Category: Elijah and Elisha
Scriptures:
2 Kings 2:1-2:12
2 Kings 2:1-2:12
1 When Yahweh was about to take Elijah up by a whirlwind into heaven, Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.
2 Elijah said to Elisha, “Please wait here, for Yahweh has sent me as far as Bethel.” Elisha said, “As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.
3 The sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that Yahweh will take away your master from your head today?” He said, “Yes, I know it. Hold your peace.”
4 Elijah said to him, “Elisha, please wait here, for Yahweh has sent me to Jericho.” He said, “As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho.
5 The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho came near to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that Yahweh will take away your master from your head today?” He answered, “Yes, I know it. Hold your peace.”
6 Elijah said to him, “Please wait here, for Yahweh has sent me to the Jordan.” He said, “As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” Then they both went on.
7 Fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood opposite them at a distance; and they both stood by the Jordan.
8 Elijah took his mantle, and rolled it up, and struck the waters, and they were divided here and there, so that they both went over on dry ground.
9 When they had gone over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.” Elisha said, “Please let a double portion of your spirit be on me.”
10 He said, “You have asked a hard thing. If you see me when I am taken from you, it will be so for you; but if not, it will not be so.”
11 As they continued on and talked, behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated them, and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
12 Elisha saw it, and he cried, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” He saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes, and tore them in two pieces.
Commentary
According to the Hebrew Bible, there are at least two people who have ascended into heaven: Enoch and Elijah. In the New Testament, Jesus made the emphatic statement that no one had ever ascended into heaven except the one who had descended from heaven: that is, Jesus himself. He was to be "lifted up" like the bronze serpent of old. This reference to the bronze serpent indicated life from the dead, since those stung with the serpent's venom had died with the exception of those who saw the "lifted up" bronze serpent, and were saved.
Jesus therefore, was making reference to someone who was "lifted up" from the dead, and who therefore ascended into heaven (unlike Elijah and Enoch, who never died), and upon whom those dead-spiritually would be saved. The New Testament amplifies this meaning to include not only the physical ascension of the body of Jesus into heaven, but also to refer to Jesus as someone whose eternal life (which first descended from heaven to become flesh) had died, when the body of Jesus was broken, only to be reunited in the same person in order to ascend back to heaven.
Thus, only one person had ever descended from heaven, become flesh and then died, only to ascend back into heaven. The idea therefore is not about who were the first human beings to ascend into heaven, but about which human being was the first to enter heaven as the "first born" from the dead. The imagery of first coming down from heaven forces eternal life into the picture, so the "first born" is not only the resurrection of the body from the dead, but the reuniting of that body with its eternal life (divine nature), in order to ascend back to heaven. Unlike Elijah and Enoch, Jesus was the first to ascend into heaven from the dead, and He is, thus, the "first born" person from the dead.