A Sign and A Warning

Author: Joseph

Date: November 14, 2021

Yeshua took three of His disciples with Him up a mountain by themselves to reveal to them a sign and a warning. Many Bibles translate that Yeshua was “transformed” upon the mountain where His face “shone like the sun, and His garments became as white light” (Matthew 17:2). What is often taught from this passage is that Yeshua was showing His disciples His true identity as the Messiah, God in the flesh, however, this explanation doesn’t explain the passage fully. Why also did Moses and Elijah appear with Yeshua? Even more astonishing is that most people read this passage and never fully comprehend that Moses and Elijah were actually there, present with Yeshua upon that mountain, though it was only for a brief time. They were not just “envisioned” on the mountain nor were the disciples deceived to believe that they appeared. The Scripture states that “And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him” (Matthew 17:3). Moses and Elijah, “appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem” (Luke 9:31).

Why Moses? Yeshua spoke before to the crowds, saying, “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” (John 5:46-47). Yeshua had greater authority than Moses and yet Moses was highly esteemed among men, yet He was not.

Why Elijah? The people of Israel looked to the words of Elijah and his coming again in order to know when the Messiah would appear. Yeshua’s own disciples said, after the visitation of Moses and Elijah, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” (Matthew 17:10). They were confused. Why had Yeshua seemingly come first and yet Elijah only now appeared? Yeshua explains that Elijah, in a sense, had come, through the work of John, who proclaimed Yeshua’s coming with the same authority as Elijah. Elijah was highly anticipated to come before the Messiah and yet many missed the fact that it was the same authority that Elijah had that was given to John, just as Elijah's authority was also given to someone else in the past: Elisha (1 Kings 19:16).

The people of Yeshua’s day did not esteem Yeshua or recognize Him, though He was the Messiah, and they did not recognize John as having Elijah’s authority, though he stood in the place of Elijah in his proclamations about Yeshua. The people were missing what was happening right before their own eyes because their assumptions about what it was supposed to be like was blinding them. Yeshua later in His ministry prophesied of Jerusalem, “…they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation” (Luke 19:44). Yeshua foretold of the holy city’s destruction because they had rejected Him in their ignorance and blindness that they self-inflicted upon themselves.

In the final moment of Moses and Elijah being with Yeshua upon the mountain, a voice proclaimed from the cloud around them, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!” (Matthew 17:5). I want to emphasize those final words again. God told the disciples, and thereby spoke to us as well, that they needed to listen to Yeshua!

Not as some general idea, nor as a sermon talking point, but as the actual central conviction of your life, do you listen to Yeshua?

What does this mean? How can we listen to Yeshua? We can do a few things in response to this command from God. We can:

1. Read the words of Yeshua in the Bible and seek to understand them sincerely and as He meant them to be understood, because in fact, our lives really do depend on them.

2. Listen to the disciples of Yeshua. They were sent out to the world just as Yeshua was sent to Judea in His day. They were given authority from God to speak as Yeshua’s disciples, empowered by His Spirit to do so.

3. Actively listen to God’s Spirit, Whom Yeshua sent as our Helper to understand Yeshua’s teachings and then apply what we are instructed in the moment we are told to do so, without hesitation.

When Yeshua transformed on the mountain and had Moses and Elijah appear beside Him, it was not just to show His authority. Yeshua was also instructing and warning His disciples that they needed to listen to Him with great care and severity. The people of Judea missed the fact that John had come with Elijah’s authority, they missed the fact that the Messiah, Yeshua, was there because they didn’t believe Moses’s words. All these things they had been hoping for they were blinded to see and therefore, they missed what they had been anticipating.

One step behind what was already happening in their day, the people were further missing out on the things Yeshua was saying would come in the future. “Listen to Him!” the voice of God proclaimed. Lest we make the same mistake and miss out on the things that Yeshua said, we should heed these words with great severity and eagerness. Even when you think you know the words of Yeshua well, read them again, this time leaving your assumptions behind. Even if you believe you are listening well with God, pray to Him and ask Him if you are hearing from Him clearly or if you have been filtering His voice through your own. The people during Yeshua’s first coming were also confident they knew well what they had heard, but they missed Yeshua’s arrival, blinded by what they had been told and what they had assumed.

Take action today to “Listen to Him!” Don’t miss out on Yeshua words.

Matthew 17:1-8

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org