Information Related to "Was Enoch Taken to Heaven?"
| Audio/Video |
Some people believe Genesis 5:24 and Hebrews 11:5 declare that God took Enoch to heaven. But is that what these verses say?
Genesis 5:24 tells us that "Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him." Hebrews 11:5 adds: "By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, 'and was not found, because God had taken him'; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God."
Neither scripture tells us how or where God took him, only that He did. Did God take Enoch to heaven? Clearly not, because Jesus Himself said that "no one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man ..."
Further, Hebrews 11 lists many faithful men and women of the Bible
(including Enoch) but concludes that "all these, having obtained
a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise ..." (verse 39). Obviously, then, Enoch neither ascended to heaven nor received
the promised eternal life.
So what did happen to Enoch? Genesis 5:23 makes it clear that Enoch ultimately did die: "So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years." He lived 365 years and no more. He isn't still alive and walking with God. The expression "all the days" is used of eight other people in this same chapter-all of whom obviously died.
Related Information on UCG Sites:
Table of Contents that includes "Was Enoch Taken to Heaven?"
Heaven:
