Most people believe that when you die you go straight to heaven and will see your loved ones! Is this true? YESHUA tells us something very important that we should pay attention to. But before I share it must be understood that when a person dies their spirit goes to Sheol which is a holding place for all the spirits of the dead!
Genesis 37:35 (Aramaic)
“And all his (Jacob) sons and all his daughters made an effort to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, I will go DOWN TO SHEOL, to my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.”
The KJV and Complete Jewish Bible translate Sheol as “Grave”. The etymology for the word “grave” is “Sheol” H7585 and defined by Brown-Driver-Briggs as 1)SHEOL, underworld, grave, hell, pit 1b) SHEOL – the OT DESIGNATION FOR THE ABODE OF THE DEAD. Strongs defines “Sheol” as hades or the WORLD OF THE DEAD (as if a subterranean retreat), including its accessories and inmates: - grave, hell, pit.”
As we can see Jacob thought that his son Joseph was dead and he didn’t say “let me go up to heaven where Joseph is”, rather, Jacob knew that the dead go DOWN to Sheol until the judgment! More evidence of this is in Genesis, Hebrews, and the book of Enoch.
Genesis 4:10 (Complete Jewish Bible)
“He said, ‘What have you done? THE VOICE OF YOUR BROTHER’S BLOOD IS CRYING OUT TO ME FROM THE GROUND!’”
Hebrews 11:4 (Complete Jewish Bible)
“By trusting, Abel offered a greater sacrifice than Cain; because of this, he was attested as righteous, with Elohim giving him this testimony on the ground of his gifts. Through having trusted, HE STILL CONTINUES TO SPEAK, EVEN THOUGH HE IS DEAD.”
Enoch 22:5-9
“I saw the spirit of a dead man making accusation, and his voice went forth to heaven and made accusation, crying out unceasingly, and making accusations. And I asked Raphael the Watcher and set-apart one who was with me, and I said to him, “This spirit which makes a case, whose is it, whose voice goes forth and makes a case to heaven?” And he answered me saying, “This is the spirit which went forth from Abel, whom his brother Cain killed; he makes accusation against him until his seed is destroyed from the face of the earth, and his seed is annihilated from among the seed of men.” Then I asked regarding all the hollow places, “Why is one separated from the other?” And he answered me saying, “These three have been made that THE SPIRITS OF THE DEAD MIGHT BE SEPARATED. And this division has been made for the SPIRITS OF THE RIGHTEOUS, in which there is the bright spring of water.”
There is a holding place for the righteous and the unrighteous in Sheol for ALL SPIRITS! Now, the words of YESHUA make more sense when we understand the truth about death!
John 3:13 (Hebrewgospels.com)
“And there is NO ONE WHO HAS ASCENDED UP TO THE HEAVENS except He who descended from the heavens --- the Son of Man who is from the heavens.”
Every word YESHUA spoke is the truth! So how could Enoch and Elijah have been taken up to heaven as we have been taught? Does this mean we have a contradiction in the scriptures? The answer is no! And we will examine this.
Genesis 5:24 (Complete Jewish Bible)
“Enoch walked with ELOHIM, and then he wasn’t there, because ELOHIM TOOK HIM.”
Genesis 5:24 (Aramaic)
“And Enoch found favor in the presence of ELOHIM, and DISAPPEARED; for ELOHIM TOOK HIM AWAY.”
Genesis 5:24 (Septuagint)
“And Enoch was well-pleasing to ELOHIM and was not found because ELOHIM TRANSLATED HIM.”
Hebrews 11:5 (Aramaic)
“By faith Enoch DEPARTED and did not taste death, and HE WAS NOT FOUND, BECAUSE ELOHIM TOOK HIM…”
The definition of translated according to thefreedictionary.com is “4. TO TRANSFER FROM ONE PLACE OR CONDITION TO ANOTHER.”
So, if Enoch disappeared and was transferred from one place to another, then where did he go? We see a similar translation happen to Philip!
Acts 8:38-40 (Complete Jewish Bible)
“He ordered the chariot to stop; then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water; and Phillip immersed him. When they came up out of the water; the SPIRIT of YAHWEH SNATCHED PHILIP AWAY. The eunuch saw no more of him, and he continued on his way – full of joy. But Philip SHOWED UP AT ASHDOD AND CONTINUED PROCLAIMING THE GOOD NEWS as he went through all the towns until he came to Caesarea.”
As we see, Philip was not snatched away or transferred from earth to heaven, but rather, he was taken from Azah and transferred/translated to Ashdod to continue proclaiming the Good News! The same happened with Enoch; except, he was taken to another location away from humanity!
Jubilees 4:22-23
“He (Enoch) testified to the Watchers who had sinned with the daughters of men because these had begun to mix with earthly women so that they became defiled. Enoch testified against all of them. HE WAS TAKEN FROM HUMAN SOCIETY, AND WE (ANGELS) LED HIM INTO THE GARDEN OF EDEN for his greatness and honor. Now he is there writing down the judgment and condemnation of the world and all the wickedness of humanity. BECAUSE OF HIM THE FLOODWATER DID NOT COME ON ANY OF THE LAND OF EDEN…”
So, ELOHIM took Enoch away from human society and translated him to the Garden of Eden. We are told that none of the floodwaters touched the Garden of Eden! This is supernatural protection from YAHWEH just as we saw Him do in the Exodus account!
Exodus 9:4-6 (Complete Jewish Bible)
“But YAHWEH will distinguish between Egypt’s and Israel’s livestock – nothing belonging to the people of Israel will die.””” YAHWEH determined the exact time by saying, “Tomorrow YAHWEH will do this in the land.” The following day, YAHWEH did it --- all the livestock of Egypt died; BUT NOT ONE OF THE ANIMALS BELONGING TO THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL DIED. Pharaoh investigated and found that NOT EVEN ONE OF THE ANIMALS OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL HAD DIED.”
