Gen 50:1-Ex 2:10; Matt 16:13-17:9; PS 21:1-13; PR 5:1-6
MT 17:1-9 Transfiguration (Joy asked me to explain this)
I've never really put this together until tonight. What happened on this mountain was that Jesus allowed Peter, James and John to see Himself in His true glory. Remember when Moses went up the mountain in the OT? While there he met with God and when he came down the people said his face shone with the glory of God. Well that's what happens here. Jesus came to earth as a man, but He was still God. What the disciples were seeing at this moment was Jesus revealing the glory of His Father in Him. What I've never put together was these two chapters...16 and 17. As most of you know, when the bible was originally written it wasn't broke down into chapter and verse. That was something translators did later to help the translation process. What that means is that they should be read with no break or separation. Near the end of Chapter 16 Jesus asks these same men, "Who do you say that I am?" Peter's response was that He was "the Christ, the Son of the living God." The Holy Spirit had revealed to Peter that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, the one talked about in the prophesies. And now that they had this understanding, Jesus was able to reveal His true glory to them. I think that speaks true in our lives as well. It is only after we come to the understanding of who Jesus is that He can reveal Himself to us.
The significance of Moses and Elijah being there was this:
Moses represented the old law, he was the one that God had passed down His law through.
Elijah is referred as the chief prophet. These prophets were the ones that gave the prophesies of who the Messiah would be.
What this meeting represents is the passing of the old law (Ten Commandments) to the new law (Jesus as the new covenant.) Also, the fulfillment of the prophesies about the Messiah.
GE 50:19-21 This is a realization we all need to come to in our own lives. Here his brothers are begging for forgiveness because they are afraid now that their father is dead Joseph is going to "take them out" for all they did to him. His response though is wonderful and such an incredible example. "Am I in the place of God?" In other words, it's not my place to judge you and certainly not my place to condemn you. You meant to harm me, but God took me and protected me and still got me to where He wanted me to be. We all need to step back when people try to harm us in anyway and realize that we are not God and it's not our place to be prosecutor or judge and jury. Leave it to God and believe that He can take all situations meant to harm us and turn them to good when we depend on Him.
EX 1 - Isn't it amazing what fear can make you do? The children of Israel are minding their own business, not causing any harm at all. Then this Pharaoh comes along and sees how many of them there are and says; "I need to wipe these people, just in case they decide to rise up against us." That is fear in a nutshell. It will make us destroy people because we are scared of what MIGHT happen. Ultimately this fear becomes Pharaoh's downfall. Don't let fear destroy you.
A couple of things
ReplyDelete1. A day or so ago Ben mentioned what Jacob said to Judah before he passed. He said You are a lion’s cub O Judah...Jesus was descendant from the tribe of Judah with the lion representing the tribe. Jesus is referred as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. He isn't just the king of the Jungle but the King of Kings!
Rev 5:5; "And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof."
You have to love a Lion...Aslan....saved them from the witch!!!
2. When reflecting on the accounts of Jacobs’s house and specifically Joseph, I noticed that it is Joseph who indirectly caused the children of Israel to become slaves to the Egyptians. It was his brothers who by selling Joseph into slavery essentially sold what would be the entire nation of Israel into slavery. Joseph only had a small part to play by being their savior during the famine. Which brings me to my next point; I heard a sermon recently from a messianic Jew regarding the similarities between Joseph and Jesus. It was very interesting to me...Below is a link to a site with extensive comparisons and scriptures. To me it’s fascinating. http://www.christtheonlyway.com/Joseph___Jesus.html
I find it very intriguing that a great Man of God like Joseph would indirectly cause all of Israel's descendants to become slaves. Obliviously Joseph never saw it coming before his death. Joseph and Pharaoh were cool... they were real tight. God had a greater plan by enslaving the Hebrews; it gave the people a common cause. They all had one thing in common they were slaves. I believe this was so they would all turn toward God and be delivered as one. In other words to unify them as a people, as a people entirely consecrated to God. So they would look to him as their savior, their deliverer. Sad to say, it doesn't work for very long...As we will soon read they are very quick to forget.
EXODUS!!!! Here we come.
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