Problem

How can Moses die twice?

Hebrews 9:27 - And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Revelation 11:7 - And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
Deuteronomy 34:5 - So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.

It has been taught that Moses and Elijah will be the prophets that are returning during the Great Tribulation. These prophets are spoken of in detail in Revelation chapter 11. The only problem I ran into was that both of these prophets die in verse 7. Now a verse I like to use in disproving reincarnation is Heb 9:27, “it is appointed unto to man ONCE to die and after this the judgment.” Is seems to me that the only two men available to be the prophets of Revelations 11 are Elijah and Enoch.


Solution

Agree (6)
Disagree (1)
85%
14%

85%

Interesting question; I would say why ISN'T it possible for somebody to die more than once? Let's look at Scripture for this:

Example 1 Lazarus
Jesus, in John 11:14 says word-for-word "Lazarus is dead." Okay, so that is confirmed. But then in 11:43 Jesus speaks again, but this time it's "Lazarus, come forth." Right when The Lord Jesus Christ spoke that time "he that was dead came forth." (John 11:44)

So if Lazarus died, and was raised from the dead, that must mean that he died again...sometime down the road.

Example 2 The Daughter of the Ruler of the Synagogue
In Mark chapter 5 we read an account of a man who came to Jesus informing him that his daughter had died. Jesus went to the child, and said "I say unto thee, arise." (Mark 5:41) Now the argument be made that she was only sleeping, and wasn't exactly dead, so take this example or leave it.

Example 3 The Apostle Paul
In Acts 14 Paul was stoned and left for dead. I personally think that he did die. He later gives account of being called up to heaven and hearing unspeakable things.

So what do we have here, one concrete example of a person being raised from the dead, and thus dying twice, and two very probable examples of others being dead, raised, and then eventually dying again.

Tell us what you think?    Agree Disagree

Solution

Agree (9)
Disagree (0)
100%
0%

100%

If I understand correctly, you have two different questions:

1. If “it is appointed unto man ONCE to die", then is it possible for a man to die twice in the Scriptures without having a contradiction?
2. Is Enoch one of the two witnesses in Revelation 11?

Let’s start with the first question:

Heb 9:27 defines the rule that God set up for all of mankind. However, it is quickly noted that in the Bible there are a handful of instances where this rule does not seem to hold true because there are some people that end up dying twice or not dying at all. Note the following events:

1. Lazarus dies once and then is raised from the dead after four days (John 11:44).
2. The widow of Nain’s son dies and is brought back to life (1 Kings 17:17-24).
3. Dorcas dies and then comes back to life (Acts 9:36-41).
4. Eutychus is taken up dead and then comes back to life (Acts 20:9-10).
5. Jairus’ daughter was brought back to life in (Luke 8:41-55).
6. Paul is caught up to the 2nd heaven after being stoned and then comes back to life (2 Cor. 12:2).
7. Elijah is caught up to heaven in a chariot of fire without dying (2 Kings 2:11).
8. Enoch is translated that he should not see death (Heb 11:5).

So, how does this reconcile with Heb 9:27? Easy, God intervened and changed the appointment for these individuals. Without this intervention, each of the above persons would have been subject to Heb 9:27 just like everyone else!

Some of you aren’t convinced. You say, “God can’t intervene like that. That would be a blatant contradiction of his character”. Well, hold on a second. Just because a police officer shows you some mercy by letting you off the hook on a speeding ticket doesn’t change the law. The speed limit still exists, and the penalty for breaking the law still exists. The intervention on behalf of the officer doesn’t negate the law itself; it is merely an exception to the law, just like the examples above are exceptions to the law of Hebrews 9:27.

There is an excellent example of God modifying an appointment in 2 Kings 20:1 where King Hezekiah was “sick unto death,” and God sent Isaiah to him to say, “Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.” Here we have the appointed time for Hezekiah to die. However, in this case Hezekiah cries out to the LORD, and God intervenes by adding fifteen years unto his life (2 Kings 20:6).

Hebrews 9:27 is not a contradiction.

Now back to the two witnesses in Revelation 11.

I have heard the argument for Enoch and Elijah being the two witnesses of Revelation 11 before. The reasoning behind this theory is exactly how you presented it above. Enoch and Elijah are the only two people that don’t die in the Bible and if they were to somehow be the witnesses of Revelation 11, then they would end up dying and all of the “loose ends” would be accounted for. Aside from stemming from a misunderstanding of Hebrews 9:27, there are two fatal flaws in this theory that must be addressed:

Fatal Flaw #1. Those aren’t the only two people in the Bible that don’t see death. There are the Christians which are alive and remain at the coming of the Lord that are caught up into to heaven to ever be with the Lord (1 Thess 4: 17). These people will never see death.

Fatal Flaw #2. “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death;” (Hebrews 11:5). By forcing Enoch into Revelation 11 you would definitely have Enoch seeing death and thereby produce an actual contradiction. You would also miss out on the incredible doctrinal type that Enoch represents for the group mentioned in Fatal Flaw #1 (Notice that Enoch is translated out before God brings judgment on the earth with a flood).

So, Enoch cannot be one of the witnesses of Revelation chapter 11.

Tell us what you think?    Agree Disagree

Solution

Agree (8)
Disagree (1)
88%
11%

88%

The verse never says a man can't die twice, all the verse says is it appointed unto man once to die

Tell us what you think?    Agree Disagree

Solution

Agree (6)
Disagree (0)
100%
0%

100%

This by no means is an authoritative answer, but i believe being appointed to die once is a general rule.

Enoch straight up did not die.
some people died twice: the few that Jesus raised from the dead.
Everyone raptured before the great tribulation will not see death, a type of whom Enoch was.

Count the billions of people who have died and will die. this is definitely true. they die once. I do not think though that God cannot take them up like Enoch and Elijah or raise someone from the dead (like he will at the judgement and then those judged will have a "second death" into the lake of fire)

Tell us what you think?    Agree Disagree