The Simple Answers… To Life’s Most Important Questions.
Bible Study Course Lesson 9 –21
When John began to baptize, the Pharisees came to him with the demand “Are you the Christ?” “No”, he replied. “Are you the Elijah, then?” “No, I am not”, he responded. “So you must be ‘that prophet’ who would replace Moses?” “No, I’m not!”, he said –certainly getting impatient by now.
“Well then who ARE you, and WHY DO YOU BAPTIZE if you aren’t one of these three men?” (John 1:19-25). Now that’s a very strange question, when you think about it. We think of baptism as something that was brand new, unexpected out of nowhere; but these Jews were expecting someone to be baptizing in Jordan… but only if it was one of THESE THREE men.
Get that… the surprise wasn’t John’s baptism… but that John wasn’t the Prophet like Moses, The Elijah, or the Christ. Which is why these were the men who appeared on the mount of transfiguration, the ones among whom the Father chose and said “this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye Him”.
But what was the significance of these three men, and only these three men, baptizing people? As you’ve learned, these three men were the representatives of three distinct houses; Moses was tasked with ruling the beasts of Israel. Thus, he was head of the house of beasts.
Elijah was the head prophet, and despite what John the Baptist said, he did in fact come in the position of Elijah, as had every “THE prophet”! (Matthew 11:9-11). John had demurred because he wasn’t the only Elijah who would come, nor the most important one before Jesus’ second coming; but he was still AN Elijah, for Jesus said so!
So John was THE prophet, head of the OT ekklesia, whose job was to break the spirits trained by Moses. And the Christ, of course, led souls, for He was King of kings (Soul of souls) and Lord of lords (Spirit of spirits).
So these three men led three types of houses; physical, spiritual, and soulish houses (no word existed to say what I’m trying to say with “soulish”, a house designed for the creation of souls; now one does). So three men, three houses, three covenants… and three baptizers.
Which, of course, means three houses into which you must be immersed.
BEYOND MOSES
As I’ve said several times, none of us are worth God’s time at first, nor for a good while after. We are orphans trying to earn His attention, but we have to change a lot before that happens; we must become very different people to merit His personal training.
Yet in His mercy, He wants to make it possible for us bastards to find a way back to Him. And that’s why Moses and Elijah existed. The house of Moses was designed to sacrifice beasts; to herd beasts. To do his best to keep them from hurting each other.
Those whose beasts were sufficiently tamed by this, might realize –as the young nobleman did, and as I did when I was about 19 –“OK, I’m keeping the commandments… now what? There MUST be more than this!” (Matthew 19:16-21). We saw beyond Moses’ veil and wanted more! (2 Corinthians 3:7-16).
The young nobleman and I were both attending Churches at the time, Churches which were hard pressed to keep their people from committing adultery during Church; they hardly had time to worry about the finer points of breaking spirits or finding the “way”.
The ministry in those Churches, like most in the world, were happy if they could get people to show up to Church on time and wear a tie; it was all they could do to get people to forgive their brethren their faults –much less their enemies.
So whether these were Pharisees, Presbyterians, Adventists, or for that matter Catholics and Muslims, they have had their hands full just keeping most people living by a basic code of decency; and all of them, in more-or-less flawed ways are trying their best to enforce some diluted version of Moses’ laws upon a stubborn and lazy laity.
And yet, as hard as such Church-goers make Moses’ covenant look, if you just stopped fighting him, it wasn’t hard at all! It’s really not that hard to be “as touching the law, blameless” if you just humble yourself under the law and TRY! (Philippians 3:6).
I mean, how hard is it to just not steal today? To not have idols, to not lie to your neighbor? Moses didn’t even care if you hated your brother (Matthew 5:21-22); he didn’t even care if you stole without realizing it –provided you fixed the problem when you became aware (Leviticus 4:27-31). So all Moses cared about was conscious acts that harmed your neighbor!
So when you think about it, Moses really didn’t ask that much! Yet since they didn’t want the covenant in the first place, most people aimed to do the bare minimum Moses demanded, and invariably failed to do even that.
But a few did realize you could keep Moses’ covenant with your eyes closed (literally), and when they realized how easy it was… they knew God had to want more from us because burnt offerings and candles and ritual prayers and Sunday school couldn’t possibly be enough! (Mark 12:28-34).
Why can’t your average Christian see that? Because they are uncircumcised in every conceivable sense.
THERE HAS TO BE MORE
Moses’ covenant, and all Abrahamic Churches, exist to make manifest those who cannot be satisfied with merely obeying the external things their Church demands (1 Corinthians 11:19). They don’t exist to create wise souls, nor even to create broken spirits; only to train spirits to contain their beasts. To circumcise the heart, in other words.
