JOSEPH W. TKACH
PASTOR GENERAL

May 1987

Dear Friend:

Thank you for your recent inquiry about Moses and Elijah appearing with Jesus in the transfiguration.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke each record this event (Matt. 17:1-9; Mark 9:2-10; Luke 9:28-36). Notice the instructions to the disciples as they descended the mountain; Jesus said, "Tell the VISION to no man" (Matt. 17:9). A vision is not a material reality; it is a SUPERNATURAL scene observed in the "mind's eye."

Moses was dead and buried long before this event (Deut. 34:5-6). So was Elijah (see our free booklet WHERE ARE ENOCH AND ELIJAH?). The disciples saw these men only in the glory of the resurrection -- an event which will not actually occur until the Second Coming of Christ (Heb. 11:39; I Thess. 4:13-17).

The account of the transfiguration in Matthew 17 also explains Matthew 16:28: "There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom." Since God's Kingdom has NOT yet been established here on earth and the disciples did all die, the obvious meaning is that some of the disciples were to be shown the splendor of the Kingdom in a vision. And so they were, through the transfiguration.

We appreciate your interest. It is our pleasure to help you with your study of the Bible.

PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE DEPARTMENT