while many know the famous expression nothing is certain except death and taxes it turns out that the Bible does in fact mention some individuals that never experienced death while many May initially think of Jesus as an example it is a central belief in Christianity as per the gospels that Jesus did indeed die before his resurrection from the dead however the Bible actually gives us the names of three individuals that never saw death the Third person is the subject of one of the biggest mysteries in the Bible number one Enoch the first man in the Bible
to be said to have never died was one of Adam's descendants not from Cain or from Abel but from Adam and Eve's third son he was also Noah's great-grandfather and bore lineage to other notable figures in the Bible now in an era where God had not yet set a 120-year life limit as mentioned in Genesis 6:3 many individuals lived well beyond a century however Enoch defied expectations and became a father at 65 and ultimately lived to the right age of 365 during this tumultuous period before the great flood most people didn't walk Faithfully with God
they went their own way down the Crooked path of sin however Enoch stood out by walking Faithfully with God and developing a profound relationship with him in Genesis 5:22 and 24 we read Enoch walked with God and he was no more for God took him this passage indicates Enoch's close bond with God and the extraordinary fact that God chose to bring him to heaven without him experiencing physical death Luke mentions Enoch in his list of Jesus's ancestors in Luke 3:37 going all the way back to Adam Hebrews 11 also mentions Enoch in a list of
the Ancients Israelite ancestors who are commended for their great faith Hebrews 11: 5-6 reads for before he was taken he was commended as one who pleased God and without faith it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek Him throughout the Bible the phrase God took him is repeatedly used when referring to Enoch the book of Hebrews clarifies that this phrase isn't just symbolic it signifies that Enoch didn't experience death as we typically do Hebrews 11:56 reinforces this stating by
faith Enoch was taken from this life so that he did not experience death he could not be found because God had taken him away for before he was taken he was commended as one who pleased God Enoch was also blessed with the gift of Prophecy as he prophesied the coming of Jesus Christ this instance is depicted in Jude 1 1 14-15 which reads see the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness and
of all the defiant words ungodly Sinners have spoken against him but Enoch's Legacy didn't end with him his great grandson Noah also walked Faithfully with God due to his righteousness only Noah and his family were spared during the catastrophic great flood Enoch's life is a powerful Testament to Faith obedience and truthfulness which pleased God to such an extent that he chose to take Enoch from this Earthly realm just imagine that number two Elijah the most popular figure in the Bible that did not die was a prophet during the reign of King Ahab and queen Jezebel
in Israel he was known for his boldness in speaking out against the idols and false gods that the people of Israel had begun to worship he also performed many miracles such as bringing fire down from heaven to prove that the god of Israel was the true God 2 Kings 1:10 to12 he was used by God to bring about repentance and reform in Israel during this time the Israelite Nations strayed from the faith of their forefathers forsaking God to worship Pagan Idols this shift towards idolatry was instigated by the wicked King jeroboam Jezebel the wife of
King Ahab was particularly devoted to idol worship and influenced her husband to build a temple for the Pagan God Bal this move led many Israelites astray from the true God's worship witnessing the spiritual decline of his Nation the Prophet Elijah took a stand against King ahab's impiety urging him to repent and return to the god of Israel however the king remained obstinate and unwilling to heed Elijah's counsel in response the Prophet Elijah prophesied that there would be a severe drought as a punishment with no rain or dew falling upon the land until he prayed for
its end for 3 and 1/2 years the heavens remained closed causing widespread drought and famine throughout the entire land the story of Elijah not dying and going straight to heaven is even more clearer and more dramatic than Enoch's Elisha Elijah's assistant was forewarned of his departure in saping Kings 2:3 which reads now the sons of the prophets who were at bethl came out to Elisha and said to him do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over you today on the day chosen by God Elijah departed from gilgal accompanied by Elisha
they arrived at the banks of the Jordan River followed by by 50 young prophets from Jericho who stood at a distance observing Elijah took his cloak and folding it like a staff struck the water causing it to part the prophets crossed the river on dry ground walking alongside Elisha through the divided Waters Elijah inquired if there was anything Elisha desired before God took him away Elisha expressed his wish for a double portion of his master's Divine Spirit Elijah assured him that while it was a significant request it would be granted if Elisha witnessed his master's
