The previous part examined the disappearing behavior of Elijah and Ezekiel who were involved in preparing the people for Jesus who would arrive many years later. Those events were as common to the people of that day as are the events to which people have become accustomed in this day. The next disappearance of Elijah was not considered a big deal since he had done so previously.   

II Kings 1:3 introduces Elijah the Tishbite for the first time in the chapter. Verses 3 through 18 relate the work that God gave to Elijah and the events that transpired with that work; and then chapter 2:1 gives a statement about what happened to Elijah before it happened. And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. Time passed and when it did, God took Elijah in a whirl wind after doing God’s work.

Verses 2 through 10 give the events of Elijah’s life before being taken up in verse 11 which says 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. (Before continuing, Jimmy Swaggart’s teaching must be examined. He wrote on verse11 the following comment: in the original Hebrew, it says, “and Elijah went up in a storm into the heavens”; there is no mention of a “whirlwind”; two only of the seed of Adam, Enoch and Elijah, have passed from Earth to Heaven without dying. His assertions will be shown to be false as verse 11 is examined in light of the Bible.)

Verse 11 must be understood in light of the work of God and the behavior of Elijah in I Kings 18:7-17 which tells us that Elijah would disappear on occasion as he did God’s work. In verse 11, Elijah disappeared in what to us is a most unusual way, but it didn’t appear unusual to those in that day.

A whirlwind took Elijah into heaven and the word whirlwind is first to be examined. Mr. Swaggart said that there is no mention of whirlwind in the original Hebrew. According to Strong’s Greek and Hebrew Dictionaries,  #H5591, ca`ar -- pronounced: sah'-ar or (feminine) cª`arah seh-aw-raw' a hurricane: KJV -- storm(-y), tempest, whirlwind. The definition is nearly identical in Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon, Concise Addition ca`ar -- pronounced: sah'-ar or (feminine) cªtarah seh-aw-raw' a tempest; a storm; a whirlwind. Strong’s H5591 derives from H5590 a primitive root; to rush upon; by implication, to toss (transitive or intransitive, literal or figurative): KJV -- be (toss with) tempest(-uous), be sore, troubled, come out as a (drive with the, scatter with a) whirlwind. Brown’s H5591 derives from H5590 to storm; to rage; stormy; growing storm (participle); to be enraged; to storm away; to be driven by storm.

Whirlwind is used 27 times in 25 verses and of those uses, ca`ar  Strong’s H5591 is found 7 times translated as whirlwind. In each of the contexts, the meaning does not indicate that the whirlwind ever went  to heaven. It stayed on the ground or in the atmosphere where the birds fly. The word ca`ar is translated storm one time in Psalms 107:29 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. In two verses, Habakkuk 3:14 and Zechariah 7:14 #H5590 is used. Habakkuk 3:14 Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages: they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly. In Zechariah 7:14 But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate. Number 5590 is the root of 5591 and the difference in meaning between them is minor; both indicate a whirlwind, storm or wind force on or above the ground as the respective contexts indicate.

What is the reason Jimmy Swaggart claims that the original Hebrew used storm and not whirlwind? Your guess is as good as any other, but considering Mr. Swaggart’s knowledge of the Bible is not good and along with his false claims, his comment isn’t worth much for explaining the verse.

Part XI will examine the word heaven used in verse 11 and heavens used in other verses. It is important to study the meaning of the words to understand what happened to Elijah.

© 12-14-2012 DEC

                       Next Lesson The Criminal on the Cross Part XI