Was "Re: John 3: 13 exegesis"

b***@allvantage.com

2006-07-17 17:05:05 UTC

Re: John 3: 13 exegesis

I do believe that verse needs to taken with the other verses
surrounding it. Verse 11 gives a clue that Jesus has been to heaven
and earth to testify of things of God. No one I know of has done both
been to heaven and come baxck to tell people Godly things except Jesus.
Certainly people has ascended to heaven. Look in the old testament
about the story of Elijah taken up to heaven in a fiery chariot.

B - that also could be a story about an early alien abduction....we don't
really know do we?
Bren

Bren,

When Jesus said at John 3:13 that no one ever went to Heaven, that is
exactly what he meant. Thus when Jesus spoke those words, Abraham and
Moses and Elijah and ever other righteous human being that ever lived,
never went to Heaven. None. Zero. Zilch.

Also, Bible students know that Elijah was not taken by 'aliens' or
anything. A close look at the Scriptures shows what happened. That
verse is found at 2 Ki 2:11. The KJV renders it this way:

"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."

But the Hebrew word translated as "heaven" here (shamayim), can mean
either the atmospheric "heavens" or the place where God resides;
"Heaven". For example, the same Hebrew word is found at De 4:19 which
reads,

"And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the
sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven,
shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy
God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven." (KJV)

Clearly here, the word "heaven" is referring to our atmosphere, the
place where the sun, moon, and stars appear to be from an observer on
the ground.

And not all Bible translations agree with the KJV. Some Bible
translations are more clear as to what happened.

"...and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into the heavens." (DBY)
"...and Elijah goeth up in a whirlwind, to the heavens." (YLT)

So which is it: Heaven- the spiritual realm where God resides. Or
heaven- the atmospheric heavens, what we normally call the
"atmosphere".

One clue is found in the verse itself. Notice that a "whirlwind" was
occurring in that "heaven" place. So this would point to the
atmospheric heavens being the likely candidate here instead of the home
of God, "Heaven".

So then if that is the case, was Elijah then floating around up in the
atmosphere like a Boeing 747 for the rest of his life? No, apparently
he was transferred through earth's atmosphere and placed on a different
part of the globe. That he then continued to live on earth somewhere
else is confirmed years later when Elijah wrote a letter to King
Jehoram of Judah. (see 2 Chronicles 21:1, 12-15)

Yes, Jesus' words were perfectly true at the time when he said,

"No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from
heaven--the Son of Man. (Joh 3:13; NIV)

Sincerely, James

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