Our bodies must be pretty important to think that Satan would stand against Michael the archangel, who is none other than Jesus Christ, to keep Him from waking up Moses from the dead.  There is a fierce battle going on for our souls. Satan wants to keep us in the grave at Jesus’ second coming when he comes to wake up the righteous dead sleeping in their graves.

Sin, Evil, Death, Dying, and What Happens After We Die

This series addresses the concerns we all have: the concern for sin, evil, death, dying, and what happens after we die. Is there hope after death? When God created us humans, he intended for us to live forever in a loving, peaceful relationship with him. But this relationship has been broken by sin.

Here, we address the origin of sin and look more closely at death and dying. 

But, instead of looking at death negatively, we look at it in the context of hope, the promised hope based on what Jesus did for us when he died and came back to life again.

From the Sabbath School Adult Bible Study Guide 2022 Quarter 4: Sabbath.School (See also Hope Sabbath School and 3ABN Sabbath School)

Visit SabbathSchoolDaily.com for more videos like this one.

Inviting the Holy Spirit

Father, we want to wake up when you call your sleeping saints from the grave. Give us a true heart and a true mind to commit ourselves unselfishly to You. In Jesus’ Name Amen 

Jude 1:9 lets us know that “Michael the archangel,” the chief angel had a quarrel with the devil about who should have the body of Moses.”

9 But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” (Jude 1:9).

From our previous (lesson 4), we discover that Michael, of course, is Jesus Himself. To obtain more on this, you can review Lesson 4 at SabbathSchooldaily.com

Here we see that Jesus and Satan are fighting over Moses’ body. No, they

do not argue over who should get Moses’ spirit. This quarrel is about “the body of Moses.” This lets us know that Moses was not some disembodied spirit when he woke up.  Jesus wakes Moses from the dead and gives him a body as God had originally given to the first humans, Adam and Eve, in the garden of Eden before sin.

In Deuteronomy 34:5–7, we find that Moses died when he was 120 years old. At that time, the Lord buried Moses in a secret place in a valley in the land of Moab.

But what’s interesting is different from those who died before Moses and those who died after Him; Moses remains in the grave for only a short time.

As said in the Book Patriarchs and Prophet, “Christ Himself, with the angels who had buried Moses, came down from heaven to call forth the sleeping saint. . . . For the first time, Christ was about to give life to the dead. As the Prince of life and the shining ones approached the grave, Satan was alarmed for his supremacy. . . . Christ did not stoop to enter into controversy with Satan. . . . But Christ referred all to His Father, saying, ‘The Lord rebuke thee.’ Jude 9. . . . The resurrection was forever made certain. Satan was despoiled of his prey; the righteous dead would live again.”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 478, 479. 

Moreover, Moses’ resurrection is seen when he appeared with Elijah at the transfiguration. Elijah was taken to heaven without experiencing death. The incident regarding Elijah’s transfer from earth to heaven is found in 2 Kings 2:1–11.

In Luke 9:28–36, we find that Jesus took

Peter, James, and John went up a mountain to pray. While Jesus prayed, Peter, James, and John saw Jesus’ face change, and His clothes became shining white, according to Luke 9:30-31.

“30 And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah,

31 who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. (Luke 9:30, 31).

Why is this incident significant?

Moses’ being there with Jesus on the mountain, called the Mount of Transfiguration today, gives us the evidence we need that victory over sin and death is coming. Jesus wins this war. Satan is the loser!

Interestingly enough, we see that Moses and Elijah appeared to Jesus on the mountain in bodily form, not some disembodied spirit as we have been taught about the dead through watching movies and tv programs.

Keep in mind Elijah never died. God took Elijah to heaven. So, Elijah’s presence with Jesus reveals that we will have bodies when God takes us to heaven.

The thing is, Moses was not allowed to enter the earthly Canaan as in Deuteronomy 34:1–4.

1 Now Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan,

2 and all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah as far as the western sea,

3 and the Negev and the plain in the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar.

4 Then the Lord said to him, “This is the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants’; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.” (Deuteronomy 34:1-4)

In Desire of Ages, it says: A wilderness grave was the goal of [Moses’] years of toil and heart-burdening care. But He who is “able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20) had answered His servant’s prayer in this measure. Moses passed under the dominion of death, but he was not to remain in the tomb. Christ, Himself, called him forth to life. Satan, the tempter, had claimed the body of Moses because of his sin; but Christ the Saviour brought him forth from the grave. Jude 9.

Upon the mount of transfiguration, Moses witnessed Christ’s victory over sin and death. He represented those who shall come forth from the grave at the resurrection of the just. Elijah, who had been translated to heaven without seeing death, represented those who will be living upon the earth at Christ’s second coming and who will be “changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump;” when “this mortal must put on immortality,” and “this corruptible must put on incorruption.” 1 Corinthians 15:51-53.—The Desire of Ages, p. 421. 

Moses was taken to the heavenly Canaan. Now, how exceedingly abundant is that?

Moses was raised mortal; in other words, Moses would never experience death again.  Moses, however, was not the only one who was raised back to life again. There are two other cases found in the Old Testament. Were they raised mortal?  Find out in Day 3: Two Old Testament Cases

Watch Our Past and Present Lessons @ SabbathSchoolDaily.com.