*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. (KJV)*
In accurate bible interpretation, we must be silent where the bible is silent and loud where the bible is loud. This means that we cannot be louder than what the bible says. The emphasis of the bible should be our emphasis. We explained that interpreting the translation of Enoch and not seeing death because Good took him as rapture to heaven is an error. This is because the bible was loud in this same chapter contextually that all the elders mentioned including Enoch all died without seeing the promise
fulfilled. Jesus is the first fruit of our resurrection. Before his resurrection, it was impossible for anybody to achieve immortality. Mortality cannot go to heaven and for that matter, the experience of Enoch was not rapture, even though the bible was silent on the exact experience of Enoch. The question many will be asking at this moment will be about Elijah, which was recorded in the book of 2Kings that he went up in a whirlwind to heaven.
From our opening text, Jesus emphatically said that no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven. This appears to contradict what was written by the prophets in 2Kings 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”. Jesus is the message of the scriptures. He is the interpretation of the words of the prophets. His interpretation of the scriptures supersedes any other interpretation. According to Hebrews 1: 1-2, the prophets spoke to our Fathers in portions of the truth but in these last days, God has spoken to us in his son, Jesus. This means that the prophets didn’t have all the truth, they had partial knowledge. Christ is the complete knowledge or revelation of God or the truth.
This means that whatever the prophets said must be put under the lens of Christ. The miraculous disappearance of Elijah was interpreted by the prophets as the rapture of Elijah to heaven. Even though Elijah was taken away in a whirlwind, the bible is silent on the details of his location. However, the bible is loud on the fact that Elijah did not ascend up to heaven. Jesus said nobody ever ascended to heaven. The author of the book of Hebrews also said that all the elders of the Old Testament died in faith. The epistles also teach that Christ is the first fruit of the resurrection. This means that till Christ was resurrected, no one could become immortal to be raptured. Therefore, concluding that Enoch and Elijah were raptured to heaven will be our own thought being infused into the scriptures. Though the bible is silent on the details of their
experiences, the bible is loud on the fact that none of them went to heaven in their mortal bodies.
*Hebrews 1: 1-2, 2Kings 2:1-11, Hebrews 11:30-40*
