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The Death and Body of Moses
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Q: Kindly comment on what the bible states on the death of Moses? Was
Moses resurrected and did he die again or was he caught up like
Elijah and Enoch did? How does the death of Moses compare with that
of Christ?
A: The
death of Moses is easy, but I have to admit that his subsequent
history is not. Let me give you the things that are established in
scripture with a few comments.
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Moses died in the land of Moab before the children of Israel crossed
the Jordan River to go in to possess the land.
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Deuteronomy 34:5 - So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the
land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.
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Moses was buried by the Lord and the place of his burial was kept
secret from all men. As you can see, the Bible is very clear that Moses
was buried.
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Deuteronomy 34:6 - And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab,
over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this
day.
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After his death of
Moses, his body became the focus of a battle between
Michael the archangel and the devil. Though we are not
told when this occurred, it is probably at the time of
his burial. I say this because of the verse above that
points out that no man knew where he was buried.
Something was going on for God to bury him (which is
unusual in itself) and for God to keep the place of his
burial secret. I have often heard his hidden burial
explained as needed so that the Israelites would not
worship his burial place. But then why were the burial
places of Abraham and David not hidden? They have been
revered as much as Moses. I think it had something to do
with the fight over the body of Moses.
Here is the text:
Jude 1:9 - Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil
he
disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing
accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
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At some point, Moses must have been resurrected and taken to heaven.
I believe this because of his appearance with Elijah and Christ on the
Mount of Transfiguration. It would be strange to have Elijah who was
taken up to heaven with Moses who was still dead appearing together with
Christ. Since we know Moses died and was buried, his appearance here
points to a resurrection, though no scripture directly speaks of his
resurrection.
Matthew 17:2-3 - And was transfigured before them: and his face did
shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And, behold,
there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.
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Though his name is not used, it is likely that Moses is one of the
two witnesses in the tribulation as found in Zechariah 4 and Revelation
11. The miracles they perform match the miracles of Moses and Elijah.
For
instance, they will turn water into blood and smite the earth with
plagues (Revelation 11:6), obvious specialties of Moses. And, since these
two men have already appeared to Jesus (as shown above), they seem to
have some sort of work they do together. Moses and Elijah are also
mentioned together in reference to the end times in the last three verses
of the Old Testament (Malachi 4:4-6). There are other reasons for
believing these two men will be the two witnesses, but I will stop here.
Revelation 11:3-4 - And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and
they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed
in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks
standing before the God of the earth.
Of course, this still leaves some of the details unexplained. But that
is
often the nature of God's word. He tells us what we need to know and
we
will have to wait for the rest. Thank you for writing and I hope this
helps.
Till He comes,
Pastor David Reagan
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