Those who couldn’t master that quite easy task couldn’t possibly be taught to break their spirits. But those who aced this simple test attracted God’s interest (Proverbs 15:3). So when someone mastered Moses’ laws, or even those of the Baptist Church, and still wanted more, God’s eyes were –and are –watching for it.
To be clear; this doesn’t mean that “good Baptists” are led to salvation; for the straight-laced, well-dressed, smooth-talking Protestant is, more often than not, very happy with his Church. It has rewarded him well for his obedience to her, and he has no reason to risk that. So on the contrary, these are not the people God calls (Mark 2:17).
No, what we’re saying is that those who learn from the Baptists and are still left unsatisfied will be led to salvation (Proverbs 27:7). Those who learn their teachings, then realize that these same people fulfill Romans 2:17-24; those who wonder why their Church fails so dramatically to live up to their own teachings.
Those are the only people God cares about teaching. For to say that Church-goers are whited sepulchers is to be overly generous –for most of today’s Churchians are dirty, grey, mold-covered sepulchers at best (Matthew 23:26-29).
So the only people who have potential to learn more are those who eagerly follow what little truth they have to offer… and then gradually come to realize that if heaven is going to be filled with people like these, you don’t really want to be there.
When they conclude that they don’t WANT to be in such a Church, it is proof that their heart is circumcised; and that was all Moses, and other external Churches, could ever hope to teach them. And it is these people whom God calls (2 Corinthians 6:14-18).
Note that the reward for leaving that Church is to be God’s child, to be received into His HOUSE. Because only when a Church will not satisfy you, are you worthy to join a house (Jeremiah 15:15-21). For only after your heart is circumcised, are you worthy of baptism.
TO HIM SHALL YOU HEARKEN
As you read in Psalms 26, it is only after you have decided not to sit with evildoers and rejoice in a Church congregation that God is ready to begin “examining you” and “proving your heart”. Only then can you begin to “love the habitation of God’s house”.
But while such people have shown a glimmer of promise, they still aren’t worth God’s time, not personally; because such a person is still in most ways an unbroken spirit, which is to say, an uncircumcised spirit, and such people would frustrate God… quite literally to their death (Exodus 33:1-3).
So instead of frustrating Himself and risking their lives needlessly, His eyes identify these people and then send them to a wiser soul than this person’s own, who would break his spirit just as Moses or John Calvin or Pat Robertson had broken and circumcised his beast and heart; to a man who would give his soul a place to grow in peace and safety (Psalms 23:1-6).
This house of God would be led by a surrogate soul who could make his heart love the law, in a way that Moses never could; for Moses’ laws could train the habit of the law, but never the love of the law! Which is why God must move you to a new house, a better house, to learn it!
Thus Moses’ job was to make ready a people… prepared for Elijah! Which is why Moses told his people to be ready for a prophet like himself in Deuteronomy 18:15, 18-19. Because Moses’ whole purpose was to prepare people to hear THE prophets!
Now in the strictest, archetypal sense, that was a prophecy of Jesus (John 6:14, Acts 3:20-23). And yet, Moses seemed to imply that there would be many prophets –some good, some evil –to whom they should listen (Deuteronomy 18:20-22).
Because all of the OT prophets and the NT apostles and prophets were brethren; for all were called by Jesus, and therefore they were part of JESUS’ house… the house of THAT PROPHET! The very Prophet to whom Moses commanded his children to listen!
Thus, these verses weren’t merely a prophecy of Jesus, but a command to those who had ears to hear that, once they had outgrown Moses’ covenant, they would have to go to a prophet of the Lord to learn the things Moses couldn’t teach them. They would have to go to Elijah before they went to the Christ.
Wasn’t that always the pattern? Malachi 4:5. Even Jesus said that Elijah had to come first, and would continue to do so in the future! (Matthew 17:11-12). So first Moses, and then Elijah, and then –and only then –Jesus (Luke 16:29-31).
For as Moses existed to make people ready to learn from the prophets of Elijah, the prophet’s job in turn was to make ready a people for the Lord… By turning the hearts of the children to the Fathers! (Luke 1:16-17).
Moses subdued the heart; but the house of Elijah existed to teach the heart to love the law, not merely tolerate it! The prophets turned the hearts of the people to God by teaching their hearts to LOVE the laws given to the fathers of these covenants –Moses, Elijah, and Abraham!
Which is the exact same job God gave the apostles –who, as has been shown, performed the NT role of the OT prophets, after the destruction of the house of Moses (Luke 13:35). The apostles were to prepare a people to marry Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2, Revelation 19:7).
This required turning their hearts towards the fathers of the houses, all generations and types of fathers up to, and including, God; and in turn, the Father(s) would be proud to call these bastards “sons”!
TWO WITNESSES
Of course, this is gradual (John 3:30), and normally happens over the course of many years, as it does with ALL types of children. Some people like Paul learned very fast (Acts 9:20-22), because God had plans for him (Acts 9:15-16); yet others are still incompetent even after decades (Hebrews 5:12).
Which is why God doesn’t spend much of His personal time on people until they prove themselves worthy of it (2 Timothy 2:15). Until they “make themselves manifest” among the house of the OT prophets or of the NT apostles (1 John 2:19). This is how God notices them (2 Corinthians 5:11).
Only after Peter or Samuel or John had circumcised their spirits, taught them how to listen, how to “lower their ear” (Proverbs 22:17), were their disciples ready for Jesus’ personal tutelage (John 1:15, 35-37). Why would He bother until then? Why waste time trying to talk to a deaf person?
Only after they’ve resisted the opportunities to return to Egypt, and reconciled themselves to the reality that they will never belong on this Earth (Hebrews 11:13-16); at least, not and be the friend of God at the same time (James 4:4).
After their hearts have thus demonstrated their circumcision and learned to love the law, and after their spirits have become meek enough to hear Him, then and only then are they ready to have Jesus finish the job in person. This is, after all, why He gave us Moses and Elijah! (Luke 16:29-31).
Because these were the two witnesses whose job it was to PREPARE us to learn from Him! This is a many-layered symbol, with a lot of meanings, ranging from Michael and Gabriel standing over the mercy seat in Exodus 25:17-22, who witness what God says to mankind; to two actual men in the end times (probably) who prophesy in His name (Revelation 11:3-4).
Then again, it also refers to Joshua and Zerubbabel (Zechariah 4:11-14, see also Zechariah 3:). Yet again, it refers to the two olive trees, the Father and Jesus, in John 1:1-3 or Genesis 1 who were witnesses to Adam’s legitimacy. All of these meanings are, in a way, the same symbol, in some way tracing back to the two fractions who witness before the third.
Which is why the very last words in the Old Testament, in Malachi 4:4-6, mention these three houses, telling us to remember the law of Moses; then learn from Elijah the prophet; and then, and only then, you will see the coming of the Lord. As always… in every sense of the word.
This is why Elijah and Moses were the two spiritual witnesses to Jesus’ transfiguration. Because it was Moses’ job to prepare a people for Elijah; and it was Elijah’s job to prepare a people for Christ. Both were to be witnesses to us of what Jesus was like, what He expected from them.
Both heads existed to help their respective houses live up to His standard (Ephesians 4:13). And then, once their disciples have done so, to witness for them before God that these children were ready for Him (Hebrews 11:2). Which, of course, they do through the laying on of hands –in actuality or in symbol.
And so, if someone hasn’t caught God’s attention thus far, He waits for the elders to witness that they consider these people worthy of sonship –as Moses did, when he prepared the people at Sinai to meet God. And isn’t that, in a way, what Matthew 18:18-19 says?
EXEMPT FROM THE LETTER
Under Moses’ covenant, certain groups had special privileges regarding the laws; the priests could work on the Sabbath, for instance (Matthew 12:5). The high priest’s house could also eat the holy bread and meat that had been offered to God, go various places no one else was allowed to go, and so on.
Yet the prophets clearly had special privileges as well; for Moses forbade sacrificing anywhere but the temple (Deuteronomy 12:13-14), and no non-Levite was allowed to sacrifice. Yet Elijah offered sacrifices on Mt. Carmel in 1 Kings 18:30-33.
By Moses’ law, he should have been exiled (Leviticus 17:1-9). So how did Elijah get away with breaking the words of Moses? Because Moses had given him permission to do so! Because he said “listen to the prophet of God instead of me”, in Deuteronomy 18:15.
Thus, any and all prophets of God were exempt from the letter of Moses’ law, as was anyone in their house! Get that! The prophets, like the apostles after them, were exempt from obedience to the letter of Moses’ law since they were part of a BETTER HOUSE! (2 Corinthians 3:6, Romans 7:5-6). But no one, past or future, has ever been exempt from its spirit.
Now God told Moses that Aaron, the high priest, would be his prophet (Exodus 7:1). Thus Aaron’s job as high priest was, explicitly, to be a prophet of Moses. Which means that priests are prophets, and therefore prophets are priests!