Exodus 10:22-23 (Complete Jewish Bible)
“Moses reached out his hand toward the sky, and there was a thick darkness in the entire land of Egypt for three days. People couldn’t see each other, and no one went anywhere for three days. BUT ALL THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL HAD LIGHT IN THEIR HOMES.”
Just like in the days of Noah the earth was filled with such wickedness/darkness that YAHWEH sent a flood upon the earth and yet Enoch was protected in the Garden of Eden, (THE LIGHT, the land of righteousness) likewise, the children of Israel were protected in the light while Egypt was in darkness!
Exodus 12:23 (Complete Jewish Bible)
“For YAHWEH will pass through to kill the Egyptians; but when He sees the blood on the top and on the two sides, YAHWEH will pass over the door and will not ALLOW THE SLAUGHTERER TO ENTER YOUR HOUSES AND KILL YOU.”
As we see, YAHWEH can protect His people in any situation and He did the same with Enoch in the Garden of Eden by protecting it from the floodwaters! And I believe that just as we don’t know where Moses was buried is the same reason why the exact location of the Garden of Eden is unknown!
Deuteronomy 34:5-6 (Complete Jewish Bible)
“So Moses, the servant of YAHWEH, died there in the land of Moab, as YAHWEH had said. He was buried in the valley across from Beit-P’or in the land of Moav, BUT TO THIS DAY NO ONE KNOWS WHERE HIS GRAVE IS.”
What about Elijah?
The Septuagint gives us the answer that matches everything presented already!
2 Kings 2:1 (Septuagint)
“And it came to pass, when YAHWEH was going to take Elijah with a whirlwind AS IT WERE INTO HEAVEN…”
Elijah being taken away seemed as if it were into heaven! “As it were” is a phrase which means “so to speak” and used to indicate that a statement is figurative, which means that the phrase should not be taken literally.
This is evidenced by those 50 prophets that were with Elisha. They did not believe Elijah was being taken into heaven, but to another location, which is why they wanted to look for him!
2 Kings 2:15-18 (Septuagint)
“And the sons of the prophets who were in Jericho on the opposite side saw him and said, The spirit of Elijah has rested on Elisha. And they came to meet him and bowed to him to the ground. And they said to him, See now, there are with your servants fifty sons of strength: LET THEM GO NOW AND SEEK YOUR MASTER; LEST AT ANY TIME THE SPIRIT OF YAHWEH HAS TAKEN HIM UP AND CAST HIM INTO THE JORDAN, OR ON ONE OF THE MOUNTAINS, OR ON ONE OF THE HILLS. And Elisha said, you shall not send. And they pressed him until he was ashamed; and he said, Send. And they sent fifty men and searched for three days and DID NOT FIND HIM. And they returned to him, for he dwelt in Jericho: and Elisha said, DID I NOT SAY TO YOU, DO NOT GO?”
The 50 servants were looking for Elijah to be taken from one place on the earth to another place and I believe that Elijah already told Elisha where he was going to be taken, which is why Elisha said “Did I not say to you don’t go?”
Obadiah seemed to know what Elisha knew!
1 Kings 18:7-12 (Complete Jewish Bible)
“Obadiah was on the road when suddenly Elijah encountered him, Obadiah recognized him, fell on his face and said, ‘Is it really you, my master Elijah?’ He answered, ‘Yes, it is I; go, tell your master, “Elijah is here.”’ Obadiah replied, ‘How have I sinned, that you would hand your servant over to Ahab to kill me? As YAHWEH your ELOHIM lives, there can’t be a single nation or kingdom where my master hasn’t sent to search you out; and in each kingdom or nation where they said, “He isn’t here,” he made them take an oath that they hadn’t found you. Now you say, “Go tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’” But as soon as I leave you, THE SPIRIT OF YAHWEH WILL CARRY YOU OFF TO I DON’T KNOW WHERE…”
Which again matches what we read in Acts! That Philip wasn’t taken to heaven, but to another location!
Acts 8:38-40 (Complete Jewish Bible)
“He ordered the chariot to stop; then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water; and Philip immersed him. When they came up out of the water; the SPIRIT of YAHWEH SNATCHED PHILIP AWAY. The eunuch saw no more of him, and he continued on his way – full of joy. But Philip SHOWED UP AT ASHDOD AND CONTINUED PROCLAIMING THE GOOD NEWS as he went through all the towns until he came to Caesarea.”
So where did Elijah go?
Enoch 89:51-52 (Enoch’s vision from beginning to end)
“And again I saw those sheep that they erred again and went many ways, and forsook that their house, and the Master of the sheep called some from among the sheep (footnote: “Presumably the prophets”) and sent them to the sheep, but the sheep began to kill them. And one of them was saved (footnote: “presumably Elijah”) and was not slain, and it sped away (1 Kings 19:1-3) and cried aloud over the sheep; and they sought to slay it (1 Kings 19:10), but the Master of the sheep SAVED IT FROM THE SHEEP, AND BROUGHT IT UP TO ME, AND CAUSED IT TO DWELL THERE.”
Jubilees told us that Enoch was taken into the Garden of Eden and then in Enoch’s vision he saw that Elijah would be taken away and brought to the same location that he was taken to which is the Garden of Eden! It is clear that we do not go straight to heaven after death and it’s about time for the world to know the truth! I pray that this opens up the eyes of those who need to hear it and please share it with them!
As always may YAHWEH bless you in YESHUA’s Name!