Taken Away
2 Kings 2:5-17
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
The title of today’s message may be one that some of you have a hard time putting into context.
By taken away I do not mean that my wife has called Tom Millard’s co-workers to come and pick me up and take me away to that special hospital in St. Thomas Ontario.
While she may have considered that course of action in the past I do not discount that she will act upon the impulse at some time in the future.
No, what we want to look at today is how people mentioned in the Bible have been and will be “Taken Away” from earth to heaven.
It is a complicated subject that can also be controversial as there are many opinions concerning who is taken and just where they were taken to.
To further muddy the waters Christian scholars today still differ on the finer points of this “Taken Away” subject.
For those reasons we will not get into the so called finer points and instead we will look at what the Bible has to say and we will leave opinion out of it.
This passage of scripture which refers to the subject of being taken away happens to fall on our liturgical calendar for this Sunday so I did not want to skirt around it.
On top of that my wife reminded me that this past Wednesday was Extra-terrestrial Culture day.
It is celebrated in a big way in of all places Roswell New Mexico to recognize the past, present and future relationship of extra-terrestrials in our world.
Extraterrestrial Abductions Day is observed on March 20, 2015. It is also called Alien Abduction Day. The skies are carefully watched on this day by those expecting or wishing to be abducted by an alien life form.
I say all this to exaggerate the point that our current culture is deeply fascinated by this subject and I want to show you that the Bible speaks about people being taken away long before Stephen Spielberg ever made the movie E.T.
Today we will look at Enoch, Elijah, Moses, Jesus and Christians both dead and alive in an effort to sort out who has, is and will be taken away.
Jesus said…in
John 14:1- 4
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God[a]; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”
Here we have Jesus the Son of God clearly telling us that Heaven is for real and that He is coming back for us some day to take us to be with Him there.
Not too many people in Christendom have a problem with what Jesus is saying in this passage but they do dispute the how and when of our being taken away.
But we are staying away from the debaters and will instead examine the word of God.
The Bible records that:
Hebrews 11:5
By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; AND HE WAS NOT FOUND BECAUSE GOD TOOK HIM UP; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.
Genesis 5:21-24
21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. 22 After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years. 24 Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.
Here we have the New Testament confirming the Old Testament about Enoch.
You will notice that the Bible does not tell us how Enoch was taken away, just that God took him.
You will also notice that the Bible does not say that Enoch died.
In fact the New Testament reference makes it a point to tell us in no uncertain words that Enoch did not die – yet.
But he was translated from earth – taken away - by God to a place called – Up.(Heaven?)
Now we have a theological issue here that Enoch’s disappearance creates.
If Enoch died and was given eternal life it would mean that Jesus was not the first to die and rise again.
That would make Christianity a lie.
The Bible says;
1 Colossians 1:15-20
15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Since Jesus is the first to have died and risen to a new and everlasting body we can say that Enoch is not enjoying an everlasting existence but rather he has been given an extended life so that God can use him later for some other purpose.
O.K. that’s Enoch now let’s look at Elijah.
2 Kings 2:11-12
11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. 12 Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two.
Here we have another person being snatched off the planet by God.
Again Elijah did not die but was removed as a living breathing human being and transported by some supernatural means that is described as a whirlwind.
Here we are told that Elijah is taken up to Heaven.
Now we are starting to see a trend.
God will remove certain individuals from earth just as they are alive and well and He will take them up or to Heaven for some undisclosed purpose.
These abductees are still human but not eternal and God will use them at a later date.
Turn to the last book of the Old Testament –
Malachi 4:5-6
5 “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. 6 He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”
Turn with me to the New Testament to the Book of Revelation chapter 11
Here is where and how most Bible scholars believe that these two abductees show up.
Revelation 11:1-14
11 I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, with its worshipers. 2 But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months. 3 And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” 4 They are “the two olive trees” and the two lampstands, and “they stand before the Lord of the earth.”[a] 5 If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. 6 They have power to shut up the heavens so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.
7 Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them. 8 Their bodies will lie in the public square of the great city—which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt—where also their Lord was crucified. 9 For three and a half days some from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. 10 The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.
11 But after the three and a half days the breath[b] of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on.
13 At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon.
I thought I could cover this subject in one message but it seems obvious that I will have to make this a two part-err.
How many of you find this subject interesting?
How many of you are just a little curious as to why two people from the Old Testament will be revealed to all of humanity at a later date much further into the future?
How many of you are curious to find out if and when you may be snatched up and taken off the earth at some time in the future?
Well I hope and pray there are a few of you and that you will return next week for part 2.
What we do know is that God has promised us eternal life in a resurrected body like Jesus and that some of us will even escape the experience of death altogether.
I hope I can tell you the other half of this amazing biblical truth before you are taken up.
But if I don’t get the chance I want to assure you that if you are taken up it is a very, very good thing. – Amen.
