Transfiguration:

Compiled by

Robert Hyatt

Aug. 2001

 

 

Transfiguration of Moses

 

Exodus 34:29

 29 And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.

 

Exodus 34:30

 30 And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him.

 

Exodus 34:31

 31 And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses talked with them.

 

Exodus 34:32

 32 And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that the LORD had spoken with him in mount Sinai.

 

Exodus 34:33

 33 And [till] Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face.

 

Exodus 34:34

 34 But when Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he took the vail off, until he came out. And he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel [that] which he was commanded.

 

Exodus 34:35

 35 And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone: and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

 

Transfiguration of Jesus Christ, Peter, James, and John:

 

Matthew 17:1

 1 ¶ AND after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,

 

Matthew 17:2

 2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

 

Matthew 17:3

 3 And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.

 

Matthew 17:4

 4 Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.

 

Matthew 17:5

 5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

 

Matthew 17:6

 6 And when the disciples heard [it], they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.

 

Matthew 17:7

 7 And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid.

 

Matthew 17:8

 8 And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only.

 

Matthew 17:9

 9 And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.

 

Statements from Latter-Day Prophets and Apostles:

 

Translated State Explained:

 

Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p.803 TRANSFIGURATION

Transfiguration is a special change in appearance and nature which is wrought upon a person or thing by the power of God. This divine transformation is from a lower to a higher state; it results in a more exalted, impressive, and glorious condition.

 

George Q. Cannon, Gospel Truth, Vol. 1, p.39

[p.39] The difference between resurrection and transfiguration appears to be this: The former implies an entire change in the body, while the latter leaves the body unchanged and implies only an enveloping of the body by divine glory for the time being. The only instance besides the transfiguration of Christ of which we have any record in the old Scriptures is of Moses who, when coming from the presence of Jehovah, was obliged to cover his face for it shone so brightly with the divine glory that the people could not look upon him. (Jan. 15, 1898, JI 33:74-5) [p.40]

 

The Mount of Transfiguration: - Translation of Peter, James, and John:

 

James R. Clark, Messages of the First Presidency, Vol.1, Introduction, p.xxii

The basic underlying authority is that conferred by Christ upon the Twelve and particularly Peter, James and John in the meridian of time when he said to them: "Verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matthew 18:18) On a number of occasions and in particular on the Mount of Transfiguration, the Lord took Peter, James, and John with Him and gave them special instructions. Joseph Smith has stated that it was on the Mount of Transfiguration that the keys of the Priesthood were conferred upon Peter, James and John (DHC 3:387).

 

Joseph Fielding Smith Jr., Doctrines of Salvation, Vol.2, p.233 - p.234

REVELATION ON MOUNT OF TRANSFIGURATION. The Savior took Peter, James, and John upon a high mountain and there he, with Moses and Elias, conferred upon these apostles the keys of the priesthood. At that time many things pertaining to the earth and its inhabitants were revealed to these apostles, for the earth was transfigured before them as it will appear when it receives its glory. The Lord consecrated and made holy the mountain top, instead of taking the apostles to the temple in Jerusalem, because the temple had become a "den of thieves," having fallen into the hands of apostate Jews who did not worship the true and living God.

 

George Q. Cannon, Gospel Truth, Vol. 1, p.37

The evangelists Matthew and Mark give an account of the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ. ... Both the narratives are very brief but very significant. It is stated that "his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light."13 This was a transfiguration in the appearance of His person and raiment and not of the form of either. This change was of a heavenly character but not one of continued duration.

 

Neal A. Maxwell,  Not My Will, But Thine, p.46

According to Joseph Smith, on a high mountain Moses received the endowment. Peter, James, and John with Jesus, Moses, and Elias on the Mount of Transfiguration received priesthood keys, and, according to another modern prophet, perhaps the endowment. (Joseph Fielding Smith.) In the Kirtland Temple, Jesus, Moses, and Elias blessed Joseph Smith and conferred upon him keys much needed for the rolling forward of God's work in the last dispensation.

 

Neal A. Maxwell,  A Wonderful Flood of Light, p.23 - p.24

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that Moses received the holy endowment on a mountain top. President Joseph Fielding Smith expressed the further opinion that when sacred priesthood keys were passed on the Mount of Transfiguration (see Teachings, p. 158), the holy endowment was given to Peter, James, and John (see Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols.

