According to 2 Chronicles 21, during the reign of King Jehoram, the fifth king of Judah, “a letter came to him from Elijah” in which the prophet rebuked the wicked king and predicted his painful disease and death (2 Chronicles 21:12-15). This account, however, has drawn criticism from some1 since 2 Kings records Elijah being taken up into heaven in chapter 2—six chapters before Jehoram is mentioned as beginning his eight-year reign over Judah (2 Kings 8:16-24). Thus, inquiring minds want to know how Elijah could have penned a letter to a king if the prophet was no longer on Earth?

There are at least two possible, reasonable answers to this question. First, as with many other recorded biblical events,2 it may be that the account of Elijah’s miraculous translation into heaven recorded in 2 Kings 2 was not placed in that particular section of Kings for strict chronological purposes. If the apostle John could place the account of Jesus cleansing the Temple at the beginning of His ministry (John 2:13-22),3 and do so, as some contend, for thematic or theological purposes, rather than chronological reasons, could the inspired penman of Kings not have done something similar? We agree with Keil and Delitzsch, who concluded:

> It is impossible to fix the year of Elijah’s ascension. Neither the fact that it is mentioned after the death of Ahaziah of Israel, which he himself had personally foretold to that ungodly king, nor the circumstance that in the war which Jehoshaphat and Joram of Israel waged with the Moabites the  prophet Elisha was consulted (ch. 3), warrants the conclusion that Elijah was taken from the earth in the interval between these two events. It is very obvious from ch. 3:11, that the two kings applied to Elisha simply because he was in the neighborhood, and not because Elijah was no longer alive.4

> Elisha had entered upon this relationship to Elijah long before Elijah’s departure from the earth (1 Kings 19:19ff.). Elijah may therefore have still been alive under Joram of Judah.5

Interestingly, King Jehoram of Judah is actually mentioned in 2 Kings 1:17—before Elijah is translated into heaven. This verse certainly establishes the fact that Jehoram was alive during the time of Elijah and likely hints at the co-regency of Jehoram and his father King Jehoshaphat (cf. 2 Kings 8:16-24),6 which admittedly may cause some confusion when attempting to make precise chronological judgments regarding certain events in Kings and Chronicles.

Even if the events in 2 Kings 1-8 are recorded in a more strict chronological order, however, and Elijah had actually left Earth prior to Jehoram’s independent reign as king began, there still is no proven contradiction between these passages and what the chronicler recorded about Elijah’s letter to Jehoram. Second Chronicles 21:12 does state that “a letter came to” Jehoram “from Elijah the prophet,” but notice that the text does not say that Elijah personally delivered the letter. One simply cannot prove that the text is implying that Elijah was still on Earth. It could very well be that the prophet Elijah wrote a prophetic letter about King Jehoram’s future sickness and death, which was delivered to the king (perhaps by Elisha) years after Elijah left the Earth. If uninspired people who pass from this life can leave letters and other forms of communication for family members to read (or watch) after their deaths, could a divinely inspired prophet not have arranged for a letter, which he wrote long before, to be delivered at a particular time after his departure from Earth? To ask is to answer.

Although some may become disturbed upon initially comparing 2 Kings 2 with 2 Chronicles 21, a fair and sober assessment of the text reveals logical explanations for the differences found therein. Perhaps the differences are the result of the events of 2 Kings 2 not being placed in a strict sequential order in the text. Or, it could very well be that Elijah wrote the letter of 2 Chronicles 21 as a prophetic letter before his departure from Earth and long before Jehoram became the sole King of Judah. One thing is certain: no justifiable contradiction has been proven.

In 2 Chronicles 21:12–15, we read that King Jehoram of Judah received a letter from Elijah. But based on the chronology of events in 2 Kings, we know that Elijah had been taken to heaven alive in a whirlwind by that point. So did Elijah write a letter from heaven? And is it possible he personally delivered it? Let’s look at the different potential answers to these questions.

Known by His Evil Deeds?

