A Tale of Two Prophets
Chapter One | Chapter Two |Chapter Three |Chapter Four | Chapter
Five | Chapter Six | Chapter Seven
Chapter One -
Almost every Christian knows more about Jesus than he does about Moses. Let's become
better acquainted with that man Moses. Let's look into the pages of Scripture and
find out more about that prophet God used to begin the writing of His Holy Bible.
Let's get to know that Moses who prophesied of Christ-
Behind the Scenes
Let's become personally familiar with the character and personality
of that Moses who was "mighty in words and in deeds," according to Stephen, the first
martyr of the Christian Church (Acts 7:22). Let's set aside all preconceived notions
about that man Moses, and get to know him intimately. We can draw from history and
tradition, but let's avoid bigotry at all costs. Let's go behind the scenes of plague
and pestilence, behind the events of the parting of the Red Sea and the giving of
the law, behind the stories of the building of the tabernacle in the wilderness and
the establishment of the Levitical priesthood.
Moses was a human being. He suffered frustrations from unfulfilled desires, misunderstandings
of his motives by his fellow Israelites, self-
Let's get to know him better-
Years of Preparation
Moses' life spanned 120 years. Jesus' human life was only a little
over thirty-
Whatever the arguments as to which is dominant in a man's life, two things shape
the person: heredity and environment. Moses' great-
Levi, in Hebrew, means "joined." Although Leah's sentiment regarding her third son
was personal, her choice of name for Levi later proved to be prophetic as well: the
entire tribe of Levi "joined" the nation of Israel to God by fulfilling the offices
of the Levitical priesthood! Beginning with Abraham, who married his half-
Educated in the finest institutions of learning in the enters of the civilization of their day as well as in the crucible of trade, commerce and animal husbandry, Abraham and his children were the cosmopolitan elite of their day. Contrary to popular opinion, the record seems to show that Abraham and his family brought culture to Egypt, rather than obtaining it there.
As to brilliance: Abraham, blessed by God, managed to extricate himself from two
politically tricky situations with the Pharaoh of Egypt and the king of Gerar-
Faults and Talents
The purpose of all this is to show that despite the fact that Moses
began as the son of a slave, he had inherent capacities in his bloodline which qualified
him to be used to fulfil the unique commission God called him to accomplish.
On the other hand, there were family characteristics many prefer to overlook in considering
these holy men of the Bible. God doesn't leave them out, however. He tells the whole
story and makes these giants much easier to understand by showing their entirely
human faults as well as talents. The family had a streak of clever, scheming deviousness
and used it to execute plots against each other as much as against the world around
them. Strong, if not violent, tempers provided another common trait. Opinionated
and of iron will, they were from time to time not even beyond arguing with God Himself-
Another trait of Moses' heredity was a strong dominance among the women of the family.
No second-
Clever Miriam spied on the event and reported all to mother Jochebed (both strong
women). Even more clever,Jochebed managed to ingratiate herself with the royal daughter
of Pharaoh and wrangle herself the position of wet nurse and governess for that blessed
gift of the Nile, (named by this time) Moses! And in addition, she got paid! That
fascinating interplay of human endeavour and God's intervention at times of crisis
set Moses on a career unprecedented in history.
Just as the innocent naming of Levi
by Leah, drawing from the circumstances of his birth, was later prophetic, so was
the naming of Moses by the daughter of Pharaoh. Viewing the child's miraculous appearance
on the bosom of the god-
First Forty Years
Paul tells us in Hebrews a peculiar thing about Moses: "Esteeming
the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect
unto the recompense of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath
of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible"! (Hebrews 11:26, 27.)
This truth, inspired by the Holy Spirit, says Moses knew his heritage, his background,
the promises and prophecies passed on from Abraham to Jacob to Levi to Amran, to
Moses! The biblical record of Moses' first forty years covers just half a chapter,
but the skeleton outline of events provides enough detail to flesh out most of the
remainder from reason and tradition. Taught the truths Abraham received from God,
Moses' first learning experience, his primary education, was received at the breast
of Jochebed, the witty, clever, faithful mother/governess for the adopted, miraculous
Gift of the Nile, the new Prince of Egypt!
