Secrets from Beyond The Grave

Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening. And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. --Luke 9:28-31 These two men, Moses and Elijah, were Israel's most famous prophets of God. Elijah never experienced a natural death and was transported into heaven in a chariot of fire (2 Kings 2), and after Moses died, God buried him in an unmarked grave in the plains of Moab. 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 Beth Peor; but no one knows his grave to this day. --Deuteronomy 34:5-6 Upon his death, the spirit and soul of Moses would have descended into a chamber under the earth known as Abraham's bosom (Luke 16:22-23). For Moses to appear to Christ on the mountain, his spirit would have temporarily been released out of the precrucifixion underground chamber. As for Elijah, he would have descended from heaven. Here is the question: How could Moses and Elijah speak of Christ's death, which He would accomplish at Jerusalem? Was Christ revealing to these two prophets details of His future suffering, or had these two men of God already been informed of the details of Christ's future and were making that future known to Christ? In the chronology of the biblical account, Jesus had begun to reveal more about His suffering at about the same time that the visitation came from Moses and Elijah: When Jesus Spoke of Suffering

When Moses and Elijah Appeared

Matthew 16:21 Matthew 17:3 Mark 8:31 Mark 9:4

Luke 9:22 Luke 9:30

It does appear that Moses, the writer of the Law, and Elijah, the chief of the prophets, did impart vital information about Christ's future to Him. The question then becomes: How would they have known? Moses was the first prophet who revealed the coming Messiah through the types and shadows penned in the Torah. The offering of Isaac on Mount Moriah by Abraham is a preview of Christ's crucifixion on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem (Gen. 22). The ashes of the red heifer in Numbers 19 reveals details that would happen to Christ on the cross. The brass serpent on the pole was a type and shadow of Christ, who would carry our sins to the cross (Num. 21:8-9). Now, recall Abraham's statement to the rich man in hell: "They have Moses and the