Which means that anything a high priest was allowed to do –such as, say, enter within the veil or eat the shewbread –a prophet was allowed to do as well! Because the “high priest” was a “prophet”! For what was the high priest’s job, if not to be a spokesman for God? (Malachi 2:7).
Thus all prophets belonged to the family of the high priest, in a manner of speaking! Making it legal for OC Prophets and their NT counterparts the Apostles to see and do things no other man could do! (1 Corinthians 6:12, 2 Corinthians 12:4, etc.).
For Peter tells us that the ekklesia –which, under the apostles, fulfilled the exact same role as the OT prophets –is a type of the Aaronic priesthood (1 Peter 2:5, 9). Which means anything Aaron could do, the ekklesia can do for we are of his house!
PRIESTS AND PROPHETS
So if David had been trained by a prophet to see the truth beyond Moses (1 Samuel 19:18-20), he was, in a manner of speaking, of the family of the high priest… thus, entitled to eat the shewbread (1 Samuel 21:1-6), as was anyone who followed him –anyone in his house! (Leviticus 22:10-16).
And Jesus confirmed that David was, indeed, blameless (Matthew 12:1-4). But notice why! (Matthew 12:5-7). Jesus was greater than the temple, because Jesus was the One who commanded Moses to BUILD the thing in the first place! (Hebrews 3:3).
Thus, since the shewbread represented the house of Jesus (Lesson 7-11), the body of Jesus of which David was a part, David was greater than the shewbread! Indeed, David was not only allowed to eat that shewbread… as family of the high priest, it was specifically reserved for him!
But it gets better! For the apostles and prophets are heirs of Jesus, Himself the heir to Melchizedek, for whom Levi was holding the temple in trust (Hebrews 7). So Levi’s head, Aaron, was caretaker over a mere shadow of the True temple where the True priesthood works (Hebrews 8:5).
Melchizedek is a priest of the Most High God over the TRUE temple and the TRUE priesthood. Levi was just a caretaker of Jesus’ priesthood; which means the apostles and prophets of Jesus had an even greater right to the temple than Levi himself did, for they belonged to the house which owned it; Levi was merely a husbandman over it (Luke 20:9-19).
So Paul and Nathan and Job, as prophets/apostles/heads-of-houses for Jesus, were more entitled to the fruits of the temple than Aaron! They, and we their heirs and successors, are more free to profane Moses’ statutory laws than the priests!
Not because we are above the law, but because unlike them, we can see behind Moses’ veil and understand the PURPOSE, the spirit of those laws; we can keep their intent, not only their letter; thus, keeping them BETTER than the priests ever could.
Which is why we have the right to go someplace where only Aaron ever stepped… the holy of holies (Hebrews 4:16, 10:19-20). It was death, under the covenant of Moses, to go there (Leviticus 10:1-3), and even Aaron had to go in blinded by smoke “that he die not”, and only once a year (Leviticus 16:1-2).
But we can go boldly, and as often as we want, because there IS a cloud of spirit there, one which intercedes for us and blinds God to our sins! (Hebrews 7:25). Indeed, we have a right to eat of an altar even Aaron couldn’t eat at! (Hebrews 13:10).
Because the prophets of the Lord and the apostles of the Jesus belong to the house of the TRUE high priest in the TRUE temple. And he that is least in that kingdom is greater than he that is greatest in any shadow of that kingdom (Matthew 11:11).
NEWER, THUS DEEPER
The prophets who spoke fresh, living words of the Lord were greater than the dead, carved-in-stone words of Moses; because no frozen spirit could ever reveal the secrets of your heart the way a living spirit can do, even if both were from the spirit of the same Lord or His God!
Now obviously, these prophets would never change the Law or the Testimony (Isaiah 8:20). But they would explain it better, deeper, and simpler, than Moses had been able to do! Thus, watering an ox or pulling it out of a ditch on the Sabbath day –giving a beast water or saving its life –didn’t break the Sabbath, any more than healing a man did.
Not because Jesus was above the law; but rather, because Jesus understood the true purpose of every type of the Sabbath (Luke 14:3-5); they exist so that the eyes of the blind can be opened! (John 9:14-16); so that the beast could eat the unleavened bread! (Mark 2:23-24); so that every heart and spirit could be circumcised! (John 7:22-23).
So although Jesus appeared to contradict Moses –the Pharisees certainly thought so –He was just showing them the deeper truth that Moses couldn’t teach them yet, because of their stubbornness! (Hebrews 5:11).
Jesus understood a deeper interpretation of the law that Moses had not dared teach the people, lest they justify doing whatever they felt like on the Sabbath. Since they would abuse these exceptions, Moses dare not give them too much liberty to interpret it!
