More On Enoch And Elijah

Q

I read your answer on Enoch and Elijah being raptured. This is scriptural, so I have no problem with that. My problem lies with how could God have them in His presence? If God cannot have sin in His presence, and both these men lived before Messiah came to make atonement, then how could they be in heaven (bodily) with God while still in a sinful, human state? Would they be in heaven, but away from God’s presence, which (to me) is impossible as He is everywhere.

A

All the Bible says is what happened to them, not how it was made possible. But Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Paul, and John also stood in the presence of God. Hebrews 9:27 says that man only dies once and then faces judgment, but 5 people in the Bible were raised from the dead only to die again.

Elijah is a particularly difficult case for us. He went to heaven without dying, and appeared in a physical body at the Mt. of Transfiguration. And if you believe as I do that he’s one of the two witnesses of Rev. 11, he’ll be killed and rise again. When God wants to make a point, or demonstrate a model, He is able.