The scene of the transfiguration of our Saviour can be understood in no other way than as a representation of the kingdom of glory which will be established by our Lord at His second coming. The scriptural context indicates this. In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the event is preceded by this declaration of our Lord’s: “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.”
Those of His immediate disciples who were with our Saviour during the transfiguration on the mount, were Peter, James, and John, the three of all others chosen by our blessed Lord to witness some of the most conclusive proofs of His divinity. Peter, one of the trio, in bearing witness to the surety of the Christian’s faith, and in speaking of the power and coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, bears the following testimony: “For we have not followed cunningly-devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice, which came from heaven, we heard, when we were with Him on the holy mount.” Here unmistakable reference is made by the apostle to the scene which transpired, and to the words which were spoken, upon the mount of transfiguration. Hence it seems to us that the conclusion is clear and unmistakable that in the transfiguration scene we have a miniature representation of Christ and His kingdom, as He shall appear in the glory of the last day. In the establishment of a kingdom there are several necessary complements:—
1. There must be a king. This we have in the Lord Jesus, as He appeared in glory, splendor, and majesty upon the mount of transfiguration, the same as He will appear at His second coming.
2. There must be territory. From the multitude of scriptures—which space forbids enumerating here—it might be demonstrated that this earth, after the rejuvenating fires of the last day have done their work, and sin and sinners have been destroyed, will constitute the territory over which Christ the Lord shall reign. Then it will be that the glory of God shall cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea; and in all the holy mountain of God they shall neither hurt nor destroy; “but the redeemed of the Lord shall come to Zion with songs of everlasting joy upon their heads.” The mount of transfiguration, hallowed by the presence of our Lord and the heavenly visitors, and lighted up by the glory of God, formed a fitting representation of this earth as it will appear when Christ shall establish over it His righteous rule.
3. Every kingdom must have subjects. In the case of Christ’s kingdom of glory, these subjects will consist of two classes: (a) The translated righteous, and (b) the resurrected righteous. Says the apostle Paul, in his letter to the Corinthian church: “Behold I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” This declaration is emphasized still more by the apostle in his epistle to the Thessalonians: “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; and we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” Were these two classes, namely, the saints who have been sleeping in Jesus since the beginning of the world, and the saints who will be translated without seeing death, at the coming of the Lord, represented in the transfiguration scene?—We believe that it is no straining of the principles of the Bible interpretation to claim that they were, in the presence of Elijah and Moses.
Elijah, or Elias, was taken up to heaven in the chariot of the Lord. He did not pass thru the gates of death. Elijah is set forth in the Scriptures as a type of the people of God living in the last days. Says the Word of the Lord thru Malachi, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord; and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”
Moses died, but there is strong proof that his rest in the tomb was of short duration. Moses is set forth as a type of our Lord. He himself says, “A Prophet shall the Lord God raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me; Him ye shall hear;” making undoubted reference to our Saviour and His ministry. As Moses stood as the intercessor between God and man, so does Jesus Christ. As Moses led Israel out of literal Egypt, so our Lord leads His children out of spiritual Egypt. Moses lived his life for his people, even as Christ laid down His life for the world. And, carrying out the simile, it is not unreasonable to believe that, as Christ rested in the tomb three days, and was then called forth to a resurrection without having seen corruption, so Moses, as His type, went thru the same experience. This idea is strengthened by the reference to the death of Moses by the apostle Jude: “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.” Michael, the Archangel, here brought to view, as shown by other scriptures, is Christ, the Life-giver. Between Christ, the Life-giver, and Satan, the keeper of death, there arose a dispute, not over the soul or spirit of Moses, but over his body. It is but natural to conclude that there could have arisen no dispute over this question only as the Life-giver wished to rescue from the power of Satan that which Satan held as his lawful prey. Hence, as enumerated in detail, we have in the transfiguration scene these three essentials of the kingdom of our Lord illustrated: Glory (strengthening the idea that this scene was a representation of the kingdom of the King), the territory, and the subjects. (See 2 Peter 1:16–21.)
We now turn to consider for a moment the opposite idea, particularly with regard to the presence of Moses and Elias, that it was their disembodied spirits sent down from heaven, appearing to Christ and His disciples. We can say of this view that it has against it the plain, literal statements of the Word of God. The Lord thru His prophets and apostles emphatically declares that there is no conscious life between death and the resurrection. Says Job, in speaking of the dead, “His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.” The psalmist, in speaking of the great men of earth, says, “Their breath goeth forth, they return to their earth; in that very day their thoughts perish.” We can not hold for a moment that the idea of inherent immortality is taught in the Word of God. The epistle to Timothy declares that “God only hath immortality.” The apostle Paul says, “Christ hath abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light thru the Gospel.” He says again that there is given to them who seek for glory and honor and immortality the boon of eternal life. If men inherently possess immortality, then they have it without reference to the Gospel of Christ. If they possess it already, then it is not a thing to be sought for. But as life and immortality are brought to light thru the Gospel, it follows that only eternal life and immortality will be bestowed upon those who avail themselves of the provisions of the Gospel.
Another great principle which strikes against the idea of inherent immortality, and emphasizes the thought of conditional immortality thru Christ, is the subject of rewards and punishments. The principle is iterated and reiterated again and again that it is at the last great day that men receive their just deserts. “When the Son of man shall come in all the glory of the Father, with the holy angels, then shall He reward every man according as his work shall be.” “Behold, I come quickly, and My reward is with Me to give every man according as his works shall be.” Again, the judgment of the entire human family is set forth in the Scriptures of truth as taking place in connection with the end of the world. It would be unreasonable in the scheme of earthly justice to consign men to prison for a long term, and then judge them to determine whether or not they were guilty of the offense charged. If we can not charge such inconsistency upon human judiciaries, we certainly can not upon the Judge of all the universe. Hence, before any members of the human family enter upon a period of reward or punishment, the heavenly court will first take cognizance of their cases, determine the measure of responsibility, and the fate involved.
Further, the argument of Paul in the fifteenth chapter of First Corinthians, in support of the doctrine of the resurrection, forever disproves the idea that men enter upon their eternal destiny until after this event at the end of the world. Paul teaches, “If there be no resurrection,5then is Christ not risen; and if Christ be not risen, your faith is vain, and ye are in your sins, and they also which have fallen asleep in Christ are perished.” And well may he state the conclusion later in this chapter, “If the dead rise not, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” If the righteous go to heaven at death, it would be difficult to determine how their salvation would be affected by the resurrection.
Therefore, if it be looked upon as too hypothetical to account for the appearance of Moses on the basis of his having had a resurrection from the dead, it is certainly a still greater violation of scriptural interpretation to account for his appearance on the mount of transfiguration on the commonly-accepted theory of the inherent immortality of the soul and the conscious state of the dead.
In conclusion, I may add that the evident purpose of the transfiguration scene was to furnish the disciples an additional proof of the divine mission of our Lord and His second coming in glory. This scene could not help but be of strength to them in many trying hours, which they experienced after their separation from Jesus. It certainly would more clearly reveal to them the character of the kingdom of God. As already indicated, the apostle Peter refers to it as one of the convincing arguments of the truth of the Gospel, and of Christ’s coming again, and cites the incident of the transfiguration as evidence that he and his fellow-disciples had not followed cunningly-devised fables in the preaching of the cross and the coming glory of Christ. Their testimony was that of eye-witnesses. The transfiguration stands as one of the great incontrovertible evidences of the divine mission of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and of its glorious consummation.