Enoch and Elijah

Did they enter into Heaven?

There are many people, even some Theologians, who believe emphatically that Elijah was taken to God’s throne in Heaven.  It is believed that the biblical examples of Enoch and Elijah show that we will also be in Heaven with God after we die.  Well, What about Elijah?  Or Enoch? Weren’t they taken to heaven?  Well, let us find out about these two men of God and of their “translation”.  Let us begin with Elijah and also let us rely on the scriptures to give us the “big picture” of what really happened with him.  We need to gather a little information before we go to II Kings to “witness” the “translation” of this servant of God.

(Read Carefully) 1Kings18:7 And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Art thou that my lord Elijah? 8 And he answered him, I am: go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here. 9 And he said, What have I sinned, that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me? 10 As the LORD thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when they said, He is not there; he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they found thee not. 11 And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here. 12 And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the LORD shall carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me: but I thy servant fear the LORD from my youth. 13 Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the LORD, how I hid an hundred men of the LORD’S prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water? 14 And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here: and he shall slay me. 15 And Elijah said, As the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will surely shew myself unto him to day. 16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him: and Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17 And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel?  

These passages let us realize that Elijah was “translated” many times before! Look carefully at verse 10″…there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when they said, He is not there;“. Whenever the enemies of God came to look for Elijah , after reported “Elijah sightings” they could never find him!  It is apparent that Elijah had a habit of “disappearing” and that it was known amongst the people of God that the Lord did this thing (v.12).

II Kings 2:12 And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the LORD shall carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me: but I thy servant fear the LORD from my youth.

This passage has been misunderstood by many theologians. They claim it to be a prophecy of Elijah being taken to heaven.  This could not be further from the truth.  If this were a prophecy, and it was from God, then Elijah would have been taken away BEFORE Obadiah had brought King Ahab to meet him as the  “…as soon as I am gone from thee” clearly states.   

I Kings 18:16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him: and Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17 And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel?   We see here that Ahab DID indeed see Elijah at this time which shows that this was not a prophecy – for it came not true. 

Obadiah’s understanding was that Elijah always was “whisked away” whenever his life might be in jeopardy.  Whenever the King’s men came to apprehend Elijah God picked him up and took him away from the imminent danger, so he should not see his own death.  Elijah would appear in some other city to witness for the Lord until the time that he “wore out his welcome” again.  The knowledge of this phenomenon was widespread among the children of God.

Notice the leading text that is read just prior to Elijah being “taken”. II Kings 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. 2 And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel. 3 And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he said, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace.  

These people KNEW what was going to happen because it had happened before.  This time was to be a bit different. Elijah’s active and dangerous ministry was coming to a close.  Many people still sought to take his life.  They also knew that Elisha would “have his master” taken from him and that he would no longer be just Elijah’s servant but the prophet of the Lord. They had contemplated this “passing of the torch” if I may use that term.

And again in II Kings 2:4 And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Jericho. And he said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho. 5 And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he answered, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace. 6 And Elijah said unto him, Tarry, I pray thee, here; for the LORD hath sent me to Jordan. And he said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they two went on. 7 And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood to view afar off: and they two stood by Jordan.

Now, retaining and understanding all we have read we continue in II Kings 2:9 And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. 10 And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so.  Elijah knew that his “retirement” was nigh.  He knew that he would be leaving Elisha to the office of the servitude of God as His prophet of warning and witness (see II Kings 2:15).

II Kings 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. 12 And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces.  We see that Elijah went up to a place called heaven and out of sight of Elisha. Was this the third heaven, the place of God’s throne?

God tells us through scripture in John 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.   Elijah was taken up into the air, the atmosphere of this very planet earth, this is the first heaven (see Are you Going To Heaven?) . He was not taken to God’s throne or the third Heaven (refer to II Co 12:1). Where did this “chariot of fire”, this whirlwind take him to?  We will investigate further as we continue.


II Kings 2:16 And they said unto him, Behold now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master: lest peradventure the Spirit of the LORD hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And he said, Ye shall not send. 17 And when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men; and they sought three days, but found him not. 18 And when they came again to him, (for he tarried at Jericho,) he said unto them, Did I not say unto you, Go not? 

Notice that the onlooking people went off to look for Elijah. Why would they go on a three day journey through the countryside to find a man who has not even on earth?  These people KNEW that Elijah was “transported” from one earthly location unto another.  They were not sure where he ended up but they knew he was returned to this earth.

This is made clear in the scripture because about seven years later (7 yrs by comparing II Kings 3:1, I Kings 22:42, and II Kings 8:16) we find Elijah still on earth having written to the King of Judah, Jehoram .  II Chronicles 21:12 And there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of David thy father, Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah,– The word rendered writing is “miktab” [Strong’s # 4385] meaning a letter, a thing written, a document, a writing. So we see that the scripture shows that Elijah continued to live on earth.

Josephus, Antiquities Of The Jews 9:2:2 "Now at this time it was that Elijah disappeared from among men, and no one knows of his death to this very day; but he left behind him his disciple Elisha, as we have formerly declared. And indeed, as to Elijah, and as to Enoch, who was before the Deluge, it is written in the sacred books that they disappeared; but so nobody knew that they died.”

Do you remember that no one saw Moses die either? Yet he did die even though the Lord took him and they saw him no more.  Deuteronomy 32:49-52 Get thee up into this mountain Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession: And die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people; as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people: Because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel. Yet thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel. Deuteronomy 34:1 And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the LORD shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan,      Deuteronomy 34:5-6 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. 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.

Elijah was picked up bodily and placed down in a different location. The prophet Ezekiel experienced the same phenomenon in his day (Ezekiel 3:12-14) and even, the man of God, Philip was identically transported bodily through the air, from a spot between Jerusalem and Gaza, unto the city of Azotus a few miles away (Acts 8:26-28 and Acts8:39,40). Now maybe we should believe John 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

Let us examine briefly the “translation” of Enoch in light of what we have learned.

To begin with let us clear up what is meant by the term “walked with God” as found in Genesis 5:22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: 

This “walking with God” refers to the living of one’s life in a manner that is pleasing to God (refer to Hebrews 11:5),  to OBEY God’s commands, to exercise the fruit of the spirit of God within you. Leviticus 26:3 If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; 4 Then …..12 And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.  Speaking of  Christ John said in I John 2:6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.  This is summed up in a concise manner in Amos 3:3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

Now we look at Enoch’s disappearance in Genesis 5:23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: 24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

Notice that it does not say God took Enoch to Heaven.  As the Scripture says: “He was not [found by men]; for God took him [transported him elsewhere].”  This complements all the scriptural proofs concerning Elijah’s transportation as well.

Further evidence can be viewed in Hebrews 11:5 By faith Enoch was translated [Strong’s #3346– metatithemi– to transport, carry over, translate] that he should not see death ; and was not found , because God had translated him : for before his translation[Strong’s #3331- metathesis-transport, transferral, change]he had this testimony , that he pleased God.  The same Greek word for “translated” here is rendered in Acts 7:16 as “carried over”, and refers to the transporting of Jacob’s dead body to Sychem ( Shechem ).

“…Enoch was translated that he should not see death..” You need to understand that Enoch walked the way God instructed him to. This means that Enoch, as Elijah would later also do, confronted the people with God’s truth. He warned them of what would befall them if they did not turn from their evil ways ( which they did not always see as being evil, mind you.) and turn to the true God, creator of heaven and earth. We find collaborating evidence of this in the book of Jude.

Jude 1:14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. 

What happens when prophets of God preach against wickedness and of the coming of Christ to exact judgment upon the unrepentant?  Martyrdom! That is correct, martyrdom, the people invariably attempted to destroy God’s prophets as they were not willing to hear sound doctrine or acknowledge their sin.  The truth of the matter is that God took Enoch away to live out his last days elsewhere or maybe even to die immediately elsewhere, but not at the hands of the wicked who sought to kill him for his preaching against them. This was also for stirring the hope of the people who might repent to think that God would also protect them in their hour of need.

We know that Enoch, a mere man, did eventually die. Hebrews 11:13, in referring to Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and Sarah, says that Heb 11:13 “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”  These men and women of God all died and must await their reward at the resurrection when Christ returns.

In conclusion, we have found that the Word of God is true and that no man has went up into (third) heaven to be with God except Jesus Christ who came down fron Heaven.

