The contemporary Christian doctrine on heaven is quite simply a false doctrine. The Bible does not teach that when Christians die, they are immediately whisked to heaven to be with God. This is a Pagan doctrine instituted by the early church in order to make it easier for people to convert from their various religions, with their different beliefs and practices, to Christianity.
Contemporary Christian doctrine uses the verse, Genesis 5:24, "And Enoch walked with God: and he [was] not; for God took him", as proof of heaven. They interpret this verse as God taking Enoch up into heaven to be with Him. First of all, so far in the scriptures are concerned, there is no passage in the Bible which specifically teaches us that God has taken anyone into heaven to be with Him, except for His Son Jesus Christ.
The Bible does mention a resurrection where the righteous, including Christians, will be taken by Jesus into heaven at which time they will receive their reward. This will happen some time in the future, but not when we die.
Unless you interpret Biblical passages out of the context and the spirit of what the original text was trying to say, there is no scriptural proof of anybody going to heaven after they die.. In fact, Jesus tells us very explicitly that "No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven." (John 3:13). It is amazing how clear this passage is. How could Jesus make this simple statement if the verse, Genesis 5:24, is interpreted to mean that Enoch went to heaven to be with God? That would not make sense.
People say that the Bible is confusing. Yes it is to those who refuse to except and understand the truth and try to interpret the Bible using secular beliefs. This is one of the passages Christians simply refuse to see as a clear and simple message from God. All scriptures are messages from God. Each message contains information that mankind is supposed to use to understand the total picture.
If you were to interpret Genesis 5:24 as Enoch going to heaven then you have to admit that the Bible does contradict itself and therefore it is not reliable.
The Bible simply does not contradict itself. Man, ever since the inception of the Roman Christian Church, has been contradicting what the word of God has to say. He has been interpreting the Bible out of the context of the rest of the Bible. If what Jesus said in John 3:13 is true, then the only conclusion you can come to is that interpreting Genesis 5:24 to mean that Enoch was taken up into heaven to be with God is the wrong interpretation.
If you take each Hebrew word from the original scripture and translate them with the most common usage, in the spirit of the rest of the scriptures, while at the same time completely ignoring secular philosophies and contemporary Doctrine, it reads, "Enoch walked God, God took", (Chanowk halak 'elohiym 'elohiym laqach). The Hebrew word "halak" interpreted "walk" can also have the common translation, " to live" as in "a manner of life" or "a way to live your life". The Hebrew word "laqach" interpreted "took" can be interpreted to mean "accept". So this verse could actually be interpreted " Enoch lived a life according to God and God accepted him". Putting it in context with what the rest of the scriptures teach, this scripture is telling us that Enoch had a relationship with God and God recognized him as him as a righteous person.
In Genesis 5:24 God is telling us that a righteous person lives his life a certain way. If you ignore the interpretation that this scripture is proof of heaven, we can see that this ties in with what Jesus was trying to tell Nicodemus in John chapter 3. Nicodemus thought that Jesus was teaching that a person had to be literally born, as in from the womb. Jesus was actually teaching that in the Jewish sense, being born again was when one brings another person over to his way of life, to convert someone. He said that this change was not simply being baptized by water but a person had to change his spirit. He had to change the vital principal by which a he feels, thinks and decides. A person needed to change his actions and his relationship with God.
Enoch was made righteous by living his life according God’s ways. Along with all Christians, he will be resurrected and will serve with the rest of the saints during the millennial reign of Jesus Christ, here, on earth, in the Kingdom of God. He will have this privilege along with the patriarchs and the prophets of the old testament because of the way they lived their lives. Enoch was not taken into heaven to live with God.
In John chapter 3 Jesus told Nicodemus that unless a person changes his way of thinking he would not enter the kingdom of heaven. Even in this passage Christians interpret this as proof that when a Christian dies he goes to heaven. If you understand what the Jesus taught about the kingdom of heaven, you would know that this kingdom is located on earth and will not be established until sometime in the future. If this kingdom is not yet in existence, how can you die and go to it?
Genesis 5:24 and John 3: 1-18 have nothing at all to do with anybody going to heaven. Enoch did not go to heaven and Christians do not go to heaven when they die because Jesus clearly says that ". . . No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven." ( John 3: 13). It is a lesson on our relationship with God.
If we do not go to heaven when we die, what does happen? Death has probably been on the mind of every human being since the time when Cain killed his brother Able. Adam and Eve were living under the first lie that Satan told them, that "..."You will not surely die"...". In the very beginning God told Adam and Eve a very basic truth. That truth is the fact that man is not immortal. Man can die!
And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." (Genesis 2: 16-17)
But Satan told Eve a different story.
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’? And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’" Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3: 1-6)
Satan, the serpent in the Garden of Eden, is questioning Eve on commands that God had Given to her and Adam. God had instructed them that they were not to determine for themselves what is good and what is evil. God wanted them to come to Him so that He could instruct them, teaching them what is right and what is wrong.
