Where Is
Enoch?
I found this article years ago when researching what
happens when we die. I apologize for having forgotten who wrote it. I agree
with this explanation and present it here for you. Keep in mind that this study is based on allowing ALL of the Bible to interpret itself. It is not based on the writer's opinion, but on what the Bible itself says.
Study to
show thyself approved unto God … 2
Timothy 2:15
As you read
remember: And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from
heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. John 3:13
For David did not ascend to heaven, and
yet he said, “’The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand” Acts 2:34
Part one
ENOCH was
"translated." Where did he go? Was he immediately taken to heaven?
NO! Because Yeshua Himself said: "No man hath ascended up to heaven, but
he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man"(John 3:13). Here are
Jesus' own words that no man, except Himself, had ascended into
heaven! And how did He know? Why, He came from there! Then where is Enoch?
Let's see what the Holy Scriptures says.
Enoch Walked With God
At the age of 65 Enoch had a son Methuselah. "And
Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and he
begat sons and daughters" (Genesis 5:22).
Here was a man that PLEASED
God, a man that WALKED WITH GOD. Enoch had to have
faith, for in Hebrews 11:6 the Apostle said, "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 rewarded of them that diligently seek Him."
So Enoch walked with God. He obeyed God, and followed Him in His paths BY FAITH.
No one can walk with
God unless he is in agreement with the will of God and doing it. Amos the
prophet said: "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?"
(Amos3:3.) So in his generation Enoch was the only recorded person who followed
the ways of God - even though it’s possible it took him sixty-five years to
learn to walk with God!
But how long did
Enoch walk with God? The Scripture says that he "walked with God after he
begat Methuselah three hundred years." So Enoch followed God's ways for
three hundred years. Notice that Moses did not record that Enoch is still walking
with God. The Scripture says that Enoch WALKED with God for three
hundred years and not one year more! The Enoch is not still walking with God!
Why?
Because, "all
the days of Enoch; were three hundred sixty-five years" (Gen. 5:23). ALL
the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. Not just part of his
days, but all his days! If Enoch did not die-if he was changed to
immortality-and thus continued to walk with God, then his days would have been
more than three hundred and sixty-five years. But the Scripture plainly says
that ALL his days were just that many and no more!
This expression
"all his days" is used in the same fifth chapter of Genesis about a
dozen times and it always means that the person lived for that length of time ONLY
"and he died." So Enoch lived NO MORE than three
hundred and sixty-five years because "all his days were three hundred and
sixty-five years." As he lived only for this length of time THEN HE
MUST HAVE DIED! However, what about his translation? Does that mean he
didn't die? That's what many people carelessly assume without proof.
What Really Happened at Enoch's Translation?
Remember, Moses
didn't write that Enoch did not die. Rather Moses wrote that "Enoch walked
with God: and he was not; for God took him" (Gen. 5:24). Paul records the
same event by saying that he "was not found, because God had translated
him" (Heb. 11:5). Thus the Scripture records that Enoch was not found
because God took him, or "translated" him. THE SCRIPTURES DOES
NOT SAY THAT ENOCH WENT TO HEAVEN when he was translated. Instead it
says he was not found. Certainly Enoch was "translated," but what
does the word "translate" mean?
Strange as it may
seem, nowhere in the entire Scripture does "translate" mean to make
immortal!
The original Greek word
for "translate" is metatithemi. According to Strong's Concordance it
signifies: transfer, transport, exchange, change sides.
This same Greek word
is rendered "carried over" in Acts 7:16. Here we read that after
Jacob DIED his body was "carried over"-transported, 'TRANSLATED-to
Sychem WHERE HE WAS BURIED! That's what your Scripture says!
Jacob was transported or TRANSLATED to the place of burial!
That is why Moses
said that God TOOK Enoch. God removed-translated-him so that he
was not found; God took Enoch and buried him! In Deuteronomy 34:6 we read also
how God took Moses from the people after which he died and was buried by God.