 

Bruce R. McConkie, The Promised Messiah, p.603

We have every reason to believe that the Father himself was present on the mount of transfiguration and that his Son communed with him face to face. Peter, James, and John, however, were only aware that a bright cloud overshadowed the transfigured persons and that a voice from the cloud said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him." (Matt. 17:1-9.)

 

Bruce R. McConkie, The Mortal Messiah, Vol.3, FOOTNOTES, p.67

1. There can be little doubt that the Mount of Transfiguration is Mount Hermon, north of Caesarea Philippi, though Mount Tabor in the south of Galilee has been so considered by many. In the sixth century three churches were erected on Mount Tabor to commemorate Peter's desire to erect three tabernacles on the holy mount." Jesus and his party are known to have been near Caesarea Philippi the week before, and Mark expressly says they did not return to Galilee until after the Transfiguration. (Mark 9:10.)

 

Reasons for Some Being Translated:

 

Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p.805 TRANSLATED BEINGS

Moses and Elijah were translated so that they could come with bodies of flesh and bones to confer keys upon Peter, James, and John on the mount of transfiguration, an event destined to occur prior to the beginning of the resurrection. (Matt. 17:1-6; Teachings, p. 158; Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 2, pp. 107-111.) The reason for the translation of Alma has not been revealed.

 

Translated State Needed to See the Lord God:

 

Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p.803 TRANSFIGURATION

By the power of the Holy Ghost many prophets have been transfigured so as to stand in the presence of God and view the visions of eternity. Speaking of such an occasion in his life, Moses recorded: "Now mine own eyes have beheld God; but not my natural, but my spiritual eyes, for my natural eyes could not have beheld; for I should have withered and died in his presence; but his glory was upon me; and I beheld his face, for I was transfigured before him." (Moses 1:11; D. & C. 67:11.) On another occasion, when Moses came down off the mount, having communed with the Lord for 10 days and nights, "the skin of his face shone," so that he had to "put a vail on his face" as he talked with the children of Israel. (Ex. 34:29-35.)

 

Earth to be translated during the millennium:

 

Joseph Fielding Smith, The Signs of the Times, p.20

This transfiguration is the same spoken of in our Tenth Article of Faith and has reference to the restoration of the earth to its previous condition in the beginning when Adam was in the Garden of Eden, and not to the final change that shall come to the earth when it is celestialized.

 

D. and C. 63:20-21

"He that endureth in faith and doeth My will, the same shall overcome, and shall receive an inheritance upon the earth when the day of transfiguration shall come; "When the earth shall be transfigured, even according to the pattern which was shown unto mine apostles upon the mount; of which account the fullness ye have not received."

 

Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p.495 MILLENNIUM

The millennium is the age of renewal and regeneration when the Lord will "create new heavens and a new earth." So sweeping will be the changes, so radical the differences in the order of things, that the former heavens and earth "shall not be remembered, nor come into mind." (Isa. 65:17.) It will be a "day of transfiguration," a day "when the earth shall be transfigured" (D. & C. 63:20-21), a day when the continents and islands shall again "become one land," when the mountains and valleys will no longer be found (D. & C. 133:22-24), when all things will return to their state of paradisiacal glory.

 

Transfiguration of the Three Nephites:

 

Burton, ed., We Believe, Translated Beings

There is nothing written upon this subject concerning Elijah, who was translated.  But we have the words of the Lord in the Book of Mormon concerning the three Nephites unto whom the promise was made, in the words of Jesus, "For ye shall never taste of death."  They were told that they should "never endure the pains of death," but when Jesus should come in His glory they were to "be changed in the twinkling of an eye from mortality to immortality."  They were not to have pain while they should "dwell in the flesh, neither sorrow save it be for the sins of the world."  They were caught up into heaven, and it is recorded that they could not tell whether they were in the body or out of the body; "for it did seem unto them like a transfiguration of them, that they were changed from this body of flesh into an immortal state."  In speaking of them, the Prophet Mormon says, "Whether they were mortal or immortal from the day of their transfiguration" he knew not.

 

Translation of the City of Enoch:

 

The Mortal Messiah, 3:52

Enoch and his whole city were translated, taken up bodily into heaven without tasting death.  There they served and labored with bodies of flesh and bones, bodies quickened by the power of the Spirit, until that blessed day when they were with Christ in his resurrection.  Then, in the twinkling of an eye, they were changed and became immortal in the full sense of the word.  So it was also with Moses and Elijah, who were taken up bodily into heaven for reasons that will be manifest on the Mount of Transfiguration.  They too were with the Lord Jesus in his resurrection.  (See D&C 133:54-55.)