Pastor Vaughn Teaches "No, Elijah was NOT raptured nor is he in Heaven"

Pastor Vaughn Teaches "No, Elijah was NOT raptured nor is he in Heaven" Shane Vaughn ——— First Harvest Ministries International 1 hello I would like to talk to you about a theological subject that I believe will be of interest to you and it's simply this what happened to Elijah we've always been told that Elijah went to heaven in a chariot of fire and that's the story that we are all accustomed to but is that story correct I would like to dig into that with you today if you would like to study with me anytime I'm teaching about the state of the Dead what happens to the dead I'm always presented with two arguments number one what about Enoch we dealt with Enoch in a previous lesson it's here on this same YouTube or Rumble 2 channel it's simply titled what about Enoch then I'm always presented with what about Elijah didn't Elijah was he not raptured did he not go up in a chariot of fire and go to heaven well let's find out what the Bible says okay because it's a very interesting interesting subject that you really need to know the answer to now here's the problem we run into the word of God must dovetail it must fit together seamlessly without any contradiction otherwise it's not the word of God so to begin this quick study and we won't be very long I want you to turn with me to John 3 and verse 13 in the Bible 3 the New Testament St John chapter 3 and verse 13 there is a verse there that you cannot Overlook it's not going to go anywhere you can't rip it out of the Bible it stands there in defiance to all of these questions where's Enoch where's Elijah they're all in heaven right let's read what the Bible says John 3: 13 no man has gone to heaven except the son of man who came down from heaven is this a Bible contradiction because it seems like we have Enoch going to heaven we have Elijah going to heaven so how can one verse say that no one has gone to heaven and yet we seem to have two men that indeed 4 have gone to heaven your challenge right now is going to be taking that verse of scripture John 3:13 and comparing it to these Enoch and Elijah scenarios according to the Bible neither man is in heaven only yua or Jesus Christ so if Elijah is not in heaven today which he's not then where did Elijah go to answer this question number one we need to clear up a misunderstanding of a word called heaven when you see the word heaven in your Bible remember that there are three Heavens all referred to by the same Greek or Hebrew word and it makes it very confusing when you're reading your Bible Jesus 5 said no man which included Elijah had ever gone to heaven then the heaven into which Elijah was taken cannot be the same heaven where yua or Jesus is at right now we know that yua is right now in heaven at the right hand of his father interceding for you and I so if that's the heaven yua is in according to the word of God no other human is in that heaven except yua so if that's the case then we just need to find out our job job gets very easy which Heaven did Elijah go to now if you'll study the book of Hebrews CH 8 verse 1 through verse 5 I'm not going to read it it explains that the original 6 Earthly Tabernacle Moses's Tabernacle with its Most Holy place was the type of the Throne of God in heaven and only the high priest was allowed to enter into the holy place or the heaven of Heavens that is the third heaven but there is a second heaven and you can read all about that second heaven in Psalms 8 and3 and Genesis 115-1 17 it's in those verses where you'll read about the universe and the galaxies the moon and the stars the mazero and all of the astrological signs and all of the Plato and Oran all of that the Milky Way the Galaxy that is all uh what makes up the second heaven yua is 7 in the heaven of Heavens he's in the ultimate Heaven he's where Yahweh dwells however there is another heaven besides the stars and besides the great galaxies and that heaven is simply where the birds fly it is simply what the Bible calls in the midst of heaven and we read about it in Genesis 1 and 20 it says birds that may fly above the Earth in the open firmament of Heaven in blessing Jacob Isaac said may God give Thee the Dew of Heaven well we know that that's not the do from the Throne of Yahweh it's the rain that falls out of the visible Heaven the visible sky Moses said in Genesis 27 and 8 28 he made it very plain when he said the heavens shall drop down their Dew so now we see the these different heavens and people are so quick to say Elijah went to heaven you've got to learn to know the difference in these three Heavens so the first Heaven is where the rain comes from it's where the clouds exist it's the atmosphere where the wind comes from every one of us right now is breathing the air of Heaven now that we've determined that Elijah did not go to the heaven of God's Throne then which Heaven did he go to we read in 2 Kings 2 verse 1 and verse 11 and Elijah went up by a 9 whirlwind into heaven you see Pastor V he went to heaven I don't care what John 3:13 says that no man has gone to heaven it says plainly Elijah went to heaven you cannot have all these contradictions what you need is an understanding of how to rightly divide the word of God Elijah went by a whirlwind into heaven not to the heaven of God's Throne where yua dwells no not at all but rather he went up into the Earth's atmosphere the first heaven and we're going to prove that just a moment there could be no Whirlwind in any other place no tornado nowhere else but in the atmosphere surrounding this 10 Earth in the first heaven where the birds fly now surely you've seen a tornado in your life a whirlwind where does that take take place it doesn't go into outer space whirlwinds don't go past Jupiter and Mars and they most definitely don't go to the heaven of Heavens all it takes is a little thinking and a little common sense now I want to explain why Elijah had to be taken up to begin with and this is really very interesting why this Grand removal