Tag Archives: mountain

Elijah Has Come

July 22, 2015Bible StudyElijah, mountain, rise again, Som of ManLuella Campbell

ELIJAH HAS COME

As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what “rising from the dead” meant. And they asked Him, ‘Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?’ Jesus replied, ‘To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restore all things. Why, then, is it written that the Son of Man must suffer and be rejected? But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him.’ (Mark 9: 9-13).

What an unending struggle Jesus had with these twelve men! Their mental block to His talk of His suffering shut them off from understanding much of the prophecies associated with the Messiah.

Malachi’s prophecy is clear.

See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes (Mal. 4: 5).

Of course, Elijah would not come literally because he belonged to another era and he had been dead for many centuries. But God would send another prophet in the spirit of Elijah. Who would not have recognised John the Baptist to be that one? If the disciples had any sensitivity to the times, John’s dress and demeanour would have alerted them to something unusual. They had seen and recognised Elijah on the mountain but they had not recognised his spirit in John.

Yes, “Elijah” had come and, like many of the other prophets before him, he had been silenced for speaking the truth. His was the voice crying in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord.” Why did Malachi call it “that great and dreadful day of the Lord”? It was the day – the time in history – when God would judge sin once and for all. Every word that came from John’s mouth and from the mouth of Jesus pronounced judgment, and the eventual violent death of both forerunner and Messiah sealed that judgment on all mankind.

Darkness had tried to extinguish the light but Jesus rose from the dead to proclaim forgiveness for all mankind. Sin was finally judged, once for all in the Messiah. Those who killed Him thought that they had silenced Him forever but no one can ever kill truth. ”Elijah” came and Herod shut his up, but he still speaks because he spoke the truth. Jesus came, and the whole world, in those who represented us then, tried to shut Him up but He lives and speaks today.

People may ignore Him, deny His existence, lie about His person, deny that He died and rose again, create their own theories and religious systems and believe the nonsense they have fabricated but, sadly for them, Jesus just not go away. Sin was judged on the cross but those who choose not to receive the forgiveness His death purchased and the real life He offers in union with Him, will face the alternative. Their sin will not go away. It’s Jesus and eternal life or sin and eternal destruction. Everyone has a choice.

People did to “Elijah” whatever they wanted. They took him from the earthly scene but they could not erase him from history or deny what he did. People did to Jesus whatever they wanted but in His dying He paid the debt of sin and overcame death. We can ignore Him, deny Him, ostracise Him, write Him out of our history books, constitutions, governments, schools, homes and lives but He will never go away.

What is the alternative? Submit to Him now and enter into everlasting life or bow to Him as Lord on judgment day and be sent away into everlasting punishment. Whether you are Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, agnostic, atheist or any other variation of God-denying religion, the outcome will be the same.

Who, being in very nature, God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death – even death in a cross!

Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil 2: 6-11).

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Unearthly Glory

July 21, 2015Bible StudyElijah, Moses, mountain, transfiguredLuella Campbell

UNEARTHLY GLORY

And He said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.’

After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with Him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There He was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, ‘Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters – one for you, one fore Moses and one for Elijah.’ (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened).

Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: ‘This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to Him!’ Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone except Jesus (Mark 9: 1-8).

What a terrifying moment for a bunch of drop-outs! “But why terrifying/” you ask. This was way outside of their everyday experience. These were fishermen, tax collectors, blue-collar workers, remember, not religious boffins from the local theological college. They faithfully followed Jesus from pillar to post, trailing after Him from one end of the country to the other, but they were still uneducated men. This time He took them up a mountain, a high one at that, according to Mark. What were they going to do up there?

When Jesus was sure that they were quite alone, no hikers near them to witness what His disciples were about to see, something amazing, radical, other-worldly happened. The visible radiance of His divine being broke through His humanity. For a moment, the veil between heaven and earth disappeared. His disciples saw something beyond their normal vision, something that was there all the time but they were not permitted to see, and it nearly scared them to death.

Their shaky faith in Jesus as the Son of God was given a boost they would never forget. And, on top of that, they glimpsed two of the most prominent and influential men of their history, Moses and Elijah, representatives of the Law and the Prophets. Their minds were in a whirl.

