| Now lets take a look at the second scripture that mentions Enoch by name: "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 his testimony, that he pleased God. " (Hebrews 11:5) The most significant aspect of these two Scriptures is the fact that neither of them say Enoch went to heaven. The word rendered translated in the Greek, μετατίθημι, is Strong's Concordance #3346. It means to transfer, transport, exchange, change sides, carry over, change or remove. We read in John 3:13 : "And no man has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of man who is in heaven. " Also Acts 2:34 : "For David did not ascend into the heavens but he said himself: 'The Lord said to My Lord, 'Sit at My right hand, till I make your enemies Your footstool.' " Both Enoch and David were long dead when Jesus and Peter made those statements. This is positive proof that neither Enoch nor David were taken to heaven, at least the "heaven" where God resides. What about Elijah? Let's look at 2 Kings 2:1, 11 : "And it came to pass, when the Lord was about to take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven " (2Kings 2:1, 11) What few people realize is that the Bible discusses three types or kinds of heaven. Briefly, the first heaven is the atmosphere or sky that surrounds the earth, the second heaven is the physical universe that has stars, planets and so on, and the third type of heaven is where God's throne resides. For a fuller explanation of this topic please see our short article What are the three heavens? Which heaven then is 2 Kings 2 verses 1 and 11, mentioned above, referring to? The word translated heaven in 2Kings 1, 11 comes from the Hebrew word shamahym (שׁמה שׁמים, Strong's Concordance #8064). It is the plural
form of the Hebrew word shameh which means to be lofty, the sky, the visible arch in which the clouds move. Its certainly not the heaven where God's throne is. When Jesus (John 3:13) and Peter (Acts 2:34) state that no person has gone to heaven, the heaven they are referring to is the one containing God's throne. Therefore, when Hebrews 11:5 states that Enoch was "translated" or moved, it does not mean that he was somehow scooped up by God to live forever with him near his throne. It means that Enoch was moved or taken through the earth's atmosphere (sky), to a physical location on the earth the Bible does not name, so " . . . that he should not see death." This is the same thing that happened to Elijah. God, in His wisdom, decided to physically transport Enoch and Elijah away from where they were originally located so that someone (or something) would not be able to physically kill them at a certain time. They continued to live the same kind of fleshly existence you or I do after they were moved until they died just like any other human on planet earth. This is in agreement with other scriptures that state all men (humans) must die a physical death: "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: " (Hebrews 9:27, KJV) |
