Who were taken up to heaven?
The Blessed Virgin Mary is not the only person that was assumed by the power God to heaven. There are actually two other persons that were taken up to heaven body and soul. They were Enoch and Elijah. The three of them were assumed by God in to heaven.
Jesus states in Matthew 7:21-23: “Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of Heaven”, yet there are some who teach salvation by “faith only”, i.e. as long as someone believes, he/she will be saved.
In the Sefer Hekalot, Rabbi Ishmael is described as having visited the Seventh Heaven, where he met Enoch, who claims that earth had, in his time, been corrupted by the demons Shammazai, and Azazel, and so Enoch was taken to Heaven to prove that God was not cruel. Similar traditions are recorded in Sirach.
After all, they disobeyed God's command to not eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge. God is the One who decides who does or does not enter heaven. There's no place in the Bible that says they were saved. But there is no place in the Bible that indicates the couple was lost, either.
In the seventh heaven, Enoch, now guided by Gabriel, is allowed to enter and sees the Lord on his throne face to face but only from a distance. This is where the legions of God's angels live in beautiful light.
The Blessed Virgin Mary is not the only person that was assumed by the power God to heaven. There are actually two other persons that were taken up to heaven body and soul. They were Enoch and Elijah. The three of them were assumed by God in to heaven.
The Bible does not say in any part that it is only the 144,000 that will go to heaven. The revelation to John supports Matthew 8:11, which says that many will come from every corner of the earth to sit with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The number 144,000 that were sealed or chosen are not pre-chosen.
The gates of heaven are said to be guarded by Saint Peter, one of the founders of the Christian Church.
As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw this and cried out, "My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!" And Elisha saw him no more.
No one could be resurrected until Christ came forth from the tomb. So Elijah, in order to perform his special mission, needed to be translated. Translation means to be changed in a way that your body is no longer subject to sickness, death, or physical pain.