"But no man knoweth his sepulcher unto this day." God removed
Moses-God translated him-and he was not found either!
So Enoch was not made
immortal after all! He was taken away and was not found. ALL his days were
three hundred and sixty-five! That's as long as Enoch lived.
Notice another proof
that "translate" does not mean to make immortal. It is found in Col.
1:13: the Father "hath delivered us
from the power of darkness, and hath TRANSLATED
us into the kingdom of His dear Son." Here the Bible says
that Believers are already translated-but we as believers still die! We do not
now have immortal bodies, but mortal flesh and blood. Although we were once
part of the darkness in this world; now we are TRANSLATED and
removed from darkness, into the light of the Kingdom of God.
Didn't Receive the
Promise
Enoch is included by
Paul (in Hebrews 11) among the fathers who obtained a good report through
faith; but "ALL these, having obtained a good report through faith,
received not the promise" (Heb. 11:39). What promise? The, "hope of
eternal life” that God; who is not able to lie, promised before the world began"
(Titus 1:2).
So Enoch therefore is
one of "ALL THESE" who have not yet obtained the
promise of eternal life and inheritance. Enoch and all the “worthies” of
old, will receive the promise at the return of Messiah, the same time obtain it
(Heb. 11: 39-40). That is yet future!
Since Enoch has not
yet inherited eternal life he must be dead! This is exactly what Paul writes in
Heb. 11:13! Paul says Enoch DIED! Notice it! "These ALL
died in faith, not having received what was promised." Who were these
"ALL"?
Paul tells us: Abel, ENOCH,
Noah, and the patriarchs and their wives. Hebrews 11:1-12 lists those who had
faith and Enoch is included among them. Then in verse 13 Paul proved that they
had not inherited the promises by saying: "These ALL [including
Enoch] died in faith." But what about Paul's saying that Enoch
"should not see death"?
Which Death Did Enoch
Escape?
Enoch lived only
three hundred sixty-five years. Then what could Paul possibly have meant by
saying: "By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and
was not found because God had translated him?" This verse nowhere says
that Enoch did not die. Rather, it says that Enoch "should not see
death." But what does it mean?Remember, there is more than one death
mentioned in the Scriptures. There is a first death, and there is a second
death (Rev. 20:6). Which death did Paul mean?
The first death is
appointed unto men (Heb. 9:27). That death cannot be humanly evaded. It is
inevitable. That death Enoch died, as we have already proved. But Paul was not
writing about that death. The phrase "should not see" is in
the conditional tense of the verb, having reference to a future event. It is
not in the past tense, that he "did not see' death-but that he "should
not see death." So this death that Enoch escaped by being translated
is one that he can escape in the future. ON CERTAIN CONDITIONS!
Did Yeshua ever speak
of a death that might be escaped? He certainly did! In John 8:51 Yeshua said,
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my sayings, he shall never
see death"-shall never see-that is, suffer-the second death!
Revelation 20. And again in John 11:26, "Whoso liveth and believeth in me
shall never die"-or "shall not die forever."
This death is one
than can be escaped on condition that men keep the saying of Yeshua and believe
Him. This death is not the first death, because believers who keep Yeshua’s
sayings die this first death. Then the death which Enoch should escape must be
the second death, which NEVER TOUCH THOSE WHO ARE IN THE FIRST
RESURRECTION (Rev. 20:6). And Enoch will be in the first resurrection
because he met the conditions! He Walked with God!
Enoch had faith. He
believed God and walked with God, obeying Him. In keeping the sayings of God,
Enoch kept the sayings of Yeshua too; because Yeshua did not speak of Himself,
but spoke what the Father commanded Him (John 14:10).Thus Enoch met the
conditions so that he should not see death. The second death shall never touch
Enoch, because of his faith and obedience. Praise our savior Yeshua!
Two Translations
Now this scripture we
can understand in 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." This
verse plainly mentions two translations.
