Wednesday, April 6
Moses was commissioned as “the Christ,” or “Anointed One,” in that he was selected by Jehovah to lead Israel out of Egypt. Moses knew that carrying out this commission would be difficult, even a “reproach.” One of the Israelites had earlier sneered: “Who appointed you as a prince and a judge over us?” Later, Moses himself asked Jehovah: “How will Pharaoh ever listen to me?” How did Jehovah help Moses? First, Jehovah assured Moses: “I will prove to be with you.” Second, Jehovah inspired confidence by explaining one aspect of the meaning of his name: “I Will Become What I Choose to Become.” Third, he endowed Moses with miraculous power that proved that Moses was indeed sent by God.Fourth, Jehovah gave Moses a partner and spokesman, Aaron, to help him carry out his assignment.
COMMENTARY
In yesterday’s text the Governing Body explained their rationale for de-emphasizing the type/antitype approach to understanding certain Bible accounts. But Moses undoubtedly is cast as a type of Christ, even as Moses told the Israelites: “Jehovah your God will raise up for you from among your brothers a prophet like me. You must listen to him.” —Deuteronomy 18:15
The prophet like Moses was Jesus. That being the case, the question arises whether Jesus’ earthly sojourn was the extent of the antitype? The answer is clearly no. Moses bringing about the 10 plagues and then leading the Israelites and vast mixed company through the parted sea and into the Promised Land obviously portrays Christ bringing about the final woes upon Satan’s world and providing salvation for God’s people.
The fact that “Moses” appeared in the Transfiguration, along with the prophet Elijah, and those two prophets “appear” again in Revelation as the two witnesses, indicates that Moses enacted a far-reaching prophetic drama foreshadowing the return of Christ.
However, since Moses appeared along with Christ in the Transfiguration he could not also symbolize the Messiah. What is the significance of Moses’ appearing along with the resplendent Christ? He typifies those who will experience the parousia firsthand, which will result in their transformation. That will be the end of Christianity, when those who are the last of the anointed in union with Jesus become as he is. In other words, they become Christ. Isn’t that what being anointed is all about?
This is what was enacted when Moses went up into the mountain and spoke with Jehovah face-to-face, at least he had as close an encounter as is humanly possible without being vaporized. When Moses descended from the mountain his face shone like the sun, just as Jesus shone as the sun on the mountain of transfiguration, and just as the chosen ones will shine as brightly as the sun in the Kingdom of God.
Paul referred to this phenomenon when he wrote: “And all of us, while we with unveiled faces reflect like mirrors the glory of Jehovah, are transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, exactly as it is done by Jehovah the Spirit.”
We may expect the parousia to achieve the ultimate transformation to the superlative degree. And it is after the revealing of the sons of God that the sheep and the goats will be judged as to their treatment of Christ in the form of his brothers.
