SUBJECT:  Heaven

QUESTIONS:  Your church teaches that no human resides in heaven.  What about the account of Elijah and the chariot that went to heaven, the promise given to the thief that died with Jesus and the story about Mary?

ANSWER:

I will deal with each of these in some detail.  But first some overall comments.  Clearly Jesus Christ states in John 3:13 “And no man hath ascended into the heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

Either Christ is telling the truth or the Bible cannot be accepted as the word of God.  If He is telling the truth then clearly Elijah did not ascend to the heaven where God resides.  The verse does not state “no man hath ascended into the heaven, except Elijah” and surely Christ would not have forgotten such a miracle.

Next, why would Christ make such a statement if there would soon be other people actually ascending to heaven?  Sort of nullifies the verse for much of man’s history since Christ.  You would read John 3:13 and then say to yourself, “Well, that sure changed in a hurry.”

Thirdly, imagine for a moment that one could absolutely prove that Elijah, Mary and the thief on the stake were presently in heaven.  Some questions:

1)   Why them and no one else?  Why a thief but not Peter or Paul or John?

2)  Why not some good scriptural proof that all people go to heaven when they die?

3)  If Christ is returning to earth to establish His Kingdom, what will the countless billions in heaven be doing?

4)  If people are in heaven after they die, then who are those that are going to rise up out of their graves when Christ returns?  Why would there be some in heaven and others in graves?

1Thessalonians 4:16-17

16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Revelation 20:5

But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

This being said, let us look at the three specific individuals you mentioned

Is Elijah in Heaven?

2 Kings 2:11—Elijah in the chariot

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.

Why did Jesus say, “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).  Jesus, who had just come from heaven, and who appeared in human flesh, said, plainly, that Elijah was not in heaven!  Yet the Bible says, “…Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven” (II Kings 2:11).  Is this a contradiction?  It certainly appears to be so!  Surely Jesus did not tell an untruth!  Yet He plainly contradicts what II Kings 2:11 SEEMS to say!  Is there some difficulty between the Hebrew and the Greek words for "“eaven"”  Where did Elijah go?  What did Jesus mean?

The prophet Elisha, who had followed Elijah doggedly, claiming he would never desist from following him, was absolutely shocked.  For, while Elisha was asking for a “double portion” of the spirit of Elijah,”…it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and part them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven”! (II Kings 2:11).

Elisha saw this happen with his own eyes!

Down through the centuries thousands of impassioned sermons have been preached using this verse to underscore the hopes of heaven for the saved!

Who has not heard preachers wax eloquent about the proverbial “pearly gates,” the heavenly city with streets of gold and glittering mansions; about being in heaven, forever and ever.

Millions believe that immediately upon death the “souls” of Christians go to heaven!

Then  why did Jesus say what He did?

Why did He say”…No man hath ascended up to heaven”?  After all, He should have known, shouldn’t He?  He had been there, with the Father, and the 24 elders, and all the angels.  He had just come from heaven to this earth!

Why do literally millions of churchgoing, professing Christians believe Jesus Christ didn’t know what He was talking about—or that He lied?

Do you believe Christ?  Or do you prefer to believe, instead, what you have always been taught, by men?

What Happened to Elijah?

Did Elijah die and go to heaven?  No.  Elijah was not even ill—he was still doing the work which God had set before him and was merely talking with Elisha, walking along engaged in conversation.  Suddenly Elisha saw what appeared to be a fiery vision, and Elijah was taken, bodily, up into “heaven.”  No doubt Elisha watched him until he was out of sight!

Where did Elijah go?

If it was a bright, clear day, how long could Elisha’s eyes have followed Elijah as he departed?

Probably, if Elisha had normally good eyesight, he could have see Elijah, plus the blazing, glittering spectacle of the fiery chariot and horses, for several miles, perhaps even as much as 15,000 or 20,000 feet.

But, eventually, distance would have seemed to “swallow him up,” and he would have no longer been visible to Elisha’s startled eyes!

How many times have you had the experience of hearing the muted thunder of a jet airplane from very high overhead, only to look up into the sky and be unable to see the aircraft?  Perhaps you remember an occasion or two when you have been able to see the vapor trail left by the engines of the aircraft, and perhaps could even see if forming, moving across the sky high above, and still the airplane was so high your human eye could not pick it out.

Yet aboard that airplane could be more than 100 people-flight attendants serving meals, pushing carts up and down the aisle, the flight crew at their places in the cockpit, an airplane so big that a 6-foot man could stand up in the intake of only one of its big jet engines—and yet, because it is so high in the sky, you cannot see it!

