Who Did Not Die In The Bible?

Who were those who never died in the Bible? Why didn’t they die?

Enoch Walked with God

Enoch is one of the most exceptional characters in the Bible because he did not die, even though the Bible says it’s appointed once for all men to die with a judgment to follow (Heb 9:27), so why didn’t Enoch die like the rest of humanity does? We know that Enoch was a descendant of Jared and Enoch had many descendants too like “Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech” (Gen 4:18) so the original human lineage was “Adam, Seth, Enosh; Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared; Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech; Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth” (1 Chron 1:1-4).

Enoch is Changed

I have a theory. I believe that Enoch’s whole mindset about God changed after he became a father. The very same thing happened to me. The Bible says that “Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters” (Gen 5:22) and so notice that it was only “after he fathered Methuselah” that “Enoch walked with God” and “Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years” (Gen 5:23). Just after it said, “Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him” (Gen 5:24) and so Enoch never tasted death. He did not die.

Elijah’s Chariot of Fire

We are introduced to Elijah the Prophet in 1 Kings 17:1 where it says “Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, ‘As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word’” and sure enough, no rain fell until Elijah spoke. After Elijah found his protégé in Elisha and informed him that he was going away, “Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.’ And Elisha said, ‘please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me” (2 Kings 2:9) but Elijah said “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you, but if you do not see me, it shall not be so” (2 Kings 2:10) but “as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it and he cried, “’My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!”‘And he saw him no more” (2 Kings 2:11-12) so Elijah also never died and up to now, he is one of only two humans who have never died.

The Rumor about John

After Jesus’ resurrection, He told the Apostle Peter, “Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me” (John 21:18-19) which years later came to pass as Peter was crucified upside down. Then Peter said, “Lord, what about [John]?” Jesus said to him, ‘If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!’” So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you” (John 21:21-23). Of course, we know that was not what Jesus said, and so we know that the Apostle John must have died.

Grave couldn’t hold Him

The Apostle Peter, in giving the great sermon on the Day of Pentecost, said “this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it” (Acts 2:23-24). We know that the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23) and that Jesus never sinned, so it was impossible that Jesus could actually be killed. His physical body expired (Matt 27:5) but Jesus Himself never died because He is God and God is eternal and cannot possibly die.

We Shall Never Die

When Jesus went to raise Lazarus from the dead, Martha ran out to meet Him and Martha appeared to be upset with Jesus, saying “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:21) but “Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’” Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day’” (John 11:23-24). Jesus’ main point was His saying, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this” (John 11:25-26)? That means if you have trusted in Christ. You will die a physical death but you already have eternal life (John 3:16).

Conclusion

Only Enoch and Elijah never died in the Bible, with the exception of the God-Man Who was born into the flesh to die for the sins of those who would trust in Him. Jesus couldn’t die because death couldn’t hold Him and sin didn’t enter Him. The Apostle Peter tells us, “that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Pet 1:18-19). This means that you too, even though you die, you shall live again and live for time without end.

Read more about Elijah here: Elijah in the Bible

Resource – Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^® (ESV^®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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