The rules Moses gave were enacted only because the people couldn’t be trusted with the True law (Matthew 19:8, Galatians 5:13). Because the more righteous a person is, the fewer statutes they need (Galatians 3:19).
A righteous man needs only one law; a somewhat less righteous man might need 1-2-10; but the rest of the laws were created because men with untamed hearts and stubborn spirits “use their liberty for an occasion of the flesh” (1 Timothy 1:9).
Thus Moses realized that his law, while beautiful, wasn’t the final Truth, couldn’t be the last Word; he knew his dead words written on stone weren’t good enough to break spirits, which is why he commanded his house to listen to Jesus or any prophet of Jesus led by the living spirit of God, for they could explain it better!
Since all of us would gladly use our liberty for an occasion of the flesh, we all must begin at some type of Mosaic house; which is to say, a house that teaches us to tame our flesh, to make it capable of obeying us. And if, and when, you have learned all you can from that house, it’s time to move to a better house.
DEAF AND BLIND
If you’re reading this, you have probably outgrown the covenant of Moses, or at least, recognized that, even if you still struggle with basic 1-2-10 righteousness, it can’t possibly be enough. You’ve probably already spent some time in a house of Moses –which, today, is more-or-less the Abrahamic, external Churches. Herds of beasts led by orthodox, unbending spirits who serve tradition, not God.
If you’ve made it this far, you must know that they aren’t enough; hopefully, by now, you’ve given up on wanting them to be enough –which is, again, circumcision of the heart. You can stay as you are, struggling with a spirit which lies to you, which is incapable of seeing or telling the full truth.
Or you can take the next step, which is to join a house Jesus establishes through apostles and elders; a house full of broken and breaking spirits, where souls can begin to awaken and see for themselves; for John, like the heads of any of the true houses, was not the light (John 1:6-8).
Their job was to teach you to be able to see the light for yourself, in time. For as the souls of John’s disciples awakened, they were led into the light of Jesus (John 1:1-5,9-10). But not all of John’s disciples went to follow Jesus at first; only those few who were ready to handle it! (John 1:35-37).
John continued to have disciples alongside Jesus for years (Luke 7:19, John 4:1). Which means the rest weren’t ready to be handed over yet! Because the whole problem with an untamed heart and stiffnecked spirit is that they blind you to the truth! (Ephesians 4:18, Acts 28:27).
The disciples could not see the light without their heart and spirit being trained to see it! So why would John burden Jesus with them… when they couldn’t even HEAR yet? How could they follow Him, if they couldn’t SEE Him??
John’s whole JOB was to prepare a people for Jesus, and not all of his disciples were PREPARED at that time! Which is why, in some way or another, you need these two external witnesses to be your ears and your eyes, until you can see and hear for yourself! (2 Corinthians 3:14-16).
EYES AND EARS
Moses was their ears (Deuteronomy 5:27), and the prophets were their eyes (2 Kings 6:15-20). As, of course, were the Apostles (Acts 26:15-18). Moses was not intended to be the eyes of the people; indeed, they demanded that he not be, relaying only the words and not the sight of God.
That’s why he wore a veil, because he looked too much like God! (Exodus 34:29-35). So lest they look at him, and see God even indirectly, he wore a veil! Moses explicitly did not show God to the people; which is why the Pharisees, who sat in his place, were blind; not necessarily deaf! But blind (Matthew 15:14).
Because that’s what they had chosen to be at Sinai! (Exodus 33:20). They could hear God, in the law, but not SEE Him there! And that would have been fine if they had realized they were blind! (John 9:39-41).
But they thought hearing was the same as seeing, and tried to make more of their covenant than it was (Job 42:5-6). They forgot that their job, like Moses’, was only to teach people to hear, so that a prophet could teach them to see!
The Mosesites couldn’t see God; but Moses himself could (Exodus 33:17-23). Moses’ people chose not to see Him, but Moses himself did! (Deuteronomy 34:10). And yet, in spite of that verse’s implication, many other people saw God.
John did, in Revelation 1:13; Jacob did, in Genesis 32:30; Micaiah did in 1 Kings 22:19; other prophets did in places like Ezekiel 1:28, Isaiah 6:1, Daniel 7:13, etc. So the prophets COULD see God; maybe not all of Him, maybe not all the time, but they could see Him!
Which means all the prophets, and the NC apostles, could see God; because Jesus showed Him to them! Luke 10:22-24. The apostles and prophets were not blinded, at least, not fully (1 Corinthians 13:12). They saw Christ, even the ones who never met Him in person (1 Corinthians 9:1).
