Reflection for V’zot Ha’berakhah
“Listen to the Transfigured One!”
Matthew 17:1-9
Mark 9:2-10
Luke 9:28-36
Jude 3-4, 8-10
excerpted from TorahScope Apostolic Scriptures Reflections
After a year’s journey through the Torah, the annual cycle of reading the fifty-four parashot comes to a close this week with V’zot Ha’berakhah or “This is the blessing” (Deuteronomy 33:1–34:12), examining the final chapters of the Book of Deuteronomy. Particularly significant words for future generations of God’s people to embrace were communicated, most notably the prophetic impressions Moses delivered about the future of Israel’s Twelve Tribes, which he led through the desert sojourn, in Deuteronomy ch. 33.
In a summary fashion in V’zot Ha’berakhah, we do read about the death of Moses and the camp of Israel mourning him (Deuteronomy ch. 34), and this only intensifies how highly valued he was as the chosen deliverer of Israel, and how valuable his final words were as spoken to his people, as they were finally ready to enter into the Promised Land. For the past three-and-a-half millennia since, the revered words of Moses’ Teaching—the Biblical Books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, composing the Chumash or Pentateuch—have formed the foundation of Judaism and Christianity. Of course, knowing the importance which would be accorded to a figure such as Moses, we see how the Lord purposely had him die and be buried in an unmarked grave. Neither the Joshua generation which entered into Canaan, the Ancient Israelites who would later follow, nor the many millions of followers of Israel’s God afterward—have ever been able to venerate his tomb. Some of the final verses of Deuteronomy, which had to have been penned by an editor after Moses’ death, detail,
“The LORD said to him, ‘This is the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, “I will give it to your offspring.” I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.’ So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the LORD’s word. He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth Peor, but no man knows where his tomb is to this day.[1] Moses was one hundred twenty years old when he died. His eye was not dim, nor his strength gone. The children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the days of weeping in the mourning for Moses were ended” (Deuteronomy 34:4-8, WMB).
While no mortal, even until now in the Twenty-First Century, knows where Moses was buried after he died, the Synoptic Gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke definitively record how Moses did not just steadily compose into base atoms and cosmic dust, later to just be recycled as a part of the ecosystem. On the Mount of Transfiguration, where Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) was revealed in all of His Heavenly glory—to Peter, James, and John—Moses, along with the Prophet Elijah, appeared. While it is recorded that the Prophet Eliah was taken into Heaven (2 Kings 2:11), Moses died. This serves as strong confirmation that the human consciousness or spirit does indeed exist, in a disembodied state in another dimension,[2] until the future resurrection of the dead. These three accounts together inform Bible readers:
“After six days Yeshua took with him Peter, Jacob, and Yochanan, and brought them up onto a high mountain privately by themselves, and he was changed into another form in front of them. His clothing became glistening, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them. Elijah and Moses appeared to them, and they were talking with Yeshua. Peter answered Yeshua, ‘Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let’s make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ For he didn’t know what to say, for they were very afraid. A cloud came, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, ‘This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.’ Suddenly looking around, they saw no one with them any more, except Yeshua only. As they were coming down from the mountain, he commanded them that they should tell no one what things they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. They kept this saying to themselves, questioning what the ‘rising from the dead’ meant” (Mark 9:2-10, WMB).
“After six days, Yeshua took with him Peter, Jacob, and Yochanan his brother, and brought them up into a high mountain by themselves. He was changed before them. His face shone like the sun, and his garments became as white as the light. Behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them talking with him. Peter answered and said to Yeshua, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you want, let’s make three tents here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. Behold, a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.’ When the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces, and were very afraid. Yeshua came and touched them and said, ‘Get up, and don’t be afraid.’ Lifting up their eyes, they saw no one, except Yeshua alone. As they were coming down from the mountain, Yeshua commanded them, saying, ‘Don’t tell anyone what you saw, until the Son of Man has risen from the dead’” (Matthew 17:1-9, WMB).
“About eight days after these sayings, he took with him Peter, Yochanan, and Jacob, and went up onto the mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became white and dazzling. Behold, two men were talking with him, who were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they were fully awake, they saw his glory, and the two men who stood with him. As they were parting from him, Peter said to Yeshua, ‘Master, it is good for us to be here. Let’s make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah,’ not knowing what he said. While he said these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered into the cloud. A voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!’ When the voice came, Yeshua was found alone. They were silent, and told no one in those days any of the things which they had seen” (Luke 9:28-36, WMB).
A few Bible readers, who encounter the scene of the Transfiguration, actually choose to discount it as having actually taken place in real space time. Did the disciples Peter, James, and John really see Yeshua in all of His Heavenly glory, present with Moses and Elijah, no less? If they did not, then the expressed desire to build three tabernacles or tents, to shade them from the heat of the Sun and provide some cool for these honored men, seems more than a bit out of place. Some readers take Matthew 17:9 as an implication that what occurred was only a kind of dream, because this verse states, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead” (NASU). So was the scene of Transfiguration something the disciples present all hallucinated or imagined, as they could have been manipulated by Yeshua as some kind of wizard? Or was this a genuine appearance of the Lord in His true form as King of Kings, with two important figures from the Tanakh?
