It would require, at least, an entire book to detail all the close encounters in the Bible. Enoch, Moses, Aaron, Abraham, Gideon, Daniel, Manoah, Samuel, Jacob, Jonah, Elijah, Elisha, Job, Joshua, Jesus, the Shepherds and Wise Men at Jesus' birth, Phillip, Peter, James, John, Paul, and the Two Witnesses of Revelations are just some of the many biblical characters described as having close encounters in the Bible. So, we will just cover the more recognizable events, and those not so recognizable, but important. We continue this article with the strange encounters of Elijah, Elisha, and Enoch.

Elijah's and Elisha's Whirlwinds and Chariots of Fire

The story of Elijah's well-known encounter with fiery chariots is actually the story of several anomalous events. Elijah, the Tishbite, is originally sent by God to Ahaziah, the king of Samaria, who had just been injured in a fall from an upper story window. He was sent because Ahaziah had attempted to find whether he would die from this injury from Baal, a special deity of the Ekronites and warn him that he would succumb to his injuries. After Elijah contacts Ahaziah, there is a bizarre series of events where a hundred men are consumed by "fire" from the sky. This event can be found in 2 Kings 1.

Ahaziah did die from his injuries and the story immediately shifts to Elijah traveling to the Jordon River with Elisha in 2 Kings 2. Along the way, at Bethel and Jericho, Elisha is told by prophets that Elijah would be taken away by the Lord. When Elijah arrives at the Jordan, he performs the same "miracle" Moses accomplished at the Red Sea; he parted the waters and they both "crossed the river on dry ground".

After crossing the Jordan, they have a close encounter with what is described as "a chariot of fire" and "horses of fire". During this encounter, Elijah is "abducted" by a "whirlwind into heaven" in the sight of Elijah, leaving behind only his cloak (2 Kings 2:11). We will examine the definitions of the original Hebrew words translated into these "chariots and horses of fire" and the "whirlwind" that took Elijah "into heaven".

A Chariot of Fire

The word "chariots" is translated from rekeb, pronounced reh'-keb, meaning; a vehicle. It is not the specific Hebrew word for chariot, which is merkabah, pronounced mer-kaw-baw', but rather a generic Hebrew word for a vehicle for riding. The word fire comes from 'esh, pronounced aysh, which means literally; fire. We can presume that the vehicle was not actually "on fire", but since there was no form of illumination besides the sun in 800 BC but "fire", that the vehicle is glowing brightly. Here are a few of the references where the vehicles of God are referred to as chariots: