Bible Questions Answered:
“Pastor on the mount of
transfiguration, why were Moses and Elijah there?...;”
Wendy/ Amsterdam, Netherlands (North
Holland)
Bible Answer:
Bible Texts:
Matthew 17:1-8 KJV
1 And after six days Jesus taketh
Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high
mountain apart,
2 And was transfigured before them:
and His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as
The Light.
3 And, behold, there appeared unto
them Moses and Elias talking with Him.
4 Then answered Peter, and said unto
Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make
here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for
Elias.
5 While he yet spake, behold, a
bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud,
which said, This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear
ye Him.
6 And when the disciples heard it,
they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.
7 And Jesus came and touched them,
and said, Arise, and be not afraid.
8 And when they had lifted up their
eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only.
Moses
represented, The (Torah) Laws of God.
(Genesis,
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.)
Exodus 20:1-17
KJV
1 And God spake all these words,
saying,
2 I am The Lord thy God, which have
brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
(First
Commandment)
3 Thou shalt have no other gods
before Me.
(Second
Commandment)
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any
graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above,
or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the
earth.
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to
them, nor serve them: for I The Lord thy God am a jealous God,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third
and fourth generation of them that hate Me;
6 And shewing mercy unto thousands
of them that love Me, and keep My commandments.
(Third
Commandment)
7 Thou shalt not take the name of
The Lord thy God in vain; for The Lord will not hold him guiltless
that taketh His name in vain.
(Fourth
Commandment)
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep
it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labor, and do
all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the
sabbath of The Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou,
nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant,
nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11 For in six days The Lord made
heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the
seventh day: wherefore The Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed
it.
(Fifth
Commandment)
12 Honor thy father and thy mother:
that thy days may be long upon the land which The Lord thy God giveth
thee.
(Sixth
Commandment)
13 Thou shalt not kill.
(Seventh
Commandment)
14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
(Eighth Commandment)
15 Thou shalt not steal.
(Ninth
Commandment)
16 Thou shalt not bear false witness
against thy neighbor.
(Tenth
Commandment)
17 Thou shalt not covet thy
neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his
manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any
thing that is thy neighbor's.
Psalm 1:1,2 KJV
1 Blessed is the man that walketh
not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of
sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the law of
The Lord; and in His law doth he meditate day and night.
Psalm 19:7 KJV
The law of The Lord is perfect,
converting the soul: the testimony of The Lord is sure, making wise
the simple.
Psalm 119:1 KJV
Blessed are the undefiled in The
Way, who walk in the law of the Lord.
Moses was redeemed
through death itself, for Moses had died many, many years before.
I Corinthians
15:53-57 KJV (All God's people who have died, will one day be resurrected up to heaven.)
53 For this corruptible must put on
incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall
have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on
immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is
written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O death, where is thy sting? O
grave, where is thy victory?
56 The sting of death is sin; and
the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, which
giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Elijah
represented The Testimony (of The Power of God.)
I Kings 18:16-39
NLT
16 So Obadiah went to tell Ahab that
Elijah had come, and Ahab went out to meet Elijah.
17 When Ahab saw him, he exclaimed,
“So, is it really you, you troublemaker of Israel?”
18 “I have made no trouble for
Israel,” Elijah replied. “You and your family are the
troublemakers, for you have refused to obey the commands of The Lord
and have worshiped the images of Baal instead.
19 Now summon all Israel to join me
at Mount Carmel, along with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400
prophets of Asherah who are supported by Jezebel.”
20 So Ahab summoned all the people
of Israel and the prophets to Mount Carmel.
21 Then Elijah stood in front of
them and said, “How much longer will you waver, hobbling between
two opinions? If The Lord is God, follow Him! But if Baal is God,
then follow him!” But the people were completely silent.
22 Then Elijah said to them, “I am
the only prophet of The Lord who is left, but Baal has 450 prophets.
23 Now bring two bulls. The prophets of Baal may choose whichever one
they wish and cut it into pieces and lay it on the wood of their
altar, but without setting fire to it. I will prepare the other bull
and lay it on the wood on the altar, but not set fire to it.
24 Then call on the name of your
god, and I will call on the name of The Lord. The god who answers by
setting fire to the wood is the true God!” And all the people
agreed.
25 Then Elijah said to the prophets
of Baal, “You go first, for there are many of you. Choose one of
the bulls, and prepare it and call on the name of your god. But do
not set fire to the wood.”
26 So they prepared one of the bulls
and placed it on the altar. Then they called on the name of Baal from
morning until noontime, shouting, “O Baal, answer us!” But there
was no reply of any kind. Then they danced, hobbling around the altar
they had made.
27 About noontime Elijah began
mocking them. “You’ll have to shout louder,” he scoffed, “for
surely he is a god! Perhaps he is day dreaming, or is relieving
himself. Or maybe he is away on a trip, or is asleep and needs to be
wakened!”
28 So they shouted louder, and
following their normal custom, they cut themselves with knives and
swords until the blood gushed out.
29 They raved all afternoon until
the time of the evening sacrifice, but still there was no sound, no
reply, no response.
30 Then Elijah called to the people,
“Come over here!” They all crowded around him as he repaired The
Altar Of The Lord that had been torn down.
31 He took twelve stones, one to
represent each of the tribes of Israel,
32 and he used the stones to rebuild
the altar in the name of The Lord. Then he dug a trench around the
altar large enough to hold about three gallons.
33 He piled wood on the altar, cut
the bull into pieces, and laid the pieces on the wood.
Then he said, “Fill four large
jars with water, and pour the water over the offering and the wood
34 After they had done this, he
said, “Do the same thing again!” And when they were finished, he
said, “Now do it a third time!” So they did as he said,
35 and the water ran around the
altar and even filled the trench.
36 At the usual time for offering
the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet walked up to the altar and
prayed, “O Lord, God Of Abraham, Isaac, And Jacob, prove today that
you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have
done all this at your command.
37 O Lord, answer me! Answer me so
these people will know that you, O Lord, are God and that you have
brought them back to yourself.”
38 Immediately The Fire Of The Lord
flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull, the wood, the
stones, and the dust. It even licked up all the water in the trench!
39 And when all the people saw it,
they fell face down on the ground and cried out, “The Lord—He is
God! Yes, The Lord is God!”
I Chronicles
29:11 KJV
Thine, O Lord is the greatness, and
the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all
that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the
kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all.
Psalm 62:11 KJV
God hath spoken once; twice have I
heard this; that power belongeth unto God.
Psalm 147:5 KJV
Great is our Lord, and of great
power: His understanding is infinite.
Elijah, having
never died, was translated live into heaven by The Power Of God.
I Thessalonians
4:16-18 KJV (Christians who are alive, at The Lord's coming, will one day be rapture up to heaven.)
16 For the Lord himself shall
descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel,
and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and
remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet
The Lord in the air: and so shall we
ever be with The Lord.
18 Wherefore comfort one another
with these words.
Isaiah 8:20 KJV
To the law and
to the testimony: if they speak not according to
this Word, it is because there is no Light in them.
On The Mount of
Transfiguration, certainly Moses spoke words of encouragement
to The Lord Jesus, telling Him, yes his sinless life, met the
conditions of God's perfect, sinless sacrificial Lamb.
Genesis 22:7,8
KJV
7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his
father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he
said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt
offering?
8 And Abraham said, My son, God will
provide Himself A Lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of
them together.
John 1:29 KJV
The next day John seeth Jesus coming
unto him, and saith, Behold The Lamb Of God, which taketh away the
sin of the world.
And no doubt,
Elijah encouraged The Lord, concerning the mighty power of God, God
The Holy Spirit, Who would resurrect Him from the dead. Who would
know better than Elijah, who had been translated, and never seen
death, by The Spirit Of God.
II Kings 2:1,11
KJV
1 And it came to pass, when The Lord
would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went
with Elisha from Gilgal.
11 And it came to pass, as they
still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of
fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah
went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
Acts 4:33 KJV
And with great power gave the
apostles witness of the resurrection of The Lord Jesus: and great
grace was upon them all.
Romans 1:4 KJV
And declared to be The Son Of God
with power, according to The Spirit Of Holiness, by the resurrection
from the dead:
1 Corinthians
15:21 KJV
For since by man (Adam) came death,
by man (second Adam-Christ) came also the resurrection of the dead.
Philippians
3:10,11 NLT
10 I want to know Christ and
experience The Mighty Power (God The Holy Spirit) that raised Him
from the dead. I want to suffer with Him, sharing in His death,
11 so that one way or another I will
experience the resurrection from the dead!
Yes, Jesus had the
presence of God The Father with Him, Moses, Elijah, and ministering
angels. And we the children of God, have many watching over us!
Hebrews 12:1-4
NLT
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded
by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us
strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so
easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has
set before us.
2 We do this by keeping our eyes on
Jesus, The Champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of
the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame.
Now He is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.
3 Think of all the hostility He
endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give
up.
4 After all, you have not yet given
your lives in your struggle against sin.