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What happens when we die?

Death is nearly as old as life itself on this planet, and its roots are from even earlier. The Bible records the origin of death on earth and also the events that happened elsewhere that allowed for death to exist in the first place. The Scriptures are perfectly clear that death is an abnormality and was never meant to exist at all.

To understand why everyone on this planet is subject to the strange mystery of death, we must first travel elsewhere in the universe, to a place the Bible calls heaven.

Heaven is where God dwells. It is the headquarters of the universe. Long before there was life on earth, there was life in heaven. The Bible tells us that creatures we know as angels existed there. There were many angels, “ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands and thousands” of them, a number so high they are essentially “innumerable” (Revelation 5:11; Hebrews 12:22). These beings lived in perfect harmony with each other. They served God and each other. There was no death. God’s perfect creatures were made to live forever, living ever more abundantly as time went on.

But something went wrong in this heavenly paradise. The Bible tells us of one of these angels who was “perfect in [his] ways from the day [he was] created, till iniquity was found in [him]” (Ezekiel 28:15). In other words, the seed of sin festered in this angel’s heart until it finally erupted into a full rebellion.

Unfortunately, this was no ordinary angel. He was the “anointed cherub who covers;” he ministered “on the holy mountain of God,” walking “back and forth in the midst of fiery stones” (Ezekiel 28:14). He had the highest position of all the angels, ministering directly to God. As such, there was no one in heaven with more power, authority, or influence than this angel, except for God Himself.

What was the nature of this angel’s sin? The Bible says: “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor” (Ezekiel 28:17). His sin was pride. As a perfect creature made by God, his beauty was remarkable and his wisdom was splendid. However, rather than give glory to God for these gifts, he became proud because of them. He saw them not as gifts but as self-earned attributes.

The Bible gives more details still. This angel’s name was Lucifer, we’re told in Isaiah 14:12. He became so prideful that he began to covet the worship the other angels gave to God. He desired to usurp the throne of God and take His place. The Bible declares of Lucifer,

“¹³ For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:¹⁴ I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.'"
 (Isaiah 14:13, 14).

Because Lucifer could not declare open rebellion against God without help, he gathered the support of many of the other angels and, eventually, a “war broke out in heaven” (Revelation 12:7). Lucifer, now renamed Satan (the accuser) because of his rebellion, lost this war, and he and his followers were banished. “So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Revelation 12:9).

And so this sinful angel came to earth. We can reasonably infer from the Bible that this drama occurred before God created life on earth, because Satan was already present on the earth at the beginning. God gave the first man and the first woman free reign to explore, to do and eat anything they desired in their original, perfect home … except for a single thing. God made one tree off-limits to them as a test of their loyalty, and Satan was ready to do what was necessary to make them fail that test.

Let’s stop for a moment to consider something important: Why did God not destroy Satan in the beginning? That would have prevented him from coming to Earth and spared all of us from sin and death. Why did God permit Satan to live when the rest of us must die? This question is of the greatest significance, and it gets right to the heart of who God is and why we should learn about Him.

The Bible tells us that God is love (1 John 4:8, 16). The Bible also says that love is not provoked but rejoices in the truth (1 Corinthians 13:4-6). Just as we are free to make our own decisions each day, so too are the angels. Satan accused God of being unfair, of hoarding to Himself power and worship that rightly belonged to others including Satan himself. If God destroyed Satan immediately as a result of his rebellion, the remaining angels would see that God was easily provoked and might be afraid of Him. They might serve Him out of fear and not love. In order for God to demonstrate the truth about His character of love, He must allow Satan’s rebellion to reveal its own results. God wants His angels and people to serve Him because His way is righteous, just, and leads to life, happiness, and prosperity—not out of fear of destruction if they rebel. When Satan’s rebellion in heaven and on earth reveals that its results are death, disease, destruction, heartache, divorce, starvation, torture, war, homicide, suicide, genocide, and “all kinds of evil,” all created beings will see for themselves that God deserves our worship and is, truly, love (1 Timothy 6:10).

 Satan chose earth to continue his rebellion and determined to cause the first man and woman to disobey God’s only prohibition. Genesis 2:16 records God’s instruction to the man regarding this boundary. It says,

“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’”

The instruction was plain. Eating from the forbidden tree would result in death. Death did not exist at that time, and would not have ever existed on earth if the man and woman had obeyed this simple command.

We must ask ourselves why the penalty for this small infraction was so severe. The answer is simple. The Bible is clear that God “alone has immortality” and that “the gift of God is eternal life” (1 Timothy 6:16; Romans 6:23). So, immortality can only exist through a connection with God. If that connection is severed, immortality ceases and death ensues. The Bible uses the word “sin” to describe this separation from God; though it is used to label specific actions that are contrary to God’s will, such as adultery and murder, God sees sin as a much bigger problem because it severs His children from Himself and makes them subject to death. Sin is a state of being apart from God. Therefore, even a small act of rebellion separates the sinner from God and results in death.

Satan succeeded in tricking the first woman into disobeying God, and she in turn caused the man to disobey as well. Taking the form of a talking serpent (which would baffle and amaze just about anybody, wouldn’t it?), Satan claimed that disobeying God would not result in death, but would instead give them powers and understanding beyond what they currently possessed. The Bible records this deception in Genesis 3:1–5, which reads:

“Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Has God indeed said, “You shall not eat of every tree of the garden”?’ And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, “You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.”’ Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’”

Satan told the woman that her disobedience would cause her to be like God. This, we remember, was Lucifer’s original sin. Like Lucifer, the woman fell victim to this temptation and ate the forbidden fruit. Genesis 3:6 tells us, “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.”

Since the man and the woman had sinned, they now knew the nature of evil. God is good; God is love. To be separate from goodness and love is to be joined with badness and evil. Evil cannot inherit immortality, for God alone is immortal and God is not evil. God declares, in Genesis 3:22, 23,

“‘Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever’— therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.”

The man and woman eventually had children, and every person ever born is ultimately descended from this original pair. Everyone born since that time has been subject to death.

This sad tale has affected everyone who has ever lived. Through no fault of our own, we were born into a world that is separated from the God who created it, and as such we all must face the day we must eventually die. But there is hope! The same God who made mankind “in His own image” cares too much to allow us to die in despair (Genesis 1:27). Through Jesus Christ, we have the hope of immortality restored to us.

 Humanity cannot overcome death by itself. The Bible tells us plainly that “the wages of sin is death,” so death is the penalty we all must pay (Romans 6:23). But God chose to pay our ultimate penalty for us. Jesus Christ, who is God in human flesh, lived a life free from sin yet died anyway. He took the sins of the entire world upon Himself and suffered our consequence so we might live eternally according to His righteousness. The mystery of salvation is greater even than the mystery of death, yet the truth of the matter is that God loves each person so much that He chose to impart eternal life to sinners even though they don’t deserve it, and the only thing He asks in return is faith that He has done this remarkable thing.

To all who understand this, God freely imparts the promise of eternal life in paradise, where they will never be subject to death again. The Bible declares triumphantly, “Death is swallowed up in victory” (1 Corinthians 15:54). The mystery of death will become the memory of death, and its horror will disappear from reality forever.

Until that time, however, we must live with the reality of death, and there has been much confusion and misunderstanding over the issue. Even Christian churches throughout time have stumbled over this topic. We believe, however, that a thorough and honest study of the Scriptures reveals the true nature of death and the beauty of God’s solution to it.

So what, exactly, happens when we die? Heaven? Hell? Reincarnation? Nothing?

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me,” and also, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live” (John 14:6; John 11:25). Because of these bold claims, followers of Jesus’ teachings have often claimed to know the “truth about death,” claiming the Bible as their authority on the matter.

Yet how can this approach be foolproof when the “truth about death” varies even between Christian churches? How can we be confident in our Bible study technique so that we are also confident in the result it yields?

The answer lies in the Bible itself, offering a prescription for finding God’s truth:

“Whom will he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn from the breasts? For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little” (Isaiah 28:9, 10).

In other words, a mature study of God’s message (one that contains more than just the “milk” of the Scriptures) demands that each passage about a subject must be compared to every other passage on the subject in the Bible. If we fail to do this, we might look at only part of the message and declare it to be the entire truth. Worse yet, we might misunderstand the message and declare blatant falsehood as truth.

So let’s begin at the beginning and see if the message we find there remains consistent as the rest of the Bible unfolds.