And to the extent that they could see Him, they could teach others to do so as well; because they were in the NC house; their job was to be in Christ’s stead, to act in Christ’s place (2 Corinthians 5:20). Thus, to the extent that they followed Christ, other people could follow Christ through them (1 Corinthians 11:1-2).
Now Jesus said that if we knew Him, we knew the Father; to see Him, then, was to see His Father (John 14:7-9). He also said that as He and His Father were one, so also were They and the apostles (John 17:22).
Which means if Paul was a follower of Jesus –and to the extent that he did it properly –to see Paul, then, was to see Jesus. Thus when Timothy looked at Paul, he should see Jesus; and, seeing Jesus, see the Father. Thus you should see all the heads of all the generations above you in the head of your own house.
PREPARED FOR CHRIST
And yet, unlike say, the Popes, I stressed a phrase above there that cannot be overstressed: “to the extent”. No one can make you into a more perfect copy of God’s nature than they themselves are; just as a xeroxed page never looks as good as the original, and a xerox of a xerox is even worse. Indeed, in just a few generations it becomes unreadable.
So looking up at me, you might get an extremely vague and Dali-meets-Picasso-esque idea of what Jesus is like; if you then attempt to copy that, and someone else in time looks up at you hoping to see Him, they will instead get a Jackson-Pollack-esque view of Jesus.
Obviously, this is untenable even at a single generation; thus, it was not meant to work this way. Which is why after Moses, and Elijah, we must all come to learn from Christ Himself, through His spirit. And yet that is not the end of our journey! (John 14:2-6).
For as Moses came to prepare a way for Elijah, and as Elijah prepared a people for Jesus; so also Jesus Himself came to prepare a people for God (John 17:4-10). Moses can sketch God in you in the broadest way possible.
Elijah then comes and paints with a more detailed impressionistic brush; Jesus can take the job to the next level with an infinitely finer resolution; but ultimately, if you want to be God’s son, you have to be painted by God (2 Corinthians 3:18). No other spirit will do.
Our job is to encourage you to change, to put pressure on your fractions to surrender that your own soul is presently too weak to do. And as we do that, the spirit of Christ will gradually take advantage of the newly pliant fractions to change you into His image (Colossians 3:10).
This requires you to quite literally sacrifice yourself –to let yourselves cease to be what they are. And that, of course, is precisely what the ekklesia is here to accomplish (Romans 12:1-3). Because you can’t see God, or Jesus; but you could have seen Paul.
And while transforming yourself into Paul’s image won’t transform you into the image of God… it is a place to start. At least until you can see a better image for yourself. For Paul’s job was to teach Timothy to look beyond Paul and see Jesus beyond him; just as Jesus’ role, in turn, was to teach Philip to see the Father beyond Him.
Because even Christ Himself wasn’t the final destination of these souls; for Jesus merely led them to the Father; thus Jesus was, Himself, preparing a people for God. (Colossians 1:27). Notice that Christ in you is your hope of glory, but it is not your glory.
For it is Christ in you which prepares you to have God in you (1 John 3:9). Then, and only then, could you enter into a covenant with the Father as Abraham did (Genesis 17:1).
COVENANT OF ABRAHAM
The human founder of the covenant of souls –and the one to which all lesser covenants trace back –was Abraham (Romans 15:8, John 7:22, etc.), a type of God the Father (Hebrews 11:17-19). Thus, the head of the highest type of covenant –the one with the Father of All.
Abraham was alive before Moses and Elijah and Jesus (well, sort of –John 8:58), and everything any of them did was to prepare his descendants to act like Abraham already had, so they could be his spiritual heirs (Galatians 3:21-29).
See, for whatever reason, Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness; which is the goal we all seek (all of Romans 4). But God knew that Abraham was a rare man, not likely to occur again by accident.
And yet the covenant made with Abraham required God to bless Abraham’s children and grandchildren ad infinitum (Genesis 17:4-10). But He couldn’t do this if they were evil (Jeremiah 3:19). And yet He HAD to do this!
So God had to provide a path for Abraham’s children to achieve the same righteousness of Abraham –and thus, to merit the same blessings. Which meant there must be a path for the creation of beings in Abraham’s image, even as Abraham was created in God’s image.
So God created covenants in steps, “schoolmasters”, as Paul called them, to lead his children to Christ (Galatians 3:24-25). Separate, limited covenants, to guarantee that all of Abraham’s seed could at least receive some of the blessings –in exchange for an easier covenant (1 Kings 19:17).
Which is why in Romans 4:9-16 we see that Abraham was the father of two branches of covenants, one of circumcision and one without; one of Moses, who taught them the Law, and one of Elijah, who taught them faith (1 Kings 17:24).