Ascent to Heaven as they continued their conversation a fiery Chariot pulled by fiery horses suddenly appeared separating them Elijah ascended to heaven in a whirlwind as depicted in 2 Kings 2:11 number three melkisedek few Mysteries of the Bible have attracted more interest than the Enigma of the the identity of melkisedek this is widely considered to be the biggest mystery in the Bible in Hebrews 6: 19 to2 you'll find that Jesus Christ following his resurrection holds the position of a high priest after the order of melchisedek the Moffet translation puts it more straightforwardly stating that Jesus
holds an equivalent status with melchisedec described as with the rank of so who is melkisedek first it's worth noting from both the Old and New Testaments that the enigmatic figure melkisedek served as a priest of the most high God as detailed in Genesis 14 during this time there was a war between a number of ancient city states in Canaan and Mesopotamia and Abraham's nephew lot and his family had been captured when one of Lot's people managed to escape and deliver this news to Abraham Abraham took action by arming 38 of his own servants and pursuing
the Invaders he tracked them down and succeeded in rescuing lot and his family safely returning them to the Canaanite cities upon Abraham's return from this daring rescue mission a mysterious figure suddenly appears on the scene it was melkisedek who came forward to minister to Abraham here is the account in Genesis 14: 18 to 20 and melkisedek king of Salem brought out Bread and Wine he was Priest of God most high and melkisedek blessed Abraham and said Blessed Be Abram by God most High maker of heaven and Earth and blessed be God most high who has
delivered your enemies into your hand and Abram gave melkisedek a tenth of everything that is a tithe of all for a tithe means a tenth number one notice that melkisedek was king of Salem that is the city of Jerusalem Salem comes from the Hebrew word meaning peace that would make melkisedek the king of Peace number two the Hebrew name melkisedek itself means king of righteousness number three the same individual is mentioned in Psalm 1104 speaking prophetically of Christ David stated the Eternal hath sworn and will not repent thou art a priest Forever After the order
of melkisedek this verse is quoted again in Hebrews 5: 6 to10 Hebrews 7:3 it states melkisedek had no father or mother and there is no record of his ancestors he was never born and never died but his life is like that of the Son of God a priest forever this is our proof from the Bible that he never died but this still does not solve our mystery so again who is he who really knows many people believe melkisedek was Jesus Christ let's explore this narrative a bit in Hebrews 7: 20-21 God took an oath that
Christ would always be a priest forever the text reads the Lord has sworn and will never change his mind you are a priest forever with the rank of melkisedek also his name being king of righteousness is one point many stand on to make this claim Jesus himself said in Matthew 19:17 there is none good but one that is God human self-righteousness is before God as filthy rags none can be righteous but God so for melchisedec's name to mean the king of righteousness does give this narrative some life back to Hebrews 7 remember that this man
was the king of Peace Salem from which Jerusalem was named means peace and remember Jesus is called the Prince of Peace meaning no human being could be the king of Peace Romans 3: 10-1 17 tells us that there is none righteous and the way of Peace have they not known so how can a man be both the king of righteousness and peace furthermore the fact that melkisedek was without mother without father without descent or as the Philips translation renders it he had no father or mother and no family tree means he was not born as
human beings are this does not mean that melchisedec's records of birth were lost without such records human priests could not serve as depicted in Ezra 262 the scripture also reveals that melchisedec is continually a priest we also know that God took an oath that Christ would always be a priest and his priesthood is in the order of melkisedek could they be the same person person this is where this narrative however gets a bit tricky we do know that in the future in the New Testament Jesus has a father and mother and dies and resurrects so
could melchisedec really be Jesus even though Jesus had a father mother and died who really knows the folks on the other side of the aisle make a claim that the author of the book of Hebrews was speaking figuratively and that he rather meant melkisedek was like Jesus or resembled Jesus Jesus they also make the claim that in virtually all other appearances of God in the Bible the person who is meeting with God has some awareness that they have been in the presence of the Divine but in the story of melkisedek there is no moment where
Abraham acknowledges that he has been in the presence of God true melkisedek abruptly appears and disappears from The Narrative but there is nothing in Genesis 14 that explicitly leads us to see that God himself has been present another point they make is that earlier in Hebrews 5 verse1 the author says that every priest is chosen from among men the whole point of the priesthood is that a Chosen and anointed human stands before God as our representative because Jesus was fully man in the New Testament along with being fully God he was able to serve as
our perfect priest but before Jesus the ultimate priest the Bible clearly teaches that priests are humans who serve in a representative role however these differences of opinion should neither distract us nor divide us at the end of the day what matters most is that we have a great high priest named Jesus one who has paid for our sin who pleads our case before God and who loves us with an everlasting [Music] love [Music]