The first chapter of Genesis says that the heavens and the Earth were all created by God as He spoke them into existence.

“Then God said, ‘Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear’; and it was so” (Genesis 1:9).

 God’s words create matter and energy. He is so powerful that He must merely say something for it to become reality.

Yet the Bible tells us that God did not speak mankind into existence. Rather, He molded the first man with His own hands. “The LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). God cares for mankind so much that He used His own hands to make man perfect. Then, because the body must be animated to become alive, God breathed the “breath of life” into the body, and the man lived.

It is important to recognize this formula for life. The body without the breath is not alive; neither is the breath alive without a body. Only when the two elements are joined together does life occur. When we look at the same passage in the King James translation, it says, “Man became a living soul.” The word “soul” has been used to describe an intangible part of the human that is separate from the body and lives on after death, but the Bible defines a “soul” as the combination of a body and the breath, or spirit, from God. A person does not HAVE a soul; a person IS a soul, according to the Word of God.

Life, then, comes from God as a gift. The Old Testament patriarch Job understood this when he said, “As long as my breath is in me, And the breath of God in my nostrils,” he would not commit sin (Job 27:3). He knew that the breath inside of him was truly the breath from God.

The author of the book of Ecclesiastes, most likely King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, demonstrated this equation in reverse. He wrote, describing death, “Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7).

Therefore, we acknowledge that there is an invisible, intangible part of human life that exists apart from the body. However, the Bible tells us that it is not an immortal human soul, but rather a spirit from God. God lends us a part of Himself while we are alive, but that part returns to God when we die because it was always on loan from God to begin with.

The Bible records this same truth in the Christian era. The apostle James declares that “the body without the spirit is dead,” and thus recognizes that life is a combination of those two elements and ceases to exist when they are separated.

This concept is easy to understand when we consider the elements of artificial light. We create light by starting with a light bulb and adding an electric current to it. The product of those two elements is light. When we break the bulb or stop the electricity, the light ceases to exist. The light, like our lives, cannot exist in the absence of either of the two components that make it up.

This teaching obviously differs from what most Christian churches teach. While we respect their views and their faith, we encourage every person to take an honest look at what the Scriptures say about the subject of death. Not only is its formula for life clear, as we’ve demonstrated, but it has an abundance to say about the human experience after death as well. Consider these few thoughts on the matter:

“The dead do not praise the LORD, Nor any who go down into silence” (Psalm 115:17).

This tells us that death brings silence, and not praise, for God. Wouldn’t you praise God if you were in His presence in heaven?

“[A man’s] spirit departs, he returns to his earth; In that very day his plans perish” (Psalm 146:4).

Our plans do not continue beyond the grave because death means the cessation of life. Life stops at death.

“For in death there is no remembrance of [God]; In the grave who will give You thanks?” (Psalm 6:5).

How can we not remember God if we are with Him each day?

“For Sheol cannot thank You, Death cannot praise You; Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your truth” (Isaiah 38:18).

Death holds no thanks, praise, or hope for God.

“Yet he shall be brought to the grave, And a vigil kept over the tomb” (Job 21:32).

The dead go to the grave and stay there.

“For the living know that they will die; But the dead know nothing, And they have no more reward, For the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished; Nevermore will they have a share In anything done under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6).

This speaks for itself, doesn’t it?

“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going” (Ecclesiastes 9:10).

The Bible is overwhelmingly clear that death means death. When we die, we return to the same state of consciousness we had before we were born: none.

It is understandable why pagan religions and cultures often immortalize their dead and why this doctrine crept into both the Jewish and, eventually, Christian religions over time. The grief that survivors must endure after a loved one dies can be unbearable, and the thought of this loved one in a perfect paradise looking down upon the survivors can bring a sense of relief and comfort. If this were the story the Bible gave us, we would believe it. However, the Bible tells us plainly that death means a loss of consciousness and a loss of life.

Though this understanding highlights how horrible death really is, it also should alleviate our fears about it. No matter how painful a method of death is, no matter how many unresolved issues you leave behind, no matter how scared of the dark you are, at the moment of death you will cease to be aware of anything, even your own death. Just as you can never tell the moment you fall asleep, so too is death. There is nothing to fear, because there is nothing at all.

 Consider the alternative for a moment. If you could actually look down upon the remaining earthlings from your divine heavenly paradise, you would see that the people you love continue to struggle, get sick, and die. You would witness their lies and their hurts. You would see the secret things they never wanted you to see when you were alive. If they rebel against God, you would know ahead of time that they would not join you in heaven. It is hard to imagine paradise including those things.

Also consider that the idea that death brings an immediate reward that includes greater knowledge and abilities than you had before is the same lie that Satan told the first woman to get her to rebel against God in the garden of Eden! He told her, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4, 5). The devil made sin, which leads to death, seem like an attractive thing; death seemed like a reward. The devil has been telling this lie since the beginning. He has told the same story all throughout time.

Another Bible text confirms that the dead go to sleep when they die, but it also gives a hint as to how God will eventually correct this problem. Consider Job 14:10–12:

“But man dies and is laid away; Indeed he breathes his last And where is he? As water disappears from the sea, And a river becomes parched and dries up, So man lies down and does not rise. Till the heavens are no more, They will not awake Nor be roused from their sleep.”

This text tells us that a man’s death is like a river drying up and promises that the sleep of death will not be disturbed until “the heavens are no more.” Did you know that the Bible talks about a time when the heavens will, indeed, be no more?

At that time, the dead will be roused from their sleep. God loves His children too much to allow them to die forever. Jesus Christ makes a promise to everyone who will believe it and accept it regarding the time when the dead will wake up. He says:

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:1–3).

So Christ tells us that when He returns to Earth, He will raise the dead and bring them to heaven with Him, so everyone can be together in a land with no more death. The Bible describes Christ’s return by saying, “The stars of heaven fell to the earth, and the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up” (Revelation 6:13, 14). The heavens, as we know them, will be no more, and life will never be the same again.

Death might be a sleep of unconsciousness, but it is only temporary. For those who trust in God to keep His promises, eternal life without death awaits.

Jesus Christ, who is God incarnate, came to earth to live a sinless life and die bearing the sins of every man, woman, and child throughout time, thus redeeming the fallen race from the plague of death and offering eternal life to anyone who is willing to accept it. But how, exactly, will this solution come about? Christ lived nearly two millennia ago, and we are still living in a world with death and sin.

Clearly, the controversy is not over yet … but it will be soon. Jesus Christ promised to return and told us about many signs in the world that act as indicators that His return is drawing near. Every single one of those signs is being fulfilled in today’s world.

 But what do we have to look forward to when Jesus comes back?

We find an amazing Bible promise in 1 Thessalonians 4:16. “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.”

When Jesus returns, everyone will know it. It will not be a secret. God’s voice is so loud that even the dead hear it (John 5:28). Just as God’s voice created the earth and all that is in it in the first place, His voice recreates life for the dead throughout time who hoped for a better life in heaven someday. The “dead in Christ” will come out of their graves into eternal life without end.

The promise continues in verse 17, saying, “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”

God’s people who remain alive until the moment Christ returns are not left out of this amazing event. They will join the risen dead to meet Jesus in the air and will enjoy eternal life without ever experiencing death. We hope to be part of that group. We hope you are too.

But what will this new life be like? Will we exist as spirit beings, playing harps on clouds for eternity? Or does God have something else in store?

First Corinthians 15:51, 52, describes the great resurrection day by saying,

“We shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”

The new body we will receive at Christ’s return will not be the same as the one we have now. The author continues his description in verse 53: “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”

The new body will not be subject to corruption. It will never die. It will not grow old, diseased, or decrepit. We will live forever in the presence of God in bodies that reflect His goodness and glory. Never again will our bodies be separated from the breath of life. Never again will our souls die.

Much more can be said about the resurrection body and a life without death, but that is a topic for another time.

We know from the Bible that death is an abnormality. It was never part of God’s plan; it exists due to rebellion against God; death is the cessation of life, and it holds nothing but silence and unconsciousness; God paid the ultimate price for sin and death in the person of Jesus Christ; and one day … soon … all who accept God’s free gift of eternal life will be changed and will never experience death again.

