At the Transfiguration, where did Moses and Elijah come from?

Question

If there were no saints in heaven until after Jesus died for our sins then, at the Transfiguration, where did Moses and Elijah come from? Thanks.

Answer 1

They were a vision, not real people.

Matt 17:9(G)As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, "(H)Tell the vision to no one until (I)the Son of Man has (J)risen from the dead."

10And His disciples asked Him, "Why then do the scribes say that (K)Elijah must come first?"

11And He answered and said, "Elijah is coming and will restore all things;

12but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him

Edit=====

Elijah was not taken to heaven, he was transfered to Judah because Elijah sent Elisha a letter from there.

Also Jesus said "no one has gone to heaven except he that had decended from heaven.

John 3:13

Answer 2

"We, the Christians who have been removed from the world (either through death or as a result of the Lord's return for us), will be given glorified bodies like the Lord's. The apostle Paul has said that, once removed from this life, the church will be forever "with the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 4:17). It seems likely that we Christians of the Church Age will join the Lord Jesus in His ministry behind the scenes during the Tribulation. The church Christians will be like Moses and Elijah, who appeared with the transfigured Christ on the Mount (see Mark 9:2-9)."

Ray C. Stedman
What on Earth is Happening?
What Jesus Said About the End of the Age
Chapter 7
http://www.raystedman.org/olivet/olivet.html

Answer 3

Elijah was taken to Heaven by God... Moses went to sleep with his fathers (as the bible states) in sheol. ...it also states in Jude 1:9 But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"

Answer 4

Sheol - It's a place where everyone went before Jesus came, both saved and non-saved. They were separated by a great gulf nobody could cross.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheol

Answer 5

That place other than heaven or hell, that Catholics have always known as Purgatory ... a.k.a. "paradise".

Nowhere in scripture do we find this place ever being shut down.

I wonder why Protestants still claim it doesn't exist?