There are no scriptures which state that Jesus took Abraham and Moses into heaven. Both of these men of faith are dead and buried just like David. Acts 2:29, 34, “Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day…for David is not ascended into the heavens…” Jesus was the first to be raised from the dead, “Christ must suffer and that by being the first to rise from the dead, He would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.” Acts 26:23
However, some misinterpret certain scriptures in a way that may seem to indicate they are in heaven. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31 may seem to indicate at first that Abraham is in heaven, but we must remember that a parable is a symbolic story that teaches a lesson and is not to be taken literally. Abraham is used as a symbol here and we cannot assume he literally took Lazarus to his side. This parable is actually teaching about the Jewish nation (rich man) rejecting Jesus, being cast off from God’s favor, and then the invitation to follow Christ going out to the gentiles.
Another scripture that may be interpreted to mean that Abraham is in heaven is in Matthew 8:11 – in The Faith of the Centurion. “…many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.” This is another set of scriptures where Jesus is explaining that the invitation to be followers of Christ will go out to the gentiles (those from the “east and the west.”) The Centurion in this set of scriptures was a gentile, a Roman soldier, who had faith greater than many in the Jewish nation. Jesus was astonished at this faith and went on to explain that soon the gentiles would be invited into his fellowship, which was up until then still exclusively set aside for the literal descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Jewish nation.
If one were to look at the Old Testament scriptures which state that both Abraham and Moses died and were “gathered to their people,” (Genesis 25:8, Deuteronomy 32:50), one might wonder if this referred to an afterlife of some sort. However, the scriptures specifically state that both Abraham and Moses died and we reason that being gathered to their people is a way of saying they were joining their ancestors in death. We know that neither Abraham nor Moses’s actual physical bodies/bones were gathered to their forefather’s bones, so it must mean that Abraham and Moses were merely joining their ancestors in the state of death. After all, why would God tell Moses that He was going to reward Moses with any sort of heavenly afterlife immediately after reminding him of his sin at the waters of Meribah Kadesh? “…you will die and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people. This is because both of you broke faith with me in the presence of the Israelites at the waters of Meribah Kadesh…” God was telling Moses that he would join his brother and ancestors in death.
Lastly, scripture tells us that “Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep,” (1 Corinthians 15:20). Christ was the first to have a spiritual resurrection. His death and resurrection have made it possible for others to also follow in his footsteps, live a life of sacrifice and be faithful unto death in order to attain a heavenly resurrection. Before Christ’s death, this was not possible. Abraham and Moses lived and died before Christ sacrificed his life for us, thus they could not have had a heavenly resurrection.