of Elijah from the earth in a whirlwind the truth is the simple truth is it took a dramatic work of God to remove Elijah because Elisha which was 11 Elijah's Protegé would not let Elijah go it really is that simple I'll tell you the story very quickly and you can read this story on your own in 2 Kings 2 and verse 9 so Elijah has angered Yahweh and Elijah has forfeited his ministry what was his ministry Elijah was the pastor of Israel he was one of the great warriors of truth that's why at his death it was said uh that he was a great uh Chariot of God and the horsemen thereof because that was a euphemism for the Warriors of truth and that's what he was Elijah was on Mount Carmel and he was just about to bring to Israel the greatest Revival 12 that Israel had ever known surely you remember the story where the fire came down from heaven just before that fire fell all of Israel had made a vow to Yahweh and to Elijah that the god that answered by fire that everyone would convert to the worship of that one true God and sure enough that fire fell and Elijah is standing on the precipice of a great Revival a great turning back of all of Israel to the Yahweh of Israel but the very next day on the brink of this revival on the moment of Israel being turned around turned back to God Elijah failed the Lord Elijah got very scared of a Woman by 13 the name of Jezebel Jezebel threatened him because of this great move of God and we find Elijah running from Jezebel 16 miles he ran to get away from a woman when he did this he forfeited his right to rule over the house of Israel as their Pastor as their spiritual leader it's really a sad story isn't it so the next chapter in Second Kings Elijah's in a cave and he hears a still Small Voice and basically the end of his ministry in that particular regard is over so the next day Elijah's walking through the field and there is a replacement for him and a young boy that was uh that was working 14 with 12 Yol of oxen and that young boy's name was Elisha now it was here that God was getting ready to promote Elisha into the ministry of Elijah Elisha is working with Elijah and Elijah tells Elisha I must go and if you see me when I go you're going to get a double portion of my anointing my mantle is going to fall on you you're going to take my place as the pastor of Israel well Elijah tried to walk away if you'll read the story you'll see everything I'm telling you Elijah went to walk away and go on his own and Elisha was having nothing to do with it he told Elisha to walk off so that he 15 could go but Elisha having nothing to do with that this happened three or four times to where Elisha would not let El elah go in other words Elisha was not willing to step into the calling on his life and many times when we will not let go of what we're comfortable with then God will take and reach down supernaturally with a dramatic way and remove from our lives our comfort zone Elijah was Elisha's comfort zone so all of a sudden this Whirlwind comes down where Elijah is and takes Elijah up in the air now when they got to Jericho they were crossing the Jordan near Jericho elij is now taken up 16 in this Whirlwind and uh the violent motion of the wind pulls the mantle off of Elijah and it falls on Elisha God was replacing Elijah's with Elisha you probably remember reading the promise of Elijah that Elisha would have a double portion of the spirit of God if he would be allowed by God to see Elijah go up and that happened in second Kings chapter 2 and verse 9 and now Elijah is in a whirlwind and he is removed from the presence of Elisha all right so where did Elijah go if he didn't go to heaven if he wasn't translated this has been a perplexing problem for many people to comprehend I 17 hope in the next few moments it will be so plain that you'll have an aha moment number one he did not Ascend to the throne of God we know that from The Book of John John said so yet he couldn't remain in the air forever he couldn't remain in a whirlwind and God did not say that Elijah was going to die at that time as a matter of fact if Elisha would have just leted Elijah walk away all this drama would not be necessary now we know that Elisha could have assumed his new office without the removal of Elijah because we know that Elisha died in office after fulfilling his duty you can read about 18 that in 2 Kings 13 and 14 when Elijah went up in the air something very interesting happened something very interesting happened in King in 2 Kings 2 and 16 standing close by to witness all of this was the school of the prophets that Elijah had formed and that Elijah had created now they were fearful that the spirit of God might have allowed him to drop up on some mountain now I want you to think about this if Elijah went up to heaven and they saw this then why in 2 Kings 2 and6 were they afraid that he might have fallen on a mountain Elisha knew that God would preserve Elijah from falling but 19 these sons of the prophets these that were in the school of the Prophet insisted that they be allowed to go search for Elijah now if Elijah went up through the galaxies surely they would not be desirous to look for him in the mountains no there was a wind there was a tornado they saw the prophet going into that and they saw that tornado moving with their prophet in it and they knew it didn't go into the heavens or they wouldn't have wanted to search for him but alas Elijah was gone where to certainly the Whirlwind used by God could not take him past the earth atmosphere think about it neither 20 does the bible account leave Elijah in the air so what is the answer it's very simple and here's the missing piece that so many have missed immediately before Elijah disappeared in the distance a new king had come to the throne in Israel you can read about that in 2 Kings 1:17 the new king's name was jehoram or joram he was the son of Ahab remember Ahab was just King when Elijah was on Mount Carmel now the first year of joram's Reign was 849 BC during joram's Reign Elisha was the prophet of God