Since Jesus was the first one to ascend to heaven, what happened to all those that died before him ?

Question

John 3:13--"No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man."

Answer 1

--JUST THE SAME THING that happened to David:
(Acts 2:29) “. . .“Men, brothers, it is allowable to speak with freeness of speech to YOU concerning the family head David, that he both deceased and was buried and his TOMB( my caps) is among us to this day. . Actually David did not ascend to the heavens, but he himself says, ‘Jehovah said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand,

--SO THEN THIS TOMB is the same arrangement(common grave of mankind) that Jesus will resurrect humans like David, Abraham, Noah, Sarah, Rahab etc. back from the dead state in the earthly resurrection:
(John 5:28-29) “. . .Do not marvel at this, because the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial TOMBS(my caps) will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who did good things to a resurrection of life, . . .”

***UPDATE on Enoch & Elijah-- How could Enoch or Elijah have gone to heaven , when it says "No man ascended to heaven........"
--YOU DO NOT think JESUS(he made this statement that John recorded) was lying or do you not take the Bible as the last word when explaining the importance of Jesus resurrection, do you?
*** it-1 p. 729 Enoch ***
As a prophet of Jehovah, he foretold God’s coming with His holy myriads to execute judgment against the ungodly. (Jude 14, 15) Likely persecution was brought against him because of his prophesying.
--However, God did not permit the opposers to kill Enoch. Instead, Jehovah “took him,” that is, cut short his life at the age of 365, an age far below that of most of his contemporaries. Enoch was “transferred so as not to see death,” which may mean that God put him in a prophetic trance and then terminated Enoch’s life while he was in the trance so that he did not experience the pangs of death. (Ge 5:24; Heb 11:5, 13)
--However, he was not taken to heaven, in view of Jesus’ clear statement at John 3:13. It appears that, as in the case of Moses’ body, Jehovah disposed of Enoch’s body, for “he was nowhere to be found.”—De 34:5, 6; Jude 9.
--ELIJAH was found to be at a different assignment years after he turned the mantel over to Elisha......
(2 Kings 2:11-13) “(TIME COVERED 920-580 B.C.E.. . .And it came about that as they were walking along, speaking as they walked, why, look! a fiery war chariot and fiery horses, and they proceeded to make a separation between them both; and E·li′jah went ascending in the windstorm to the heavens.
--12 All the while E·li′sha was seeing it, and he was crying out: “My father, my father, the war chariot of Israel and his horsemen!” And he did not see him anymore. Consequently he took hold of his own garments and ripped them into two pieces.
--13 After that he picked up the official garment of E·li′jah that had fallen off him, and went back and stood by the shore of the Jordan. . .”
---ELIJAH at his different assingment:
(2 Chronicles 21:12-13--TIME COVERED 1037-537B.C.E. “. . .Eventually there came a writing to him from E·li′jah the prophet, saying: “This is what Jehovah the God of David your forefather has said, ‘Due to the fact that you have not walked in the ways of Je·hosh′a·phat your father or in the ways of A′sa the king of Judah,
--13 but you walk in the way of the kings of Israel and cause Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to have immoral intercourse the same way that the house of A′hab caused the having of immoral intercourse. . .”
--IF YOU COMPARE what time period both books covered 2 Chron. was later in time covered!
--THUS ELIJAH wrote after his leaving Elisha and never went to heaven!

Answer 2

Well, the Bible teaches....

(Ecclesiastes 3:19-20) “19 For there is an eventuality as respects the sons of mankind and an eventuality as respects the beast, and they have the same eventuality. As the one dies, so the other dies; and they all have but one spirit, so that there is no superiority of the man over the beast, for everything is vanity. 20 All are going to one place. They have all come to be from the dust, and they are all returning to the dust.”

So it would seem that when one dies, one is just dead...

but the Bible also teaches...

(John 5:28-29) “. . .Do not marvel at this, because the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out. . .”

(Acts 24:15) “15 and I have hope toward God, which hope these [men] themselves also entertain, that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.”

So those who died before Jesus died are asleep in death, waiting for the resurrection to life on a paradise earth!

The ones who go to heaven began with Jesus' apostles and they were bought from the earth to fill a specific role...

(Revelation 5:10) “10 and you made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they are to rule as kings over the earth.””

(Revelation 14:3) “. . .And they are singing as if a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one was able to master that song but the hundred and forty-four thousand, who have been bought from the earth.”

