Doctrines that do not have any biblical support are taught for truth and once the teaching enters the mind it is virtually impossible to weed it out. That affects people in all positions from church members and non-members to preachers, to teachers at all levels to those who write commentaries. As was written previously, the Bible is its own best commentary and by remaining faithful to the harmony of the scriptures error can be found.

Writers of commentaries try to present the truth, but once in a while they do err. Thayer and Strong make translate(s) take the meaning of immortality when in fact it does not have that meaning. It is an attempt to prove that Enoch went to heaven. The Hebrew word for took in Genesis 5:24 is laqach -- pronounced: law-kakh' and among its many meanings it simply means to seize,  be removed or take away with none of them giving any indication for the location to where Enoch was removed. But a search of the scriptures indicates he was buried in a grave. The Hebrew writer used the word translated which is means transfer, carry and remove which is essentially the same as  the Hebrew word laqach. Over time, the Hebrew word and the Geek words took on the meaning of immortality when there isn’t any indication anywhere in the scriptures they have the meaning of immortality. That meaning infiltrated the message of Christ when pagan doctrines were introduced.

In the case of Elijah, there isn’t any indication that his being taken in a whirlwind suggests immortality, but one commentator wrote that Elijah was translated by a whirlwind, which ostensibly conferred immortality on him. One commentary, Jamieson-Fausset Brown’s Bible Commentary says that the name Elijah in II Chronicles. 21:12 should be Elisha. The commentator wrote, That prophet's translation having taken place in the reign of Jehoshaphat [2Ki 2:11,12], we must conclude that the name of Elijah has, by the error of a transcriber, been put for that of Elisha.  Note that somehow the words went up by a whirlwind into heaven became translated with immortality inferred. The scriptures do not support that notion in any manner.

Further investigation revealed that Elisha isn’t mentioned after II Kings 13:21 and isn’t mentioned in II Chronicles anywhere. Several more works were consulted and none of them remotely suggested that Elijah should be translated Elisha. It appears that believing a mistranslation in II Chronicles is the way to reconcile the problem of Elijah taken up in a whirlwind to heaven so that II Kings 2:12 can be called a translation to heaven i.e. given immortality. More on the matter will be discussed when the Transfiguration is examined which is next.

Jesus took Peter, James and John upon a high mountain away from everyone. When they arrived, Jesus was transfigured (metamorfoo -- pronounced: met-am-or-fo'-o changed and transformed) (Mark 9:2).  The three men with Jesus saw Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus. How did Moses and Elijah appear on the mountain when Moses and Elijah were dead? Deuteronomy 34:5-6 says So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. 6  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. How did Moses appear given that he was dead? For that matter, how did Elijah appear if he was in heaven with God? He wasn’t, so his appearance was the same as the appearance as Moses. There has to be an explanation for both of them being on the mountain and it is found in verse 9 And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead. Verse 10 reveals the reason for the transfiguration. 10 And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean. They had been given a preview of the resurrection and in the view that only a few believed after the fact that Jesus had been raised from the dead, who would have believed Peter James and John before the fact of the resurrection?

© 12-18-2012 DEC 

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