Introduction
The Bible is clear that there are a series of resurrections and that this life in the body is not the end of all things. In fact we know that Jesus Christ was resurrected three days after He died in April AD 30 as a sign of what is to come for all believers. But everyone who has ever lived will be resurrected, either to eternal life or to eternal damnation.1 Most discussions surrounding the first and second resurrections however involve asking the questions “when”, and “who”. In this article I want to raise our attention to the important question of “where” specifically. I first discussed this important question three years ago in the blog “We are asking the wrong question“, but in this follow-up article I want to add some more proof and extra details that I have come across to further prove my point. Make sure you read that blog first.
Even though the Bible is not totally clear as to where these resurrections on earth occur the Bible does give some cryptic clues as to where at least the resurrection of the righteous (Old and New Testament believers) will occur and more specifically the specific location to where they will be gathered to after they are resurrected. This is kind of like the meeting places that are designated as gathering points for large collections of people in case of fire or in the event of a disaster. These are pre-determined points. And I believe there is a pre-determined meeting point for all believers after the first resurrection.
The rapture is the same thing as the first resurrection
In the last couple of hundred years or so we have seen the rise of the pre-tribulational doctrine which says that there is a rapture (a catching up of Christians) to meet the Lord Jesus in the air before the tribulation. Then this doctrine says that for seven years whilst in the air believers will be receiving their rewards for what they have done for the Lord whilst on earth at the ‘bema’ seat of judgment. Then they say that there will be another resurrection at the end of the seven years when the Old Testament saints will be resurrected. This position regards the rapture as a subset or part of the first resurrection which just happens to occur seven years previously. It is important to note that both Old Testament believers and New Testament believers were saved by grace through faith on the basis of the shed blood of Jesus Christ. The Old Testament looked forward to the sacrifice of Christ, while the New Testament looks back on that same sacrifice.2
Both Old Testament believers and New Testament believers were saved by grace through faith on the basis of the shed blood of Jesus Christ. The Old Testament looked forward to the sacrifice of Christ, while the New Testament looks back on that same sacrifice.
Everyone who has died as a true believer is someone who is ‘dead in Christ’ whether in the Old or New Testament because there is only one name under heaven given to men by which men must be saved, Jew or Gentile–Jesus Christ.3 Paul tells us that the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a loud command with His angels and the trumpet call of God and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then those who are still alive at the time will be raptured or caught up with them together.
The Bible is clear that the 1st resurrection and the ‘rapture’ are in fact part of the same event at the same time4 and that they are not two separate events separated by seven years (pre-trib view), 3 ½ years (mid-trib view), or 1 year (pre-wrath view). It seems as though wherever a person is at the time of the rapture on earth or where one’s body or ashes has been laid or scattered is the exact location where he or she will be raptured or resurrected.5
But the bigger question of this article is what next? Do they all stay where they are or are they gathered to some meeting point? Matthew 24:31 makes it clear that immediately after the tribulation of those days that Jesus will send His angels with a loud trumpet call and they will gather His elect from all over the earth. The important word here is “gather”. The Greek-English Lexicon of the NT says this word means “to cause to come together to, toward, or at a particular location”. It has the idea of leading a group together away, to bring them somewhere or carry them along. That is interesting because by implication there has to be a gathering point because everyone will be together. Some might say that this meeting point is in the air or in heaven but the prophet Ezekiel says otherwise of the resurrection of His people…
...Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 14 And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land...
In other words, wherever people are resurrected or raptured all over the earth they will be transported by the angels and placed in the land of Israel.
The meeting place
Before God’s people can be permanently placed in the land of Israel I believe the Scriptures tell us that they will in fact be gathered to a meeting point on the doorstep of modern-day Israel–Mt. Nebo! I say modern-day Israel because Jordan is really part of the land promised to Abraham from the Mediterranean Sea to the River Euphrates.6 So really Mt. Nebo is in the Promised Land, the land that Israel has been promised. But it will be the doorstep to the final ten days before Jesus destroys all His enemies at the Battle of Armageddon and in Jerusalem. What’s more, we will all have the best vantage point as we see the victory unfold.
What proof is there that Mt. Nebo specifically will be the meeting point? It is when Jesus answers His disciples this question covered in in Luke 17:30-37. Jesus tells them that two people will be in one bed and one will be taken and one left behind. Two women will be at work grinding grain together, one will be taken and the other left behind. Their natural follow-up question is, “Where, Lord?” They wanted to know where these people will be taken to. Logically it follows that there is no need to ask where those remaining behind will be because they will be where they were left. And in answering their question, Jesus gives a cryptic clue: “Where the body is, there the eagles will gather.” The only other account where this cryptic clue is given is in Matt. 24:27-28. I believe the Matthew account says it a bit differently because it is not answering the “where” question but indicating where Jesus is at this point. Verse 27 says that the coming of the Son of Man will be as visible as lightning from the east to the west and then in verse 28 in the Received Text (KJV, NKJV, YLT, LSV etc) there is link word (gar) meaning “for” or “because”. It is a marker of cause or reason between events. In other words it links the two verses which seem to be totally unrelated if read in the modern versions which use the modern Critical Text where this link word is missing. I believe what is happening here is that Jesus is telling us where exactly He will be. He will be where the corpse is indicated by eagles.
Furthermore, Matthew uses a different word than Luke for the body. Luke uses a word that can mean a living or dead body (soma) whereas in Matthew the word can only mean a dead body, a corpse (ptoma). This difference is important because it means that the body referred to could mean that it is either alive or dead.
A specific dead body
An important point also is that in both the Matthew and Luke accounts, a specific body (whether alive or dead) is being referred to because the definite article (the) is being used. Some of the modern translations such as NIV and ISV get this wrong because they use the indefinite article (a) meaning that it could be any dead body and they make it out to be more of a general statement.
I believe “the” body refers to none other than that of Moses. So why Moses’ body? Couldn’t it be someone else in history? Yes, possibly but what really sways me is the fact that in Jude 9 there is an obscure but important fact that we learn when we find that the devil and the archangel Michael disputing over Moses’ dead body. Why? It must be really important! It is because if the devil was able to steal Moses’ body then it is plausible that he thinks he could disrupt the resurrection of the righteous and so hinder his punishment and defeat. In other words he was trying to obfuscate the resurrection and his chaining in the abyss and ultimate incarceration in the Lake of Fire.
Mt. Nebo is the exact place where Moses died.7 So when the resurrection of believers will take place at the coming of the Lord, Moses will be resurrected at this very place where he was buried. It is where Moses’ corpse is and it will be where his resurrected new ‘living’ body will be also and I believe this is the place where we will meet the Lord in the air where the eagles will be gathering. Interestingly eagles in the Bible are often a metaphor for angels or agents of God.8 Therefore it seems as though the angels (eagles) will gather everyone to this location where we will meet the Lord in the air.9 Hence the eagles gathering around the corpse at Mt. Nebo.
Summary
So, let me summarise: All believers will be resurrected at the very place wherever they died on earth rising up into the clouds together with the elect still alive at the time who are raptured. Then everyone will be taken and carried by angels to where “the” dead body of Moses is because that is where Jesus will be waiting for everyone before He defeats His enemies in Jerusalem and beyond at the Battle of Armageddon. Moses himself will already be waiting with the Lord in his newly resurrected body because that is where he died.
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