One other record that is sometimes a
source of confusion on the topic of whether the dead are actually living today
or not is the record of the Lord’s transfiguration. In this record we have
Moses and Elias appearing together with the Lord and from this sometimes people
conclude that these prophets must have been alive in order to appear in the
scene of the transfiguration. As we will see from a careful examination of the
text this needs not to be the case. The record of transfiguration is given in
the gospel of Matthew from verses 1 to 9 (we can also find it in the gospels of
Mark and Luke). There we read:
Matthew 17:1-9
“Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up
on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His face
shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold,
Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Then Peter answered and
said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us
make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for
Elijah." While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed
them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!" And when the disciples
heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. But Jesus came and
touched them and said, "Arise, and do not be afraid." When they had
lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. Now as they came down
from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, "Tell the VISION to no one until the Son of Man is
risen from the dead.”
In this passage it appears that Moses and Elijah had a
conversation with Jesus and the question is: does this mean that these two
prophets were alive, though at least for Moses we read explicitly in
Deuteronomy 34:5-6
Deuteronomy 34:5-6
“So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according
to the word of the LORD. And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab,
opposite Bethpeor”
And
in Joshua 1:2 God
said:
“Moses my servant is
dead”
According to what we have seen in the main article the
dead are NOT alive now. They are all sleeping waiting for the resurrection. The
only one that was dead and is alive now is the Lord Jesus Christ, whom God
raised from the dead. Therefore Moses could not be alive and physically speak
with Jesus on the day of transfiguration. The resurrections had not happened
and thus Moses was not alive on that day. What then happened in the
transfiguration? The key word to understand this is the word “vision”
in Matthew 17:9, where Jesus told the disciples to “tell the vision to no man”. When
Moses and Elias spoke to Jesus this was a supernatural vision and therefore
didn’t require nor it meant that these two prophets were alive at that time. We
can understand this even better by looking at the New Testament occurrences of
the Greek word that is translated as vision here. This Greek word is the word “όραμα” (horama).
In Acts 9:10-12 we
read:
“Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the
Lord said in a vision, "Ananias."
And he said, "Here I am, Lord." So the Lord said to him, "Arise
and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one
called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. "And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming
in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.”
Paul had seen Ananias in a vision, without Ananias
even knowing it! The Lord told this to Ananias afterwards. In other words the
fact that a person appears in a vision does not mean that this
person is there physically. God can use his image to
communicate a message to somebody. But this does not mean that this person is
there at the time of the vision. In turn, the fact that Moses and Elias
appeared in the transfiguration vision does not mean that they were there
physically nor it means that they were alive at the time of the vision.
Acts 11:5-10 (see
also Acts 10:17 and Acts 10:19)
“I [Peter] was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, an object descending
like a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came to me.
“When I observed it intently and considered, I saw four–footed animals of the
earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. "And I heard a
voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ "But I said, ‘Not so,
Lord! For nothing common or unclean has at any time entered my mouth.’
"But the voice answered me again from heaven, ‘What God has cleansed you
must not call common.’ "Now this was done three times, and all were drawn
up again into heaven.
The great sheet, led down from heaven and its content
was shown to Peter in a VISION. We all understand reading this passage that God
didn’t have to physically get all these animals, put them in a table and
present them to Peter. We understand reading the word “vision” that what Peter
saw was something that God showed to him and didn’t require the physical
presence of these animals. The conclusion is the same as previously with
Ananias: the fact that something or somebody is shown in a vision does not
require its physical presence in the vision. It is a picture that God gives to
communicate a message to the one to whom He shows the vision.
In the same way we need to understand that the fact
that Moses and Elias appeared in the transfiguration vision, does not mean that
these two prophets were alive or physically present in the vision.
Acts 12:6-10
“And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping,
bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were
keeping the prison. Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light
shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying,
"Arise quickly!" And his chains fell off his hands. Then the angel
said to him, "Gird yourself and tie on your sandals"; and so he did.