Built onto this basic foundation of truth was his royal education. Adopted into the
very top social stratum of the greatest civilization of the day, nothing was spared
to provide him with the very best available on earth in every facet of his life:
history, perverted by political necessity of the-
Life Begins at Forty
Permeated with the truth of God taught him by his real mother,
saturated with all the knowledge the royalty of Egypt could provide, Moses came to
the first severe crisis point of his life. Seeking to destroy this spoiled gift of
the gods, Moses' adopted siblings of actual Egyptian royalty must have precipitated
his need to flee into exile when he slew that Egyptian in defence of his blood brethren.
Well, they say life begins at forty! And for Moses, at least, a completely new life
began at forty. Reared in the lap of luxury unimaginable, with unlimited funds to
sustain his every need and whim, an unlimited supply of manpower always at his disposal
to execute whatever project he might want to pursue; lauded, praised, honoured and
revered, protected, provided for and pampered Moses now faced making his living with
his own two hands! Fear-
But don't feel too sorry for him-
Jesus' Enigmatic Statement
One thing we should understand thoroughly is that Moses
was very personally acquainted with the One we call Jesus. The Jesus of the New Testament
was the Lord of the Old Testament! Jesus frustrated the theologians of His day with
this enigmatic commentary: "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw
it, and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old,
and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Before Abraham was, I am"! (John 8:56-
Jesus the Word of God, who was God, and became flesh, always existed. He was the
One who told us that no man had either seen or heard the Father. It was through Him
that all things that are made in heaven and in earth were made. Jesus is the One
who, in the prayer He made to His Father just before the crucifixion, asked that
the glory He had formerly enjoyed with the Father be restored to Him, since He had
completed the mission for which He came to earth. The doctrines of some would relegate
Jesus to being a created being, having a beginning. Some think He is Michael the
archangel. And of course some are of the opinion that He was just an outstanding
human being of His day expounding social philosophies beyond the scope of His generation.
And many deny Him altogether, even as a historical person, and feel He is the invention
of whoever it was that started the Christian movement, an outstanding member of the
mythical pantheon of Christendom. If we are to believe that John, Paul, Stephen,
Peter, Luke, Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, etc., etc. were tellers of truth, then
we must conclude that Jesus not only preexisted, but was indeed the God of the entire
Bible, the Spokesman for the God family, the Word of the Lord, the Almighty God Elohim
who spoke and there was light! So when Jesus told the critics of His day, "Before
Abraham was, I am," He was being neither grammatically nor factually incorrect. When
Jesus trod this earth as the physical son of man, He was not only filled with compassion
for the multitudes of His generation, but remembered intimately and with the depth
of godly love all the spirits of just men made perfect in the many generations that
had preceded His presence at Bethlehem. Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses were not just
prophetically hoping about the coming of the Messiah in some future generation; they
were direct recipients of personal promises from the One who became our Savior. They
were not just empty, historical names Jesus had to learn about as a boy in Nazareth-
Old Familiar Friends
Besides the power of the Holy Spirit, the memories Jesus held
of these men and women of the Bible who had all died in faith, believing in Him,
must have sustained and inspired Him to fulfil His commission perfectly. Jesus anxiously
looked forward to that day-
Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever-
Moses the Octogenarian
After forty years of sheep tending on Sinai, being eighty years
of age, Moses was at last ready to perform the commission for which he had been born.
A commission that would take him yet another forty years to perform. The epic of
the Exodus, the giving of the Law, the writing of the beginnings of the Bible, the
establishment of the Levitical priesthood and the Tabernacle services in the wilderness-
Chapter Two -
Reared in the lap of luxury unimaginable, honoured, praised, loved, lauded, protected, pampered, educated and prepared to become a Pharaoh himself, Moses struck tragedy at age forty. Through a careless act of his own, and undoubtedly spurred by palace intrigue from his royal Egyptian semi siblings who hated him in jealous rage, Moses fled into exile to save his life. A fugitive from the justice of Egypt. Moses plummeted from the pinnacle of riches and honour into an unknown future.
Cloak of Humility
That future stretched another forty years, getting him ready for
the commission God had prepared for him. The prince became a pauper, and scratched
out a living in the searing sands of Sinai as a shepherd for a Midianite mogul named
Jethro. Trading his bejewelled, golden staff which designated him prince of the greatest
nation on earth for a crude,gnarled, hardwood shepherd's staff, Moses began his forty
years of humbling, hard work. Moses married Zipporah, eldest daughter of his boss.
They had two sons. Moses wandered through the woeful wilderness of Sinai for forty
years, yet won no wealth. Unlike his own great grandfather Jacob, who hired out as
shepherd for Laban and in twenty years became rich and a sheik in his own right,
Moses remained a shepherd, virtually penniless.
Moses put on the cloak of humility in the place of princely robes. Long, endless
hours under desert sun and stars were spent in contemplation and soul searching.
Alone in the empty waste, Moses had time to mature. He became both hardened-
Moses, general of the armies of Egypt, now had for troops only sheep to command.
Moses, builder of massive monuments in the empire of Egypt, lived mostly in the open,
with no shelter-
God knew Moses was ready-
How could Moses resist an offer like that? Here was the very Creator he worshiped
speaking directly to him, Moses, octogenarian has-
But MOSES DID!
"But I'm not the person for a job like that!" Moses exclaimed.
What were Moses' thoughts about this revelation? Let's guess. First, God says He
is going to deliver the slaves of Egypt. Then He says MOSES is going to do it! How
does a simple, hireling shepherd of forty years at the age of eighty go charging
into the most powerful court on earth where he is wanted for murder and tell the
king to let all his slaves-
"Then God told him, `I will certainly be with you, and this is the proof that I am
the one who is sending you: when you have led the people out of Egypt, you shall
worship God here upon this mountain!'" Now, Moses thought about that proof. He had
certainly worshiped God on this mountain, but what "proof" was this, that he would
"worship God here upon this mountain" After he "led the people out of Egypt"? Not
that Moses doubted God, he doubted himself. What good was after-
Unspoken Questions
Now God was patient and sympathetic with Moses-
"Call together all the elders of Israel," God instructed him, "and tell them about
YHVH appearing to you here in this burning bush and that he said to you, `I have
seen what is happening to them there in Egypt. I promise to rescue them from the
drudgery and humiliation they are undergoing, and to take them to the land now occupied
by the Canaanite's, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, a land
"flowing with milk and honey." The elders of the people of Israel will accept your
message. They must go with you to the king of Egypt and tell him, "YHVH, the God
of the Hebrews, has met with us and instructed us to go three days' journey into
the desert to sacrifice to him. Give us your permission." But I know that the king
of Egypt will NOT let you go except under heavy pressure. So I will give him all
the pressure he needs! I will destroy Egypt with my miracles, and then at last he
will let you go. And I will see to it that the Egyptians load you down with gifts
when you leave, so that you will by no means go out empty-
But Moses still had doubts. Not to be construed as a lack of faith, but it all seemed
very vague to him. How was he to convince his slave-
Now who is going to believe a story like that? If I tell them I talked to God who was in a burning bush in the desert, they'll call for the men in white and rush me off to an institution. They'll say I've lost my marbles, that I've been wandering in the desert too long, that I'm just an old man dreaming of restoring my former glory, that I've been hallucinating after being alone so long with a flock of sheep in the wilderness. "They won't believe me!" Moses complained to God. "They won't do what I tell them to. They'll say, 'YHVH never appeared to you!"'
Three Good Miracles
Now, God was again patient with Moses, listened to his arguments,
sympathized with his dilemma. "I understand your problem, Moses," God replied. "What's
that in your hand?" "It's just my shepherd's rod," Moses answered sheepishly. "Well,
I'll tell you what we're going to do, Moses. I understand that people have a great
difficulty in believing what my servants say I say-
Well, Moses threw down his rod, and sure enough, it became a snake, and when he picked it up by the tail it returned to its original stick shape. He put his arm in his robe and when he drew it out, sure enough it was leprous! Hopefully, he thrust it into his garments again, and thankfully when he brought it out again it was okay! He didn't have any Nile River water handy, so he had to take that one on faith. And Moses did believe.
More Excuses
But somehow, Moses just couldn't seem to picture himself performing this
job God wanted him to do. He cast about in his mind for yet another excuse that would
convince God that He'd picked the wrong man-
Incredible, isn't it? You'd almost think that Moses had already read and was convinced
of the words of a man called Paul-
Patience Worn Thin
You can read the Bible from start to finish and you will not find
a more bold approach to God by anyone else. Here was a man, literally arguing with
God! And surviving! And God, in His turn, was reasoning with Moses. It was a give
and-
With that, Moses finally got the hint! God had made up His mind on who He was going
to use to free the Israelites from Egypt, and no matter how stubborn Moses was, God
was yet more stubborn! The going was getting tough-
So, like it or not, Moses was stuck with the job. Moses stopped arguing at this point-
Reluctant Prophet
The reason all this is brought up is to show Moses in a different
light than most see him. Moses was not eager to become the chief executive in the
"administration of death" (2 Cor. 3:7). Moses was a reluctant prophet. Faithful and
obedient and hard working, granted, but reluctant. Moses did the job God wanted done-
Nothing could be further from the truth!
In the first place, the translation in the King James Bible is inaccurate. It should
read: "For the law was given THROUGH Moses, while grace and truth came THROUGH Jesus
Christ." This Moses and this Jesus are very much two of a kind. Law is not opposed
to truth. Law is truth. Granted, law is not grace. It was never intended to be. The
purpose of law it to show the NEED for grace. Grace in no way does away with law-
Law and Grace and Truth
Moses, the man, or any other man, could not produce or provide
grace. Only Jesus, by His perfect life and perfect sacrifice can grant grace. Hence,
the law could be given through Moses, the man-
Moses was thoroughly familiar with God's grace, and he wrote five books of God's
truth. Jesus thoroughly believed in and knew all about law, for it was His voice
that thundered God's law to millions of Israelites from the heights of the holy mountain
of God, Sinai in Horeb-
Chapter Three -
First Crisis
Now Moses had been forewarned by God that the Pharaoh would not take
too kindly to the idea of releasing all his Israelite slaves, but he was still not
prepared for the first crisis. When Moses gave his now famous "Let-
Moses had nowhere to turn except to the God who had
sent him. He knew YHVH was merciful and he knew God's truth-
"Now the Lord spoke to Moses again and told him, `Go back again to Pharaoh and tell
him that he MUST let the people of Israel go"' (verses 10-
Back to Square One
Bolstered by promises and miracles from God, Moses and Aaron, both
octogenarians, went before Pharaoh again. Sure enough he was stubborn, just as God
had predicted and Moses had known he would be. Moses and Aaron pulled the trick with
the stick and turned it into a snake-
The power of that awesome first plague had a good effect on Moses and he began to
pursue his job more willingly, began to become the Moses we all remember. Over a
period of about a year, God, through Moses and Aaron, punished that great nation
Egypt with such devastating miracles that it looked worse than Germany after World
War II. In fact, it ceased to function as a nation for more than a generation! All
the gods Egypt worshiped were turned into deadly enemies, fearsome plagues. Frogs,
flies, beetles, bugs and lice-
The gods Egypt trusted in were not only no help to them, but they became frightening tormentors causing pain, death and destruction. The great God YHVH showed who was the real God by turning the things they worshiped into tools of evil and death.
All of Pharaoh's priests and sorcerers admitted defeat and begged Pharaoh to let
Moses have his way. The whole populace in panic-
In that epic miracle of the crossing of the Red Sea, God crushed the last remaining
vestige of Egyptian power: her Pharaoh and all his armies drowned. Egypt was nothing:
no crops, few houses, sick people, gold, silver and all treasures gone with the Israelites,
no Pharaoh, no army, no government-
Moses' Troubles With the People in Sinai
Yet in the face of this overwhelming evidence
of power from heaven executed through Moses for the benefit of Israel, grumbling,
griping, complaining and rebellion were the milestones of the trek through Sinai-
God tests and tries us all in different ways, but be thankful you don't have to go through what Moses did! Moses knew whose idea this whole plan was: God's. God's plan, God's people, God's plagues, God's Exodus (and, of course, God's law). But the people only saw Moses, the man to blame. When Moses was up on Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments, he was staggered by what his Maker had to say: "Quick! Go on down, for your people that you brought from Egypt have defiled themselves" (Ex. 32:7).
Remember, Moses had not wanted the job in the first place, tried in every way to
avoid the calling God had given him-
"I have seen what a stubborn, rebellious lot these people are. Now let me alone and
my anger shall blaze out against them and destroy them all,-
Bold Intercession
"But Moses begged God not to do it. `Lord,' he pleaded, why is your
anger so hot against your own people whom you brought from the land of Egypt with
such great power and mighty miracles?"' (Ex. 32:11.) People have misunderstood John's
statement cited above, probably because they have not read the whole book!
At this particular moment the life of an entire nation millions of people, with all
their potential billions of descendants (and maybe you are one of them!)-
Moses, who governed with an iron hand. Moses, who administered corporal and capital
punishment for crimes against God's laws-
Moses the Merciful
"Turn back from your fierce wrath," Moses boldly said. "REPENT!"
Moses said-
Moses continued: "Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever" (verse 13, KJV). What boldness! What absolute trust in the mercy and grace of God! What spiritual guts! What a merciful Moses! And beyond that, it was effective; it worked! "And the LORD REPENTED of the evil which he thought to do unto his people"! (Verse 14, KJV.)
WHY?
How can this be? God angry?! Moses merciful?! It doesn't make sense with what you've heard before, does it? An enigma, a puzzle, a paradox! But what about all those people the great God of love destroyed and all those people that harsh man Moses "saved" that day? And, in a larger sense, if God is all powerful and all loving, why does He allow so much human suffering today?
Moses learned the answers to these puzzles in a gripping tale worth the telling.
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Chapter Four -
Surely the God of all love could not help but be moved by such a selfless, loving,
merciful plea! This One to whom Moses spoke, who was to become the Christ; this One,
who by the design of Himself and His Father was yet to appear on the world scene,
emptied of being God, subject to death as a human being, willing to give His life
to atone for all sinners; this One whose inner thoughts would be so much like Moses'
(only on a much grander scale) when He would say, at the point of death on the cross,
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!"; this One who would taste
death for, in the stead of, everyone; this One, the Savior of all mankind;this One,
to become Jesus the Christ, the only name under heaven whereby men may be saved;
this One, ever-
God's Prerogative
"Whoever has sinned against me will be blotted out of my book, Moses.
Now you go lead the people to the place I told you about, and I will punish whom
I will punish!" (Verses 33, 34.) Moses obeyed. The people were solemnly and soberly
assembled to await their fate at the hands of their God. Moses and God continued
their conversation, deliberating what was to be done (Ex. 33:5-
Moses: Great YHVH, you have been telling me, "Take these people to the promised land," but you haven't told me whom you will send with me. You say you are my friend and that I have found grace in your eyes. Please, if this is really so, guide me clearly in the way you want me to travel so that I will understand you and walk acceptably before you. And never forget that this nation is your people!
YHVH: I myself will go with you and give you success!
Moses: If you aren't going with us, don't send us. Don't let us move a step from this place. If you don't go with us, who will ever know that Iand my people have found favour and grace in your eyes, and that we are different from every other people on the face of the earth?
YHVH: Yes, Moses, I will do what you have asked, for you have certainly found grace and favour with me, and you are my friend.
Moses: Oh, great and merciful God, thank you. Dare I ask one more thing? Permit me to see your glory!
YHVH: I will make my goodness, my glory, to pass before you, and I will announce the full meaning of my name: YHVH. But one thing you must understand, Moses, is that it is I, not you, who must decide when and to whom to be gracious. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. My friend Moses,your heart, your attitude, your intent, your concern, your love are all in complete harmony with my own. Your purpose is my purpose. But both the power to perform it and the time frame in which it must be done are mine, and mine alone. Don't be impatient!
Now, you can't see my glory face to face or it would destroy you, but you stand here on this rock beside me, and when my glory goes by, I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed. Then I will remove my hand and you shall see my back, but not my face.
Key of Timing
For the lesson in patience Moses learned, we must cheat a little and
go to the New Testament. Peter tells us in his second epistle, chapter 3, verse 8:
"But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as
a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning
his promise, as some men count slackness
Here is the key-
Our time sense as human beings is very limited. God is eternal-
Now many people assume that the Psalms were written by David-
The Seventh "Day"
The week is composed of seven days. God is the author of time, by
virtue of creation. And He arbitrarily chose a seven-
The meaning is clear when all the scriptures are put together. God allotted six days-
Paul gives us another glimpse at the plan: "And so ALL Israel shall be saved: as
it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer [Savior], and shall turn
away ungodliness from Jacob: for this is my covenant unto them, WHEN I shall take
away their sins. As concerning the gospel [the good news], they are enemies for your
sakes: but as touching the election [the ultimate judgment of their eternal fate],
they are beloved for the fathers' sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without
repentance" (Rom. 11:26-
"ALL Israel shall be saved"?! Could that possibly include that sinful generation God sought to "destroy" and Moses sought to "save"? YES! "For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived. that he might be Lord both of the dead and living(Rom. 14:9).
A Physical Resurrection
But how can dead people receive salvation? We've always been
told by most of the Christian preachers that if you don't get "saved" during your
lifetime, you'll go to that terrible other place forever: hell! Would you believe
that the good news Jesus told Moses is better than the "gospel" preached by so many
today-
Who made life anyway? Who gave Adam his first breath? Who moulded Adam from the dust
and built Eve from Adam's side? Who is the Giver of life-
YES!
And, for those who might leap to the conclusion that this is a "second-
Surely you have heard of the "valley of dry bones." A Negro spiritual in America
makes this a tuneful truth that is happily sung while ignoring the meaning of the
words! Ezekiel 37 tells the story: bones, sinews, flesh, skin and the breath of
life-
Opportunity for Salvation
And not only Israel is included in this merciful resurrection
to their one and only chance at eternal life, but all the people of every nation
under the sun, from every generation that ever lived, are included! Matthew 12 and
Luke 11 tell of Jesus warning the generation of His day, long since dead, that those
of the generation of Jonah in Nineveh (the very antithesis of Israel) and those of
the generation of the queen of the south (the queen of Sheba) would one day rise
with the generation to whom He was speaking. And Jesus further warned that the chances
for salvation of those other generations would be better because they did not have-
God is no respecter of persons. He made all mankind in His own image. He loves them
all-
God is the One who is in charge. He is the One who will offer salvation to whom He wants to offer it when He chooses. Thank God He chooses to offer that same salvation to everyone sooner or later! Babylonians, Scythians, Ninevites, Africans, Romans and Christians alike!
And that's really good news!
God is "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance"
(II Peter 3:9). God's will be done! How sad it is that so many misinterpret what
John said: "For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ"
(John 1:17). Although the law came through Moses and grace and truth came through
Jesus Christ, Moses was most familiar with not only God's law but also His infinite
mercy and grace-
God's Name
Blessed be the name of the Lord. But what is His name? Moses kept asking
Him the same question. And God gave His friend Moses the answer: "And the Lord [YHVH]
descended in the cloud, and stood with him [Moses] there, and proclaimed the name
of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord
God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping
mercy for thousands [of generations], forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,
and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers
upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth
generation" (Ex. 34:5-
And that is the "name of the Lord" Moses learned from his friend GOD! That was almost
more than Moses could endure. What a marvellous plan! What all-
Trust God-
Why Salvation?
But what about why? Why would anybody want to be saved? Saved from
what for what? Saved from Egypt? From sin? From death? But for what? Why did God
make us the way He did? Mortal, subject to sin, capable of inflicting so much misery
on our own kind for so many thousands of years. Why are we here? Why were we born?
What is it God plans for us? What purpose is there? And once we are "saved" what
will we be? That's the "Tale of the Other Prophet"-
Chapter Five -
The Transfiguration
When the disciples of Jesus' day asked Him to show them the Kingdom
of God and its coming, Jesus, through a "vision," provided three of their number
with a foretaste of what that Kingdom would be like. Peter, James and John, from
among the twelve apostles, were chosen for this special revelation. The whole scene
is described in Matthew 17.
The two individuals Jesus chose to show in vision to His disciples were Moses and
Elijah! Moses, then, will definitely be in God's Kingdom. Moses was Jesus' first
choice, along with Elijah, as an example for Peter, James and John of the end product
of the purpose of creation. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are earlier mentioned by Jesus
as definitely being in the Kingdom of God, as well as Noah, Daniel, Job and David-
Power To Become Sons
The Bible clearly reveals that the purpose of the creation of
human beings is to make them "sons of God." Yet this presents an enigma because it
also clearly states that "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" (I Cor.
15:50).
The only answer to that problem is the equally enigmatic statement by Jesus that human beings must "be born again" (John 3:3). That statement by Jesus is perhaps the most misunderstood of all He made. "Born again" is turned by most of religion into some sort of "spiritual experience" which leaves the body still flesh and blood, incapable of inheriting the Kingdom. It seems no one actually wants to take Jesus at His word!
Let's cheat, and believe that Jesus-
"Blasphemy!" shouted the righteously indignant and generally enraged religious bigots
of Jesus' day when He said, "I am the Son of God."
"For a good work we stone thee
not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God!"
they explained smugly in their theological straitjackets as they stooped to pick
up rocks. But for some reason they paused to give Jesus time to pose a puzzling
question from the heart of their own Scriptures: "Is it not written in your law,
I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and
the scripture cannot be broken; say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and
sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?" (John
10:33-
Is a Son a Son?
At the very heart of Christian belief is the absolute necessity of
recognizing and believing what those of Jesus' day labelled "blasphemy!" Every good
Christian believes as the cardinal point of doctrine that Jesus Christ of Nazareth
was and is the Son of God-
Why do so many use all the words and slogans so common to Christianity in vain? Do we believe that neither Jesus nor the Father in heaven really mean what they say? Do we believe that the gospel message so plainly stated by Jesus is all allegory, all symbolism, all parable, all fable, all myth? Do we say by our beliefs and actions that the Communists are right after all when they say that belief in a supernatural being, in religion, is indeed "the opiate of the people"?
Do we believe that plain, clear words in the Bible describing the purpose of life, the plan of God, and defining the gospel are all empty phrases holding no practical meaning? Are these phrases to be taken with a grain of salt as mere religious phraseology having no real meaning or substance? Do words used in the revelation of God to mankind have a meaning apart from reality? Do we really believe that God says one thing but means another? (That was Satan's first argument back in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve! Check it for yourself: Genesis, chapter two.) When God says His purpose is to make you and me His sons just what kind of sons do you suppose He means? Real ones or fake ones? When and if you become a son of God, what kind of son do you think you will be?
When you get right down to it, are you really satisfied with any religion's explanation of the meaning of life, of the key purpose for our creation, of the ultimate goal to be untainted by any religious exercise? Let's briefly examine the major options offered to us.
What Would You Like To Be When You Rise Up?
Billions have believed that the ultimate
goal of mankind is to achieve nirvana: "the state of perfect blessedness achieved
by the absorption of the soul into the supreme spirit"; that is, an unconscious continued
existence, as it were, like a cell in the body of the great one. It has served billions,
and driven them to extremes in their worship to accomplish nirvana. But what good
is it to live forever and yet not even realize you are alive; have no personal existence?
Does the idea satisfy you?
A nearly equal number have believed that the afterlife of the faithful will consist
of forever living at ease in an oasis called the "Garden of Allah," where, lounging
in hammocks strung between date palms, the men (because this is a rather male-
Christianity is separated into two basic camps, which for many centuries have endeavoured
to exterminate one another. The more universal belief held by the larger of the two
camps is that the purpose of life is to achieve the "beatific vision." After wading
through about six pages of fine print in the encyclopaedia of that religion, attempting
to define just what the "beatific vision" is, you come to the disappointing conclusion
that, in their own words, "no one really knows"! The best you can get is that it
is a state of blessedness in which you, living forever, will be able to gaze upon
God, seeing Him better than you see Him now, but not ever being able to see Him as
He really is. Vague as it may seem, it is avidly pursued by hundreds of millions
as the goal of their existence. Perhaps the threat of the only other alternative-
The other Christian belief-