Who were his people? Abraham’s father was Terah of the city of Ur of the Chaldeans; and Genesis chapter eleven lists the forefathers of Abraham all the way back, to Shem, through nine generations, Noah’s son. Most who do not delve into Bible genealogy are not aware that Noah lived up unto just two years before the birth of Abraham. Shem, on the other hand, lived 150 years into Abraham’s life, dying a mere 25 years before Abraham. These forefathers are the ‘people to whom Abraham was gathered’ in death. Abraham went in peace at death. What, then, does this mean? It means that Abraham joined his forefathers in death, and both Isaac and Jacob would follow him. Abraham slept with his forefathers in death, awaiting a future resurrection by Christ. We are told of David, “Then David slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David.” (1 Ki 2:10) Jesus said of his friend Lazarus, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep in death,[1] but I go to awaken him.” Jesus said of the daughter of a ruler of the Synagogue, “Do not weep, for she is not dead but sleeping.” (Luke 8:52) We need to work within what was written and no subject the text to our preconceived doctrinal ideas. Let us look at what Jesus adds to this “And no one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of man.” – John 3:13.

This is stated by the Son of God, who existed in heaven at the very time Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Elijah, and Elisha.  We know two primary points from Jesus’ exchange with Nicodemus: (1) Jesus had been in heaven before coming to the earth, and (2) no one was to ever ascend to heaven but those who were ‘born again.’ It is only by faith in Jesus ransom sacrifice that ones can be born again.

Since only Jesus himself had been in heaven before coming to earth, he speaks with authority. Tenney offers a great line here: “Revelation, not discovery, is the basis for faith” (Tenney, EBC, p. 48). Some Jews of Nicodemus’s day taught that great saints would attain heaven by their godliness and righteous living. But no one ever sees heaven apart from the new birth.[2]

Here again, digging deeper we look to another New Testament writer, the Apostle Paul, who wrote . . .

Hebrews 11:13, 39 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)

¹³ These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and temporary residents in the land.[3] ³⁹ And all these, having obtained a testimony through their faith, did not receive the promise,

All prior true followers of God prior to Jesus’ ransom sacrifice would “died in faith.”

The promises for which believers eagerly waited appeared only in Christ. Old Testament saints did not experience the eternal inheritance. Their faith earned for them a remarkable reputation and favor with God. They lived and died in the hope of a fulfillment which none of them saw on earth. The reaping of the benefits did not occur until Christ opened the box of spiritual treasures.[4]

Why would these ones not receive a heavenly inheritance at death, prior to Jesus’ ransom sacrifice? All of humankind has inherited sin from Adam, including Enoch. (Ps 51:5; Rom. 5:12) As man would come to find out in the era of the New Testament, the only means of salvation is by means of Jesus’ ransom sacrifice. (Ac 4:12; 1 John 2:1, 2) Enoch lived three thousand years before Jesus’ days on the earth, and that ransom had not been paid at that time. Therefore, Enoch was simply asleep in death, awaiting a future resurrection. – John 5:28-29

[1] lit (kekoimētai) fallen asleep; i.e., fallen asleep in death

[2] Kenneth O. Gangel, vol. 4, John, Holman New Testament Commentary; Holman Reference (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), 53.

[3] Lit on the earth; the Greek (ges) literally means “earth, land, region, humanity,” and it is the context that determines our word choice. The Greek here means the surface of the earth as the habitation of humanity. (BDAG) Dods and Lane, take it in reference to the land of Canaan. (Dods, “Hebrews,” 357; Lane, Hebrews 9–13, 357) See vs 16 note.

[4] Thomas D. Lea, vol. 10, Hebrews, James, Holman New Testament Commentary; Holman Reference (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), 206.

SCROLL THROUGH DIFFERENT CATEGORIES BELOW

BIBLE TRANSLATION AND TEXTUAL CRITICISM

BIBLICAL STUDIES / INTERPRETATION

EARLY CHRISTIANITY

CHRISTIAN APOLOGETIC EVANGELISM

TECHNOLOGY

CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY

CHRISTIAN FICTION