.:If Jesus was the first
to ascend to heaven, will Elijah and other Old Testament
believers be in heaven?
John 3:13: “And no one has
ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven,
even the Son of Man.”
See Related Subject: 2
CHRONICLES 21:12: Did Elijah send a letter to King Jehoram after
his ascension into heaven?
JEHOVAH'S WITNESS ARGUMENT:
The Watchtower Society teaches that only 144,000
people will live eternally in heaven while the rest of faithful
mankind will only have the prospect of living forever in “Paradise”
earth. Believing that this 144,000 heavenly group began at Pentecost
(33 AD), Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that “there is
nothing in the Scriptures to show that a heavenly hope was held
out to God’s servants prior to the coming
of Christ Jesus.”1.
Thus, they assert that “David, Job and John the Baptizer”
as well as “all faithful men and women
who died before Jesus died.…will be resurrected to become
some of the earthly subjects of God’s kingdom.”2.
In support of their belief that none of the Old Testament
servants of God will be in heaven, Jehovah’s Witnesses reference
John 3:13, Acts 2:34
and Matthew 11:11.
BIBLICAL RESPONSE:
Is it true that “nothing in the Scriptures”
indicates that a “heavenly hope” was held out to Old
Testament believers? What about 2 Kings 2:11 where “Elijah
went up by a whirlwind to heaven”? Didn’t
Elijah reappear on earth along with Moses when Jesus was transfigured
at Matthew 17:3?
What about Enoch who “God took” at
Genesis 5:24? Scripture tells us at Hebrews 11:5 that “Enoch
was taken up so that he should not see death; and he was not because
God took him up; for he obtained the witness
that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.”
Hebrews goes on to note that this “heavenly hope”
was given not only to Enoch, but also to Abel, Noah, Abraham and
Sarah:
HEBREWS 11:13, 15-16:
“All these died in faith, without receiving the promises…and
having confessed that they were strangers and exiles
on the earth….indeed if they had been thinking
of that country from which they went out, they would have had
opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better
country, that is a heavenly one. Therefore God
is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a
city for them.”
Not only does Scripture state that these servants
of God who died prior to Christ were seeking a “heavenly”
country, but Jesus proclaimed to his followers that Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob will be “in” the “kingdom of heaven.”
MATTHEW 8:11: “I
say to you, that many will come from east and west, and recline
at the table with Abraham, and Isaac,
and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.”
LUKE 13:28-29: “In
that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when
you see Abraham and Isaac
and Jacob and all the prophets
in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being
thrown out. And they will come from east and west and from north
and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom
of God.”
Given the evidence that Old Testament believers
will be “in” heaven, we will now turn our attention
to the Scriptural proof texts that the Watchtower gives in opposition
to this belief.
- JOHN 3:13:
“And no one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended
from heaven, even the Son of Man.”
Does Jesus’ statement here support the
Watchtower claim that no person who died prior to Christ will
be in heaven?3.
Scripture declares that “it is impossible for the blood
of bulls and goats to take away sins.”4.
Thus, none of God’s servants who died prior to
Christ could go to heaven until their sins had been atoned for
at the cross. Thus, Jesus proclaimed that He was the first one
to ascend “into heaven.” Hebrews explains what happened
when Jesus entered heaven:
HEBREWS 9:24, 26: “For
Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy
of the true one, but into heaven itself, now
to appear in the presence of God for us….but now once
at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested
to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”
So what happened to Elijah and Enoch when they
were “taken up”? If they didn’t go to “heaven,”
where did they go? Scripture describes three heavens. The first
heaven is the sky where clouds and birds soar (see Genesis 1:8).
The second heaven is where stars and planets reside (see Psalm
19:1), and the third heaven is the place where God dwells (see
2 Corinthians 12:2). When Scripture states that Elijah “went
up by a whirlwind to heaven,” it is likely referring to
the firmament heaven and not the place where God’s throne
resides.
In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus tells
a parable of a rich man who died and went to place of “torment”
in “Hades,” while Lazarus (a righteous man) went to
a place of rest in the “Abraham’s bosom” portion
of Hades. Jesus reports that the rich man in the “torment”
section of Hades was able to see and communicate with people in
“Abraham’s bosom,” but that no one was able
to travel between the two compartments as they were separated
by a “a great chasm.” It is thought that the three
days between Christ’s death and resurrection, Jesus freed
the Old Testament servants of God in the “Abraham’s
bosom” side (also known as “Paradise”) to go
to heaven with Him, while those in the torment side of Hades,
remain there until the future white throne judgment of God when
“death and Hades” will be “thrown into the lake
of fire” (Revelation 20:14). Thus, we see that while Elijah
and Enoch didn’t die when they were “taken up”
immediately to the sky “heaven,” God kept them in
the “Paradise” portion of Hades until Jesus’
resurrection when they went directly to the heaven where God dwells.