Jesus paid the price for you to receive eternal life without death, but you have the power to accept or reject that gift. It is our sincere hope that you accept that gift today and set your heart on the life to come, when death, disease, and all misery will be things of the past. We hope to see you in heaven someday. Won’t you join us? Won’t you make a decision for God today?

source: truthaboutdeath.com 

"Visits" to Heaven and Hell

A Critique of “Visits” to Heaven and Hell

The following article was written by our brother in Christ, Justin Peters (from Justin Peters Ministries). In this article, Justin discusses some of the serious theological problems with the numerous modern claims of people “visiting” heaven or hell (or both), and then coming back to write a best-selling book about it. We present it here for your edification and warning.

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Heaven. The Bible describes Heaven as a place of surpassing beauty where there is no pain, no sorrow, no sickness, no disease, no death. It is where the triune God resides in all of His glory. For those of us who are saved, the redeemed of God through Christ, it is our eternal home. Though none of us look forward to the process of dying, as Christians we enthusiastically answer the question asked by Job, “If a man dies, will he live again?”[1] with a resounding “yes.” We look forward to being completely and eternally free of fallen bodies living in a fallen world. But for some people, it seems that Heaven (and occasionally Hell) can’t wait.

Though Near Death Experiences (NDEs)[2] have been reported for hundreds and even thousands of years, the last several decades have seen an explosion of people come forward claiming that they have seen the other side, both Heaven and Hell. Many of these people are not Christian at all.[3] For the purposes of this article, however, we will focus on some of the more prominent ones claiming to be believers in Christ. I will begin this article by providing an overview of some of the more prominent recent examples and will then offer an evaluation of each. While space does not permit an exhaustive review of each account, some of the more important and theologically pertinent points will examined.

Heaven is for Real – Colton Burpo

Overview

When Colton Burpo, now aged 12, was just four years old he suffered from an undiagnosed ruptured appendix and almost died while undergoing surgery. During this NDE[4], Colton claims that he left his body and went to Heaven. According to his father, Todd Burpo, pastor of Crossroads Wesleyan Church in Imperial, NE, over the next several months and years Colton slowly began to give details of people already deceased and events of which he could not possibly have known. Heaven is for Real , written by Mr. Burpo, is the account of his son’s incredible journey.

During his NDE, Colton left his body and saw doctors working on him from above. He also saw the location of his parents and what they were doing while he underwent surgery. Colton says he then went to Heaven. Some of his notable experiences included “sitting beside the Holy Spirit” when his paternal great-grandfather, “Pop,” walked up to him. Colton met his sister who died in a miscarriage of whom Colton had never been told. While in heaven, Colton heard the songs “Jesus Loves Me” and “Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho,”[5] saw John the Baptist, many different animals, thousands of colors not known on earth, and gates of gold and pearls. Colton describes all of the people (himself included) as having wings and showing no signs of old age. The boy says that he sat in Jesus’ lap and saw “markers” on His hands[6] and feet, later to be interpreted by Todd to be the nail prints. Asked in 2010 by Gretchen Carlson of Fox News to describe Jesus, Colton reported that He has a “rough but kind face, sea-blue eyes, and a smile that lit up the Heavens”[7] and describes God as a very big Person Who “can actually fit the entire world into His hands.”[8] Jesus also instructed the angels to sing to him for comfort and even helped him with his homework.[9] Colton describes not only the physical aspects of people and things in Heaven but was also apparently granted a sneak peek into eschatological events such as Armageddon.[10]

Evaluation

Regardless of our position on Colton Burpo’s claimed heavenly visitation, we unanimously rejoice that God in His sovereignty spared the life of this young boy. Colton was obviously very sick and was apparently not far from death and yet God graciously spared his life. For this we all rejoice. It is upon evaluating Colton’s claims, however, in which this unanimity dissolves.

At the time of this writing in late August, 2011, Heaven is for Real has been on the New York Times Bestsellers list for paperback non-fiction for 40 weeks where it currently holds the #1 spot.[11] From what I hear, there is even talk of a movie based on the book. More will be said on the tremendous success of books in the ‘I’ve been to Heaven’ genre later but for now we focus on the biblical evaluation. Many of the details Colton provides us of the other side though not necessarily “unbiblical” per se, they are certainly extra-biblical. For instance, he claims there are thousands of colors not known here on earth, that all in Heaven have a light over their heads and wings, and that there were all kinds of animals everywhere. These cannot be said to contradict Scripture necessarily, but neither does Scripture validate such descriptions. While many would have no problems with such claims, I believe there are several. Firstly, if young Colton did indeed go to Heaven and see these things, then we can take them to the proverbial bank. The myriads of colors, lights over heads, wings, animals, etc., must all be taken as actual, real, authoritative revelation of what Heaven is truly like. This comes dangerously close to violating the warning provided in Revelation 22:18 to not add to “the words of the prophecy of this book.” Even if one holds that “this book” refers only to the book of Revelation, the difficulty is by no means alleviated. Given that all Scripture is equally authoritative, we find in that warning a principle that applies to adding to anything God has spoken. That warning is repeated in other places showing that God is serious about not adding to His revelation.[12] If Colton went to Heaven, his extra-biblical revelations should indeed be authoritative and words have, de facto, been added to the canon of Scripture. This is the problem not just with Colton’s alleged trip to Heaven but with all who make such claims. Secondly, the Apostles Paul and Peter taught that all Scripture is inspired and wholly sufficient to fully equip us as believers (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Peter 1:16-21). In other words, there simply is no need for such revelations; they are wholly unprofitable. The question then arises, if God wanted for us to know these details of Heaven via Colton Burpo, why did He not just include them for us in His sufficient Word? Other details that Colton relates seem, well, odd. While the Bible does not necessarily negate the possibility of people having wings in Heaven outright, it certainly gives no indication that such is the case. Two orders of angels are described in the Bible as having wings, Cherubim (Ex. 25:20; Ez. 10) and Seraphim (Isaiah 6), but people are never described this way. Though details like this are not necessarily “unbiblical,” others are. Take for instance Colton’s description of God as a “very big Person.” Later when asked by Pat Boone in a TBN appearance, Colton describes God as a “huge angel with massive wings (emphasis mine).”[13] This is clearly unbiblical. Not only does the Bible give no description of God as having wings, but He most certainly is not an angel. Angels are creations of God. God is Spirit Who must be worshipped in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).

Equally odd is Colton’s description of Jesus helping him with his homework in Heaven. We will never know this side of the veil the full activity of Heaven but clearly it will center around the unhindered, eternal, and full worship of God (Rev. 22:3). That the Alpha and Omega would be helping Colton with something as trivial (given where Colton supposedly was) as homework is, in my opinion, a stretch too far. 

In doing research for this article, I have watched numerous interviews of Todd and Colton Burpo. In so doing, I could not help but be struck by how so many of Colton’s answers seemed very pat and rote. For example, his description of Jesus as having a “rough but kind face, sea-blue eyes and a smile that lit up the Heavens” he has repeated on multiple interviews from TBN to FoxNews to CNN and others verbatim. His answers seem canned at best and coached at worst. His description of God as being able to “fit the entire world into His hands” also seems a bit suspect, reflecting a popular children’s song that says the same thing. Todd Burpo made a theological statement which raises a red flag. On page 149 he wrote, “The Scripture says that as Jesus gave up His spirit (on the cross)…God the Father turned his back. I am convinced that he did that because if he had kept on watching, he couldn’t have gone through with it.” Scripture does not actually teach this at all[14] but even more to the point is that Todd is drawing a theological conclusion that at best is un-provable and at worst is patently unbiblical given that Scripture clearly teaches that Jesus’ sacrifice was planned from eternity past (Rev. 13:8). That God might not have “gone through with it” not so subtly implies that His plan of redemption, the absolute focal point of Scripture, was quite a precarious one indeed. Here again, the problem with extra-biblical revelation comes into clear focus. Todd Burpo offers us revelation concerning the motives, thoughts, intentions, and musings of God the Father. He, in effect, puts words into God’s mouth as he supposedly reveals the thoughts of God concerning His Son’s death on the cross. Burpo’s assessment is that the Father did not have the moral fortitude to go through with His divine plan. Equally troubling theologically is Colton’s claim that he was upset because he “did not know what was happening” and so “He (God) used people that, people or things that I liked to calm me down. From there on I felt better.”[15] That anyone, even a small child, would feel any kind of fear, confusion, or apprehension in the presence of the omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent God in Heaven is doubtful at best.