Satan on the other hand told Eve that she didn’t need to go to God for answers. He said that they could make decisions on their own. That they could determine for themselves what was right and what was wrong. Satan convinced Eve that God was lying to them. Satan told Eve that God did not want them ". . . knowing good and evil . . ." because they ". . . will be like God . . .". Satan told Eve that God was withholding information from them because God did not want them to become like God. Eve, being the vain woman that she was, decided she wanted to be like God.
God told Adam and Eve that if they turned away from Him, did not look to Him for instruction and decided to make choices apart from God, this would eventually lead to their death. They would cease to exist. They would be no more. God did not tell them that they would stop living as they were but would continue on in some other plane of existence whether it be heaven or hell. God made it plane and simple. He said they would die.
When Adam and Eve decided to follow an alternative life style, similar to the way we live our lives today, apart from God and the Bible, they insured the truth in the statement made by God that ". . . you surely will die . . .". As did with Adam and Eve and Enoch, that is what happens to us today, we ". . . surely will die . . .".
Adam committed a sin. That sin was turning his back on God. Because of this, man, down through the ages has been dying. We do not know how to act. We do not know how to live our lives so we can live forever.
Look at the world today. It is a disgusting mess. Wars, famines, disease, murders, rapes, drug abuse, homosexuality/aides, are all man made. If Christians actually did live by the laws of God they wouldn’t die. The simple fact is that we do not because we can’t. Mankind has been killing himself down through the ages all because Adam and Eve decided they could determine right from wrong. When Adam and Eve sinned, God sentenced mankind, all of mankind including Christians, to a punishment. That punishment we are all sentenced to is to die a first death.
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned. (Romans 5:12)
God is telling us a simple truth, death will come to all men, this would include Christians. Death is man’s punishment for the sin of Adam. Because of Adam all men will endure that punishment.
What kind of punishment would it be if that when we die we are immediately whisked to heaven to be with Jesus Christ and God. That would be no punishment at all. The Bible does tell us that we die. It does not say Christians die and then immediately go to heaven. It is not in scripture. This doctrine is simply false.
This book will look at what the Bible actually says about heaven and life after death. It will look in the Gospels and see what Jesus actually taught about what happens to Christians after they die. It will look at what the Apostles believed and how Jesus and the Apostles based their teachings on what is revealed in the Old Testament.
Do not fear though, God does offer eternal life to all men.
RELATED ARTICLES:
THE CONTEMPORARTY CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE ON HEAVEN IS NOT BIBLICAL
CHRISTIANITY IS A FACTUAL RELIGION WHERE BY TRUTHS CAN BE PROVEN IN A COURT OF LAW.
Contemporary Christian doctrine uses the verse, Genesis 5:24, "And Enoch walked with God: and he [was] not; for God took him", as proof of heaven. They interpret this verse as God taking Enoch up into heaven to be with Him. First of all, so far in the scriptures are concerned, there is no passage in the Bible which specifically teaches us that God has taken anyone into heaven to be with Him, except for His Son Jesus Christ.
The Bible does mention a resurrection where the righteous, including Christians, will be taken by Jesus into heaven at which time they will receive their reward. This will happen some time in the future, but not when we die.
Unless you interpret Biblical passages out of the context and the spirit of what the original text was trying to say, there is no scriptural proof of anybody going to heaven after they die.. In fact, Jesus tells us very explicitly that "No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven." (John 3:13). It is amazing how clear this passage is. How could Jesus make this simple statement if the verse, Genesis 5:24, is interpreted to mean that Enoch went to heaven to be with God? That would not make sense.
People say that the Bible is confusing. Yes it is to those who refuse to except and understand the truth and try to interpret the Bible using secular beliefs. This is one of the passages Christians simply refuse to see as a clear and simple message from God. All scriptures are messages from God. Each message contains information that mankind is supposed to use to understand the total picture.
If you were to interpret Genesis 5:24 as Enoch going to heaven then you have to admit that the Bible does contradict itself and therefore it is not reliable.
The Bible simply does not contradict itself. Man, ever since the inception of the Roman Christian Church, has been contradicting what the word of God has to say. He has been interpreting the Bible out of the context of the rest of the Bible. If what Jesus said in John 3:13 is true, then the only conclusion you can come to is that interpreting Genesis 5:24 to mean that Enoch was taken up into heaven to be with God is the wrong interpretation.
If you take each Hebrew word from the original scripture and translate them with the most common usage, in the spirit of the rest of the scriptures, while at the same time completely ignoring secular philosophies and contemporary Doctrine, it reads, "Enoch walked God, God took", (Chanowk halak 'elohiym 'elohiym laqach). The Hebrew word "halak" interpreted "walk" can also have the common translation, " to live" as in "a manner of life" or "a way to live your life". The Hebrew word "laqach" interpreted "took" can be interpreted to mean "accept". So this verse could actually be interpreted " Enoch lived a life according to God and God accepted him". Putting it in context with what the rest of the scriptures teach, this scripture is telling us that Enoch had a relationship with God and God recognized him as him as a righteous person.