(Revelation 20:4) “. . .And they came to life and ruled as kings with the Christ for a thousand years.”

Answer 3

"it fairly is at maximum available that whether it fairly is purely Jesus spirit that has ascended to heaven, yet not the actual physique. " right here is the difficulty. If it replaced into purely his spirit that replaced into raised then it may not be stated as a resurrection. Resurrections the two comprise physique and spirit. the story of Lazarus is yet another occasion of resurrection. thus far as his physique ascending? In Christianity, we've faith that Jesus is God. who's additionally the author. on account that God created the guidelines of the particular universe, he can unquestionably droop them. Levitating a actual physique may be not something to him. "the lack of ability of eye witnesses make the narrated account very questionable." His disciples weren't the only ones there. there have been approximately 4 hundred eyewitnesses. which includes non believers.

Answer 4

All are in their memorial tombs;
Sheol, the common grave of mankind.
Gen. 3:19: "In the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For dust you are and to dust you will return."

But because of the resurrection hope, Christians are told:
@ 1Thess. 4:13,14;
"Moreover,brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant concerning those who are sleeping in death; that you may not sorrow just as the rest also do who have no hope. For if our faith is that Jesus died and rose again, so, too, those who have fallen asleep in death through Jesus God will bring with him.
Also, see
John11:11;
1Cor 15:32;
Ro.14:9;
1 Cor. 15:4;
and Rev. 20:4

edit:
FallenMalak & musicalchik in your own typed words
YOU BOTH said "TAKEN";
taken by God is NOT the same as "ASCEND".

Abraham, also, in his grave.

Answer 5

Well, first of all, Jesus was not the first one to ascend into heaven. Genesis 5:24 tells us that Enoch was taken to heaven by God. Also, Elijah was taken to heaven by a heavenly chariot (2 Kings 2:11). And after Moses died and was buried, God took him to heaven as well. Moses appeared in the transfirgiration along with Elijah (Matthew 17:3).
Secondly, when a person dies, they do not go straight to heaven or hell according to the Bible. In Ecclesiastes 9:5,6 it reads:

5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.

Psalms 146:4
His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.


Death is like a sleep. When a person dies, they sleep in the ground until the second coming of Christ:

1 Thesselonians 4:13-18
13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

All that have died, except for Moses, Elijah, Jesus, and the people who were raised with Jesus (Matthew 27:52, 53), are still in the ground, asleep, awaiting the awake-up call of their Lord.
God Bless!

Answer 6

HI,

In the Old Testament it says that Enoch was taken to
heaven and that Elijah was also taken in a "Flaming
Chariot". In The New Testament in Matthews it states
that YAHSHUA was seen with Moshe and Elijah during
the " Transviguration". If YAHSHUA was the only one to
ascend to the heavens first, Moshe of course being dead,
then how do you account for Enoch and Elijah?
Enough thorough research will get you the answers but I
don't have the time here to deal with it.

Answer 7

Good Grief! This is not literal! This does not say 'Jesus', it says 'son of man. Truth? What descended from heaven is spirit. which is the SUN of man. When you realize the true meaning of phrases like this you'll quit interpreting them literally. Bible is a spirtual book, not to be taken literally, nor physically. Besides, the bible is incomplete, written by jews andis NOT the only source, nor the oldest, of information about the truth of spirit. Investigate. Get the facts and quit believing in borrowed knowledge.

Answer 8

Now grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of the Messiah’s gift. For it says: When He ascended on high, He took prisoners into captivity; He gave gifts to people. But what does “He ascended” mean except that He descended to the lower parts of the earth? The One who descended is the same as the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.
Ephesians 4:7-11

When he ascended up on high" refers to the ascension of Christ. At that time He led captivity captive, which refers, I believe, to the redeemed of the Old Testament who went to paradise when they died. Christ took these believers with Him out of paradise into the very presence of God when He ascended. Today when a believer dies, we are not told that he goes to paradise, but rather he is absent from the body and present with the Lord (see 2Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23).

Answer 9

Acts 2:31 (NIV) - "Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay."

Job, Moses, Abraham are all in the grave as Jesus was, not in any kind of Purgatory.

Answer 10

Hey stop believing all this...
he was not the first one to ascend to heaven(if one such thing exists)..
Jesus was just a prophet, he is not God.
There were better humans than Jesus in every sense, who did bigger miralces than Jesus.. who had felt the Ultimate Truth within onself..