We know from 2 Kings 1:17 that either Ahaziah or Jehoram was king of Israel when Elijah was taken to heaven. We also know from the same verse that Jehoram of Judah was reigning in at least his second year as coregent with his father Jehoshaphat (when compared with 2 Kings 3:1). So we know that Elijah lived at least until the second year of Jehoram of Judah’s coregency and quite possibly longer. We have no idea how much time took place between 2 Kings 1:17–18 and 2 Kings 2:1. It may have been a few months but likely not much longer based on 2 Kings 3:11–14, at which point we know Elijah had been taken to heaven and Elisha was prophet in his stead. But we know that Elijah would have witnessed Jehoram of Judah as a prince and a coregent with his father. Perhaps Elijah had noticed a tendency in young Jehoram of Judah for evil, and based on this he wrote the letter (likely giving it to the prophetic schools of the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel or Jericho (2 Kings 2:3–5)). Elijah must also have received some prophetic insight of the murderous deeds of Jehoram upon his ascension to the throne (2 Chronicles 21:4) and his death after eight years of reign (2 Chronicles 21:15) and recorded this in a letter before he died.

Prophetic Vision?

It is also possible that the entire letter was prophetic. God gave Elijah intricate details of what the reign of Jehoram of Judah would be like, and Elijah wrote it down along with the prophesied death pronounced by God beforehand. It was not unusual that a prophet be given insight about a future leader. In 1 Kings 13 an unnamed prophet declared that King Jeroboam’s altar in Bethel would be desecrated by a king named Josiah of Judah (and this occurred about 300 years later). Cyrus was prophesied by name in Isaiah 44 and 45, over 300 years before he was born, and Alexander the Great was prophesied by Daniel in Daniel 8:5–21, though unnamed, more than 200 years before he was born. In a similar manner then, Elijah prophetically received insight and wrote the letter. He could have entrusted it to the school of prophets and asked it to be delivered when Jehoram became openly idolatrous. Once the king appointed high places to be built, which happened in 2 Chronicles 21:11, this met the criteria and the letter was given to King Jehoram.

Partially Written?

The letter may have been started by Elijah and entrusted to Elisha to finish or entirely written by Elisha, who was alive and on earth during the full reign of King Jehoram of Judah. As we read in 2 Kings 2:15, it is said of Elisha that the spirit of Elijah rested on him. So Elisha, writing in the spirit of Elijah, was aware of the murderous treachery of Jehoram of Judah and also his swift decline into idolatry, and the letter was attributed to Elijah.

And even though John the Baptist denied that he was Elijah (John 1:21), Jesus told his disciples that John, because he came in the same spirit and power, was Elijah (Matthew 17:12–13). But prior to stating that, Jesus also told his disciples that Elijah was to come (17:11, and Mark 9:12) using the future tense, to “restore all things” meaning that John the Baptist was not literally Elijah. Recall that this discourse occurred after the transfiguration of Jesus, where Elijah appeared with Moses (Matthew 17:1-9) yet Jesus speaks of Elijah’s coming "to restore all things" as still future, Likewise, Elisha could have been described as Elijah (see 2 Kings 2:15) since he had the same spirit (jealous for the Word and worship of God and bold in his denunciation of false worship).

Keep in mind that in Scripture it is not uncommon for a person to be credited with something, even though that action is accomplished or delivered by an intermediary. If a king sent an emissary, the words he said were considered the very words of the king (2 Kings 18:28–32). And when word was sent via King Ahaziah’s emissaries to answer the questions of the king himself (2 Kings 1:2–6), Elijah responded to Ahaziah directly even though he was speaking to messengers, not the king himself. Just so, Elijah could be credited with a prophecy that was delivered after his death, since Elisha or the school of the prophets could have been acting on his orders from before his death.

A Letter from Heaven?

Whether partially or entirely prophetic, or not prophetic at all and delivered from heaven, we can be sure that the Bible is true and inspired (breathed out) by God (2 Timothy 3:16).