Witness #4: Moses and Elijah
“Behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him [Jesus]” (Matt. 17:3).
When Moses and Elijah appeared on the Mount of Transfiguration, they did not have the resurrection body. Even now, Jesus Christ is the only One who has the resurrection body. Moses and Elijah and the rest of the believers in heaven will get the resurrection body when Christ comes again in glory.
So when Moses and Elijah appear on the mountain, they are spirits—souls made visible. We don’t know how Peter, James, and John knew it was Moses and Elijah. But we do know that they recognized them, even in advance of the resurrection body!
Witness #5: The gathered souls in heaven
“You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect” (Heb. 12:22-23).
The writer to the Hebrews reminds us of the great truth that the church gathered on earth is at one with the church gathered in heaven. He speaks of “the spirits of the righteous made perfect,” that is, the souls of believers in the presence of Jesus.
These souls are gathered in “the assembly of the firstborn.” This is a description of what is happening in heaven right now: The spirits of the righteous made perfect are gathered. Gathered means community, and community means relationship, and relationship means identity and knowledge right now in the presence of Jesus.
Rejoice in this glimpse of what is going on in heaven right now.