90 Minutes in Heaven – Don Piper

Overview On January 18, 1989, Don Piper says he died and went to Heaven. The Baptist preacher was returning home to Alvin, TX from a BGCT[16] conference held on the north shore of Lake Livingston via I-45. On his journey home, Don’s Ford Escort collided with an eighteen-wheeler. He was pronounced dead by EMT’s on the scene. Fellow pastor and conference attendee Dick Onerecker came upon the accident roughly one hour later and asked personnel on scene if there was anyone there for whom he could pray. He was informed that everyone was ok except for the man in the Escort who was dead. Despite this information and seemingly contrary to all logic, Onerecker reports that God spoke to him and said, “You need to pray for the man in the red car.”[17] Onerecker reached his hand through the tangled wreckage, touched the body of Don Piper, and began to pray and sing hymns. An hour and a half after the devastating collision, to everyone’s shock and disbelief, the dead man began to sing along with him. It was during this 90 minutes, that Don Piper says he went to Heaven. Piper reports that immediately upon impact he found himself in Heaven and was greeted by a large crowd of people. The first person he recognized was his grandfather Joe Kulbeth who still had his “shock of white hair” and “big banana nose.”[18] He also met his great-grandmother, Hattie Mann, whose false teeth and slumped back on earth now sparkled and was straight, respectively, in Heaven. Piper was also greeted by friends, former teachers, and relatives, all of whom, he says, “spiritually impacted me in some way and helped make me a better disciple.”[19] Piper describes Heaven as a place of brilliant luminescence yet not such that it was painful to the eyes. There was no darkness at all, no shadows. Everything was of a beauty the magnitude of which simply cannot be described by words. There was music as well, but not, apparently, the kind described by Colton Burpo. Rather, Piper heard music unlike anything he had ever heard on earth. It was music that he not only heard, but experienced. The music permeated his very body and seemed to be thousands of songs all at once and yet they blended in a perfect, glorious symphony. The music included hymns he knew from earth as well as hundreds of songs he had never before heard. Piper is careful to point out that, though he came right up to Heaven, he never actually went inside the walls. He says that he could not see the ends of the massive walls in either direction, nor could he see their top. The gates were not made of pearls, says Piper, but rather were “pearlescent.”[20] Looking through the massive gate Piper describes Heaven as having streets constructed of literal gold and everything was bathed in brilliant, powerful colors. He said he felt “deliriously happy” and then, suddenly, he left Heaven and was joined back to his body in the wreckage of his Ford Escort. Of all those whom Piper reported seeing in Heaven, there is One he clearly states he did not see: “I did not see God. Although I knew God was there I never saw any kind of image or luminous glow to indicate his divine presence.”[21]

 Evaluation The title of Piper’s book, 90 Minutes in Heaven, is a bit misleading since only about 7% of his book is devoted to describing his visit to Heaven. The vast majority of it concerns his excruciating recovery from the collision on I-45. Piper’s recovery process was a very lengthy, and an almost incomprehensibly painful journey; a journey which, to an extent, continues to this day. One cannot help but to feel for him. As with little Colton Burpo, we all rejoice that God spared Don Piper’s life. That having been said, there are several things with Piper’s story which should give the biblically informed reader pause. A number of things stand out. First is Piper’s description of the music. He said that at least part of the heavenly anthem was comprised of songs that he heard while on earth. Carried out to its logical conclusion, this is a troubling statement. Given that Heaven is perfect, the worship in Heaven will also be perfect, pure, wholly pleasing and glorifying to God. It will be inspired – but by inspired I do not mean in an earthly inspirational sense – I mean inspired by God Himself. Perfection comes only from God because only He is perfect. Worship of the perfect God emanating from His perfect angels and His perfected children within His perfect kingdom must be in and of itself just that – perfect. Though the hymns with which we are all familiar are beautiful and many contain sound doctrine, they are not perfect, nor are they inspired in the fullest sense of the term. I am reminded of the words of Puritan preacher John Bunyan, “The best prayer I ever prayed had enough sin to damn the whole word.”[22] In a similar vein, no matter how beautiful we deem the hymns and songs with which we are familiar on earth, they are certainly not perfect and, therefore, are not worthy of inclusion in the heavenly choir. Especially worthy of notice is Piper’s claim as to what hymns were absent from the heavenly worship; hymns such as “The Old Rugged Cross” or “The Nail-Scarred Hand.” Writes Piper, “None of the hymns that filled the air were about Jesus’ sacrifice or death.”[23] Inspired Scripture tells a different story. The Apostle John records, “Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders… saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.’”[24] Though we can confidently affirm that these specific songs mentioned by Piper will not be in Heaven for the reason just stated, it is interesting (and more than a little ironic) that what we do know from the Bible of the worship in Heaven is that it, at least in part, will deal with exactly what he claims it does not – the sacrifice and death of Jesus. Contrary to Piper’s claims, the worship of Heaven is Cross-centered, offering to the Lamb praise for His sacrifice. Second, throughout Piper’s book and interviews there seems to be a lack of theological precision. In a TBN appearance on May 27, 2011, Piper says that one of the people who met him at the gates of Heaven was Mrs. Norris, a lady who took him to church as a child. Said Piper, “Why do you suppose she was there? I’ll tell you why she was there, she helped me get there. She deserved to be there.”[25] Commendable though Mrs. Norris’ actions were, she certainly does not deserve to be in Heaven. That is the entire point of the Gospel: None of us deserves to be there.

A third troubling aspect about Piper’s description of Heaven is one which is characteristic about nearly every extra biblical description of Heaven: they are so…earthy. Piper writes, “Heaven was many things, but without a doubt, it was the greatest family reunion of all”[26] and gives physical descriptions of how friends and family members looked with their now perfect bodies (more on this later). Says Piper, “If you want to look good, Heaven is where you want to be.”[27] He speaks of feeling great love but the love he felt seemed to come from the crowd which greeted him and followed him around, not from God. Unfortunately it seems that many, if not most, of us professing Christians when discussing Heaven seem to speak in terms of it as being a big “family reunion” at which we will see our friends and loved ones who “have gone on before.” While it is true that Heaven will indeed have streets of gold (Rev. 21:21) and will indeed include a reunion with loved ones who died in Christ before us (1 Thess. 4:13-18) and will be free of sickness and disease; these are secondary – at best. The true joy and glory of Heaven is God Himself. He is what makes Heaven Heaven. Fourth, Piper makes serious contradictions between his various accounts of his trip. He clearly states in his book that he did not see God. This is one of the more troubling aspects of Don Piper’s alleged visit to Heaven. 90 Minutes in Heaven in which Piper states in no uncertain terms that he did not see God because, in his opinion, had he done so he “would never have wanted to return,”[28] was published in 2004. In the years since, the overwhelming popularity of the book has propelled Piper into his current activity of traveling around the country, speaking in churches and various conferences, hosting cruises, doing numerous radio interviews and appearing on many television programs to tell his story. It seems that over the years his story has changed in at least one significant way: he now claims he did see God. On March 29 of this year my wife and I went to see Don Piper speak at First Baptist Church of Bristow, OK. Having read his book, I was quite surprised to hear him say that, in fact, he did see God ‘way down the golden road up on a hill on His throne.’[29] This is a huge discrepancy. Wanting to make sure I did not misunderstand, I talked to him after the service and asked him why he said in his book that he did not see God when he now says that he did. Piper: “Really in the distance, yes, in the distance I saw Him.” Me: “But in 90 Minutes in Heaven you said, ‘I did not see God.’” Piper: “I am telling you I did Me: “Ok, so why did you say in the book you didn’t?” Piper,”I didn’t say I didn’t see Him. I, I, I, I was looking from a distance through the gate. You could see the golden street, you could see the buildings, there are mansions, and you could see a hill with a river flowing down the side of it. …It was just so personal to me and so incredibly difficult to describe (that) I just didn’t include that. And that’s one of the things I did not include. Let me tell you something, I didn’t write the book by myself. I had a co-writer who writes. His name is Cec[30] Murphy. So, there are probably some things in there that he interpreted differently than I did and that may be one of them.”[31] That one could leave out of a book entitled “90 Minutes in Heaven” such a magnanimous privilege as seeing the Alpha and Omega on His throne is incomprehensible. It is not merely a difference in “interpretation.” This is a big deal. In fact, it’s difficult to imagine anything much bigger than seeing God and equally difficult to imagine leaving such an experience out. This is not just a mere oversight.

