Moses and Elijah—One Perspective

In the Bible, Moses and Jesus are two very real personalities who are also representative of two drastically different systems of governance on earth.  The Law of Moses is God’s response to a system of thinking that originated in the minds of men. From the beginning human beings have chosen to seek becoming “like” God by a focus on knowing good and evil, but not a focus on knowing and understanding God Himself.  The law of Moses is holy, just, and good (Romans 7:12), but Israel would have to be desirous of interpreting it based on an understanding of God’s character and righteous intentions, rather than on a strict focus of the letter of the law itself.  Unfortunately, they did not do this and so this law tended to be primarily a legalistic, letter of the law approach toward God and fellow man.  Jesus, on the other hand, administers a method of governance which is based on a Parent/child dynamic between God and man.   This is called the New Covenant.  The writer of the book of Hebrews differentiates these two systems nicely in chapter 3:5-6: “Now Moses was faithful in all His house [God’s house] as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later, but Christ was faithful as a son over His house—whose house we are if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm to the end.”

These two methods and systems are Biblically called the Old Covenant (or first covenant—Heb. 8:7) and the New Covenant (or the second covenant—Heb. 8:7).  John the Baptist, who heralded Jesus’ first coming in the spirit and power of Elijah (Luke 1:17), was born under the Old Covenant, while living according to, and advocating for, the New Covenant.  Thus he, like the Elijah figure who is yet to come (Malachi 4:5), represents the transition from the former covenantal system to the latter, which will officially become the foundation of the Kingdom of God governance on earth at Jesus’ return.  Like John the Baptist, the Elijah who is yet to come just prior to the second coming of Jesus, will live under that same former system because it still rules in this current age, while advocating for and living according to, the latter and superior system.  The end time Elijah figure will be preaching this new system to the world and heralding the return of its perfect administrative head.  This is depicted in Revelation chapter 11…the fulfillment of the Malachi 4 prophecy.  A Moses figure will also be preaching alongside him as indicated in both the Malachi and Revelation chapters referenced.  Together with the returning Jesus, they (or their original counterparts) will fulfill the vision of the transfiguration of Matthew 17 once they are resurrected from the dead in Jerusalem on the “great and terrible day of the LORD”.

Both those who have labored under the current, predominate world system represented by Moses (in the letter), and have therein pursued virtuous lives; along with those few who have lived preemptively under the system of Jesus, are all striving for the same outcome…the same goal.  That goal is the righteousness of God…to become perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect.  The problem is that this goal cannot be achieved to God’s satisfaction, or even ours, under Moses…that is, under a strictly codified law approach.  In fact the apostle Paul calls this the ministry of death for just that reason.  The restraining of evil is the best that can be achieved.  That’s not bad, but it falls short of what our Father ultimately has had in mind.  He wants a system that can heal the evil that has entered the world and its people, and guard against its reemergence. This healing can only take place, and health can only then be perpetuated, through the exercising of a heart-engaging dynamic between the Father and His children.

Humans were meant to experience this dynamic process through our parent/child relationships, keeping us mindful of what the Creator was looking for.  It was to be a system within which we acquired self-value and worth from parents whom we would come to know and emulate. However, Satan deceived us right at the beginning into seeking value and worth based on knowing good and evil alone…without the spirit of our Father involved (tree of life).  But as Paul pointed out in Romans 3 and 7, just knowing right and wrong does not justify anyone because knowledge of the law and sin can’t guarantee that we would do the good and reject the evil.  Something else is required as he revealed in Romans 8…the spirit of son-ship (vs. 13-14), whereby we cry Abba, Father.  It is that spirit with which we seek Him, come to know Him, honor/admire/love Him (i.e. worship Him with all our heart, soul, and mind), and emulate Him…in other words, become a “chip off the ol’ block” just as it should happen within a healthy human family’s parent/child dynamic.  This is “obedience”, but not as if from codified law, but from a persuaded child’s heart toward the mind and character of the Father.

In Malachi 4, Elijah is the central figure.  Again, that’s because he has the transition testimony that takes us from the servanthood of Moses to the son-ship of Jesus (Hebrews 3:5-6), from this age to the next, from the kingdom of this world to the Kingdom of our LORD and of His Christ.  Peace will not be found in this age because the way of son-ship is not appreciated or focused on in the way it needs to be.  “My thoughts are not your thoughts”, says God (Isaiah 55:8).  For the most part we are living in a deceptive matrix…behind a veil that blinds us to the way, the truth, and the life.  As the uniquely begotten SON of the Father…the firstborn…Jesus’ Father-focus IS that way, truth, and life.  The faith of Jesus in the message of his Father regarding our coming Kingdom destiny and its New Covenant foundation, needs to be our faith, too.  What will follow that faith is forgiveness, receiving the holy spirit of son-ship, a changed life, and a resurrection from the dead at his appearing.

Look for the Elijah-figure first…it won’t be long now.  He will be turning the hearts of fathers to their children, and children to their fathers.  That seems to be a lost art these days, probably worse than ever in human history.  Without the willingness of at least some to receive that message, God says He would have to smite the earth with utter destruction (Malachi 4:6). That’s how key the father/son (parent/child) dynamic has always been to the awesome and successful world our Creator planned for us a long time ago.  It is the very nature of the relationship He wants to have with His children; one that is experienced, understood, and generationally shared through and within our own human families.  Above all else, it is perhaps the key to understanding God as the Father He wants to be, and then building on that truth.

Let’s get our hearts ready to hear Elijah’s message which is part and parcel to the message Jesus preached about the coming Kingdom of God.  It will be preached as a witness to all nations for 3 ½ years, and then the end of this age will come (Matthew 24:14).

Addendum:

Sadly, religion gets in the way of God’s purposes and just confuses people. The truth is, His agenda is profoundly simple, and contains these two aspects: 1) He wants children who admire and love Him…because of which they strive to emulate Him. And 2) He wants those children to administer the affairs of planet Earth which He created for them to possess as an eternal inheritance. It’s all about a heart-engaging family dynamic between a Father and His children, and their inheritance. This is the message of Jesus in a nutshell. But until the current system of things is brought down, along with the religions that support it, God’s agenda will not be fully and visibly implemented. It will take the return of Jesus of Nazareth to do this. Families must be the method of governance throughout the generations to come.