Did Moses Go To Heaven
Moses was one of the earliest known figures in Christianity, playing an integral role in the journey of the Israelites through the wilderness. He led them from their slavery years in Egypt to their freedom, over the red sea, and into the wilderness where they were fed with manna from heaven, and also received the ten commandments for them.
As we know, Moses didn’t make it to the promised land because he erred against God – he struck the rock when God had earlier instructed him to speak to it so that the people could drink Exodus 17 vs. 6. This particular sin was why Moses didn’t make it to the promised land despite his numerous pleas unto God, which begets the question, Did Moses go to heaven?
The Story Of Moses Death
After 40 years of journeying and leading the Israelites in the desert, Moses died at 120 years of age on Mount Nebo without getting into the promised land. Why? Just as we have said above, he struck the rock when God had instructed him to speak to it instead. And even though there have been various misconceptions about the cause of his death, did he die naturally or take his own life? – “you will die” has been numerously interpreted into it being a polite command or an order by God to Moses to take his own life. Deuteronomy 32 vs. 50.
There is no verified story as to how the death of Moses took place. In the bible verse Deuteronomy 34 vs. 6, which says, “ and he buried him in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor; but no man knoweth of his Sepulchre till this day,” we can now speak with assurance that he indeed died in the land of Moab, and that he was buried in this same valley by God himself. Mysteriously, no one knows the place of his burial till this day Deuteronomy 34 vs. 5. Who can achieve this level of discreteness aside from God himself? However, this further fuels the question, did Moses go to heaven?
Where Did Moses Go?
A widespread debate has been had around the question, “Did Moses go to heaven?.” We don’t have much to determine this except with the words from Jesus Christ himself. Long after the death of Moses, when Jesus was on earth, he said no man had gone to heaven John 3 vs. 13 – sure that included Moses, and that they all would be resurrected in the future.
The road unto eternal life in heaven had not been trodden by any human until the resurrection of Jesus unto heaven. All those who died before him were asleep in God’s memory, waiting to arise during the resurrection. Moses was indeed buried, but we don’t know where he ended up. Is it because we can’t identify where he was buried?.
There was a case for Hades, but this was quickly dispelled. Moses wasn’t buried where no one knew, so people couldn’t make a god out of it, nor turn it into a place of worship. Satan – The Devil, decided to use his body for the same purpose, but faced stern opposition from the archangel – Michael. He met this opposition but overcame Satan by rebuking him with Jehovah’s name Jude vs. 9.
The Transfiguration offers an insight into Moses’ final destination; he appeared in glory and conversed with Jesus. This foretells the glory that awaits us Christians when we rapture with Jesus. Moses maintained very impressively and privileged dealing with God. He saw God with his eyes later on other than just seeing visions of him as He communicated with many and as they saw him in the Bible. His dealings and meetings with God were so genuine that he always reacted that he had seen the invincible Almighty God. Hebrew 11 vs. 27.
How Did Moses Die?
As we can’t establish the confirmed source and form from which Moses’ death occurred, we can dispel some rumors and establish some truth from what the bible told us before. Deuteronomy 34 vs. 10 tells us that no prophet from or in Israel knew God face to face as Moses did. We know that Moses didn’t see God’s face in one of their earliest meetings – he only caught a view of his back. Anyone who sees God face to face wouldn’t be alive afterward to tell the tale. Does that mean Moses saw the face of God and died? Yes, this could be the case Exodus 33 vs. 20 – 23.
For not listening to God and erring when he told him to speak to the rock, but he struck it instead; Moses wasn’t going to make it to the promised land. However, God instructed him to climb to Mount Nevo, and it was from the summit of this mount that Moses would see the promised land from—considered a consolation by many after his years of faithful service to God through the Israelites. And to honor one of his longest and faithful servants, why not grant one of his requests by allowing him to see his face? After all, he had already known he would die soon anyway, so why not?
FAQ
Where did God want Moses to go?
God wanted Moses to go to Egypt and free his people from slavery in the hands of Pharaoh, the Egyptian king. Moses had initially run away from Egypt after killing an Egyptian while trying to defend an Israelite from harassment.
God called Moses while he was at work after he had heard the voice of his people under the oppression of the Egyptians. There were many occurrences that God used to call and direct Moses to go to Egypt – Burning bush Exodus 3 vs. 2 -5. After which, Moses eventually went into Egypt.
Did Moses see God’s Face?
After he spoke to the Lord in the burning bush, Moses saw the face of God upon an unknown mountain before he went to free the children of Israel from Egypt. Exodus 3 vs. 1 – 10. When Exodus 33 vs. 11 says they both saw face to face, it just means they maintained a cordial relationship between them. Moses until his death, and no man could see the face of God without losing their lives. Hence, Moses only saw the back of God Exodus 33 vs. 18 while alive, and only saw his face right before he died.
Who First Went To Heaven?
Regardless of what we might have known about death in the old testament, none of those who died in the old testament made it to heaven before Jesus Christ. He was the first human to get into heaven, and those who had died before then were merely resting their bodies and souls in the grave only to rise from their graves on the day of resurrection John 3 vs. 13.
Conclusion
From all we have said and outlined above, we can gather that God indeed asked Moses to take active steps to die Deuteronomy 34 and this active step that Moses took was to ask to see God’s face – he knew this would be fatal to him. God had already denied Moses such a request some forty years before, but did so this time to honor and answer Moses’ repeated request and allow him to perform the command he had given unto him.