Examining this verse
fact by fact, we notice that Enoch had faith and was translated. This
translation-removal, transference-was on condition
of FAITH. NOW what translation mentioned in the
Bible is on condition of faith? Why, it’s the one we read about in Colossians
1:13. The Father "hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated
us into the kingdom of His dear Son."
This is a FIGURATIVE
translation-a FIGURATIVE removal or transference from the
spiritual darkness of this world to the light of the family or kingdom of God
and Messiah. In verse 10 Paul shows that to abide in this kingdom we must
"walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing." This is exactly what
Enoch did. He walked with God, and pleased God.
Then Enoch, the same
as all believers, was delivered from the power of sin and darkness in which he
had been living for sixty-five years. He was removed (translated) from
the ways of the world and lived three hundred years according to God's ways so
that he might inherit eternal life at Messiah’s return, and should not suffer
the second death.
By faith Enoch was
separated-removed or translated-from the world, the same as All Believers who
are not to be a part of the world, although living in the world. Not only was
Enoch FIGURATIVELY taken from the society of his day, but he was
also LITERALLY removed-translated-so that he was not found.
God took him
physically away from the people, just as He later took Moses. And God buried
each so well that neither has ever been found since! Enoch had completed this
present normal life. "All his days were three hundred sixty-five years.
This was the second translation-a literal removal at death.
God gave Enoch this
sign of physical removal as a type for all those who should later
follow Enoch's example of faith. He was taken physically from the
people just as true Believers are to be spiritually removed from the ways of
the world. The physical translation or carrying away of Enoch was also a sign
to him from God that his faith had been accepted-God often gives signs (Isaiah
38:7).
Like every true
saint, Enoch is awaiting the hope of the resurrection and the return of Messiah
(Jude 14, 15).
Did Elijah Go To
Heaven?
Part Two
YOU have been told
that Elijah went to heaven. Yet over 900 years after Elijah was taken up by a
whirlwind Yeshua Himself said: "NO MAN hath ascended up to
heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man!" (John
3:13.)Is this a Scriptural contradiction? Did Elijah really ascend to the
heaven where God's throne is-even though Yeshua said he didn't? If Elijah is
not in heaven today, then where did Elijah go?
Which Heaven?
There are three
heavens mentioned in the Scripture, not just one! And if, as Yeshua said, no
man, which included Elijah, had ever ascended to the heaven where He came from;
the heaven into which Elijah was taken had to be a different heaven! Which one
was it?
The third heaven is the heaven of God's
throne, where Yeshua is today. Yeshua , being the High Priest of God, is the
only one who has the right to be in that heaven with the Father. It’s important
to notice why! Hebrews 8:1-5 explains that the original earthly tabernacle
under the Old Covenant, with its most holy place, or compartment, was the type
of the throne of God in heaven. Only the high priest-type of Messiah as High
Priest now-was allowed to enter!
The second heaven represents the expanse of
this great universe-the space where we find the sun, moon, stars, comets and
planets. How often do we find the Psalmist admiring the "heavens, the work
of Thy fingers, the moon, and the stars, which Thou hast ordained" (Psalm
8:3; Genesis 1:15-17)
Beside the heaven of
the stars, we find that the atmosphere, the air that surrounds this world, is
also called heaven. Birds fly "in the midst of heaven"-certainly not
God's throne in heaven-for we read in Genesis 1:20 of "fowl that may fly
above the earth in the open firmament of heaven." In blessing Jacob, Isaac
said; "God give thee of the dew of heaven," and Moses joyful that the
"heavens shall drop down dew" (see Gen. 27:28 and Dent. 33:28).
This first heaven,
from which dew comes, means the atmosphere, where the clouds and the wind roam.
Every one of us is right now breathing the air of heaven!
Since Elijah could
not have gone to the heaven of God's throne, then to which heaven did he
go?-for the Scripture reads: "and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into
heaven" (II Kings 2:1, 11).
