Moses and Elias on the Mount by Dudley Marvin Canright

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jul 31, 1866

Moses and Elias on the Mount.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

"AND, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him." Matt. xvii, 3.

Here, it is claimed, is strong proof of the conscious state of the soul after the death of the body. It is certain that his, (Moses') body died hundred of years before; but now he appears upon the mount alive: therefore his soul could not have died with his body. This is their conclusion; but where is the proof that it is correct? Nowhere! Could we not draw quite a different conclusion with as much reason, and one that can be sustained by proof? I think we can. Thus: 1. Moses, not his body simply, but the man Moses, died on mount Nebo, B. C. 1451. The Lord said, "Moses my servant IS DEAD." Joshua i, 2. 2. Fourteen hundred and eighty years afterward, the same man Moses, not simply the soul, or spirit of Moses, but Moses himself, was seen alive on the mount with Jesus. "And, behold, there talked with him two men which were Moses and Elias." Luke ix, 30. Conclusion: Therefore Moses must have been brought to life again, or raised from the dead. This certainly is a logical conclusion. So thought that great man, Dr. Adam Clarke, as his notes on this passage show: "Elijah came from Heaven in the same body which he had upon earth, for he was translated and did not see death. 2 Kings ii, 11. And the body of Moses was probably raised again as a pledge of the resurrection."

But was Moses raised from the dead? We think that there is some strong evidence that he was.

1. The manner of his death and burial seems to indicate it. "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, over against Beth-peor; but no man knoweth of his sepulcher unto this day." Deut. xxxiv, 5, 6. He died and God buried him and no man has been able to find his grave to this day.

2. Jude incidentally remarks thus: "Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the Devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee." Verse 9. Here is the record of a contention between Michael (Christ) and Satan about the body of Moses. What does this mean? Evidently it relates to the resurrection of Moses. It can be explained in no other way without making the words mean what they do not say. Satan had the power of death. Heb. ii, 14. All who went into the grave he held there. Moses died and went into "the land of the enemy," Jer. xxxi, 16, the grave, the prison house of Satan. Isa. xiv, 17. Michael came to resurrect him. Satan disputed his authority to do it, and tried to hold Moses in the grave. Michael said, "The Lord rebuke thee," and raised Moses from the grave.

3. In this light we can explain Rom. v, 14. "Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adams' transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come." Says Paul, "death reigned from Adam to Moses." Why does he stop there? What happened there to break the reign of death? Adam died, went into the grave and death held him there.

Seth, Noah, Abraham, and so on, generation after generation, died and fell into the grave. Death held them there. From Adam to Moses not a person who died was ever raised from the dead. Thus grim death reigned triumphant and the hope of man seemed to be lost in the grave. Moses dies. Death closes his icy arms around him and claims him as another victim. But the Lord of life comes down and breaks the power of death, opens the grave, and brings up Moses. Here a before unheard of blow was dealt to death. His long triumphant reign was broken. One stronger than death had appeared, and by the resurrection of Moses had shown his power to bring his people from the grave. Thus we see how death reigned from Adam to Moses.

4. Moses was a type of Christ. Acts iii, 22. "For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me: him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you." Christ died, was buried, and rose again on the third day. If then Moses was a type of Christ, he also must die, be buried, and rise again the third day without seeing corruption. It is objected that Christ was to be the first one to rise from the dead. It is thought that this could not be true if Moses was raised before Christ. But Moses being a type of Christ, he could be raised from the dead as typical of Christ's resurrection. So in his case the objection would not apply.

5. But what was the meaning, or use, of the transfiguration? Our opponents never stop to explain this. With their view of it, it has no particular signification. It only happened to occur and they cannot tell why. But if we examine it carefully we shall find that it had a very important object and a beautiful application. In Luke ix, 27–31, we read: "But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God." In the next verse follows the fulfillment of the promise. "And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter, and John, and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistening. And behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias." Matthew states it the same, first the promise: "Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom. [Now the fulfillment of the promise.] And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them; and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light." And behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him." Matt. xvi, 28; xvii, 1–3.

Mark, chapter ix, states this transaction in the same order that the others have. First, Jesus says that there were some standing there who should not die till they saw the kingdom of God come. Verse 1. The next thing that he did was to show them the transfiguration. Hence it is manifest that this was a fulfillment of the promise that they should see the kingdom of God. And this is just what it was in fact, a representation, or miniature, of the kingdom of God.

In the real kingdom of God there will be, 1. Christ the king in his glory; 2. The saints who are alive and are translated without seeing death when Christ comes. 1 Thess. iv, 16, 17. 3. The saints who have died and are raised in the first resurrection. 1 Thess. iv, 15–17. Now in the transfiguration on the mount, each of these classes was represented. 1. Christ the king was there in his glory; 2. Elijah was there as the representative of those who will be translated without seeing death; for he was translated to Heaven without dying; 3. But who represented the resurrected saints? Answer: Moses who died, was buried, and was raised from the dead. Thus the apostles indeed saw a beautiful miniature of the kingdom of God.

Thus we see that this passage when carefully examined falls far short of proving the immortality of the soul, and the conscious state of the dead. Indeed it is proof of the contrary, as it shows that God's way of taking men to Heaven is either by translating them alive, or by raising them from the dead.

D. M. CANRIGHT.