Christ Himself preached the Gospel to the spirits who had been bound since the days of Noah:
1 Peter 3:18-20 (ESV)
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.
We also see Jesus carrying on a conversation with the disembodied spirits of both Moses and Elijah:
Matthew 17:2-4 (ESV)
2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. 3 And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
Moses and had been long dead and buried. As for Elijah, he died as it is appointed unto all mortal men to die. How do we know this? Easy...
Joram (king of Israel) begins to reign (
2 Kings 1:17, 3:1). This appears to be just after Elijah had already been taken, because Joram and Jehoshaphat (king of Judah) join forces and are consulting the prophet Elisha (
2 Kings 3:8-11). After Joram had been king of Israel for a couple years, Jehoshaphat died and his son Jehoram began his eight year reign in Judah. After five to six years, Elijah sent a writing by messenger scolding Jehoram for the wrong things he had been doing while king (
2 Chronicles 21:12-15). The message also pronounced a judgment from the Lord upon him, his people and his family. The letter came true when Jehoram was stricken with a bowel disease the last two years of his life (
2 Chron. 21:16-20). His family was taken except for his youngest son Ahaziah, who reigned after Jehoram for one year.
After Joram had reigned for twelve years and Ahaziah had reigned one year after Jehoram died... then Jehu killed them both (
2 Kings 9:24-28). The letter from Elijah was most likely about seven years after Elijah was taken by the whirlwind. Bible commentaries also agree that it was after Elijah had been taken away by the whirlwind.
Besides elaborating on the content of the letter Elijah sent to Jehoram, Josephus states:
"For he was yet upon the earth". (Antiquities of the Jews 9, 5:2)
In Harper's Bible Dictionary (page 760) numerous fasts and feasts of the Jewish calendar are listed. It states the tenth day of the second month Ziv was a fast to commemorate
the death of Elijah. Elijah was obviously just carried by the whirlwind to another location on earth. Elijah continued his ministry and later died. In this case, the event of Elijah's death is not documented. There is nothing in the Bible that tells of him going straight to the throne room of God as many have proposed.
In the famous chapter of those who "
died" in faith, Elijah must certainly be included in the prophets who died in faith waiting for the promise. Even though there is not an exact list of all the prophet's names from beginning to end, Elijah surely ranks among the "major prophets" (
Heb. 11:32).
Do not forget, the Bible tells us... No man has ascended up to heaven except He that came down from heaven, Jesus Himself (
John 3:13). It is appointed unto man to die... and after that comes judgment (
Heb. 9:27).
While much more can be said regarding the spirit of Elijah with reference to
gilgul neshamot, the fact that Christ conversed with the spirits of both Moses and Elijah clearly indicates that the soul lives on, even without a body. Their consciousness continued after death.
Soul sleep is a doctrine of devils.
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