Mordechai18 said:
I must also admit that I'm not certain regarding Yeshua's being God.
God had no doubts.....
While He was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him! Matthew 17:5
A Heavenly Voice calls out, This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to Him! The message is almost identical to the words that John the Baptist heard when Yeshua was baptized. After Yeshua had been immersed, a voice from Heaven declared to Him, You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.
The message from Heaven, in both cases, is clear. My Son is a reference to the Messianic title given to the Davidic King. For:
You are my Son; today I have become your Father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will rule them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery. Psalm 2:7-9
Whom I love is an amazing reference to Yeshuas mission as the Suffering Servant. These are almost the identical words God spoke to Abraham when He told him to offer his son Isaac when He instructed Abraham to, Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love. This passage is called the Akeidah or, the binding of Isaac, and it is an amazing picture of the death and the resurrection of Yeshua.
Listen to Him is an obvious reference to Yeshua and the one standing with Yeshua Moses. For, in the wilderness, Israel was told this:
The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to Him. Deuteronomy 18:15
This prophet like unto Moses is, of course, the Messiah Yeshua. There are literally hundreds of parallels that can be identified when comparing the lives of Yeshua and Moses. These parallels are discussed in Ada Habershons book the Study of the Types.
See pages 165-168.
So here, on a high mountain, in the presence of Moses and Elijah, the Heavenly Voice commands that the disciples listen to Him alluding to and declaring that Yeshua is the Messiah and the Prophet.
But, in order to literally fulfill the prophecy of Deuteronomy 18:15, it will take more than a bunch of parallels between the lives of Moses and Yeshua. The Messiah must speak the words of God directly. And, as we study the Gospels, we find that this is, indeed, the case with Yeshua.
Yeshua testifies of Himself when He says in the Gospel of John:
I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. John 8:28
And again when He says:
I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. John 12:49
Yeshua tells us, Himself, that He speaks only the words of the Father. But, that is only His testimony. Scripture makes it very clear that in the mouths of two or three let all things be established. Matthew 18:16
And, the problems do not end here, because we are told this about Moses in Numbers chapter 12:
When a prophet of the LORD is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles. Numbers 12:6-8
In order to literally fulfill the prophecy of Deuteronomy 18:15, the Messiah must achieve a level of prophecy equivalent to that of Moses. Messiah must be able to hear the voice of God directly. No visions, no dreams, no riddles, but clearly. Messiah must speak to God face to face. Who besides Yeshua can bare witness to this? Well, here on the mountain of Hermon, in the presence of Peter, Jacob, and John, the Voice from heaven speaks to Yeshua face to face and declares He is a prophet like unto Moses - that He is the Messiah. Peter, Jacob, and John bare witness to this.
Here, on the mountain of Hermon, the disciples are shown the time of His coming after six days or, as Peter tells us, after six thousand years. They are shown that He will return with the resurrected and those who are caught up to meet Him. They are told by God, the Father, that Yeshua is His Son and the King from the line of David this is My Son. They are told by God, the Father, that Yeshua is the lamb offered for Isaac whom I love. And, they are told that Yeshua is the prophet like unto Moses listen to Him.
And then, after these amazing revelations, after this painstaking effort to convey His mission, as they return and go down the mountain, Yeshua tells them that they must not to tell anyone about their experience. They are instructed to tell no one until after the resurrection. We must assume that this included the other disciples, but why?
The answer lies in the Matthew chapter 16 from above: because the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected
, be killed and after three days rise again. It was this aspect of the Ministry of Messiah that would secure the Kingdom they so longed to see. It was only in Messiahs unjust execution that the judgment of the rulers of this age and the reward of the righteous could be attained. This becomes plain to John when, in exile, he receives Yeshuas Revelation years later. When he sees that the scroll with the seven seals must be opened.
Then I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll? But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. Then one of the elders said to me, Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals. Revelation 5:1-5
This scroll must be opened for the judgment of the wicked and the reward of the righteous to begin. John weeps because no one is found to open it. The angel tells John there is One who is worthy the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. And so, as John looks up from his weeping, he expects to see the Lion, the King, but, instead, he sees:
a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He came and took the scroll from the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. Revelation 5:6
John does not see a lion, he sees a slaughtered Lamb. The revelation of Yeshuas super-human nature, His being King, was secondary to the accomplishment of His suffering and resurrection. Only the slaughtered Lamb could take the scroll. If Yeshua did not suffer, die, and resurrect then the Kingdom of Heaven could not be re-established. If Yeshua did not suffer, die, and resurrect then the judgment of the wicked and the reward of the righteous could not happen.
Even Paul explains this in 1 Corinthians:
We speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 1 Corinthians 2:7-8
Had Yeshuas mission been understood by the rulers of this age, Messiah certainly would not have suffered and died. If He had not suffered and died, He would not have arisen. And, had He not arisen, Gods plan would not have been accomplished.
