Before the flood, it seems that lifespans from 800-900 years were the norm. Without disease, earlier death, unless from accident or murder would be almost unknown. Enoch was less than 400 years when he died, so YHWH must have taken him (allowed him to die).
I would have to look up the references on Elijah, but there is reason to think that he was taken alive to another place on earth, not to heaven. He sent a message to the current king of Israel some years after the chariot ride.
Excellent points.
There was good discussion on that issue elsewhere in another thread concerning Elijah and Enoch taken into heaven.
Elijah is known to have been taken up into Heaven in a fiery chariot (
2Kings 2:11 ). However, Elijah’s chariot ride in chapter two comes between the reigns of two kings of Israel.
2Kings 3:1 says that Jehoram, son of Ahab reigned in Ahaziah’s stead...and Ahaziah died of a disease not leaving a son, so his brother, Jehoram became the King of Israel (cp.
2Kings 1:15-18). The beginning of Jehoram’s 12 year reign coincided with the eighteenth year of the reign of Jehosaphat, king of Judah. This is important, because the kings of Judah and Israel were allies. Before going to war with Moab they consulted the prophets, but Judah and Israel were not united in their faiths. Only Judah worshiped the Lord. Therefore, Jehosaphat desired a word from a prophet of the LORD before going to war, and in this case we are told the great prophet was Elisha (
2Kings 3:11). Therefore, the time of this Scripture is definitely after Elijah ascended to
heaven in a fiery chariot (
2Kings 2:11). For many, the view is that it was either the case that Elijah came to give a word to the King AFTER he had died----verifying the concept of the departed giving messages at God's approval alone---or Elijah never went to Heaven before having to actually die first. For a good review on the issue, one can go online/look up the article entitled
Is it True Elijah Went to Heaven? « Smoodock's Blog
One can find more in
2 Chronicles 21:1..as Jehoram, the son of Jehosaphat, reigned in Jerusalem in the stead of his father. Jehosaphat was dead, but Elisha was the prophet of the Lord that Jehosaphat had consulted concerning the war with Moab. Thus, by this time in 2Chronicles 21, Elijah had already taken his chariot ride into the heavens which had to have occurred before Jehosaphat’s death.
Additionally, Jehoram the son of Ahab referred to in
2Kings 3:1 with whom Jehosaphat was allied is not the same Jehoram mentioned here in
2Chronicles 21:1. This Jehoram was king of Judah and son of Jehosaphat. He did not walk in the ways of his father but in the ways of the kings of Israel, for he had married Ahab’s daughter and led Judah astray (
2Chronicles 21:4-6).
When considering that context, it is interesting to note how
2Chronicles 21:12 shows that Elijah wrote a letter to Jehoram, the king of Judah, rebuking him for walking in the way of the kings of Israel.
2 Chronicles 21:4-12
Jehoram King of Judah
4 When Jehoram established himself firmly over his father’s kingdom, he put all his brothers to the sword along with some of the officials of Israel. 5 Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. 6 He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD. 7 Nevertheless, because of the covenant the LORD had made with David, the LORD was not willing to destroy the house of David. He had promised to maintain a lamp for him and his descendants forever.
8 In the time of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against Judah and set up its own king. 9 So Jehoram went there with his officers and all his chariots. The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but he rose up and broke through by night. 10 To this day Edom has been in rebellion against Judah.
Libnah revolted at the same time, because Jehoram had forsaken the LORD, the God of his ancestors. 11 He had also built high places on the hills of Judah and had caused the people of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves and had led Judah astray.
12
Jehoram received a letter from Elijah the prophet, which said: “This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: ‘You have not followed the ways of your father Jehoshaphat or of Asa king of Judah.
When realizing that Elijah’s chariot ride in II Kings 2 took place while Jehosaphat was still alive, one must wonder how could he write a letter after Jehosaphat’s death, if he was in heaven where God is. One would be logical to conclude that Elijah was still alive/earthbound....and at least opens up the door for supposing that it isn't necessarily the case that Elijah himself never died at a later date. As a man, his ministry as God’s main prophet was about done except for this letter to the king of Judah, Elijah’s ministry ended with the fiery chariot ride up to the clouds and Elisha being the front man
