he write a letter after Jehosaphat’s death, if he was in heaven where God is? This means Elijah was still alive and earthbound. Therefore, though Elijah’s chariot ride into heaven may be a figure of our being caught up to meet the Lord at his second coming, it does not mean that Elijah was himself taken into paradise, nor does it mean he never died at a later date. All it means is that his ministry as God’s main prophet was about done. Except for this letter to the king of Judah, Elijah’s ministry ended with the fiery chariot ride up to the clouds. And, lest anyone think Elijah could have returned from heaven just to write this letter or that he inspired one of the other prophets to write the letter for him, the Scriptures deny this possibility (Leviticus 20:27; 1Samuel 28:7-8; cp. Luke16:25-26).

The sense is, therefore, Elijah was given a fiery chariot ride through the visible heaven and set down in a place away from his brethren, Elisha and his disciples. Why did this occur? We are not told. It certainly marked the end of his great public ministry, which went to Elisha. Certainly Elijah’s disciples didn’t believe he was taken into heaven where God was, because they wanted to search for his body. This implies they were able to see a great deal of Elijah’s journey and perhaps his decent. We are not told all the details, but we are told enough to see there is not a contradiction between 2Kings 2:11 and Jesus’ words in John 3:13.