23 Minutes in Hell – Bill Weise Overview

On November 23, 1998 at 3:00 am, Bill Weise says that he suddenly found himself hurtling through the air, falling to the ground, and then landing completely naked in a prison cell of rough-hewn stone and thick metal bars.[32] Weise says that the first thing he noticed was the tremendous heat – heat so intense that he could not believe that he was alive. He saw two creatures in the cell with him. They were ten to thirteen feet tall, reptilian in appearance but with a human form, scaly, foul-smelling, foot-long claws, massively powerful with the strength of a thousand men, and were seething with evil and hatred. They spoke to one another in “terrible, blasphemous language…expressing extreme hatred for God.”[33] The demons were then joined by two more demons coming into the cell and the four then turned their collective hatred and hostility toward Weise and began to torment him. They picked Weise up, threw him against the wall, plunged their claws into his chest, and ripped his flesh. Though his flesh was mangled, no fluids came forth. The pain, the stench, the agonizing thirst and the absolute hopelessness was beyond anything we can imagine here on earth. According to Weise the demons seemed to derive sadistic joy from the pain and horror they were inflicting upon their helpless victim. He pleaded for mercy but none was given. Says Weise “Death penetrated me, but eluded me.”[34] Weise managed to crawl outside of his cell through an open door where he “heard the screams of an untold multitude of people crying in torment.” He saw “a gigantic raging inferno approximately one mile in diameter” and “many people reaching out of the pit of fire, desperately trying to claw their way out. But there was no escape.”[35] The pit was rimmed with various demons and any attempt by the condemned to escape was futile; “Human strength was no match for the demons.”[36] Weise later found himself in a cave the walls of which were “covered with thousands of hideous creatures. These demonic creatures were all sizes and shapes. …There were also gigantic rats and huge spiders at least three feet wide and two or three feet high. I also saw snakes and worms, ranging from small to enormously large. I was petrified and could not believe my eyes.”[37] Finally, after 23 minutes of unspeakable horror, Weise says he began to ascend when a burst of brilliant light invaded the tunnel and though he could not see His face, he knew Who it was. “Jesus,” said Weise. Jesus replied, “I AM.” The horror was over. Evaluation The description Weise gives of Hell is exceedingly graphic and disturbing. Many of his descriptions such as the heat and thirst, the palpable darkness, the pain, the hopelessness, and lack of mercy do indeed have ample biblical support. I would, however, point out at least two significant biblical problems with his story. One is that in Weise’s Hell it seems that the torture and punishment are inflicted upon the lost not by God’s pouring out His wrath but rather by the demons and fire. Mary Baxter’s A Divine Revelation of Hell also describes hell as being run by Satan and his angels.[38] This description fails biblically on two counts. One is that contrary to popular perception, Hell is not Satan’s playground. Hell is not to Satan as the briar patch is to Brer Rabbit; a place where he longs to go and roam about freely. Satan and the demonic hordes do not want to go to Hell any more than do we. In Matthew 8:28-34 the demons begged Christ to send them into a herd of pigs rather than to what they knew would be their eventual eternal destiny – Hell. Even a brief delay in their sure judgment was welcome. Hell was the last place they wanted to go. Revelation 20:7-10 teaches that Satan will be “thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone” and “will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” Two, it has become commonplace in the evangelical world to describe Hell merely as a place of being eternally separated from God. Says Weise, “The fact that I knew God was kept from my mind.”[39] On TBN he stated, “If you want nothing to do with God, there is a place prepared that has nothing to do with Him (Hell).”[40] It is rare today to hear a preacher expound upon the horrors of Hell. Rather, in an effort to soften truth so as to not offend the sensibilities of “seekers,” Hell, if mentioned at all, is portrayed as being the eternal absence of God’s presence. To his credit, Weise does not soften the description of Hell – far from it. One would be hard pressed to find a more vivid and disturbing picture of Hell than the one Weise provides. However, he still falls into the same theological error, even if he does so from a completely different direction. The worst thing about Hell is not the eternal absence of God – it is the eternal presence of God. The Apostle Paul states in Romans 5:9 that “we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him (emphasis mine).” God is omnipresent and Hell is His eternal presence in the mode of judgment. Salvation is as much being saved from God as it is being saved to God. A second theological problem with Weise’s story is his claim that as a professing believer he was taken by Christ to the very place from which Christ died to save him. Weise was very clear to state in his book that this was no dream. He writes, “I landed in what appeared to be a prison cell. …I was completely naked… . This was not a dream – I was actually in this strange place.”[41] We must categorically reject that Jesus would take a believer to hell. There is neither biblical support nor logical reason for such a thing to ever happen or even be possible to happen. This is an affront not only to the Gospel message but also to the character of Christ Himself. Since the publication of the book in 2006, blogs and reviews have discussed this theological difficulty and, apparently, Weise has taken notice because his story, like Piper’s, has changed over the years. 

On May 27, 2011, on the same TBN program on which Piper appeared, Weise attempts to extricate himself from the theological dilemma: “This was not a near death experience, this was an out-of-body experience that comes under the classification of a vision in the Bible. In 2 Corinthians 12:1-2, Paul when he was caught up into heaven in a vision and he said whether in the body or out of the body he didn’t know. The Lord just happened to show me that I left my body. That’s the only way a Christian can see hell – in a vision.”[42] Weise seems to make a distinction without a great deal of difference. Even if he now claims it was a vision, he maintains that it was very real, very physical. He experienced real pain, real thirst, real hopelessness and, real abandonment. As Christians, we can and should expect trials, tribulations, persecutions, pain and suffering in this life. However, one thing that the Bible gives us complete assurance that we will never experience is abandonment. Jesus promised us that He will never leave nor forsake us (Heb. 13:5) and as one of His own there is absolutely nothing that can separate us from His love (Rom. 8:35) – not for eternity, not even for 23 minutes.

Summary Thus far we have examined specific, current, and popular accounts of people claiming to have been to Heaven and to Hell. With these specific accounts still in view, we will now look at some of the broader challenges, both logical and theological, confronting anyone claiming to have made such journeys. There is a logical problem with these accounts that is so glaring, it is hard to understand why more people do not take note of it; namely, these various accounts often contradict one another. The three individuals examined in this article only scratch the surface of those claiming to have been to the other side. Mary Baxter (who claimed she went to both Heaven and Hell), Betty Malz, Roberts Liardon, Jesse Duplantis, Kenneth Hagin, Richard Eby, Todd Bentley, etc. also would have you believe they were given a sneak peek into the afterlife. It takes only a cursory reading of these stories to realize that they all contradict one another – and often even contradict themselves! Colton Burpo reports that everyone in heaven, even God Himself, had wings. Piper saw many people in heaven but they apparently did not have wings. Some report that heaven is completely urban whereas Duplantis[43] says he saw homes out in the country. Some saw God on His throne, others did not see Him at all, and some, like Don Piper, can’t seem to remember whether they saw Him or not. Colton claims that those in Heaven show no signs of age, yet Piper claims that his grandfather, Joe Kulbeth, still had his “shock of white hair.” 

Some heavenly tourists say that Jesus has brown hair, others say it is blond. Some report Jesus as having a purple sash about his waist, others say it is blue. Benny Hinn claims to see Jesus often and can even describe what He is wearing from day to day. Some, like Colton Burpo, say Jesus’ eyes are blue, others say they are brown. One thing that all of the supposed accounts of Heaven have in common is a minimized description of the glory of Christ. Rather than a description like that in Revelation 1:14: “His chest was girded with a golden sash. His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire,” these accounts describe Jesus as being rather ordinary and non-glorious. God would never be the source of a vision which downplays the glory of His Son. The list of contradictions is almost endless. The obvious point is that these accounts cannot all be true. In all likelihood, none of them are.