And yet we see in Romans 4:16 that the second covenant itself has two requirements: faith, which came by hearing the Truth… thus, through the prophets and apostles (Romans 10:17); and grace, which came through Jesus’ spirit (John 1:17).
Note how John clearly contrasts the covenants of grace and truth with that of the law. Moses’ covenant was the beginners’ covenant, elementary school. Jesus’ spirit was not needed in this covenant, not even in the leaders. If they just followed the written words, they’d do the job He needed them to do.
Elijah’s covenant was more like high school, and involved immersion in the ekklesia where you learned Truth, for the head of the ekklesia has always been Jesus, and without that spirit being in the head of the house, it cannot be taught –for this covenant cannot be understood without being taught by a living spirit.
Then, finally, came immersion in Jesus’ spirit personally to bring grace to you personally rather than your grace coming through the safe space created by your human father-figure! (Hebrews 13:17). All three of these houses were partners in the relay-race of your education, to ensure that the promises of Abraham could apply to all of Abraham’s seed (Galatians 3:14-16).
Those verses are crucial, because they show this was a path created to provide Abraham’s children with a way to learn to act like Abraham –and thus, to inherit the promises given to Abraham! And the Father, symbolized by Abraham, told us exactly that path in the “one verse” for this lesson you’ve read several times; Luke 16:29-31.
So if you want to avoid the grave the rich Pharisee wound up in (Luke 16:22-23), the grave that awaits all of those who get bogged down in Moses’ covenant, you have to follow this path, through the houses of all three men and their same-but-successively-better-albeit-harder covenants.
PREPARING FOR GOD
Moses begins by circumcising your flesh, and his job is done when your heart is circumcised. Apostles begin with a circumcised heart, and their job is done when your spirit is circumcised; and Jesus begins with a circumcised spirit, and His job is done when your soul is awake.
So Moses trains your heart; Elijah trains your spirit; both have the job of making possible the awakening of your soul. For as your spirit is broken, your soul will awaken; but you will relapse, and backslide, and some days you will be more awake than others. So it is Jesus’ job to train your soul to be able to stay awake.
Said differently, Moses teaches you to hear; Elijah-Peter-Paul-etc. teach you to see (and perfect your hearing, in case Moses didn’t do it right); but Jesus must then teach you to walk towards the Father’s Kingdom.
For God dare not trust men with teaching souls, so He sent His Son to do it in person; for we can teach souls wisdom, but it is by definition… earthly (James 3:13-17). Our job is to teach you knowledge and understanding (Jeremiah 3:15), and then, when that job is done, to leave it to Jesus to teach your soul to be like His.
Moses cannot make you more like God than he himself is; and by the same token, Jesus cannot make you more like the Father than He Himself is. Which means once your soul is properly awake… then it’s time for the Father Himself to teach you what to be!
Remember the scripture that I keep going back to, Luke 16:29-31; who is speaking here? Abraham! A type of God the Father. They had Moses; then they had the Prophets; and then they could have had Jesus/Lazarus if they had been circumcised and baptized by the first two houses!
After all, didn’t God send Lazarus/Jesus back to the disciples in Luke 24 and John 14:25-28? Disciples who were graduates of both Moses and John, thus having belonged to both houses? (Acts 3:25-26). But who now had passed to an even higher house, the house of Jesus? ( Acts 3:19-24).
Thus, three houses –Moses, Elijah, and Christ. But wait! After they heard Jesus then, only then, could they go to the Father’s bosom as Lazarus did; now what rests in the bosom? The spirit! (Ecclesiastes 7:9). Thus, Lazarus dwelt with the Father, and the Father’s spirit dwelt in Him (John 14:20-23).
And only after Moses, Elijah, and Christ have prepared you, can you have God’s Spirit in you. Romans 8:8-11. Because everyone needs to learn to hear first… then learn to see… and finally… to learn to WALK before God on their own, and be perfect (Genesis 17:1). In exactly the same order every human embryo does!
Only then are you worth the Father’s time. And isn’t this what nature itself teaches you? Mothers do the suckling, and the swaddling, and much of the earliest training; and only after a child can see, hear, and walk do fathers become personally involved in their training. Thus… #goldenruled. (Galatians 4:1-2).
You might wonder what else is there to learn, after you learn to hear, see, and walk? What is left for the Father to teach you? EVERYTHING.
Remember how much you knew when you learned to walk at about a year old?
That’s roughly how far along you are towards Elohim adulthood after these three houses finish their work and you receive the Father’s spirit.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
Once you’ve mastered Moses’ rules, which were really easy, you’re ready to work on the covenant of Elijah, which is harder but similarly easy if you just do it (1 John 5:3). A job which you have just begun doing in these lessons, but are far from finishing.