If it was a cloudy day when Elijah was “taken up into heaven” then Elisha could only see him for a few hundred, or few thousand, feet.

Actually, Elijah was taken up into the air.

The word for “heaven” is shameh (pronounced “shaw-meh”) in the Hebrew language, which comes from a root word meaning “to be lofty.”  The word means “the sky” (as “aloft”) and alludes to “the visible arch in which the clouds move, as well as to the higher ether where the celestial bodies revolve.”  The word means “air” as well as “heaven” (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance).

One or two outstanding examples of the interchangeable usage of this one word should suffice, although there are many in the Bible.

Notice! “And the windows of heaven were opened…” (Genesis 7:11).  “The windows of heaven were stopped…””The rain from heaven was restrained…” (Genesis 8:2).  “…Whose top may reach unto heaven…” (Genesis 11:4).

These are only three examples of literally dozens in the Old Testament where the word “heaven” is OBVIOUSLY referring to this earth’s immediate atmosphere.  In the first few quotations, reference is made to the flood of Noah.  The “windows of heaven” refer to thunderous rainstorms, and are therefore dealing with the immediate envelope of air which covers this earth like a mantle and is, in fact, a literal part of our earth and its immediate environment.

The scripture from Genesis 11 deals with the famed “Tower of Babel,” when mankind attempted to construct the very first “skyscraper.”

Now, notice how the identical word (shameh) is used for the word “air”

“The fowl of the air…” (Genesis 1:26, 28).  “…And every fowl of the air…” (Genesis 2:19).  “…Gave name…to the fowl of the air…” (Genesis 2:20).  “…Winged fowl that flyeth in the air…” (Deuteronomy 4:17).  “The birds of the air to rest on them…” (II Samuel 2:10),  “The way of an eagle in the air…” (Proverbs 30:19).

In each of these, and in 21 separate examples in the Old Testament, the identical Hebrew word translated “heaven” is rendered “air.”

Why?  Because the translators knew that, when the Bible was referring to that “firmament” above the earth in which birds fly, it must mean “the air,” and not the heaven of God’s throne.

Actually, as we shall see, the Bible clearly speaks of three “heavens,” and positively identifies the “third heaven” as the heaven of God’s throne!

2 Cor 12:2

2          I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.  The first heaven is the atmosphere around the earth.  The second heaven is what we call space and the third heaven is the place where God’s throne resides.

What Elisha saw, then, was the disappearance of Elijah, by a miracle from God, in a fiery chariot—up into the AIR, until he was taken up out of Elisha’s sight!

Elijah did not go into the heaven of God’s throne.  Jesus Christ of Nazareth said so!

The Thief on the Cross

Did he enter Paradise immediately?

Luke 23:43

And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

Everyone is familiar with the strange story of the “thief on the cross but almost no one understands the MYSTERY that shrouds it.

It has been generally assumed—without proof—that the “thief” entered Paradise on the very day he was crucified.

If he did, then he reached Paradise before Jesus did—because Jesus said He would be IN THE GRAVE during the three days and nights that immediately followed the crucifixion!  Since Jesus was dead and buried—in the grave—then He could not have been with the “thief” in Paradise, could He?

Just where is Paradise?  How and when does one enter it?

WHERE Did Jesus Go?

Notice Luke 23:43 carefully.  Jesus said that the crucified malefactor would be with Him in Paradise.  If we can prove where Jesus went when He died, then we can prove if the malefactor really went to Paradise that day!

Turn to 1 Corinthians 15:3-4.  Paul reiterates: “For I delivered to you”—speaking to Christians—“among first things what also I received: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; AND THAT HE WAS BURIED; and that HE hath been raised on the third day according to the scriptures.”

Notice that Jesus was buried—it does not say the body was buried, and that the soul went to Paradise.  It reads that He—Jesus, Himself—was buried.  He was dead for three days.  He DIED for our sins.  Then He came to life.  He arose!

John gives us further proof where Jesus was.  “Now in the place where He was crucified was a garden; and in the garden a new tomb wherein man was never yet laid.  There”—in the tomb---the grave—“they laid Jesus” (John 19:41-42).  It was Jesus who was laid in the tomb, not merely the body of Jesus.  Jesus was dead!

Here is what the angelic messenger said the women about the resurrection:  “Be not amazed: ye seek Jesus…He is risen; He is not here: see the place where they laid HIM!” (Mark 16:6).

There was the PLACE Jesus went that day---the grave, the tomb in the garden nearby the site of the crucifixion!

Nothing could be plainer!

Jesus was in the grave that day, lying there asleep in death.  He was not with he thief that day—the thief was not buried with Him in the same tomb!   What could be more clearly proved!

