Elijah was one of the greatest of the biblical prophets.
He lived in the ninth century BC, during the era when Israel was divided into two kingdoms — a northern kingdom of Israel, with capital at Samaria; and a southern kingdom of Judah, whose capital was at Jerusalem. When Ahab and his son Ahaziah, kings of Israel, were guilty of idolatry, theft, and murder, Elijah confronted them with their sins and called them to repentance (1 Kings 17-2 Kings 1).
Elijah demonstrated the power of God through mighty miracles, even bringing back to life a young man who had died (1 Kings 17). But because he “spoke truth to power,” his life was constantly in danger. When he suffered a kind of burnout, God determined that he should soon “pass the baton” to his protégé Elisha and retire (1 Kings 19:16).
Elijah was given a spectacular retirement sendoff, complete with “chariots of fire and horses.” According to 2 Kings 2:11, “Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.”
Since the Hebrew word for “heaven” designates both the sky and the dwelling place of God, there is some question about Elijah’s destination. While it is often assumed that Elijah was taken to God’s dwelling place, it is also possible that Elijah was taken up into the sky and then deposited in an unknown location. The Greek Septuagint translates the verse, “Elijah was taken up in the air as into heaven.”
One reason this question arises is that the Bible mentions one additional act of Elijah. Elijah’s retirement seems to have occurred at about the time when King Ahaziah of Israel died and was replaced by his brother Jehoram (2 Kings 1:17; 3:1). Scholars date this event to 852 BC.
But Elijah appears again during the reign of a different King Jehoram (2 Chronicles 21). This Jehoram ruled the southern kingdom of Judah from 848-841 BC. He was married to a daughter of Ahab, and like Ahab, he was an evil king (verse 6). In particular, he put six of his brothers to death shortly after taking the throne (verse 4).
Jehoram’s sins prompted Elijah to send a letter to the king giving an oracle from God. The letter, sent several years after Elijah was “taken up,” announced that Jehoram would die from a horrible disease of the bowels, a prediction that came to pass (verses 12-15, 18).
Considering all of the biblical data, I lean toward the conclusion that Elijah was not taken to the dwelling place of God, but rather to some undisclosed location on earth where he could spend a (mostly) quiet retirement. Several years later, when God revealed to him what was in store for Jehoram, Elijah felt moved to contact the king but chose to send a letter rather than travel to Jerusalem himself.
As I like to picture it, Elijah was able to enjoy a peaceful retirement in an out-of-theway place but still had the opportunity to do some writing and help out from time to time. I hope that the same might be true of my own retirement.
Dr. Doug Ward is an elder at Church of the Messiah in Xenia and an avid reader.