And he said to him, "Put on your garment and follow me." And he went out and followed him, and did not know
that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they were past the first and the
second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which
opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street,
and immediately the angel departed from him.”
Now this is NOT a vision. An angel came and literally
woke up Peter and delivered him from the prison. This did require physical
presence of the angel and it was a physical presence. Look now what Peter
thought initially:
“And
he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel
was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.”
Peter thought initially that what was happening was
NOT TRUE BUT IT WAS A VISION. This makes a contrast between a vision and
reality: Had this incidence been a vision it would not be physically real. If
it was physically real then it wouldn’t be a vision. When Paul saw Ananias
healing him in a vision, it was not physically real i.e. Ananias was not there
nor he actually healed Paul at the time of the vision. When however Ananias
went, knocked Paul’s door, put his hands on Paul’s eyes and healed him it was no
longer a vision but it was physically real.
Applying this to what happened in the Lord’s
transfiguration we are told that this was a vision i.e. it was something that
God showed, a message that God wanted to convey, and it was important for this
message to have Elias and Moses appearing there. But God didn’t have to make
these prophets physically alive in order to have them in the vision. Their
appearance in this vision didn’t require their physical presence
there.
Acts 16:9-10
“And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and
pleaded with him, saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." Now
after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia,
concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.”
Now did this man of Macedonia come all the way from
Macedonia and stood there literally? Nobody of us thinks so. Right? We all
understand that since the text says that he appeared in a vision it was not there literally,
physically. In the same way, and though we may be repetitive, it is again
obvious that Elias and Moses didn’t have to be physically there to be shown in
the vision of the transfiguration. God can present whatever and whoever He
desires in a vision in order to convey His message. What is presented in a
vision does not have in any way to be physically there.
Acts 18:9-11
“Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, "Do not be afraid,
but speak, and do not keep silent; "for I am with you, and no one will
attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city." And he
continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.”
Now the person speaking here is very important,
because it is the Lord Jesus Christ. This person IS ALIVE for God raised Him
from the dead. He is the only dead that is alive now and he appeared to Paul in
a vision telling him to continue preaching the gospel in Corinth. I have no
reason whatsoever to argue whether Jesus was physically there or not, for Jesus
is ALIVE and has a spiritual body with supernatural abilities. This is a case
much different than any other one.
Acts 7:31
“When Moses saw it [the burning bush], he wondered at the sight [Greek:
horama]: and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him,”
This is the only case where the word “horama” is
translated “sight” and not “vision”. Reading the detailed record of this
incident in Exodus we see that “God called unto him [Moses] out of the midst of
the bush” (Exodus 3:4) and a whole conversation took place between God and
Moses there (see Exodus chapters 3 and 4). Some visions are shown in the night,
may be in the sleep, as in the case of the Lord speaking to Paul to continue
his preaching in Corinth and in the case of the Macedonian through whom the
Lord told Paul to go and preach the gospel there. Others again happen with the
eyes wide open, as in the case of Peter and the sheet with the various animals.
What is important to understand is that a vision is a supernatural way which
God can choose to communicate a message to His people. The fact that something
appears in a vision does not mean that it is physically there. What appears in
a vision is important in relationship to the message that God wants to convey.
It is part of this message. Visions can also be shown to me and you. As it says in Acts 2:17:
Acts 2:17
“And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my
Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions[Greek:
horaseis, from the same root as horama] and your old men shall dream dreams: ”
We understand that these visions, are supernatural
messages that God can show to us and whatever is involved there does not have
to be physically there not to physically exist at all for us to see it.
We could go on and examine the usage of the word
vision in the Old Testament but I think we have exhausted the subject. We know
from the Scripture that Moses and Elias appeared in the transfiguration in what
was a vision. From what we have seen,
it is I believe obvious that the fact that they appeared in this vision does
not mean require nor it means that they were alive during the time of the
vision.