Employed for “vision” in Matthew 17:9 is the Greek term horama, meaning “that which is seen, a sight, spectacle” (LS),[3] which is notably different from optasia, “state of being that is experienced by one who has a vision, trance” (BDAG).[4] A critical usage of horama appears in Stephen’s defense speech to the Sanhedrin to describe Moses before the burning bush: “When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight [horama]. As he came close to see, the voice of the Lord came to him” (Acts 7:31, WMB). No one I know, who holds that what the Torah says to be true and historically accurate, would ever argue that Moses seeing the burning bush was a kind of vision, trance, or hallucination—but that it occurred in real time. Given the fact that Moses was present at the Transfiguration of Yeshua, we should take our cue for the proper meaning of horama in Matthew 17:9, from Acts 7:31, as being “the sight.”
For time immemorial, followers of the Messiah Yeshua can turn to the record in the Gospels detailing the Mount of Transfiguration, and be reminded that He is indeed supreme. He is the Chosen One to whom all of Creation must answer! No more appropriate words could ever convey that we must heed the teachings and life example of Yeshua, the Savior of the entire world. As men and women of faith, we all affirm how Yeshua fulfilled Moses’ own expectation that a prophet greater than he would arise, whose words must be followed:
“I will raise them up a prophet from among their brothers, like you. I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him. It shall happen, that whoever will not listen to my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him” (Deuteronomy 18:18-19, WMB; cf. Acts 3:22-23).
The words and teachings of Moses, as the deliver of Ancient Israel, and the one who conveyed God’s Law to the people, are undeniably important for us to heed. Many of us who were raised in evangelical Protestantism are now Messianic because we are submitting ourselves to the Torah every week. But it is of absolute paramount importance for us to heed and follow Yeshua’s words and teachings. Moses and Elijah, figuratively representing the Law and the Prophets, were present at our Lord’s Transfiguration. But neither Moses or Elijah were revealed in great Heavenly glory as the Son of God. Quite notable is how Yeshua instructed His disciples present not to speak of what they saw until after His death, perhaps because it is only in the death and subsequent resurrection of the Messiah, that God’s righteousness is fully manifest. The Apostle Paul informed the Romans,
“But now apart from the law, a righteousness of God has been revealed, being testified by the Torah and the Prophets; even the righteousness of God through faith in Yeshua the Messiah to all and on all those who believe. For there is no distinction” (Romans 3:21-22, WMB).
These words of Paul do not deride either the Torah or Prophets by any means (cf. Acts 24:14; 28:23), but they spoke of an event which was separate from the Torah and the Prophets—although the Torah and the Prophets undeniably gave witness to it. This is what the Greek specifically labels as dia pisteōs Iēsou Christou, or “through the faithfulness of Yeshua the Messiah” (Romans 3:22, CJSB), meaning the Son’s willingness to be faithful to His Father for His purposes unto death. Whereas in past history, Israel’s identity and focus were largely in the work of Moses as the deliverer of the slaves from Egyptian servitude—the identity of God’s people with the Messiah having come, is to now largely be focused in Yeshua’s faithfulness to bear the stigma of the tree of sacrifice (cf. Romans 5:7-11). Moses, Elijah, and all of the other figures of Ancient Israel, are critical examples who we surely must emulate and highly respect as Messiah followers. But they themselves are attested by the Apostle Peter to have eagerly looked forward to the day when Yeshua the Messiah would finally arrive:
“Concerning this salvation, the prophets sought and searched diligently. They prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching for who or what kind of time the Spirit of Messiah which was in them pointed to when he predicted the sufferings of Messiah and the glories that would follow them. To them it was revealed that they served not themselves, but you, in these things, which now have been announced to you through those who preached the Good News to you by the Holy Spirit sent out from heaven; which things angels desire to look into” (1 Peter 1:10-12, WMB).
We serve a Risen Savior, who is surely worthy of being worshipped, revered, followed, and obeyed! He pleased His Father by His faithfulness, to accomplish final redemption for all of us. To what extent can we follow in His faithfulness? How much do we have to truly need to listen that much more to the Transfigured One, who is our Life Eternal?! May He be forever glorified in our midst, as we complete another year of diligent Torah study. Amein v’Amein.
NOTES
[1] Heb. v’lo-yada ish et-qevurato ad ha’yom ha’zeh
[2] Cf. 2 Corinthians 2:8.
[3] H.G. Liddell, and R. Scott, An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994), 565.
[4] Frederick William Danker, ed., et. al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, third edition (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 717.