Trust motor-mouth Peter to put his foot in it again! He had to say something but he didn’t know what to say, so he blurted out the first thing that came into his mind. “This is great! Let’s stay here forever. Let’s build shrines for the three of you, one for you, Jesus, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” But Peter, haven’t you just recently confessed that Jesus is the Messiah? So where do Moses and Elijah fit in?

At that moment something even more shocking happened. Not only a glorified Jesus in front of their eyes but also a voice from heaven. God actually spoke to them in an audible voice. If they were frightened out of their wits before, how did they feel now? It took the voice of God the Father to speak sense into their addled brains. “Don’t you realise that this is Jesus, my Son, the one I love? Moses and Elijah don’t come into the picture at all any more. Their time is over. They had their say, but now it’s Jesus you must listen to.”

Peter must have burned with shame for blurting out such a stupid idea. More than ever before, these three men were faced with the truth that this Jesus, this rabbi whom they followed, watched, listened to and learned from was actually, really the Son of God! Would they ever forget this holy moment? It was forever indelibly written on their memory. Both Peter and John wrote about it – John in his gospel and Peter in his first letter.

It’s no wonder these men could go out, after the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, with such holy boldness that nothing scared them. They didn’t care if the whole world was against them. They knew the truth. Jesus was the Son of God. They would die for Him if they had to. They had seen Him on the mountain. They had seen Him after the resurrection. Nothing would change their conviction that He was the Son of God. That’s what they proclaimed – not some wishy-washy message about “come to Jesus and He’ll make everything alright for you” or “come to Jesus so that you can go to heaven when you die.” But

Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah (Acts 3: 36).

This is the message that changed the first century world. This is the only message that will change the world today – not the rubbish that is being preached from many of the pulpits today – “God wants you to be rich” or “Come and get your miracle”. Peter, Paul and all the others had only one message – Jesus Christ and Him crucified, risen and glorified.

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Better Ministry, Better Mediator

March 15, 2015Bible Studybetter, copy, mountain, shadow, tabernacleLuella Campbell

BETTER MINISTRY, BETTER MEDIATOR

They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and a shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle,’ See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.’ But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is a mediator is superior to old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises. For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another (Heb. 8: 5-7).

“Better” is the watchword of Hebrews. Why is the new better than the old in every way? If we place them side by side, “better” is seen in two ways:

Firstly, the old system with its earthly tabernacle, human priesthood, animal sacrifices and inability to do away with sin was, in one word, incomplete. It was a never-ending cycle of rituals. There was never an assurance that one day, one bull or one lamb would remove sin forever and that the cycle would come to an end.

Jesus put an end to this cycle of incompleteness. He is the perfect man, throughout His entire earthly life without sin. He is the deathless high priest. There is no need, ever, for a replacement. He is high priest in a new order, the order of a priesthood that has no beginning and no end. He is qualified by virtue of His divine nature, to represent God to man, and by virtue of His human nature, to represent man to God. He is the perfect and irreplaceable mediator between God and man.

But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we were healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isa. 53: 5-6).

Secondly, the old system was incompetent. However many sacrifices were offered, the people of God were still stubborn, rebellious and disobedient. One look at the track record is enough to convince us that all the animal blood in creation could never change their hearts. Perhaps that was why they could so easily abandon their God for idols. All they had to do was to offer their sacrifices on a different altar and give their allegiance to another god without ever being any different.

Jesus’ sacrifice paved the way for the Holy Spirit to return to God’s people, forever to be both with them and in them. His blood not only forgave sin; it removed sin and allowed the Father to receive His children back into His family with no shadow between them. His promise was fulfilled:

I will sprinkle clean water on you, adieu will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws (Ezek. 36: 25-27).

Even the tabernacle in the wilderness was built on a better model, the perfect tabernacle in heaven. Moses was given the privilege of glimpses of that heavenly blueprint of which the earthly tabernacle was only a pale reflection, as beautiful as it was. Every detail of the tabernacle in the wilderness was to be a physical replica of the heavenly reality so that the people of God would at least have a shadow of the real thing.

As magnificent as the tabernacle was, with its interior of rich embroidery and gold, the people never saw it. Only the priests were allowed into the Holy Place. Only the high priest ever gained entrance into the Most Holy Place. Even then, he was not permitted to look upon the “Shekinah” – the visible radiance of God’s presence – which was obscured by the clouds of smoke from the censor of burning incense

As Jesus uttered His last words, “It is finished!” and drew His final breath, the curtain in the temple ripped from top to bottom, leaving the “Shekinah” exposed for anyone in the temple to see. No longer was God’s presence veiled in secrecy. His arms and His heart were open and His invitation extended to all, ‘Come!’ Never before could He do that because of sin . . . sin that polluted, separated, and stained the human race.

But now . . .? Finished! Complete! Better!

Nailed!

December 29, 2013Bible StudyFather, Jerusalem, mountain, worshipLuella Campbell

NAILED!

“He told her, ‘Go, call your husband and come back.’ ‘I have no husband,’ she replied. Jesus said to her, ‘You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.’

‘Sir,’ the woman said, ‘I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.'” John 4:16-20 (NIV).

O-oh! This conversation is getting a bit uncomfortable. How did Jesus know that?

If this woman was to admit her thirst and come clean, she had to open up the cupboard and get all the skeletons out. Jesus didn’t pussyfoot around. He could read her like a book. Why did He expose her, just like that?

First of all, they were alone at the well. There was no-one around to eavesdrop on her private life. Jesus would never have exposed her in front of His disciples. It was not His intention to shame or embarrass her but to open up the lines of communication between them so that He could speak to her heart.

Secondly, as long as she kept secrets, there would be a wall between them. He knew and she knew but, until she knew that He knew, she would not hear Him or receive what He was offering her. He told her that He knew exactly what was going on, not to accuse but to show her that her lifestyle was a symptom of her real thirst. She thought she needed a man to love her but what she really need was to reconnect with the God who loved her unconditionally for who she was.

She did what every person does when faced with having to own up to what they are doing — she became religious. ‘This is scary. You must be a prophet. We Samaritans go to this church, but you Jews insist that your church is the right one. So which one is the right one?’ A convenient “red herring” to take the heat off her!

But, whether she liked it or not, her interest was aroused. This was not just a casual conversation — small talk at the well while she was getting water; this man was getting very personal and she had to change direction before He embarrassed her even more. Let’s talk religion. That’s safe ground, so she thought.

But her question got Jesus even more fired up. This exchange was going somewhere and He was nudging it on. “‘Woman,’ Jesus replied, ‘believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is of the Jews.”’ John 4: 21, 22 (NIV).

‘It’s not about where you worship, but who you worship. It’s not about this church or that denomination. It’s about worshipping the Father.’ That must have startled her. Her religion was a hotchpotch of religions, man-made and futile because it was not the truth. Her problem began with a false idea about God. She had no foundation upon which to build her life and so she was doing what Adam did — making her own rules which didn’t work and left her heart empty and thirsty.

Jesus gently took her back to basics. ‘Who are you worshipping? There is only one God and He is your Father, the source of your life. All other gods are products of someone’s imagination, and worthless substitutes for the true God.’

She had to learn that God was neither an intrusion nor an add-on to her life but the source and foundation of everything that would provide peace and wholeness. Her life was in tatters because she had no Father to give her identity and stability, no one to worship and honour, to follow and obey and to be the authority in her life. Like a captain-less ship she was trying to navigate life without knowing who she was, where she was going and who was in charge. And it wasn’t working for her.

Only the Creator knows how His creation should function. Without Him, nothing works. You have to get reconnected. Have you?

Glimpses Of The Great God: Day Eighteen

November 28, 2013Devotionchanged, Elijah, Moses, mountainLuella Campbell

DAY EIGHTEEN

About eight days after Jesus said this,

He took Peter, John and James with Him,

and went up onto a mountain to pray.

As He was praying, the appearance of His face changed,

and His clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.

Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendour,

talking with Jesus.

They spoke about His departure

which He was about to bring to fulfilment at Jerusalem.

Peter and his companions were very sleepy

but when they became fully awake,

they saw His glory and the two men standing with Him…

While he (Peter) was speaking a cloud appeared

and enveloped them,

and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.

A voice came from the cloud saying,

“This is my Son, whom I have chosen: listen to Him”

Luke 9:28-32; 34 -35

For a brief moment, Jesus’ glory which He had with the Father before the beginning of time, broke through His human flesh and became visible to the sleepy disciples. It was something Peter never forgot. “We were eyewitnesses of His majesty…We ourselves heard this voice when we were with Him on the sacred mountain.” (2 Peter 1:16b, 18). What an experience!

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HE IS RISEN!