Now let’s turn to the theological issues with all of these accounts. Though with varying degrees of specificity, all who have been to the hereafter and have returned describe people as having physical bodies. They report that the heavenly residents are perfect in every way showing no signs of sickness, disease, arthritis, handicaps, etc. They describe these glorified bodies as beautiful in appearance and perfect in function. There is only one problem with this: the redeemed in Heaven do not yet have their glorified bodies. This statement will likely surprise many readers and, unfortunately, the theological nuances are too involved to fully address here. It is, however, sufficient to note that the Bible teaches that those presently in Heaven are not yet in possession of their permanent, glorified bodies. In fact, Heaven itself is not yet in its perfected, eternal state. Those events will not transpire until the timing of Revelation 21. At present, Heaven is in its “intermediate” state, if you will, and the redeemed there are also in an intermediate state. In Revelation 6:9-11 and 20:4, John saw the “souls of those who had been slain because of the Word of God” and the “souls of those who had been beheaded” respectively. Those that John saw were not in possession of physical bodies but rather were in a non-corporeal state. The redeemed will be given glorified bodies at the rapture or Christ’s return to earth (Parousia).[44] Therefore, the reports of people in the intermediate Heaven as possessing glorified bodies must be rejected. The second theological problem is one which plagues all the books in the “I’ve been to Heaven and/or Hell” genre; they are all an attack on the sufficiency of Scripture. Even if an account does not directly contradict the Bible per se (and most do), these accounts propose to add to biblical revelation. In these accounts, for example, we learn that hell is 3,700 miles below the surface of the earth, that it is inhabited by ghastly creatures and giant spiders, the pit of fire is shaped like a giant human or maybe it’s one mile in diameter (depending on whose account you read) and is ruled by demons – none of which can be found in the Bible. Likewise, Heaven apparently has suburbs, the flowers turn themselves to watch you as you pass by, the fruit is copper colored, individual homes are furnished with ball and claw Queen Anne furniture, people have wings or they don’t (again, depending on the particular account), and the souls of babies fly around God on His throne. None of this is biblically supported. All of this information is unbiblical at worst and extra-biblical at best. This leads us to the issue of new divine revelation knowledge. Is God giving certain individuals new revelation and speaking to them apart from and in addition to the Bible? If any of these accounts are even partly true, then the inescapable conclusion is “yes.” The implications of new revelation are huge. If it is necessary for us to know this information, why has God delayed nearly 2,000 years in giving it to us? Did the saints of previous generations have inadequate revelation of Heaven? Did they not have a sufficient supply of God’s truth? If they did, then these and all other accounts of visiting the other side are entirely unnecessary and of no profit to the church.

Whatever God reveals and says to these individuals (most of these individuals quote God directly) should carry with it the very same authority as any verse of Scripture since God cannot speak less authoritatively on one occasion than He does on another. In other words, God cannot speak to us in the Bible and “really, really mean it” but when He speaks to individuals outside of the Bible whether in a dream, vision, audible voice, or trip to Heaven still mean it, but somehow mean it less so than He did in the Bible. It is illogical. It is an untenable position. If God is speaking, then God is speaking. If God is indeed speaking to people outside of Scripture then these communications would add to the Bible. Carried to its logical conclusion we are left with an open canon of Scripture. If the canon of Scripture is still open, then anything goes. Consider how many false religions have begun by an individual claiming to have received new revelation from God. Almost every false religion was begun by an individual saying, ‘God has spoken to me. Let me tell you what He has to say.’ Most notable: Mormonism and Islam. Both Joseph Smith and Mohammed, respectively, reported that an entity claiming to speak for God appeared to them and gave them new divine revelation knowledge. Interestingly, both of these men initially believed the entity to be malevolent, but, over time, became convinced that it was from God. From these eerily similar encounters in which extra-biblical revelation was given, two huge false religions were born. The canon of Scripture is complete and it is closed – for good reason. All who claim to have been to Heaven or Hell report that God the Father or God the Son brought them there for the purpose of allowing them to go back to earth and let people know that these places are real. For example, Weise quotes Jesus as saying, “Go and tell them about this place. It is not my desire that any should go there.”[45]

Duplantis quotes Jesus as saying, “Go tell My people I’m coming.”

Replied Duplantis, “They know that.” Jesus answered, “No they don’t know that. Go tell My people I’m coming! I brought you here to tell them I’m coming!”[46] Duplantis is wrong. God’s people do, in fact, “know that” because the Bible states it clearly. We do not need anyone to go to Heaven or Hell to tell us these places are real. Scripture reveals this information for us. If such excursions are necessary to give us this information (or at least impress upon us the urgency of it) then the inescapable conclusion is that the Bible is insufficient in and of itself to do so. Most of these individuals would at least give verbal ascent to the Bible as God’s inerrant Word, but they clearly do not believe in its sufficiency. If they had such a high view of Scripture they would quickly see that these trips are completely unnecessary. Recall Abraham’s words to the rich man in the lake of fire upon the latter’s request to send the deceased Lazarus back to earth to warn his five brothers to repent while they still had time: “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets (the Bible), they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead (Luke 16:19-31).” There is an inherent power in the Word of God that no miracle, no sign, no alleged visit to Heaven or Hell can boast. If people will not believe the Bible, then neither will they be persuaded by stories such as these. Third, there is clearly a difference between the response of those inspired writers who were allowed to glimpse Heaven and those in our modern day who make the same claims. The New Testament records only three men who were allowed to see Heaven: Stephen just before he was stoned, John, and Paul.[47] Interestingly all three of these men were very much alive when they were given glimpses into Heaven contrary to some, but not all, of our modern cases. Stephen’s glimpse was very brief and offers little detail other than seeing Jesus at the right hand of God. John’s account is by far the most detailed we have, was revealed to him personally by Christ Himself. That leaves us with the Apostle Paul. What do we know, though, of what he saw and heard in Heaven? Absolutely nothing. Paul writes, “I know a man in Christ who…was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak.”[48] We have no idea what he saw or what he heard. Why? Because what he saw was “inexpressible” and he was “not permitted” to speak it. Ponder this for a moment. Here we have the man who wrote roughly one-third of the New Testament. Not only did he not give us any details of his rapturous visit to Heaven, but he did not even want to mention the experience at all. He did so only reluctantly because his apostleship was being questioned by some in Corinth; hence his reference to himself in the third person, “I know a man.” Paul was so humbled by his experience he would not even refer to himself in the first person. Even with that degree of humility, God still gave him a “thorn in the flesh” to humble him even further. Contrast Paul’s humility with the attitude of those making such claims today. In contrast to Paul who gave no details and only reluctantly mentioned it at all, people today who claim to have been to Heaven write books about it and go on national and global speaking tours. Some of these books sell millions and millions of copies. Spin-off books and courses complete with instructional DVDs often follow. Movies are even being made.[49] Paul wouldn’t even speak of his vision while some today use their “revelations” to catapult them into stardom, celebrity status, and the New York Times Best Seller list. The contrast is stark, is it not?

Finally, it is worth observing what is mysteriously absent from most of these accounts: the Gospel. It is striking that so many of these people who claim to have been to Heaven and to have not only seen Jesus but spoken to Him do not mention the Gospel. For example, in Heaven is for Real, the closes thing to the Gospel is when Colton quotes Jesus as saying, “I had to die on the cross so that people on earth could come to see my Dad.”[50] Granted, this is coming from a child, but the author of the book and father of the child, Todd Burpo, is a pastor. If this experience helped make Heaven “real” for them, why is the Gospel never presented so the millions of readers can know how to get there?