In Genesis 5:24 God is telling us that a righteous person lives his life a certain way. If you ignore the interpretation that this scripture is proof of heaven, we can see that this ties in with what Jesus was trying to tell Nicodemus in John chapter 3. Nicodemus thought that Jesus was teaching that a person had to be literally born, as in from the womb. Jesus was actually teaching that in the Jewish sense, being born again was when one brings another person over to his way of life, to convert someone. He said that this change was not simply being baptized by water but a person had to change his spirit. He had to change the vital principal by which a he feels, thinks and decides. A person needed to change his actions and his relationship with God.
Enoch was made righteous by living his life according God’s ways. Along with all Christians, he will be resurrected and will serve with the rest of the saints during the millennial reign of Jesus Christ, here, on earth, in the Kingdom of God. He will have this privilege along with the patriarchs and the prophets of the old testament because of the way they lived their lives. Enoch was not taken into heaven to live with God.
In John chapter 3 Jesus told Nicodemus that unless a person changes his way of thinking he would not enter the kingdom of heaven. Even in this passage Christians interpret this as proof that when a Christian dies he goes to heaven. If you understand what the Jesus taught about the kingdom of heaven, you would know that this kingdom is located on earth and will not be established until sometime in the future. If this kingdom is not yet in existence, how can you die and go to it?
Genesis 5:24 and John 3: 1-18 have nothing at all to do with anybody going to heaven. Enoch did not go to heaven and Christians do not go to heaven when they die because Jesus clearly says that ". . . No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven." ( John 3: 13). It is a lesson on our relationship with God.
If we do not go to heaven when we die, what does happen? Death has probably been on the mind of every human being since the time when Cain killed his brother Able. Adam and Eve were living under the first lie that Satan told them, that "..."You will not surely die"...". In the very beginning God told Adam and Eve a very basic truth. That truth is the fact that man is not immortal. Man can die!
And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." (Genesis 2: 16-17)
But Satan told Eve a different story.
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’? And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’" Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3: 1-6)
Satan, the serpent in the Garden of Eden, is questioning Eve on commands that God had Given to her and Adam. God had instructed them that they were not to determine for themselves what is good and what is evil. God wanted them to come to Him so that He could instruct them, teaching them what is right and what is wrong.
Satan on the other hand told Eve that she didn’t need to go to God for answers. He said that they could make decisions on their own. That they could determine for themselves what was right and what was wrong. Satan convinced Eve that God was lying to them. Satan told Eve that God did not want them ". . . knowing good and evil . . ." because they ". . . will be like God . . .". Satan told Eve that God was withholding information from them because God did not want them to become like God. Eve, being the vain woman that she was, decided she wanted to be like God.
God told Adam and Eve that if they turned away from Him, did not look to Him for instruction and decided to make choices apart from God, this would eventually lead to their death. They would cease to exist. They would be no more. God did not tell them that they would stop living as they were but would continue on in some other plane of existence whether it be heaven or hell. God made it plane and simple. He said they would die.
When Adam and Eve decided to follow an alternative life style, similar to the way we live our lives today, apart from God and the Bible, they insured the truth in the statement made by God that ". . . you surely will die . . .". As did with Adam and Eve and Enoch, that is what happens to us today, we ". . . surely will die . . .".
Adam committed a sin. That sin was turning his back on God. Because of this, man, down through the ages has been dying. We do not know how to act. We do not know how to live our lives so we can live forever.
Look at the world today. It is a disgusting mess. Wars, famines, disease, murders, rapes, drug abuse, homosexuality/aides, are all man made. If Christians actually did live by the laws of God they wouldn’t die. The simple fact is that we do not because we can’t. Mankind has been killing himself down through the ages all because Adam and Eve decided they could determine right from wrong. When Adam and Eve sinned, God sentenced mankind, all of mankind including Christians, to a punishment. That punishment we are all sentenced to is to die a first death.
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned. (Romans 5:12)
God is telling us a simple truth, death will come to all men, this would include Christians. Death is man’s punishment for the sin of Adam. Because of Adam all men will endure that punishment.
What kind of punishment would it be if that when we die we are immediately whisked to heaven to be with Jesus Christ and God. That would be no punishment at all. The Bible does tell us that we die. It does not say Christians die and then immediately go to heaven. It is not in scripture. This doctrine is simply false.
This book will look at what the Bible actually says about heaven and life after death. It will look in the Gospels and see what Jesus actually taught about what happens to Christians after they die. It will look at what the Apostles believed and how Jesus and the Apostles based their teachings on what is revealed in the Old Testament.
Do not fear though, God does offer eternal life to all men.
RELATED ARTICLES:
THE CONTEMPORARTY CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE ON HEAVEN IS NOT BIBLICAL
CHRISTIANITY IS A FACTUAL RELIGION WHERE BY TRUTHS CAN BE PROVEN IN A COURT OF LAW.
