If no one has gone to heaven what about Enoch and Elijah, who were translated to heaven? Also, please explain the transfiguration in Matthew 17 where Moses and Elijah are talking to a transfigured Yahshua.
Genesis 5:24 reads, “And Enoch walked with Elohim: and he was not; for Elohim took him.” The RSB note reads, “Hebrews 11:5 says that Enoch was translated or transferred that he should not see death. The Greek word ‘translated’ is metatithemi and means ‘carried over,’ which is the same word used in Acts 7:16 when Jacob died in Egypt and was carried over to Sychem to be buried. The tense is conditional future, so that ‘he should not die’ (John 8:51; 11:26). In Hebrews 11:13 Enoch is included with the other saints who died having not yet received the Promise of everlasting life.” Enoch was simply transported from one place to another here on earth. The same is true with Elijah.
We read in 2Kings 2:11, “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.”
The RSB footnote reads, “Elijah (Hebrew EliYah, meaning ‘Yah is my El’) was transported to a different location on earth. This is evident from Elijah’s letter to Jehoram, which chronologically followed Elijah’s being taken into the whirlwind (2Chron. 21:12).
“The fifty sons of the prophets who were nearby (2Kings 2:7), and who witnessed from afar, knew that Elijah was taken somewhere else on earth because that’s where they searched for him after getting permission to do so from the prophet Elisha (2Kings 2:15-18). They would not have looked for him on earth if they thought he went to heaven, neither would the inspired Elisha have consented to their search.” The Bible speaks of three heavens: the atmosphere, outer space, and where Yahweh dwells (Gen. 7:11; Dan. 4:21; 2Cor. 12:2; Rev. 9:1). Whirlwinds operate only in the air of the first heaven. Elijah was simply transported from one place on earth to another.
Yahshua called the transfiguration a “vision” in Matthew 17:9. This was a glimpse into the future Kingdom, as is clear from the preceding verses (Matt. 16:28). In 2Peter 1:16-18 the Apostle Peter corroborates that this is what they saw (RSB).