The answer ought to
already be quite obvious! Elijah, "went up by a whirlwind into
heaven"- not to the heaven of God's throne, but into this earth's
atmosphere, the first heaven.There could be no whirlwind in any other place but
in the atmosphere surrounding this earth-in the first heaven, in which the
birds fly. You certainly have seen the great lifting power of a whirlwind,
haven't you?
Why Taken Up?
What was the reason
for this unusual act of God? Why did He take Elijah up into the atmosphere? Was
it to make him immortal? No! The Scripture says no word about that! The ancient
prophet including Elijah did not receive any promise of immortality prior to or
apart from us.
Notice it in Hebrews
11:32 and 39: "These all, having obtained a good report through faith,
received not the promise!" And we shall not receive it until Messiah
returns (Heb. 11:40).
So Elijah was not to
be made immortal for that would give him pre-eminence above Yeshua. But what
does the Scripture reveal as the reason for his removal? II Kings 2:3 and 5
have the answer.
Notice now what the
sons of the prophets said to Elisha: "Knowest thou that the Lord will take
away thy master from thy head today?" Or as the Smith and Goodspeed
translation has it' "Do you know that today the Lord is about to take away
your master from being your leader?"
Messiah is the head
of His called out “Elect” today as Elijah was the head or leader of the sons or
disciples of the prophets in that day. God had sent Elijah as His prophet to
wicked king Ahab and to his son Ahaziah. Now God wanted Elisha to direct His
work, as Ahaziah the king had died (II Kings 1-18) and a new king was ruling.
So what did God do?
He could not allow
Elijah to be among the people with Elisha directing the work now. That would
have been the same as disqualifying him! Since God never takes an office from a
man when that man has been performing his duty well, the only thing God could
do, would have been to remove Elijah so that another would fulfill the office.
This God did do. When
he was taken up, Elijah's mantle dropped from him and Elisha picked it up. See
II Kings 2:12-15. And what did the "mantle" mean? In Clarke's
Commentary, it is noted that it was "worn by prophets and priests as the
simple insignia of their office." (Vol. 2, page 484.)
The purpose of God in
removing Elijah was to replace him with another man who would occupy Elijah's
office in Israel for another fifty years. This work had to start under a new
king, for Ahaziah had just died. And Elijah was already aging. So as not to
disqualify Elijah in the sight of the people, God took him away from the sons
of the prophets and the people, allowing the mantle which signified the office
of Elijah to drop into the hands of Elisha. Thus God preserved the name and
office of His prophet.
How Taken Up?
Having crossed Jordan
near Jericho, Elijah was taken up by a whirlwind in what appeared to be a
chariot and horses of fire. The violent motion of the wind pulled the mantle
off the prophet as he was seen to ascend
into the sky. You probably remember reading the promise of Elijah that Elisha
would have a double portion of the Spirit of God if he would be allowed by God
to see Elijah taken up (II Kings 2:9). All this meant that Elisha was to be the
leader, the new head of the sons of the prophets. Having ascended into the air,
Elijah was borne away out of the sight of the new leader-beyond the horizon.
But…
Where Did Elijah Go?
This has been the
perplexing problem to many Believers!
He did not ascend to
the throne of God. Yeshua said so! Yet he couldn't remain in the air forever.
And God did not say
that Elijah was to die at that time. If he were, Elisha could have assumed his
new office without the removal of Elijah, for we know that Elisha died in
office after fulfilling his duty (II Kings 13:14).
The sons of the
prophets who knew that their master was to be removed also knew that Elijah was
not to die then. That is why they were fearful that the Spirit of God might
have allowed him to drop "upon some mountain, or into some valley"
(II Kings 2:16). Elisha knew that God would preserve Elijah from falling, but
at their insistence he permitted men to go in search for him-to no avail.
Elijah was gone! Where to? Certainly the whirlwind used by God could not take
him beyond the earth's atmosphere. Neither does the Scripture account leave
Elijah in the air!
