To Paradise |
God can take us to Paradise. He has that ability, but we must have faith. How can this be?
The Apostle Paul states that he knows a man who went to Paradise.
2 Corinthians 12:2-5
I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know
-- God knows.
And I know that this man -- whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows
-- was caught up
to paradise
and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell.
I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses.
How can you go? You need to have faith. That is necessary. God says we must have faith.
Hebrews 11:5
By faith
Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
QUESTION! How did Enoch avoid death?
Revelation 2:7
He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
says to the churches; To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
Enoch was able to eat the fruit of the tree of life which is in God's Paradise and live forever as a flesh and blood person. God says that if Adam ate from the Tree of Life he would have lived forever.
Genesis 3:22-24
Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever "-- Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.
Adam had not been able to overcome sin. This is necessary if we want to live in the paradise of God.
In contrast, Enoch did please God, and I believe that God started a new community in another place -- Paradise -- using him as a new Adam.
Genesis 5:24
And Enoch walked with God, and he was no more seen: for God took him
away.
God says that it is not good for man to be alone so, He probably took along Enoch's wife, or created another woman for Enoch. That way, God had other people, in case He decided to destroy the earth.
Observe what comes after God takes Enoch.
Genesis 6:6
And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his
heart.
Notice that God repented of creating man on earth, but not in paradise where Enoch and his children are.
Genesis 6:7-8
And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created
from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the
Lord.
God translated Enoch 69 years before Noah was born. Remember, Enoch was Noah's great grandfather. Noah's father died 5 years before the Flood, and Noah's grandfather died 5 months before the Flood.
Hebrews 11:5
By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
To understand this
better, look at the timeline from Adam to the Flood:
Notice that Adam was still alive when Enoch, Methuselah and Lamech were born. The earth was already full of violence. That is why God decided later on to take Enoch out of this Earth.
Adam died when Lamech was 56 years old. A short time later, Enoch was taken to
the third heaven. Three more generations after Enoch, we get to Noah, his great grandson. The flood occurs when Noah is 600 years old. At that time, all of Noah's ancestors are dead. God decides to save Noah, his wife and his 3 sons with their wives (8 total persons.)
But looking at the translations, what examples do we have?
After Enoch, we read in the story of Lot -- Abraham's nephew -- how two angels lift Lot and his family and place them outside the city gates. This translation is just a short distance one, from one place on this earth to another.
Genesis 19
And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they
brought him forth, and set him without the city.
The next translation mentioned in the bible is when Elijah was taken in a whirlwind.
2 Kings 2:11-12
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 separated them both; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. As Elisha [Elijah's servant] watched, he kept crying out, "My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!" Then he never saw Elijah again.
Elijah was taken up by a whirlwind into heaven (the third heaven.) But, how is it possible for God to do that?
Let us see what the bible says:
1 Kings 18:11-12
And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord [the king Ahab], Behold, Elijah is here.
And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the Lord shall carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me: but I thy servant fear the Lord from my youth.
Here Obadiah is telling Elijah that "the spirit of the Lord" could take Elijah to a place where they could not find him. That is exactly what happened some time later when Elijah was taken to heaven in a whirlwind. Let us see what happens when Elisha (Elijah's servant) returns and is met by a group of the prophets:
2 Kings 2:16
And they said unto him [Elisha], Behold now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master: lest peradventure the
Spirit of the Lord hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And
he [Elisha] said, Ye shall not send.
The prophets argued with Elisha that maybe Elijah was upon some mountain and that they should try to find him. Elisha argued against searching for Elijah on this Earth. He knew that Elijah had been taken away from this Earth. But again notice in which way the prophets stated the translation would occur --
"the spirit of the Lord has taken him up."
We reiterate the fact that Enoch and Elijah were taken in human form, not as spirit beings -- which they were not. As flesh and blood humans, Enoch and Elijah can only continue to live forever if they have access to the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.
The next example of translations is the prophet Ezekiel.
Ezekiel 8:1-4
In the sixth year, in the sixth month on the fifth day, while I was sitting in my house and the elders of Judah were sitting before me, the hand of the Sovereign Lord came on me there.
I looked, and I saw a figure like that of a man. From what appeared to be his waist down he was like fire, and from there up his appearance was as bright as glowing metal.
He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head. The Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and in visions of God he took me to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the idol that provokes to jealousy stood.
And there before me was the glory of the God of Israel, as in the vision I had seen in the plain.
Ezekiel states that he was taken from his house to the city of Jerusalem, a few miles away. He also mentions that the Spirit lifted him up. This is similar to what happened to
Lot when the angels grabbed him, his wife and his two daughters and put them
outside the city.
With Enoch and Elijah, the only difference is that they were translated to Paradise, out of this earth, whereas Ezekiel was translated or transported by the spirit of God from one city in Israel to another city.
The next example of translations is in the person of Yeshua/Jesus our Messiah:
We find that Jesus was translated several times, sometimes to escape from His enemies. These translations were from one place on this Earth to another location on this Earth. Let us look at some examples:
Satan, the Devil, takes Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple, and to a high mountain.
Matthew 4:8
Again, the devil takes him up into an exceeding high mountain, and shows him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
This happened after Jesus fasted in the desert for 40 days. The devil takes Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple and
later on to a high mountain trying to tempt Him. Yes, the Devil is an angel with the ability to lift a human
being all the way up a mountain.
