018 - Has anyone ascended to heaven?

 

Has anyone ascended to heaven?

MOSES AND ELIJAH – THE TRANSFIGURATION

 

Many use this passage to say that Moses was resurrected and Elijah and Enoch went in the flesh to heaven. The question comes: is this true?

How could one with a sinful body like ours be in heaven?

 

·         “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption." (1 Corinthians 15:50).

 

It’s not matter how much consecrated Elijah and Enoch were, they were still sinners.

The truth is that since man sinned, he was sentenced to death (without exception):

 

·         “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." (Genesis 3:19).

·         “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:" (Romans 5:12).

·         “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." (1 Corinthians 15:22).

·         “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:" (Hebrews 9:27).

 

Nobody was left out of this sentence. Not even Enoch and Elijah.

See what the Holy Scripture says about Enoch:

 

·         "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."(Hebrews 11:5).

·         "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth."(Hebrews 11:13).

 

Enoch was translated to him not to see the death of millions of people by virtue of the violence that would follow. We cannot forget that in the time of Noah the earth was filled with violence (Genesis 6.5,11). After the translation of Enoch, the earth was filled with such wickedness that it would be impossible for a heart so filled with the love of the Eternal as for Enoch to endure such wickedness (see 2 Peter 2:7-9).

See below the timeline showing the relationship between Enoch's birth and the flood:

 

65           187        182      600 Enoch – Methuselah  -  Lamech  -  Noah  - Deluge

 

 

For a righteous soul, it is a torture to see someone so much suffering and apostasy.

This is why the Lord took Enoch for Himself:

 

·         “And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: and all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: and Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him." (Genesis 5.22-24).

 

This expression implies death, since to die, for who belongs to Jesus means to be recovered by the Eternal.

See how Job treats the tragic death of his children:

 

·         "While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house:  and, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, and said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."(Job 1:18-21).

 

The truth is that all the prophets died, including Enoch (who is also a prophet).

 

·         “Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death.  Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?"(John 8:52,53)

·         "And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,  to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him." (Jude 14, 15).

 

And with Elijah it was no different:

 

·         "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.  And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces." (2 Kings 2:11,12).

 

After the translation, Elijah was never seen again.

Furthermore, according to Paul, the rapture to heaven would not take place before the resurrection:

 

·         “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” (1Corinthians 15.51-53).

 

As for Moses, he did not rise again:

 

·         “So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day. And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated." (Deuteronomy 34: 5-7).

 

As you can see, the Holy Scripture is clear: the only thing the Lord has done is to bury his dead body. If the Eternal wanted to resurrect Moses, he would not have to bury his body.

Moreover, if Moses had been resurrected, Jesus would not have been the first to rise:

 

·         “That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles." (Acts 26:23).

·         “But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming." (1 Corinthians 15:23).

 

You may question: but others have risen before Jesus (examples: 1 Kings 17:22-24, 2 Kings 4:34,35; 2 Kings 13:20; Matthew 9:25, Luke 7:12-15, John 11:43,44). However, only Jesus was resurrected to eternal life in a glorified body.

This is why Jesus is the firstborn or the firstfruits of those who sleep:

 

·         “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept." (1 Corinthians 15:20).

·         “And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence." (Colossians 1:18).

 

Furthermore, notice what the writer of Hebrews says:

 

·         “And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect." (Hebrews 11:39-40).

 

Note that all the heroes of faith quoted in Hebrews 11 (including Enoch, Moses) did not attain the promise (reward) of receiving the glorified body and going to dwell in heaven:

 

·         “And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth." (Revelation 11.18).

·         “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." (Revelation 22:12).

·         “And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." (Luke 14:14).

·         “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works." (Matthew 16:27).

 

Rapture and resurrection will only happen when Jesus comes.

If this is not enough, see what Jesus said:

 

·         “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).

 

So what really happened on the mount of transfiguration?

To understand this passage we need to remember that the Holy Scripture, when it was written, had no chapter, no verse. We should start reading a little earlier and a little later.

 

·         “And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead." (Matthew 17:9).

 

Notice that what Peter, James, and John contemplated was a "vision." That was not happening at the time. It would only happen in the future, just as when John saw the New Jerusalem coming down (something that will only happen after the millennium):

 

·         “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” (Revelation 21.2).

 

But after all, what did the three apostles see?

 

·         “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom" (Matthew 16.27,28).

 

They saw Jesus coming to take the Church away. You may ask: But then, what does Moses and Elijah have to do with it?

 

·         “Six days later he took Peter, James, and John his brother with them, and led them privately to a high mountain, and was transfigured before them. And his face shone as the sun, and his garments became as white as the light. And behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. "(Matthew 17:1-3).

 

To understand this, let's take a little later:

 

·         • "And his disciples questioned him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elijah must come first? And Jesus answering said unto them, Verily Elijah shall come first, and restore all things; But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not know him, but they did everything they wanted. So shall they also suffer the Son of man. Then the disciples understood that he had spoken to them of John the Baptist. "(Matthew 17: 10-13)

 

Notice that Jesus was talking to the three disciples about what the scribes preached about the coming of Elijah, namely:

 

·         “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:  and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." (Malachi 4:6).

 

In other words, what Jesus does is interpret this passage. And when He does so, notice that He shows this prophecy being fulfilled in the past and in the future:

 

·        In the past: through John the Baptist, who came in the spirit and power of Elijah to precede the first coming of Christ (Luke 1:17);

·        In the future: through one of the witnesses to Revelation 11:3 that will pave the way for the second coming of Christ.

 

Just as John the Baptist was not Elijah (John 1:21,25), but someone who would be used by the Eternal in the same way that Elijah was, the two witnesses will not be Moses and Elijah, but someone who will be used by the Eternal as they were.

Let us then understand the vision. After the two witnesses complete their ministry, they will be killed in the middle of the seventieth week (Revelation 11:7). After three and a half days, the Spirit of the Eternal will resurrect them and then snatch them (this at the end of the sixth trumpet). As soon as the sixth trumpet ends, the seventh plays. At this hour, all the dead in Christ are raised and all who are alive in Christ are caught up to meet Jesus in the clouds.

While all the followers of Jesus are being raptured, the two witnesses are talking to Christ. Probably question the same as us: but if I am a faithful servant, why did the Lord allow them to do all this with me? It is then that Jesus speaks of everything that happened to him in Jerusalem at His crucifixion, showing that no one was so wronged, humiliated, mistreated, scorned and despised as He (in order to comfort them).

You may ask: "But the rapture shall be in the twinkling of an eye" (1 Corinthians 15:52). Even if it takes one second, remember that Jesus can minister in a second what we would spend about 4.16 days to minister to someone (2 Peter 3.8). In this case the three apostles would see everything in slow motion.

However, this expression "to open and close of eyes" may imply up to twelve hours, namely, the short time in which the people who survived the earthquake stopped to give glory to the Eternal (Revelation 11.13).