The transfiguration

[andy153]

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts as to why it was Moses and Elijah that appeared with Jesus on the mount of transfiguration?

andy153

 

[ClementofRome]

I have not done an exegetical study on the transfiguration passages, so what I am about to say is speculation (and this is now driving me toward an exegetical study to see how far off I am )...

I see Moses and Elijah as the two most significant prophets of the OT. God tells Moses in Deuteronomy, I will send prophets "like you," making Moses the greatest of the prophets. Elijah, having been translated to heaven (obviously a very special event), seems to indicate that his role as prophet was also "special." The transfiguration just seems to be a roundtable of the great prophets.

Of course, I could be wrong....

 

[Macca]

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts as to why it was Moses and Elijah that appeared with Jesus on the mount of transfiguration?

andy153

There is a school of thought that these two are the two witness of Revelation Ch. 11. The thought is that the three were discussing things to come.
Macca.

 

[prodromos]

Moses and Elijah represent the Law and the Prophets respectively.

 

[SolomonVII]

Moses and Elijah represent the Law and the Prophets respectively.

Yes, this was what I was about to say. Jesus is revealed at the Tranfiguration to be in a position of greater authority than both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, which were the ultimate sources of truth and authority before this revelation.

 

[andy153]

Thanks for the replys so far, keep them coming.

I personally believe that Moses represents the water and Elijah represents the fire. What do I mean? I'll try to explain after I see the responses' to that statement.

andy153

 

[Unnamed Servant]

They either:

A: Won the Heavenly lottery.

B: Were drafted in the first two rounds by Jesus

C: Had their names pulled out of a hat.

No j/k I havent studied it but what you guys have said seems to be accurate.

Love-In-Christ,

Unnamed Servant

 

[rainbowprism]

Moses and Elijah represent the Law and the Prophets respectively.

I concur!

 

[Suffolk Sean]

Moses and Elijah represent the Law and the Prophets respectively.

I also agree.

 

[jdrahnonfire]

I want to add that Moses' body was buried by God. Elijah never tasted death. Like Moses, Jesus' body would be buried where God desired. And like Elijah, he would continue living. Although jesus tasted death, he only did it once and then ascended like Elijah did.
All the others are right on too.

 

[andy153]

Thanks to everyone for the great posts,

Have you ever considerd why only Jesus face shone in the transfiguration?

andy153

 

[ChristianCandy]

I want to add that Moses' body was buried by God. Elijah never tasted death. Like Moses, Jesus' body would be buried where God desired.

Moses was buried by Joshua & the wandering Israelites. Then God took Moses' buried body because when they went back to move Moses' body into the Promised Land, his body was gone & the Israelites knew God had taken Moses' buried body.

Deu. 34:5 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.

Deu. 34:6 And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.

Deu. 34:7 And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.

I'm sure that Moses' body was resurrected into heaven.

But....don't forget that Enoch was also translated. God just "took him".

Enoch was also a prophet of God but not as great a prophet as Elijah or Elisha. The point is though that Enoch & Elijah were both translated into heaven bodily & did not taste death.

 

[andy153]

Hi all,

let me correct all those who believe that Moses or Elijah were resurrected beings. NONE were resurrected before Jesus, he was the first fruit of the resurrection.

andy153

 

[ChristianCandy]

Sorry Andy153 but there were quite a few people resurrected by God before Jesus. Here is a story of Elijah resurrecting a widow's dead son:

1 Kings 17:17 And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.

1 Kings 17:18 And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?

1 Kings 17:19 And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.

1 Kings 17:20 And he cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?

1 Kings 17:21 And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again.

1 Kings 17:22 And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.

1 Kings 17:23 And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.

 

[pimorton]

Moses and Elijah do, indeed, represent the Law and the Prophets respectively. As such they stood there at the Transfiguration as witnesses to the glory of Jesus and to what He had to say. Jesus referred to this witness in his parable of the rich man and Lazarus, when the rich man asked Abraham to send someone from the dead to tell the rich man's brothers about Hell and the torment waiting for them. Abraham replied (paraphrasing here) "They have the Law and the Prophets. If they will not listen to them, they will not believe, even if someone rises from the dead."

 

[andy153]

Hi candy,

There were many who were brought back to life before Jesus was resurrected but all had to die again. There is a difference between resuscitation and resurrection. I repeat no-one but no-one was resurrected before Jesus. He was the first fruits of the resurrection.

with love andy153

 

[ChristianCandy]

Hi candy,

There were many who were brought back to life before Jesus was resurrected but all had to die again. There is a difference between resuscitation and resurrection. I repeat no-one but no-one was resurrected before Jesus. He was the first fruits of the resurrection.

with love andy153

Good point andy153

You get no argument from me there.

Blessings to you!

 

[andy153]

Hello again candy,

you are very gracious to acknowledge my point. May God bless you

andy153

 

[foreal]

Thanks for the replys so far, keep them coming.

I personally believe that Moses represents the water and Elijah represents the fire.
andy153

MOSES
The Nile river (Water) is where Moses was found and his life saved. Elijah called down fire from heaven a defeated the prophest of Bail. Also several times God showed His power through Moses in the form of water.

Exodus 2:2-3
And the women conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he [was a] goodly [child], she hid him three months. And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid [it] in the flags by the river's brink.



Exodus 14:21-22

21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land, so the waters were divided. 22 The sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry land, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.



Exodus 15:23-25

When they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter; therefore it was named Marah. So the people grumbled at Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?" Then he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree; and he threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet. There He made for them a statute and regulation, and there He tested them.



Exodus 17:1, 6,7

And there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water that we may drink." And Moses said to them "Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it that the people may drink." And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. He named the place Massah and Meribah because of the quarrel of the sons of Israel, and because they tested the LORD, saying, "Is the LORD among us, or not?"

ELIJAH
1 Kings 18:36-39

At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, " O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and I have done all these things at Your word. "Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that You, O LORD, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again." Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, "The LORD, He is God; the LORD, He is God."

 

[Justme]

Hi Forum,

I see the story of the transfiguration as a real wealth of information.
I see the transfiguration as the fulfillment of the prophecy that Jesus makes here:
MATTHEW 16
28I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."

or here:

1And he said to them, "I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power."

This is what 'some ' of those standing there would SEE before they died. The coming of the son of man in His Kingdom or as Mark calls it the Kingdom of God coming. Those two things must be the same thing.

Elijah and Moses were involved and they are now, and at that time, in the spiritual realm somewhere, not Heaven as has been pointed out, but spiritually somewhere where they can come and manifest themselves and appear to James , John and Peter as they watch this transfiguration. This transfiguration is , for these three, the coming of the son of man, that is what they are told they will see. That must be what the coming of the son of man or the kingdom of God must be like, including those from the distance past who have been physically dead and now live in some spiritual realm.

The most important thing I get from this is that those three men did not taste death before they saw this coming of the son of man, but everyone else will. Jesus specifically said just that to all that were there that day when He said"1And he said to them, "I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power."
Jesus wouldn't lie. If they were going to live and SEE the coming, Jesus could not have said that.

I have a funny feeling this story may tell more than this too, but I haven't figured it out yet.

Justme