Ask a Question
or
Create a Poll
  1. Home /
  2. Questions /
  3. Social Sciences
  4. / Religions
  5. / Religions A - Z
  6. / Christian Religions
  7. / The Christian Bible
  8. / Christian Bible Answers
  9. / Books And Verses

by Inspector Javert on January 24th, 2007

Inspector Javert

Question

Help answer this question below.

How can anyone explain the following, contradicting verses of the Bible? They are "2 Kings 2:11" and "John 3:13". I'll post the verses inside.

  • Like
  • Report
Share:
Other

Answers. 12 helpful answers below.

  • by chadxseeker on January 24th, 2007

    chadxseeker

    A: John 3:13 states, "And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that
    came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven."

    Of the translation of Enoch, we have these passages:

    Genesis 5:24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took
    him.

    Hebrews 11:5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death;
    and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his
    translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

    Although the passages do not say specifically that Enoch went to heaven,
    it sure seems that he went to be with God. I will admit that this could
    be argued, but what was the purpose of God taking the one who walked with
    Him if he was to be taken to a place where he would not be in continual
    fellowship with God?

    But look at the statements concerning Elijah:

    2Kings 2:1 And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into
    heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.


    2Kings 2:11 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.

    These verses teach specifically that Elijah was taken up into heaven.
    Again, this might be a different heaven. Others have written and
    questioned how these men could be in heaven before the shedding of the
    blood of Christ. Yet, I might add that Satan has access to heaven--at
    least some part of it (Job 1:6). Perhaps these men did not yet have full
    access to the glories of heaven or were not able to enter the throne
    room. Obviously, I am not certain here. But the Bible seems to put them
    in heaven when they were taken up by God.

    This brings us back to the original problem. If no man had ascended up to
    heaven until Christ ascended, how could Enoch and Elijah be there? At the
    least, according to the plain statements of scripture, "no man hath
    ascended up to heaven" even though Elijah "went up by a whirlwind into
    heaven." Is this a contradiction? Not at all.

    The Bible does not say that Elijah ascended to heaven. It says that he
    was taken up. The word 'ascend' means to go up. It pictures someone or
    something that goes up of its own strength. The word 'ascend' comes from
    the Latin word for 'climb' and it literally means to climb up. We speak
    of someone ascending the stairs. The first biblical use of the word is in
    Genesis 28:12 where Jacob sees "a ladder set up on the earth, and the top
    of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and
    descending on it."

    John 3:13 does not teach that no one has ever seen or entered heaven. It
    teaches that no man ever climbed up into heaven by his own power. The
    only one who has ever ascended to heaven in His own strength is the One
    who originated in heaven and came down to earth before He ascended. I
    hope this helps explain the verse to you.

    • Like
    • Report

    3 comments | Post one | Permalink

  • by Stormarm on January 20th, 2010

    Stormarm

    When John uses the word Ouranos (translated 'heaven') he's following a then common pious cicumlocution for referring to God. "The bread of heaven" is the bread of/from God, the voice from heaven is the voice of God, the Holy Spirit descending from heaven is descending from God - specifically, from the unveiled Face of God. It's a major theme throughout John's Gospel that no one has seen the Father except the Son - and those to whom the Son has chosen to reveal Him (mediated through the Son).

    In 1Kings, Elijah's just going "up" into the sky.

    Jewish rabbinic and mystical thought during Jesus' time was that Abraham, Elijah, Enoch, and Moses all had some sort of existance "in heaven" but that they - along with the rest of the heavenly host - were denied the supreme revelation of beholding God's Face unveiled - i.e., they did not KNOW God, at least directly. According to the mystics and apocalypticists (and also Philo) only the heavenly Son of Man/the Word of God/Little YHVH/"The God who reveals God"/The Angel of the Lord, who is seated on the Throne of God, created all the heavens and the Earth and all that is in them in God's Name, and continues to rule them in God's Name, only he experiences perfect and unmediated fellowship with "The God Who Is God." It is John's point - and evidently Jesus' point before him - that Jesus is the incarnation of that being.

    The image comes from the Jewish experience of the Persian monarchy. The idea is that Elijah, the other OT saints, and even the Cherubim and Seraphim, are like courtiers in the king's great hall, always face down in the dirt when the king (God) is present, never daring to look on his face. But The Son of Man/Word of God/Divine Wisdom (Jesus) is the Crown Prince, Grand Vizier, Viceroy, and also royal Queen, concubine #1, lover, and court favorite (they used both masculine and feminine metaphors) who had unlimited and unfettered intimate access to the king, perfectly representing him in all things.

    • Like
    • Report

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by edndori on February 16th, 2009

    edndori

    Notice that Jesus ascended (only he had the power to do so).
    Elijah was TAKEN up by God. Which required no such power on Elijah's part.
    The same is true of every other such case, and must be for us also.
    Jesus had within himself the power to ascend.
    All others must be taken by the Power of God. Which is something outside our control.

