One of the Most Controversial Subject in the Holy Scriptures as the Simplicity in Christ has become the most destructive doctrines in Christianity which sadly has mislead many. If I told my daughter in real time that I had a Vision which I was talking to Yahushua whom the world called Christ and suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared and told her not to tell a soul.
What is the interpretation of my Vision? Post your comments on the comment section. My question firstly is are you willing and ready to unlearn the lies you’ve been taught in these synagogues/Temples? Do you have the humility to admit that you’ve been lied to? Again, post your comments as I question you. Can we say that both Moses and Elijah are alive in heaven and the only verses to back up such claim are the transfiguration event by Christians?
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.”
What a fascinating story, Christ transfigure as his face was bright as the sun likewise his garment became white as snow, dead people talking to Christ and his disciples, a voice spoke to them from heaven and all of a sudden both Moses and Elijah disappeared. Isn’t this deep and interesting? This sounds like stories out of a fiction movies or books isn’t it? I want to approach this Article with questions to engage the audience/Viewers for better clarity and understanding on this subject/Topic.
Should we conclude that these two men that are dead for thousands of years suddenly talking to Yahushua or is it something else? This is the trick or treasure to solve this equation. “LET THE HOLY SCRIPTURES INTERPRET ITSELF” it’s just like a Lion, you don’t defend a lion, open that cage and it will defend him/herself. We can’t other opinions or ideas cloud our understanding. The Scriptures will interpret itself if you know to read it. The key word to understand these verses is in verse 9 when Christ said tell this VISION to no man. Let’s break it down.
First, what is a Vision?
According to Merriam Webster dictionary
vision noun
vi·sion | \ ˈvi-zhən
Definition of vision
a: The act or power of seeing : sight
b: The special sense by which the qualities of an object (such as color, luminosity, shape, and size) constituting its appearance are perceived through a process in which light rays entering the eye are transformed by the retina into electrical signals that are transmitted to the brain via the optic nerve
c: something seen in a dream, trance, or ecstasy especially : a supernatural appearance that conveys a revelation
d: a thought, concept, or object formed by the imagination
e: a manifestation to the senses of something immaterial look, not at visions, but at realities
Do you see the beauty of the Scriptures? To sum all these, Vision is simply the ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom as you are seeing it with your Mind or to perceive without eyes. Can we say when someone has a vision; they are seeing it with their Mind?
The things that they see are not physically present but sense imagine. Visions are sometimes real people and real events but the one having this vision is having a dream like experience without seeing neither real people nor events.
In this verses 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
“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. Even Christ himself said in John 3:13 that no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he (Christ) that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven with another witness by Paul in Acts 26:23 that Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.
We can see out of two witness that Yahuashua is the only one that was dead and is alive now is the Messiah, whom the Most high had raised from the dead. To seal it with a verse in Hebrews 9:27 as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: If the scriptures says it appointed for ALL MEN TO DIE ONE THEN AFTER THIS IS THE JUDGEMENT.
For argument sake, Can we say that Elijah and Moses didn’t die or both died and received their judgment? There’s no way around it. We let the scriptures defend itself. We know Judgment upon all men hasn’t come so therefore Moses could not be alive and physically speaking with Jesus on the day of transfiguration. The resurrection 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 Yahushua told the disciples to “tell the vision to no man”. When Moses and Elias spoke to the Messiah, this was a supernatural vision and therefore didn’t require nor did it mean 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).
Different occurrences of the word “horama” – vision in the New Testament
“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. The Almighty 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. Remember, they were seeing these events with images in their mind.
The case of Peter and the sheet with the various animals
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 the Most High 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 the Most High showed to him and didn’t require the physical presence of these animals.
In other words, he was seeing this Vision with his Mind while awake. Simple!!! 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 the Most High gives to communicate a message to the one to whom He shows the vision.
The case of Peter and his deliverance from the prison
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 the Most High showed, a message that the Most High wanted to convey, and it was important for this message to have Elias and Moses appearing there. But the Most High 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.
The case of Paul and the man of Macedonia
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. The Most High 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.
The case of the Lord speaking to Paul
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 messiah. This person IS ALIVE for the Most High 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 the Messiah was physically there or not, for he is ALIVE and has a spiritual body with supernatural abilities. This is a case much different than any other one but either way; i believe the Holy Spirit was speaking to him through sudden thought as he is projecting/Visualizing this in his mind.
Prophecies
Acts 2:17
“And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith the Most High, 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 the Most High 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 know from the Scripture that Moses and Elias appeared in the transfiguration in what was a vision. From what we have seen, it is obvious that the fact that they appeared in this vision does not mean require nor it means that they were alive or physical y present during the time of the vision.
THE VISION WAS GIVEN TO THE DISCIPLIES TO REVEAL SOMETHING ABOUT THE MESSIAH. MOSES REPRESENTS THE LAW WHILE ELIJAH REPRESENTS THE PROPHETS. BOTH THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS WERE STANDING IN APPROVAL OF YAHUASHUA AS A VOICE FROM HEAVEN SAYS: THIS IS MY BELOVETH SON IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED HIM. HEAR HIM.
It’s not a coincident that this event took place few days before the event after peter confessed that you are son the son of the Living God. It was as if the Most High was confirming peter’s confession so there shouldn’t be any doubt who the Messiah was. First Yahushua asked “whom did men said that I am”, next, he asked, “who do you say that I am” and shortly after that, his father also echoed the same answer that was given to peter.
Christ is the son of the living highest as the law and the prophet was standing there to confirm it. This is very vital that this event is to be understood as a vision because we also know that if yahushua was speaking to Moses and Elijah then he will be breaking one of the commandments which forbid consultation of the dead called Necromancy. Do you agree? Just the single act of Necromancy would have disqualified him from been the messiah of the highest but we know that he was righteous as he kept his father words unto death, isn’t it?
Communicating with the dead; either they righteous or Wicked is against his commandments and we know that Christ didn’t participate in such which goes back to perceiving this as just a VISION. Moreover, Christ had no reason to speak to neither Moses nor Elijah because he can speak directly to the heavenly Father. The Vision was revealed to the disciples not for his sake but for the sake of the disciples and his believers.
Follow Trwth Radio on Social Media
Leave a Comment