The same can be said of Don Piper, another pastor. He supposedly spent 90 minutes in Heaven and yet, save for a few clichés like “accepting Jesus” and “turning to Christ,” one will search his book in vain for the Gospel message. It’s just not there. There is no mention of the seriousness of sin or its eternal consequences. There is no mention of the wrath of God. There is no mention of the Deity of Jesus, the meaning of His sacrificial and substitutionary death, or His resurrection. There is no mention of repentance from sin and placing faith in His finished work. There is, in short, no Gospel. To be fair, Bill Weise is different. Weise does give an excellent, complete, detailed and non-compromising Gospel presentation. I watched him do so on TBN and he did so very, very well. There was no fault to be found. However, what of Burpo and especially Piper? For the reasons already presented I do not believe that such visits to Heaven and Hell are even possible, but for the sake of argument let’s assume that something like that really happened to me. Let’s assume I had truly seen the majesties of Heaven and the glory of God, I would expect that I would be absolutely consumed with telling people about the Gospel. My preaching would not be characterized by waxing eloquent about how “good you’re gonna look in Heaven” but rather pleading with people to repent and escape the coming judgment. I would expect I would have the attitude of Peter and John who, when in response to warnings not to teach in the name of Jesus replied, “we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.” I would expect I would share Paul’s desire to preach nothing but “Christ crucified.”[51] It is difficult to understand how the Gospel would not be central to any believer’s preaching or writing, but especially so for one claiming to have actually seen what for the rest of us is accepted by faith alone. Based on the authority of the complete and sufficient Word of God we are forced to reject all of these claims as valid. This raises an obvious question which I have not yet addressed: are they lying? This is where my assessment must leave the objectivity of Scripture and delve into the subjective realm of people’s thoughts and intentions. Some of these people I do believe are complete frauds. Some I have studied for years and believe they are motivated by money and fame and have been very successful in acquiring both. Others, however, I am not so sure. In watching many interviews of Todd Burpo it is obvious that he loves his son dearly. He certainly seems like a nice guy. The story he tells tugs at one’s heart strings to be sure. Don Piper undoubtedly had a devastating wreck and suffered excruciating pain. However, his claim of seeing God on His throne when he had previously denied this, and denied it quite thoroughly, is difficult to understand. Bill Weise certainly presents the Gospel well and definitely warns people of coming judgment. I think it would be neither right nor fair to make such a serious charge of lying against any of these men. That having been said, neither is it possible to be completely confident of their truthfulness. I think it is entirely possible that some of these stories began with a vivid dream which, at the time, seemed quite real. Dreams often do seem very real. I would imagine that the dream was told to one or two people who then told it to others who in turn told it to others and on and on. Likely the reports grew and became more and more elaborate. A radio interview here, a newspaper report there, the story snowballs and before long it takes on a life of its own. To keep up with the hype and publicity the individuals must keep up the story and may even begin to believe it themselves to a degree. Publicity and the praise of men is an intoxicating elixir and it poses a threat to every preacher no matter how humble – this writer included. However, our final authority is the Word of God. No matter how real an experience may seem to us, if it does not plumb with the Word of God then it is an illegitimate experience. Those who promote an illegitimate experience exceeded biblical parameters. They have begun to divorce themselves and those who listen to them from sole reliance upon the Scriptures. 

Anything that is not of the truth is a lie. Whether the person telling the lie has malicious motives or not is irrelevant to the nature of the information being given. Colton Burpo may have the purest of motives in telling us that God has wings, but when his statement contradicts Scripture, it is not just a fresh perspective, it is a lie. Contradicting Scripture is the work of Satan, not God. Whether Burpo, Piper or Weise intend to lie, contradict Scripture, or promote error, their reports end up doing that very thing. The question about the sincerity or lack thereof of any of these individuals may be an interesting one to ponder, but, in the final analysis it does not matter. Whether someone is sincere in his promotion of error does not make the error any less harmful to those who believe it. Error is still error. Millions of unsuspecting people are slowly but surely being pulled away from the authority and sufficiency of Scripture and are instead turning to other sources of “truth” for their spiritual knowledge and nourishment. The dangers of this cannot be overstated. These accounts are extra-biblical and often unbiblical. They divert attention away from the true power of God, the Gospel (Rom. 1:16), and emphasize subjective experiences. They may be motivational in a superficial sense but they are not capable of convicting people of their sin and need of the Savior. In the words of hymn writer John Keith, “How firm a foundation ye saints of the Lord is laid for your faith in His excellent Word. What more can He say than to you He hath said? To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?” What more can He say to us, dear friends, than what He has already said in His Word? ——————————————————————————– [1] Job 14:4. All Scripture cited in this article is taken from the New American Standard Bible (NASB). [2] Abbreviation for a phenomenon known as Near Death Experiences. Many who have been near physical death report seeing visions of Heaven and sometimes Hell. Much in both scientific and theological literature has been written of this phenomenon that is claimed by both Christians and non-Christians. [3] Hindus, Mulsims, Buddhists, etc. all claim to have had NDEs in which they were given glimpses of the other side. Source: www.iands.org Accessed 08/26/11. [4] According to medical reports Colton’s heart never stopped. [5] Source: www.heavenisforreal.net Video clip embedded on site accessed 08/26/11. [6] Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHBmoJiIfUE Accessed 08/26/11. Of note is that Colton reports Jesus’ nail prints were in His palms. However, most evidence both archeological and medical indicates that victims of crucifixion were nailed through the wrists given that the palms would not have supported the weight of the body. [7] Source: www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVtNzONbaiU Accessed 08/25/11. [8] Ibid. [9] Source: www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=HBnzAXbqGcY Accessed 08/26/11. [10] Burpo, Todd, and Lynn Vincent. Heaven is for Real. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2010. Pgs. 135-139. [11] Source: www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2011-09-04/paperback-nonfiction/list.html Accessed 08/29/11. [12] See Deut. 4:2; 12:32; Prov. 30:6. [13] Source: www.heavenisforreal.net embedded clip accessed 08/26/11. [14] This is, essentially, the Word of Faith doctrine known as the Spiritual Death of Jesus (SDJ) doctrine. A careful reading of Psalm 22, the passage which Jesus cites while on the cross, in its entire context lends support that the Father did not abandon the Son on the cross. See verses 19 and 24. [15] Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHBmoJiIfUE Accessed 08/26/11. [16] Piper is associated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. [17] Piper, Don. 90 Minutes in Heaven. Grand Rapids, MI: Fleming H. Revell, 2004. 42. [18] Ibid., 22. [19] Ibid., 26. [20] Ibid., 34. [21] Ibid., 33. [22] Source: http://christian-quotes.ochristian.com/John-Bunyan-Quotes/page-5.shtml Accessed 08/30/11. [23] Ibid, 31. [24] Revelation 5:11-12. Emphasis this writer’s. [25] Piper. TBNs Praise the Lord program. 05/27/11. [26] Piper, 25. [27] Piper. TBN Praise the Lord program. 05/27/11. [28] Ibid. [29] I have this in single quotes because I do not know these were his exact words but, if not, they are very close. Piper reiterated this claim next month story. Later, on May 27, 2011, On TBN’s “Praise the Lord” program, he reiterated the same story: “I began to look up through the gate and I could see this kind of pinnacle in the middle of the city. It’s kind of a hill high and lifted up. There’s a river flowing down the side of this, well, it’s the River of Life and it’s coming down the side of this mountain, or hill if you will, and at the top of that is the brightest light I’ve ever seen and I know Who that is, it’s the Lord high and lifted up.” [30] “Cec” is short for Cecil. Cecil Murphey is listed as co-author of 90 Minutes in Heaven. [31] For the sake of accuracy, I recorded the audio of this conversation. [32] Weise, Bill. 23 Minutes in Hell. Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2006. xiii. [33] Ibid., 3-7. [34] Ibid., 6. [35] Ibid., 8, 10, 29. [36] Ibid., 22. [37] Ibid., 30. [38] Baxter, Mary. A Divine Revelation of Hell. New Kensington, PA: Whitaker House, 1997. The perception of hell as being ruled by Satan and his fallen angels can likely be traced back to The Divine Comedy written by the Italian Dante Alighieri in the early 1300s. This epic poem depicts hell as being a place where demons and Satan rule over and torture the condemned. It is considered to be one of the greatest works of literature of all time. [39] Ibid., 9. Emphasis in the original. [40] Weise. TBN Praise the Lord program. 05/27/11. [41] Weise, xiii. [42] Weise. TBN Praise the Lord program. 05/27/11. [43] Jesse Duplantis is a prominent Word-Faith preacher whose weekly television program is broadcast globally. Duplantis claims that he was sucked out of his hotel room in Magnolia, AR in 1988 and found himself on a cable car travelling through space at a phenomenal rate of speed. When the cable car stopped, the doors opened and Jesse stepped out into Heaven. His account is entitled Close Encounters of the God Kind and is available in both DVD and book form. [44] See 1 Thess.4; 1 Cor. 15; 2 Cor. 5:1-2. Which option is preferred depends upon one’s eschatological position. [45] Weise, 34. [46] Duplantis, Jesse. Close Encounters of the God Kind. DVD on file. [47] Acts 7:54-60, the book of Revelation, and 2 Corinthians 12:1-7 respectively. [48] 2 Corinthians 12:2-4. [49] Source: http://www.donpiperministries.com/newsletter_and_schedule.asp Accessed 09/05/11. [50] Burpo, 111. [51] Acts 4:20 and 1 Corinthians 1:23 respectively. Emphasis mine.

source: HERE.