Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | 2 Chronicles 21:12 ¶ Then a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet saying, "Thus says the LORD God of your father David, 'Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father and the ways of Asa king of Judah, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 2 Chronicles 21:12 ¶ Then a letter came to Jehoram from Elijah the prophet, saying, "Thus says the LORD God of David your father (ancestor): 'Because you have not walked in the ways of your father Jehoshaphat nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah, |
Bible Question:
Scripture ... 1 Kin 21:20-26, 22:50-53; 2Ki 2:11, 3:1, 8:16-24, 2Ch 21:5-10,20 ... drbloor, In post 171499 you said "If Elijah went to Heaven how and why was he back on Earth writing a letter to Jehoram King of Judah nearly ten years later? (2 Chr 21:12)" ... Why do you say "nearly ten years later"? Read the timing in the Bible (1 Ki 22:50, 2Ki 2:11, 3:1, 8:16-24, 22:8ff; 2Ch 21:1ff). Then in 171518 post you claim “In addition, we are not told that the letter was written by Elijah, but that the letter "came ... from Elijah". If Elijah was in Heaven, then the letter came from Heaven!” … How do you know it was sent after he was taken? Also in post 171518 you wrote “The answer given to this is to claim that the letter was written before Elijahs disappearance. However, this would necessitate not only the foreknowledge of the specific particulars of the letter – events that had not occurred at the time of Elijahs disappearance, such as Jehoram murdering his brothers – but it would also require for God to have condemned Jehoram before he committed any sin and it would require Elijah to have allowed these murders to take place without attempting to stop them. That is an implausible reach.” If you read the Bible (1Ki 22:50, 2Ch 21:1ff), you’ll see that Jehoram killed his brothers as soon as he became king and he did evil in the sight of the Lord. Even if the letter was written before Jehoram … should I even say born … the Lord allows things to happen, while letting men have their choice. At the end of 1 Kings, Elijah told what would happen to Ahab, Inc. … tho he repented, it didn’t change God’s mind. God’s mind was changed for a time because of Josiah (2Ki 22:8ff) … while his son wasn’t on the throne yet, there was still the prophecy. Searcher |
Bible Answer: Dear Searcher, Thankyou for your thoughtful response. Elijah makes his exit in 2 Kings 2, shortly after King Ahaziah of Israels death (Dies in 2 Kings 1) and about the time King Jehoram of Israel took the throne (Begins to reign in 2 Kings 3). Elisha is clearly the primary prophet of God at this time (2 Ki 3:11), and even deals with King Jehoshaphat of Judah - the predeccesor of Jehoram of Judah (the one who receives the letter.) So Elijah was well out of the way before Jehoram of Judah comes to power. Now the Jehoram who received the letter from Elijah was Jehoram King of Judah, and he began to reign in the 5th year of King Jehoram of Israel (2 Ki 8:16). So it was about 5 years after the departure of Elijah that Jehoram of Judah killed his brothers. Now Jehoram of Judah reigned for 8 years (2 Chr 21:20) and the letter from Elijah arrived 2 years before he died (2 Chr 21:19), so Jehoram of Judah had been on the throne 6 years when he received the letter. So you have a gap of about 5 years between Elijah disappearing and Jehorams coming to power and then 6 years of his reign making, well, at least 10 years between the disappearance of Elijah and the arrival of the letter. Now I've got to admit that maths isn't my strong point, and I haven't just copy and pasted that, so you can check it if you want and make sure it's right. As to your other question: How do I know the letter was sent after he was taken? Because the letter addresses events that occurred after Elijahs disappearance, and refers to them in the past tense, and it gives a direct prophecy in the future tense which would begin to happen immediately. It was clearly written at a specific point in time. To claim that Elijah wrote the letter before disappearing and left it around for someone to deliver is a sad attempt to ignore the obvious truth which is in front of you regarding Elijahs destination. There are three different heavens spoken of in the Bible: 1. The heaven where God abides. 2. The heaven where the stars are. 3. The heaven where the birds are. The word for "heaven" in this case is "Shamayim" which is far more frequently and appropriately used to refer not to Heaven where God abides, but to the air above us. In fact in 1 Kings it is translated several times as "Air". But let's try and prove exactly which heaven we are dealing with here. As already discussed, Jesus categorically states that no-one has ever ascended to the Heaven where God abides, so Elijah didn't go there. I very much doubt that God transported Elijah into outer-space to kill him, so we can safely predict he didn't go there. The only option left is that the chariot containing Elijah took off from the ground into the heaven of the sky, until Elisha "saw him no more". This is backed up by the eye-witnesses who went to look for Elijah. (N.B. It is unclear whether the 50 men had seen Elijah leave, but it is possible, and at the very least they had a first hand account of the event from Elisha.) If they had seen him shoot straight up into the sky, or Elisha had told them he'd gone to be with God in Heaven they would not have gone to search for him in the direction they HAD seen him travel. Elisha had faith that God would prevent Elijah from falling from the chariot, but the others feared he may have fallen out part of the way through his journey which, as we've said, was laterally and not vertically. Okay, I had better post this to the board and go home. Searcher, if you disagree with this, please explain why when Jesus said, "No man hath ascended up to heaven," he was actually lying. As I mentioned before, the answer you directed me on the subject was totally inadequate. It referred to a context that simply isn't in any verse in that chapter. And please explain why those sons of prophets went on a long trek to look for Elijah if Elisha had told them he'd just been transported into Heaven. Okay, and thanks for your consideration, Dr. B. (Apologies for the late reply - my internet cut out about 3 hours ago) |