Other Scriptures that support this viewpoint are as follows:
EPHESIANS 4:8-11: “Therefore
it says, ‘When He ascended on high, He led captive
a host of captives, And He gave gifts to men.’
(Now this expression, ‘He ascended,’ what does it
mean except that He also had descended into the lower
parts of the earth? He who descended is Himself also
He who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill
all things.)”
MATTHEW 27:50-53: “And
Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His
spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from
top to bottom, and the earth shook; and the rocks were split,
and the tombs were opened; and many
bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were
raised; and coming out of the tombs after His
resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.”
1 PETER 3:18-19: “For
Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust,
in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death
in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also He
went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison.”
LUKE 23:43: “And
He said to him, ‘Truly I say to you, today
you shall be with Me in Paradise.’
Now that “Paradise” has been moved
from “Hades” into the “third heaven” where
God dwells, the spirits of Christians who die, go immediately
to be “with” Jesus in heaven.
2 CORINTHIANS 12:2-4:
“I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—
whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not
know, God knows—such a man was caught up to the
third heaven. And I know how such a man—whether
in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows—was
caught up into Paradise, and heard inexpressible words, which
a man is not permitted to speak.”
2 CORINTHIANS 5:6-8:
“Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing
that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the
Lord—for we walk by faith, not by sight— we are
of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent
from the body and to be at home with the Lord.”
PHILIPPIANS 1:21-23:
“For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But
if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor
for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed
from both directions, having the desire to depart and
be with Christ, for that is very much better.”
- ACTS 2:29,
34: “Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding
the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his
tomb is with us to this day….For it was not David who
ascended into heaven….”
The Watchtower quotes Acts 2:34 about David not
ascending into heaven and claims that he will receive a resurrection
to live forever on earth—rather than in heaven.5.
But just as we saw in the above response to the Watchtower’s
use of John 3:13, simply because David did not go to heaven immediately
at death, does not mean that he was excluded from those Old Testament
saints who went to heaven at Christ’s resurrection.
Furthermore, far from the Watchtower’s
use of this passage to prove whether or not David has a heavenly
hope, the context spoke nothing of David’s resurrection
but rather, of Christ and how He fulfilled the promises given
to David. Thus, we see the Jehovah’s Witness’ use
of this verse as a proof text for their view of David’s
resurrection is completely without merit.
-
MATTHEW
11:11: “Truly, I say to you, among those
born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John
the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven
is greater than he.”
Does the fact that John the Baptist was not as
great as someone “who is least in the kingdom of heaven,”
prove that he did not go to heaven when he died? While the Watchtower
makes this claim,6.
nowhere in the passage does it state that John the Baptist would
not go to heaven when he died. In fact, when Jesus stated at Luke
13:28 that “all the prophets” will be “in the
kingdom of God,” this must have included John the Baptist,
so we can be certain that he too will be in heaven with the rest
of the Old Testament prophets. Also, at the time that Jesus made
this statement, no one had yet “ascended into heaven.”7.
Thus, Jesus could not have had anyone in mind who was already
“in heaven” when he made this statement.
John the Baptist lived under the Old Covenant,
and as such, his ministry was not as “great” as someone
who proclaimed the New Covenant in Christ. While John the Baptist
paved the way for Christ, as great as he was, he could not match
the “least” of Jesus’ followers who were agents
of God's “kingdom of heaven”— while yet on earth
at the time. Thus, the “least” one of Jesus’
followers, by nature of the message he proclaimed, was “greater”
than John the Baptist.
============
1.
Insight on the Scriptures, 1988, vol. 1, p. 1064
2. You Can Live
Forever in Paradise on Earth, 1989, p. 122
3. You
Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth, 1989, pp. 121-122
4. Hebrews 10:4
5. See Reasoning
from the Scriptures, 1989, p. 162
6. See Reasoning
from the Scriptures, 1989, p. 162
7. See John 3:13 |
