[Steve Myers] The transfiguration. We had a question come in about the transfiguration, and here's what the viewer asked, they said, "If the dead know nothing, and even King David is both dead and buried and in his grave still with us today, how it is that Elijah, Moses, and Christ met at this mountain for the transfiguration?"

Good question. In fact we can find that in the gospels. There's one version that's over in the gospel of Matthew chapter 17, right at the very beginning of that chapter. Let's notice what it actually says. It says, "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. His clothes became white as light." Now in this vision, Christ wasn't alone. It says, "And behold Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him" (Matthew 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-12; Luke 9:28-36).

So this is what's called the transfiguration. They were transfigured into this glorious appearance. Now, what was this about? Was this actually Moses and Elijah that somehow were resurrected, and now that they were heavenly beings? Many people think that, but in actuality they were like David. They were dead and buried. Ecclesiastes tells us the dead know nothing. They are in their grave awaiting the resurrection. Yet, this seems like a contradiction, but it's not.

We read a little bit further down in verse 9 Christ says something interesting to the disciples. He says, "Tell the vision to no one until the Son of man is risen from the dead" (Matthew 17:9). So Christ makes it very clear this was not reality. This was a vision. In fact He says in a way it's a vision of the future of what will be because when we find out what it's going to be like in the future, in the future resurrection, we can look to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. And in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 it tells us very clearly that a Christian when they are resurrected, they are raised in glory. That's in 1 Corinthians 15:42-44. And so this description of a glorious body, this vision, this kind of peek into the future for the disciples to see Christ in His glory, and to see Moses, and to see Elijah in their glory as they will be in the future, that seems to make sense then with the overall plan of God, that Moses and Elijah, they were buried.

In fact, it'd be silly to imagine them glorified and Christ was still a human being, God with us. That wouldn't make any sense. And so understand that this is a vision of the future Kingdom of God, and in fact this was something that was promised to them just a couple of verses before this. If you read the account in Luke, He even told them that some of them wouldn't die, they wouldn't perish, before they had a glimpse of the Kingdom of God. You can look that up in Luke 9:27 for yourself (Matthew 16:28; Mark 9:1).

And so the Bible is consistent. The dead are buried, and they're awaiting the resurrection just like David, just like Moses, just like Elijah. But sometimes God gives us a little peek into the future.

That's BT Daily. We'll see you next time.