Moses, a “divinely beautiful” child, was spared from Pharaoh’s genocidal decree commanding the destruction of every newborn Hebrew male. Miriam their sister was some years older.- Ex 6:16, 18, 20 2:7.Įarly Life in Egypt. (See, however, JOCHEBED.) Moses was three years younger than his brother Aaron. ( Ezr 3:2) Moses was born in 1593 B.C.E., in Egypt, being the son of Amram, the grandson of Kohath, and the great-grandson of Levi. “Man of the true God,” leader of the nation of Israel, mediator of the Law covenant, prophet, judge, commander, historian, and writer. He taught his disciples about a way of life that is focused on internal attitudes of love for God and love for neighbor that go far beyond the external practices of the Pharisees, and even beyond those of the Mosaic Law, for a greater than Moses has come.(Moʹses) ]. In fact, in his sermon, Jesus pointed to a radically redefined Torah observance. They claimed to be disciples of Moses and insisted that these traditions carried his authority. In Matthew 5:17–19, Jesus specifically addressed the Pharisaic oral traditions. God says in verse 15, “You shall listen to him,” and in verse 19 he says, “and it shall come about that whoever will not listen to my words which he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.” The one who would not listen to him and heed what he would say would be in mortal danger, for this Prophet would speak with greater authority than even Moses. To really understand what he was saying, we must turn to Deuteronomy 18:15–19, where the Prophet-like-Moses was prophesied and the importance of listening to him was emphasized. In his sermon, Jesus emphasized the importance of “hearing these words of mine” and acting upon them. 4 In Deuteronomy, just before the prophecy of the coming Prophet, God warn ed against false prophets who would speak “presumptuously,” and whose prophecies would fail. First, Jesus warn ed against false prophets, who would come with deceit and whose prophecies would not produce the promised fruit. In this sermon, Jesus addresse d topics that are also addressed in the context of the prophecy of the Prophet - like - Moses. Even in the structure of his teaching, Jesus is alluding to his authority as the prophesied Prophet of Deuteronomy 18. What adds to this interest is that Psalm 90, the Psalm of Moses, is also written as a chiasm. Not only is the Sermon on the Mount itself a chiasm, but so also is the section of the Beatitudes at the beginning of the Sermon. It is organized in such a manner that there is a parallelism between the first and last elements, the second and the next-to-last, and so forth. This observation also leads us to consider t he structure of the Sermon on the Mount. 3 From first to last, in delivering this sermon, Jesus has modeled His teaching to reflect His identity as the Prophet-like-Moses, delivering a new Torah. was firmly established in the imagination of pre-Christian Jews.” 2 He also points out that even as the opening words of Matthew 5 are similar to the biblical texts “about Moses and Sinai, the same is true of 8:1, ” which concludes the Sermon on the Mount. Regarding th is account, Frederic Godet, writing in 1899, pronounced that “the mount where Jesus speaks is as the Sinai of the new covenant.” 1 In his actions, as well as in the content and form of his message, Jesus wa s acting and teaching as the Prophet-like-Moses.Īfter an examin ation of Jewish literature outside of the Bible, Dale Allison concluded: “The image of Moses sitting on Sinai. Matthew records what has been called “The Sermon on the Mount,” in Matthew 5:1–8:1. However, once you see this Moses-like Prophet in the Gospels, his words and actions take on a new depth of meaning. Most Christians are not familiar with the prophecy and thus never consider that Jesus functioned as this Prophet in his earthly life. In Deuteronomy 18:15ff, God promised to send a prophet-like-Moses who would carry God’s own message and bear his own authority. Regardless of how carefully the face may be hidden, once you see it, you can never “un-see” it. Perhaps the scene looks like a mountain or a lake with overhanging tree branches, but hidden in the details is a face that is not immediately noticeable. Any number of artists have created works in which there is a hidden face.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |