Common Questions about Heaven
Most have been taught that people have an immortal soul that goes to heaven or hell at death. But the Bible teaches no such thing. Rather, from the beginning of the Bible to the end, the Bible teaches that at death, people remain unconscious in the grave, waiting for a resurrection.
Even after you learn this truth, you may have questions about a few scriptures that appear to fit with the traditional teaching of heaven. Here are the answers.
Didn’t Elijah go to heaven?
2 Kings 2:11 says “Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven”.
In John 3:13, Jesus said, “No one has ascended into heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man…”
At first, it looks like these two scriptures contradict each other. But we believe that every word of God is true, and that the Bible does not contradict itself. So the problem is with our understanding, not with the scriptures. So we need to read more to understand what these scriptures mean.
There are actually 3 heavens mentioned in the Bible:
- The heavens where the birds fly (Genesis 1:20)
- The heavens where the stars and planets are (Genesis 1:14)
- The heaven where God lives, which is called “the third heaven” (2 Corinthians 12:2)
We know that Jesus came down from the third heaven, and that no one else has ascended the third heaven (John 3:13). So when Elijah went up to heaven, he went to a different heaven—the heaven where the birds fly. How can we be sure?
Notice in 2 Kings 2:16 that the sons of the prophets, who saw Elijah go “into heaven” thought that they might find Elijah on a nearby mountain. They didn’t think he went to the third heaven. They just thought he was taken somewhere else. And in fact he was taken somewhere on earth, but it was farther away. We know this because later on he wrote a letter to the king—see 2 Chronicles 21:12-15. So Elijah just had a ride in God’s chariot, and was taken somewhere else where he died a natural death.
The Bible says God took Enoch, but it doesn’t say that God took him to heaven. That would contradict what Jesus said in John 3:13.
Didn’t God take Enoch to heaven?
Is that what the Bible says? Read Genesis 5:24:
And Enoch walked with God, and he disappeared, because God took him.
It doesn’t say that God took him to heaven, does it?
We also read about Enoch in Hebrews 11:5:
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. (NKJV)
Since this says that Enoch did not see death, many assume that Enoch is living in heaven right now. But in verse 13 says this about Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob:
”These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but seeing them afar off…”
So when God took Enoch, he didn’t die immediately (or he didn’t die a natural death), but Hebrews 11:13 confirms that he did die, and that he did not receive God’s promises.
So when will Enoch receive the promise of eternal life? The answer is in verses 39 and 40:
And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. (Hebrews 11:39-40 NKJV)
Enoch will rise to receive his reward when Jesus returns (1 Corinthains 15:23, 52).
Didn’t the thief on the cross go to heaven?
This misunderstanding is caused by the English translations of Luke 23:43. When people translate Luke 23:43, they add a comma in one of two places:
“Assuredly I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise.”
Or
“Assuredly I say to you today, you will be with Me in paradise.”
Either translation could be correct, but the second translation is the only one that matches up with the rest of the Bible. The “today” was about what Jesus was saying, not about when Jesus would be in paradise.
Jesus was dead for 3 day and 3 nights and did not go to heaven until after He rose from the dead (John 20:17). The thief on the cross will be with Jesus in paradise in the future. Right now he is still dead.
Here is a good article that explains why the traditional understanding of this verse is not correct: https://www.ministrymagazine.org/archive/2013/06/the-significance-of-a-comma:-an-analysis-of-luke-23:43
Didn’t Jesus say He would prepare a home for us in heaven?
This question is based on Jesus’s statement in John 14:2-3:
In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. (NKJV)
So if Jesus is in heaven, and he is preparing a place for us, then won’t we go to heaven with him in the future?
Yes—but only for a short time.
At the seventh trumpet, Jesus will appear in the sky, and the saints will rise to meet Him in the air, “and thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
But where will Jesus Christ go? The Bible does say He will go to heaven with the saints for a few days. This is described in Revelation 14:1-5; 15:1-8; and 19:6-9. But Revelation 19:11-21 says that the “armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen” will return with Jesus to the earth to fight the nations that gather at Jerusalem. Then the saints live and reign with Jesus on earth for 1000 years (Revelation 20:4, 6; 5:10; Mathews 5:5, etc.).
Heaven is real, but it isn’t where we will live forever. Instead, God will come dwell with us on earth (Revelation 21).