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The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 31, 1865

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 25, No. 10.

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From the Grave to Immortality.

Was Moses raised from the dead? This is a question which has occasioned some discussion, and on which there exists, even now, among different classes of religionists, a difference of opinion. Those who object to the view that he was raised, rest their objection on the ground that Christ was to be the first who should be raised from the dead. And when the cases of those are called to mind who were raised from the dead before the resurrection of Christ, of which we have at least six different examples, the distinction at once suggests itself, naturally enough, perhaps at first thought, that Christ was the first to be raised to immortality, the others being raised only to mortal life; whereas if Moses was raised, and appeared literally on the mount of transfiguration, he was raised to immortality. With the argument thus put, the whole question turns upon the bestowal of immortality; for we can conceive of no other difference between a person raised simply, and one raised to immortality, except the gift of immortality, bestowed upon the latter. But so far as immortality is concerned would there be any difference between bestowing it upon a person raised from the dead, and upon one living in this mortal state? If not, the objector to make good his objection, should be able to show that no individual of our race was ever made immortal previous to the resurrection of Christ. But we have in the cases of Enoch and Elijah two notable instances of persons' receiving immortality previous to the resurrection of Christ.
Put these cases with those of the persons who were raised from the dead, and what do we have? A plain path, it seems to us, in the old dispensation, from the grave to immortality. Thus we have persons raised from the grave to this mortal life: and second, persons raised from this mortal life to immortality. From the grave to this life; from this life to immortality. And though these results were accomplished in different individuals, where would have been the difference, had they all been accomplished in one? That is, would there be any difference between raising a person from the grave to this life, and then the same person to immortality, or raising one to this life, and another from this life to immortality? Then again, where would be the difference between raising a person to this mortal state, and then to immortality and raising him from the grave to immortality at one change? In short, would the resurrection of Moses to immortality, be really anything more than those cases of which we have an explicit record in the Old Testament? If not, the objection to the resurrection of Moses based on the ground that Christ should be the first to rise to immortality cannot stand; for though we have no direct statement that Moses was raised, yet we have the experience of individuals, in which everything was accomplished, that would need to have been accomplished in the resurrection of Moses.
We offer these thoughts merely as supplementary to the main arguments on this question, which show that the dispute between Michael and the Devil, as mentioned in Jude 9, being solely about the body of Moses, could have reference to nothing else but his resurrection; and that consequently he must have been raised, unless we concede that Michael has not power to carry out his purposes over the opposition of the Devil: and second, that such expressions as that Christ should be the first to rise from the dead, the first begotten, first born, &c. have reference not to priority in time, but to pre-eminence in importance and position.