Another translation is when Jesus approaches His disciples who were rowing a boat across Lake Tiberias (also called the Sea of Galilee.)
John
6:16-21
When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake,
where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it
was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. A strong wind was blowing and the
waters grew rough. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water;
and they were frightened. But he said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.”
Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and
immediately the boat reached the shore
where they were heading.
Here we see that Jesus was transported (translated) about 4 miles to where the boat was; they see Him walking on the water, then He goes inside the boat and the boat reaches the other shore immediately. That means another translation of Jesus along with the boat and everybody who was inside the boat to the other shore.
Another example happened on Sunday, the day of Jesus' resurrection. The two disciples who sat at the table with Jesus had not recognized Him (probably because His appearance looked different after 3 days from His
crucifixion ordeal.) They realized it was Jesus when He gave thanks and broke bread with them. Then Jesus disappeared.
Luke 24:30-32
When he [Jesus] was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them.
Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.
They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
The original Greek word used for "disappeared" is "aphantos." This is another example of Jesus transporting
Himself immediately from one city to another.
That same night Jesus is back in Jerusalem. Let us see what the scriptures say:
John 20:19-20
Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when
the doors were shut
where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.
Notice that Jesus appears in the midst of the room even though all doors are shut. He is able to translate himself from Emmaus to the middle of a room in Jerusalem. Jesus had the capability of translating himself because He was full of the Holy Spirit.
A few days later, Jesus repeats the same feat again, translating Himself to the center of the room with all doors shut. He shows Thomas the wounds from His crucifixion which were still evident 11 days afterwards.
John 20:24-29
But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.
The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.
And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus,
and
the doors being shut,
and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.
Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.
And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and
yet have believed.
Christ's ascension is another rapture -- when Jesus left earth and went up into heaven.
Acts 1:6-11
6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been
taken from you into
heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
The next translation
in the list occurred to Philip after he baptized a eunuch. He went from one place to another on this earth.
Acts 8:36-40
As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?”
“If you believe with all your heart, you may.” The eunuch answered, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.
When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing.
Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
Observe again that the method for Philip's translation to Azotus is "the spirit of the
Lord."
After Philip's translation we have in 2nd Corinthians 12 the translation mentioned by Paul of the friend who went to Paradise.
Then in the book of Revelation we have the story of the two witnesses. These two are persecuted by the government of the "Scarlet Beast" and are killed. For three and a half days their bodies are in public view in the city of Jerusalem. By this time, people are so evil that they rejoice when these men are executed. We read in Revelation 11 that after three and a half days their bodies are resurrected and taken to "heaven" in a cloud.
Revelation 11:11-12
And after the three days and a half, a spirit of life from God did enter into them, and they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon those beholding them, and they heard a great voice out of the heaven saying to them, ‘Come up hither;’ and they
went up to the heaven in the cloud, and their enemies beheld them.
Please observe that this resurrection is similar to the one that Jesus did for Lazarus.
The two witnesses are raised as flesh and blood people, not spirits. Then the two witnesses are taken to heaven/paradise.
In conclusion, the spirit of God, or angels can take you from
one place to another on this
earth. Some examples are Lot,
Ezekiel, Jesus, and Philip.
The spirit of God can take you
out of this earth to Paradise.
Some examples are Enoch, Elijah, Paul's friend, and the two witnesses. If you are taken to Paradise, you will be able to live there forever, as the fruit of
the tree of life will be available to you. This is what will happen in the
rapture;
we will be taken to paradise in human form -- flesh and blood. In paradise we will look like a youth with no wrinkles or diseases. We will be healthy and happy, help one another and live by the laws of our God YHVH. May we see each other
soon... in
Paradise.
QUESTION: Who wants to go to Paradise?
Luke 14
15 And one of those reclining with him, having heard these things, said to him, `Happy [is] he who shall eat bread in the
Kingdom of God;'
16 and he said to him, `A certain man made a great supper, and called many,
17 and he sent his servant at the hour of the supper to say to those having been called, Be coming, because now are all things ready.
18 `And they began with one consent all to excuse themselves: The first said to him, A field I bought, and I have need to go forth and see it; I beg of thee, have me excused.
19 `And another said, Five yoke of oxen I bought, and I go on to prove them; I beg of thee, have me excused:
20 and another said, A wife I married, and because of this I am not able to come.
21 `And that servant having come, told to his lord these things, then the master of the house, having been angry, said to his servant,
Go forth quickly to the broad places and lanes of the city, and the poor, and maimed, and lame, and blind, bring in hither.
22 `And the servant said, Sir, it hath been done as thou did command, and still there is room.
23 `And the lord said unto the servant, Go forth to the ways and hedges, and constrain to come in, that my house may be filled;
24 for I say to you, that none of those men who have been called shall taste of my supper.'
God will take people who have physical problems such as the blind and lame because they will have a better life in Paradise without suffering due to their problems.
Rich healthy people will want to stay on earth and do not want to go.
Question: Who does God refuse to take to Paradise?
Revelation 21:8
But for the cowardly,
faithless, untrustworthy, abominable, murderers, fornicators, drug addicts, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”