Q: Why did Elijah go up to heaven so early?

A: Elijah was a famous prophet who spent most of his life telling others about God.
He is one of only two people mentioned in the Bible who didn't die before going to
heaven (Enoch is the other one----see Genesis 5:21--24). Instead, God took them.
God used a chariot of fire and a whirlwind to take Elijah to heaven. The whirlwind
and fire didn't kill Elijah or burn him; rather, the chariot and horses separated
Elijah from his good friend and student, Elisha. Then the whirlwind carried Elijah
to heaven. This showed that God approved of Elijah and that Elijah was a good man
who loved God. And God took Elijah to heaven at just the right time, not early. We
don't know how old Elijah was when God took him; he may have been an old man.

Key Verse: [Elijah and Elisha] were walking along, talking. Then suddenly a
chariot of fire came. It was pulled by horses of fire. It drove between them and
separated them. Then Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into heaven. ( 2 Kings
2:11)

Related Verses: 2 Kings 2:1---2; Matthew 16:14; 17:3; 27:49; James 5:17

Related Questions: Why would God want to bring Elijah to heaven? Why was the
chariot on fire?

Note to Parents: Children often imagine that the chariot of fire would have killed
Elijah and burned Elisha because it was on fire. We don't know what the "fire" was
like. The point of image is that God used a dramatic and miraculous event to
separate Elijah and Elisha and to take Elijah to heaven.

Exodus 25:18--22
25:18 And at the two ends of the cover you are to make two winged ones of hammered
gold, 25:19 One at one end and one at the other; the winged ones are to be part of
the cover. 25:20 And their wings are to be outstretched over the cover, and the
winged ones are to be opposite one another, facing the cover. 25:21 And put the
cover over the ark, and in the ark the record which I will give you. 25:22 And
there, between the two winged ones on the cover of the ark, I will come to you, face
to face, and make clear to you all the orders I have to give you for the children of
Israel.