    • Like
    • Report

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by seahorse on February 19th, 2009

    seahorse

    What were “the heavens” to which “Elijah went ascending in the windstorm”? These were neither the distant parts of the physical universe nor the spiritual place where God and his angelic sons dwell. (Deuteronomy 4:19; Psalm 11:4; Matthew 6:9; 18:10) “The heavens” to which Elijah ascended were the atmospheric heavens. (Psalm 78:26; Matthew 6:26) Racing through earth’s atmosphere, the fiery chariot evidently transferred Elijah to another part of the earth, where he continued living for a time. Years later, in fact, Elijah wrote a letter to Jehoram, the king of Judah.—2 Chronicles 21:1, 12-15.

    • Like
    • Report

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by ...trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. on September 22nd, 2007

    ...trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

    Christ ascended to heaven. He did so Himself because He was God. Elijah was taken up to heaven by a chariot of fire sent by God, so God took him up to heaven and he did not go up in his own power as Christ(the Son of Man) did. I hope that this is helpful. :)


    -In the Master's service.
    Thank you and God bless you!

    • Like
    • Report

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by cancon on February 4th, 2007

    cancon

    Some things in the Bible are end will be a mystery, simply not explainable. One can not impress God by understanding scripture fully, but God is impressed by expression of our Faith in Him. He has made absolutely sure that he can not be reached by intellect or any other attained knowledge or adherence to "rules." It’s only thru, and by Faith he can be reached, and then revelation flows from Him like a life giving spring into a hart of a believer. How much faith one needs? Hmmm… how big is a mustard seed…

    • Like
    • Report

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by Inspector Javert on January 24th, 2007

    Inspector Javert

    2 Kings 2:11

    As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.


    John 3:13

    No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.

    • Like
    • Report

    2 comments | Post one | Permalink

  • by Sedric_R on December 7th, 2010

    Sedric_R

    Resurrection is different with Restoration. Jesus was resurrected, and resurrection means to die and to rose again and never die again. Restoration means to die and to live again, but they will also experience death, unlike Jesus Christ. But there's another one thing. That is the thing that happened to Enoch and Elijah. God just get the two of them. But they never experience death.

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by Stormarm on January 20th, 2010

    Stormarm

    Share your answer...

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by vew573 on January 20th, 2010

    vew573

    Christ’s resurrection is said to be “a guarantee to all men” that God will resurrect others. (Acts 17:31; 24:15) This would not be true if God had been resurrecting righteous men to heaven all through the preceding centuries.

    How, then, are we to understand the Bible account about the prophet Elijah, which reads: “As they [Elijah and Elisha] were walking along, speaking as they walked, why, look! a fiery war chariot and fiery horses, and they proceeded to make a separation between them both; and Elijah went ascending in the windstorm to the heavens.” (2Ki. 2:11) Did Elijah actually go into the heavens of God? Or , for that matter, did he die at this time?

    Jesus himself said: “Among those born of women there has not been raised up a greater than John the Baptist; but a person that is a lesser one in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he is.” (Matt. 11:11) Accordingly, Elijah, not being greater than John, could not be in heaven.

    What, then, were the “heavens” into which Elijah was taken by the windstorm ?These were the physical heavens, the atmosphere, the “expanse,” also called “Heaven” at Genesis 1:6-8. A windstorm could exist only in this atmospheric expanse, not in the spirit realm of Jehovah’s heavenly presence. Elijah was carried up out of Elisha’s sight by the windstorm.

    The Bible does not say that Elijah died on that occasion. As a matter of fact, Elijah was still alive and active as a prophet at least five years later, apparently over in the territory of Judah. The Bible tells us: “Eventually there came a writing to [Jehoram, king of Judah] from Elijah the prophet.” This letter foretold the sickness and death of Jehoram because of his wrong, idolatrous course. (2Chron. 21:12-15)

    A further evidence that Elijah did not die at the time of being taken into the “heavens” is that his servant and successor Elisha did not then hold the customary period of mourning for his master.—Compare 2Samuel 19:1; 1Chronicles 7:22; 2Chronicles 35:24.

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by Sedric_R on December 7th, 2010

    Sedric_R

    Share your answer...

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by vew573 on January 20th, 2010

    vew573

    Share your answer...

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

Want to attach an image to your answer? Click here.

Did this answer your question? If not, then ask a new question or create a poll.

More Questions. Additional questions in this category.

You're reading How can anyone explain the following, contradicting verses of the Bible? They are "2 Kings 2:11" and "John 3:13". I'll post the verses inside.

Follow us on Facebook!

Related Ads

Related Questions

Professionally Researched

ANSWERBAG BUZZ

Contradicting verses in the bible
Bible verses that contradict
Explain verses in the bible
Contradicting verses
Contradicting bible passages

Answerbag

a Demand Media company