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by
Doug Ward |
Elijah was one of the greatest of the biblical prophets. He lived in the ninth
century BC, during the era when Israel was divided into two kingdoms-a northern
kingdom of Israel, with capital at Samaria; and a southern kindgom
of Judah, whose capital was at Jerusalem. When Ahab and his son Ahaziah, kings
of Israel, were guilty of idolatry, theft, and murder, Elijah confronted them
with their sins and called them to repentance (1 Ki 17-2Ki 1).
Elijah
demonstrated the power of God through mighty miracles, like resurrecting the
dead (1 Ki 17) and calling fire down from heaven (1 Ki 18; 2 Ki 1). But because
he "spoke truth to power," his life was constantly in danger.
Eventually Ahab's wife, Queen Jezebel, let Elijah know that she had vowed to
kill him (1 Ki 19:1-2)
Stress
had taken its toll, and Elijah suffered from what we now call burnout. Fearing
for his life, he fled to the wilderness.
God
visited Elijah at a cave near Mt. Horeb, assuring him that he was not alone in
the world. God gave Elijah his next assignments, one of which was to anoint his
protégé Elisha to be his successor. It would soon be time for
Elijah to retire.
Elijah
was given a spectacular sendoff. God sent "chariots of fire and
horses," and "Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven" (2 Ki
2:11). The account of Elijah's departure in 2 Kings 2 is sandwiched between two
announcements that Jehoram (a.k.a. Joram), another
son of Ahab, took the throne of Israel after Ahaziah's death (2 Ki 1:17; 3:1).
This suggests that Elijah retired at about the time Joram
became king, which scholars date to 852 BC.
In
addition to the events described in the books of Kings, one more act of Elijah
is mentioned in 2 Chronicles, which covers the careers of the rulers of the
southern kingdom of Judah. In 2 Chronicles 21 we read of another King Jehoram,
who ruled over Judah for eight years (verse 5). He was married to a daughter of
Ahab, and like Ahab, he was an evil king (verse 6). In particular, he put six
of his brothers to death shortly after taking the throne (verse 4).
Jehoram's
sins prompted Elijah to send a letter to Jehoram giving an oracle of God. The
letter announced that Jehoram would die a horrible death from a disease of the
bowels, a prediction that came to pass (verses 12-15, 18).
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Which
Heaven? |
The reign of Jehoram of Judah is dated to 848-841 BC, so it appears that Elijah
sent the letter several years after his retirement. (Note also that in 2 Kings
the account of Jehoram's reign comes later, starting in 8:16.) The letter
raises questions for readers, since it is commonly believed that the whirlwind
took Elijah bodily into heaven. Some older Christian commentators-e.g., Estius (1542-1613 AD)-actually proposed that Elijah wrote
the letter in heaven and had an angel deliver it to Jehoram.1
There
is a simpler explanation, however. In 2 Kings 2:1,11 the word for
"heaven" designates the sky as well as God's dwelling place. The
Hebrew for "to heaven" and "into heaven" in those verses
has the sense of travel upward rather than travel to a particular destination.
The Greek Septuagint translation of verse 11 (4 Kgdms
2:11) says that "Elijah was taken up in the air as into heaven."
There
is similar language in Psalm 107:25-26, which describes sailors who are taken
upward by wind and waves: "For he commanded and raised the stormy wind,
which lifted up the waves of the sea. They mounted up to heaven..." The
words for "stormy wind/whirlwind," "mounted up," and
"heaven," appear in both 2 Kings 2:11 and these verses from Psalm
107.
It
could well be, then, that Elijah was taken up into the sky and subsequently
deposited in a safe place on earth where he could spend a quiet retirement.
That is certainly what the witnesses to the event thought had happened,
although they were unable to find him (2 Ki 2:16-18). There had been previous
times when Elijah had hidden in safe places (1 Ki 17:2-6; 19:3-8). That this
was another one of those times seems to me to be the most likely reading of the
biblical data.
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Not
a New Interpretation |
This interpretation is not new. For example, Josephus agrees that at the time
when Joram succeeded Ahaziah as king of Israel,
"Elijah disappeared from among men" (Ant. 9.28), and then later wrote
a letter to Jehoram of Judah (Ant 2.99-101). Translator William Whiston reports
in a footnote that some copies of Josephus add the explanation that Elijah
"was yet upon the earth" in Jehoram's time.
In
rabbinic tradition, the Talmud (b. Sukkah 5a) quotes Rabbi Yosei
stating. "Elijah never actually ascended to heaven on high." Seder
Olam Rabbah, a chronological work from about 160 AD,
says that Jehoram received Elijah's letter "after Elijah had been hidden
for seven years."
Among
the Church Fathers, Ephraem Syrus
(306-373 AD) held the same view. A number of Greek Fathers, including Cyril of
Jerusalem, Chrysostom, and Theodoret, argue based on
the Septuagint rendering of 2 Kings 2:11 that while Elijah rose "as if
into heaven," Jesus the Messiah actually rose to heaven.2
They had in mind John 3:13, which states that "no one has ascended into
heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man."
As I
like to picture it, Elijah was able to enjoy a peaceful retirement in an
out-of-the-way location but still had the opportunity to do some writing and
help out from time to time. I hope that the same might be true of my own
retirement.
1See Ken Burkett,
"Did Elijah Really Ascend into Heaven in a Whirlwind?", Journal
of Biblical Theology and Worldview 2 (2022), No. 2, pp. 1-19.
2See
Burkett, page 12.
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