What Jesus REALLY SAID!

Here is the BIG surprise.  What Jesus really said is not what you have supposed!  Here is what the inspired historian Luke actually wrote: “And He said to him, ‘Verily I say unto thee today, thou shalt be with me in Paradise.’”  See the Lamsa translation and others, too.

The mystery of this famous saying of Jesus is solved by proper punctuation.  Most translations are improperly punctuated in order to make it appear that Jesus would be in Paradise that day.  But the Bible proves Jesus went not in Paradise that day.  A comma placed before the word “today” is incorrect.  The comma should follow it—“Verily I say unto thee today, thou shalt be with me in Paradise.”

Open your Bible to this controversial verse.  Notice the PUNCTUATION.  Remember that punctuation was not used in the inspired Greek which Luke wrote.  It was added into the Greek and English centuries later.  The punctuation in this verse was added by men.  The CORRECT wording must, therefore, be determined by the Bible itself.  The comma should follow, not precede the word “today.”  Some object that this would make the King James translation a question, “Verily I say unto thee today, ‘Shalt thou be with me in Paradise?’”  But this is only due to a faulty word order in the common versions.

Here is exactly, word for word, the order in the inspired original Greek which you can verify at any Public Library: “Verily I say to thee today, ‘With me shalt thou be in the Paradise.’”

Notice that when the proper word order is understood, the Scriptural translation is not a question, but a positive statement.  Jesus was emphasizing the fact that the very day of His death—“today”—He could promise another dying man that he would be with Him after the resurrection in Paradise.

Here is what the Companion Bible states about this verse:

“The interpretation of this verse depends entirely on punctuation, which rests wholly on human authority, the Greek manuscripts having no punctuation of any kind till the ninth century, and then it is only a dot (in the middle of the line) separating each word” (Appendix 173).

This is the testimony of competent Greek scholars.  The inspired original Greek could be read either way.  Since the punctuation can change the meaning entirely, WE NEED TO LET THE REMAINDER OF THE BIBLE INTERPRET WHAT JESUS SAID!  Then we can punctuate this verse properly.

By using the word “today,” Jesus was stressing the time of His promise—not the time He would be in paradise.  Think of it!--a dying man, being crucified, promising on that very day that He could guarantee that the repentant malefactor could be with Him in Paradise!  By what authority could He fulfill such a promise given on the very day of His death?  Why, by the authority of God the Father who would raise Jesus from the dead.  Here was a promise of the resurrection.  Jesus knew on that day-—“today"—the day of the crucifixion—that He would resurrect the repentant malefactor, and , after a lifetime of overcoming, grant him eternal life—the privilege to be in the Paradise of God.

The repentant malefactor crucified with Jesus is still dead and buried.  Jesus alone is the firstborn from the dead.  But the time is coming when this man shall be resurrected also and shall enter the Paradise of God promised to come to this earth!

Mary

Regarding Mary, the mother of Jesus, I could find no scriptures stating that she went to heaven, however I did find this in the Unger’s Bible Dictionary:

            Subsequent Mention of Mary.  Mary is mentioned only four more times after our Lord's ministry commenced. These four occasions are: the marriage at Cana, where Jesus solemnly withdraws Himself from her authority <John 2:1-4>; at Capernaum, where at a public gathering Mary desires to speak to Jesus, and He seems to refuse to admit any authority on the part of His relatives, or any privilege on account of their relationship <John 2:12; Matt. 12:46-50>; at the crucifixion, where Christ, with almost His last words, commends His mother to the care of the disciple whom He loved, and from that hour John assures us that he took her into his home <John 19:25-27>; after the ascension, engaged in prayer in the upper room in Jerusalem, with other faithful followers of the Lord <Acts 1:14>.

            Tradition. Tradition and Roman Catholic speculation have viewed Mary as guarded from actual sin by divine grace. This notion, which prevailed from the twelfth century, was developed into a papal decree of December 8, 1854. On November 1, 1950, the bull Munificentissimus Deus declared the dogma of the Assumption of Mary. This dogma asserts "that the Virgin Mary, the Immaculate Mother of God, when the course of her life was finished, was taken up, body and soul, into the glory of heaven" (Acta Apostolicae Sedis, 32 [1950], pp. 753-73). ~from New Unger's Bible Dictionary

You may have picked up the story of Mary being in heaven as this text describes.  Notice that there is not reference made to a Bible Scripture to back what the Catholic Church thinks and holds as fact.

I believe that you can see from this proof that there are no human souls in or human beings in heaven.  None have ever gone there.  Everyone that has died lies in his or her grave and awaits the resurrections.

 
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