A: I
am one of the teachers who believes that the Old Testament saints were
transferred from the heart of the earth to heaven after the resurrection
Christ. The argument goes like this:
1. In the story of the rich man and Lazarus, Abraham's bosom, the place
where Lazarus was comforted, was directly next to hell (Luke
16:22-26).
2. Hell is connected with the direction of down in the Bible (Psalm
55:15; Isaiah 14:15; Matthew
11:23). Jesus spoke of going to the
"heart
of the earth" for three days and nights (Matthew
12:40) and also speaks
of being in "paradise" (Luke 23:43)
during this time (which would match
Abraham's bosom and is next to hell). Evidently, hell is in the center
of
the earth as was paradise, or Abraham's bosom, in earlier times.
3. The Bible refers to Jesus leading captivity captive when He ascended
on high (Ephesians 4:8). Paul connects paradise
with the third heaven in 2Corinthians 12:2-4. These and other
verses lead us to believe that the
Old Testament saints were transported to heaven at the time of the
ascension of Christ.
4. The speculated reason for this transfer is that the blood of Christ
had not yet been applied to the Old Testament saints since Jesus had
not
yet died. We know that their full redemption awaited the death and
resurrection of Christ. He "is the mediator of the new testament,
that by
means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under
the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise
of
eternal inheritance" (Hebrews 9:15).
It makes sense that their entrance
into heaven was not realized until the blood of the Lamb was shed and
applied to their souls.
However, as you note, there seem to be exceptions in the case of Enoch
and Elijah who were translated into heaven. Moses, who was evidently
resurrected before the death of Christ, also presents a problem. I do
not
have an absolute answer, but I would like to make some observations:
1. It is only speculation that the saints had to wait for the shed blood
of Christ before they could enter heaven. It makes sense to me, but there
is no direct statement of scripture that says this is the case. There
could be other reasons for their wait as well.
2. We say that no defiled thing can enter heaven. This is certainly true
of the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:27)
and one would think it true of
the heavenly temple. However, Satan has access to some level of heaven
as
we see in Job 1:6. Surely, nothing is more
defiled than he is.
3. God practices levels of access in the design of the earthly
tabernacle and temple, with different levels of access in the courtyard,
the main tabernacle, and the holy of holies. Perhaps He has levels of
access in heaven as well.
4. And, despite what our doctrinal logic tells us, scripture tells us
that Enoch "was not; for God took him" (Genesis
5:24) and "was translated
that he should not see death" (Hebrews
11:5). It also tells us that
"Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven" (2Kings
2:11). God clearly
gave them a special privilege and portion. Just like miracles, they were
allowed to break the rules, so to speak. I am convinced that God enjoys
messing up our neat systems so we will have to keep coming back to Him
for truth. God's full truth will always be greater than any system man
can conceive.
Till He comes,
Pastor David Reagan