"Elijah and Chariot of Fire"
Elijah was taken up by a whirlwind "into heaven" (2 Kings 2:1) by "a chariot of fire, and horses of fire." Yet, over nine hundred years after this event, Jesus Himself 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 where did Elijah go?
Scripture mentions not just one, buvt three heavens (2 Corinthians 12:2),. The first heaven is earth's atmosphere where birds fly (Genesis 1:20, Jeremiah 4:25; 34:20). The second heaven is outer space where the planets and stars exist (Genesis 1:14-17; 15:5, Deuteronomy 1:10; Psalm 8:3, Jeremiah 8:2; Matthew 24:29). And the third heaven is literally called "the third heaven" in 2 Corinthians 12:2. Christ calls this heaven His "Father's house" (John 14:2), and both Christ and the Apostle Paul refer to it as "paradise" (Luke 23:43, 2 Corinthians 12:2-4, Revelation 2:7).
Psalm 115:16 also tells us that there is more than one “heaven”: "The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD'S."
Elijah was taken into this earth's atmosphere, the first heaven as there couldn’t be a whirlwind in either of the other two.
So why was he taken up? (2 Kings 2:3 and 5) God couldn’t allow Elijah to be there when Elisha was in charge of the work. When Elijah was taken up, his mantle dropped and Elisha picked it up (2 Kings 2:12-15). What did that represent? The mantle was worn by prophets and priests as the insignia of their office. The purpose of God in removing Elijah was to replace him with another man who would occupy his office in Israel for many more years.
Where did Elijah go? Wherever it was, we know that it was further away than where the fifty men searched (2 Kings 2:17).