Today Jesus’ sacrifice has made the circumcision and formal joining of Moses’ house redundant; the circumcising of the flesh served no real purpose anyway, it was only a sign of intent, a school ID badge that showed you attended this school.
Circumcision was never a sign that you had actually learned anything since, at 8 days old, you obviously hadn’t. Moses’ job was merely to use external circumcision to discover circumcisable hearts, and today that job is done by the Churches in the world.
But there is a difference between Moses and Church; for the OT Prophets could count on their disciples at least knowing Moses’ law; but by opening the gospel to the Gentiles, the NT Apostles can no longer expect their disciples to know the law, which is why God sent them to give their disciples knowledge AND understanding (Jeremiah 3:15).
The Churches of the world show God that a person is capable of learning the law, but that’s all; they aren’t capable of properly breaking a heart, only of making a heart manifest which wants something more than they have to offer.
Which is why the NC elder’s job is to labor in the doctrine and in the word! (1 Timothy 5:17). Which is to say, give knowledge to their heart and understanding to their spirit. Which is to say… break the heart AND the spirit. Which is to say, witness that both the heart and the spirit are circumcised.
The job which Moses and Elijah shared, is now done by the NC ekklesia in one place, in the NC houses. And within each individual house, the people will inevitably be at a variety of stages along the process of this conversion (including the head of the house himself).
Because the whole reason they are all there, and not in Arabia learning from Jesus in person, is that they are too deaf and blind to see and hear Him! And at least to some extent, this includes the head of the house himself.
Which is why, to the degree that you can, you should learn from the True light, and not a man. But the reality is, you will need to learn a LOT from a man before you can recognize that light (2 Corinthians 3:1-6).
The Corinthian people were Paul and Apollos’ own letter. Not God’s, not directly; but THEIR letter, written by THEM. Because the Corinthian hearts were the tablets on which Paul and Apollos wrote their own words! Men, writing on the hearts of other men!
Yes they were, truly, the “epistle of Christ”, but… administered by them. Written by them, in His name. And though Paul and Apollos had done the writing, the pen they used was the spirit of the living God. Not Jesus’ spirit! The Father’s spirit (2 Corinthians 2:14-17).
That last part, in the BBE says “but our words are true, as from God, being said as before God in Christ.” And yet in the real world, what the Corinthians actually heard were not Christ’s words, not God’s words, but the words of the apostle Paul and the prophet Apollos.
And yet, they were God’s words all the same. Not really Christ’s word’s, for He only brought the words of the Father (John 14:10). So whether the words are spoken by Jesus or Moses or Baalam’s donkey or myself, if we are indeed taught at all… we are all taught by God (John 6:44).
Yet neither Jesus nor the Father will come to you in a bright light demanding you obey Him; how do They appear? 1 Kings 19:12, Isaiah 30:21. So if you cannot hear a man standing right in front of you, how can you possibly hear a “still small voice” whispering behind you?
1 John 4:20 applies here, in principle. If you can’t obey a human head whom you can see and hear, how shall you obey God whom you have not seen or heard? (John 1:18). If the gentle pressure of the head of your ekklesia house isn’t enough to sway you… how will the suggestions of God do so?
If you defensively argue with and resist the commands of the power God has placed over you (Romans 13:1-2)… how can you seriously expect to obey a Master who won’t argue with you? One who simply gives up and leaves if you resist too often? (Acts 7:51-52, Psalms 51:11, Genesis 6:3, etc.).
A Master who is vague specifically to see what you will do without clear orders? Thus the goal is to learn from the head of the house of the ekklesia to whom you’ve been called by God, obeying him as you would obey Jesus (Colossians 3:15-25), whom indeed he represents (2 Corinthians 5:20).
And when you begin to be better at that, you will be better able to hear Jesus’ actual spirit because you will have learned to hear and see better! And when you learn to hear Jesus’ spirit, you will be better prepared to hear the spirit of His Father.
At the same time, as your ability to learn from Jesus increases, your need for the apostle, prophet, and elders of all kinds decreases (John 3:30). As you learn to see and hear, you can learn from Jesus how to walk, so that He can finish the job that Moses and Elijah started: preparing people to be the children of God.
And that requires you to be circumcised and baptized three times, once by each of them.
To be cut out of the world by Moses and baptized in Israel;
To be cut out of Moses’ house by a NC Apostle and baptized into his own;
And finally, to cut out of the Apostle’s house and baptized in the Father’s own literal house when the bride marries the Lamb.