I dedicated today’s post to Elijah, who, according to the Bible, did not die on earth, but was taken alive to heaven by the Lord.
Elijah (Heb: Eli-Yahu “Yahweh is my God”), called the Tishbite from the name of the city of Tishbe in the region of Gilead, was one of the Old Testament prophets living in the 9th century BC. in the northern state of Israel. Elijah received a special “coat of pelage” from the Lord, which had magical or supernatural properties.
Elijah performed “miracles” in God’s name, which include:
– 1 Kings 17:14-16 – preparing life-long food from a spoon of flour and a little oil for the widow in Zarepeta, with whom he lived for 2 years
– 1 Kings 17:17-24 – revival of the widow’s child who died of a malignant disease
– 1 Kings 18:30-39 – bringing fire from heaven on Mount Carmel during the dispute with the prophets of Baal
– 2 Kings 2:2-8 – splitting the water of the Jordan River in two using a magic coat, and then crossed to the other side with his follower Elisha
However, the greatest “miracle”, or if you prefer, a paranormal and unexplained phenomenon, was the taking of Elijah from earth to heaven, and this was planned in advance, at a fixed place and time.
2 Kings 2:1-3
1 And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elias, into heaven, by a whirlwind, that Elias and Eliseus were going from Galgal.
2 And Elias said to Eliseus: Stay thou here, because the Lord hath sent me as far as Bethel. And Eliseus said to him: As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And when they were come down to Bethel,
3 The sons of the prophets, that were at Bethel, came forth to Eliseus, and said to him: Dost thou know that, this day, the Lord will take away thy master from thee? And he answered: I also know it: hold your peace.
2 Kings 2:11-13
11 And as they went on, walking and talking together, behold, a fiery chariot and fiery horses parted them both asunder: and Elias went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
12 And Eliseus saw him, and cried: My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the driver thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own garments, and rent them in two pieces.
13 And he took up the mantle of Elias, that fell from him: and going back, he stood on the bank of the Jordan;
The above fragments of 2 books of Kings quite clearly describe Elijah being taken from the side of the Jordan River to heaven by a “higher power”, as evidenced by the eyewitness confirmation of this fact by Eliseus and about 50 other disciples of Elijah who followed them.
From this description, it can be assumed that Elijah, not the first person in the history of contacts between people and “divine” visitors, and not the last person, who was actually taken alive from the earth to an unspecified living space.
So the big question for today is: did Elijah in the 9th B.C. follow the orders of extraterrestrial beings who have been directing the development of people for centuries, by performing miracles, healings, anointing kings, overthrowing false prophets of less significant “Gods”, and thanks to that work he received the reward of “eternal life” by taking him to the “heavens”?
As always, I leave the answer to this question to each individual.