The Answer Unfolds
Let us notice the
next few years and see what further events the Scripture records. The new king
of Israel was another son of Ahab, Jehoram, or Joram as he is sometimes called.
The beginning of his reign marked the year of the removal of Elijah (II Kings
1:18 and 3:1).
During this king's
reign Elisha was the recognized prophet of God (II Kings 3:11). In the fifth
year of Joram king of Israel, the son of the king of Judah began to reign along
with his father in Judah (II Kings 8:16). His name also was Jehoram. The first
thing he did to establish his kingdom rule was to put his relatives to the
sword lest they should claim the throne from him (II Chronicles 21:4). For
nearly six years he followed the ways of the nations about him and did evil in
God's sight. Almost ten years had now expired since Elijah was taken from the
people. But what do you think was about to happen?
A Letter Comes From
Elijah!
Yes, after this
wickedness by the Jewish king, God chose Elijah to write a letter and have it
sent to the king!
The contents of the
letter are found in II Chronicles 21:12-15. In part it reads: "Because
thou hast not walked in the ways of . . . thy father . . . but hast walked in
the way of the kings of Israel . . . and also hast slain thy brethren of thy
father's house, which were better than thyself . . . thou shalt have great
sickness by disease."
From the wording of
the letter, it is clear that Elijah wrote it after these events had occurred,
for he speaks of them as past events, and of the disease as future. Two years
after the king became diseased the king died-having reigned only eight short
years (II Chronicles 21:18-20).
This proves that the
letter was written about ten years after Elijah had been taken to another
location by the whirlwind. God used Elijah to convey the message because he was
the prophet of God in the days of the present king's father-and the son was not
going in the ways of his obedient father, Jehoshaphat.
The letter he had
others deliver was recognized as his-proving that he was known to be alive
someplace. Just how much longer he lived, the Scripture does not reveal. But in
that "it is appointed unto men once to die" Elijah must have died
somewhat later. See Hebrews 9:27. All human beings born of Adam, and that includes
Elijah, must die-for we read: "In Adam ALL DIE" (I
Corinthians 15:22). Elijah was a man "subject to like passions as we
are" (James 5:17) subject to human nature and death! The prophet, being
mortal flesh as we are, could not have lived much beyond his seventy years.
To suppose that God
gave him the power of an endless life of nearly three thousand years already,
is to read into the Scripture what is not there! He was mortal, subject to
death, and after being lifted into the atmospheric heavens, spent the remaining
years of his separate life at some little-known location on the earth, living
as every human being, before he naturally died.
Elijah's supernatural
removal was a type of the future removal to a place of safety of another man
who will perform shortly before the Day of the Lord the same work which the
original Elijah did (Malachi 4:5). But the Elijah to come in prophecy is not
the prophet Elijah who died over [number unreadable on my copy] years ago, but
one who comes "in the power and spirit of Elijah" as did John the
Baptist (Luke 1:17).
Was Elijah on the
Mount?
The only remaining
texts that puzzle people are those relative to the appearance of Moses and
Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration with Yeshua. The record of the event is
found in Matthew 17:1-9; Mark 9:2-10; Luke 9:28-36.
Leaving the mountain,
Yeshua told his disciples: "Tell the vision to no man (Mat. 17:9)." A
vision is not a material reality but a supernatural picture observed by the
eyes.
Moses died, and was
buried (Deut. 34:5-6). Both he and Elijah were still dead in their graves, but
in vision both they and Yeshua were seen in the glory of the resurrection an
event to which Moses and Elijah have not yet attained (Heb. 11:39). The vision
was granted the disciples after Yeshua had spoken of the glory of immortality
in the coming kingdom.
How plain the
Scripture is! Elijah is dead in the dust of the earth awaiting the resurrection
of the just. Elijah, some years after being removed in the whirlwind, went to
the grave, but will rise again to live forevermore!