meanwhile in Judah the son of Jehoshaphat begin to reign as a co-regent along with his father 2 21 Kings 8:16 this King has been associated with his father on the throne for five previous years with the authority of a co- region now this is interesting after the wicked rule by this Jewish King God chose Elijah please follow me closely after Elijah supposedly went to heaven we find an interesting story of Elijah writing a letter to a king and you can find the contents of that letter in 2 Chronicles 21 12- 15 here's what that letter said written years after Elijah supposedly went to heaven it says because you have not walked in the ways of your father but you have walked in the ways of the 22 Kings of Israel and also you have slain thy Brothers in thy father's house which were better than you Thou shalt have great Sickness by disease now from the wording of this letter it is clear that Elijah is writing this letter after certain events had happened in the life of the King after he had been removed by a whirlwind and the disease that he is predicting would happen in the future two years later this King according to the letter of Elijah res was diseased the king died and only reigned for eight short years that story is in 2 Chronicles 21 18-20 now this proves that the letter was 23 written about 7 years after Elijah went to heaven now unless you want to convince me that there's a post office in heaven unless you want to convince me of these things but the human mind The Logical understanding is that you write letters here on Earth so Elijah is writing this letter evidently he is still living somewhere as a hermit if you will in the land of Israel God used Elijah to convey this message because he was the prophet of God in the days of the present King's father and the son was not going in the ways of his father the letter that he had others to deliver was recognized as his 24 letter proving that he was known to be alive someplace now just how much longer he lived the Bible does not say but the Bible does say it is appointed that all men must die so therefore Elijah must have died somewhat later if you'll read Hebrews chapter 9 verse 27 it says that in Adam all die it doesn't say a few escape death it says all die even Jesus Christ the son of God had to die now unless Elijah is greater than yua then he also has to die when we understand these things it makes it very simple Elijah went into the first heaven in a whirlwind he was put down somewhere he lived out the 25 rest of his life and he wrote these letters to the Kings still serving Israel as a prophet now the final question that we always get and I'd like to address it now and help you clear it up the confusion in your mind what about when Jesus yua was on the Mount of transfiguration and there appeared on that that mountain with yua Moses and Elijah see Elijah had to go to heaven or how could he appear on this mountain with Jesus so many years later well by the way that story is in Matthew 17 1-9 but here's the answer Matthew 17 and verse 9 clarifies everything when these disciples are standing on 26 the mountain remember just one chapter earlier yua said there are some of you standing with me right now that will never die until you see me in My Kingdom Glory and sure enough seven days later after he made them that promise he brought them up to the Mount of transfiguration and these three disciples saw yua in his Kingdom Glory they saw him as John the Revelator saw him with hair like wool and they saw his face like the sun they were seeing him in his future role as the King of Kings and the Lord of lords and in that seeing they saw Moses and Elijah representing the law and the prophets 27 which is the two witnesses if you will to the uh true Ministry of yua the Messiah and going down that mountain as they leave there yua makes it plain that what they just seen was not a present reality and they did not literally see Moses and Elijah and they did not see Jesus literally change before them but he tells them plainly in verse 9 what they saw he tells them that he had given them a vision a spiritual glimpse into the future when he would return in his Kingdom Glory and of course Moses and Elijah will be with him in that coming Kingdom ruling and reigning with him in his father's 28 Kingdom he says in Matthew 17 and verse 9 tell the vision to know man to anyone that is truly willing to know the truth I have just just laid it out to you as simply as I know how it is the only thing that causes the scriptures to line up with the word of God now someone said but brother V he went up in a chariot of fire not so fast there was an a saying in the land of Israel when someone died if that someone was known as a warrior in Israel for the god of Israel when they would close their eyes in death they spoke this epith over that dead Warrior of God it's almost like in America when they 29 March the horse the the the horse that has no Soldier on it but they marched the horse as a symbol of that soldier's sacrifice when in the land of Israel when a warrior of Israel died they would cry these words and they would say the Chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof now in case you don't believe what I'm saying I know that you know Elisha said those words about Elijah when he was supposedly being taken up in a chariot Elijah said the Chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof but there is something else you don't know that was spoken again when Elisha passed away you'll find that 2 30 Kings 13 and 14 when Elisha was dying joash the king of Israel came down to Elisha and wept over him and said the Chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof why a soldier of Israel had fallen a soldier of Truth had fallen it's not that he was taken up in a chariot of Israel by horses it was a figure of speech it was a sending off salutation it was a recognition that this was a true soldier of Israel I sure hope that helped you today God bless you I'm Pastor V first Harvest Ministries thank you for joining me