Since returning from the Holy Land, my Bible reading has taken on a whole nuther dimension. Compare it to drinking sweet tea out of a bathtub with a straw versus pouring a gallon of it down your throat. Sipping the Word versus Chug-A-Lugging the Word. In the same manner, my thirst for understanding and knowledge has increased to overflowing.
So many wonders clicked into place during my Holy Land pilgrimage. Yet, for every insight gained, my curiosity was piqued even more. Hardly anything was as I expected it to be. Some of the traditional sites have become so commercialized that the spiritual essence is sadly diluted, though the historical significance remains.
Even so, Israel is a wonder. A humbling, overwhelming wonder. Every day – at some point – I was moved to tears as I walked in the footsteps of Jesus.
One of those places in particular was Mount Tabor – the believed site of the Mount of Transfiguration. [Side Note: I almost lost my religion on the way up the mountain, packed into a van while enduring ten butt-clenching minutes of hairpin turns. My brother felt it necessary to frequently remind me that cussing was frowned upon in the Holy Land. Through every torturous switchback, I somehow managed to transform outbursts of “Holy Sh**!!” into “Holy Shekel!” When we finally made it to the top, the driver and I were equally eager to bid adieu.]
But, Oh.My.Lord. What a view! A breathtakingly beautiful Catholic Church rests regally at the very top of the mountain. It was designed by an Italian architect and consists of three chapels or 'tabernacles' to honor Moses, Jesus and Elijah. (Matthew 17:1-8)
As I entered the Elijah Chapel, I felt a change... a shifting within my soul. My heart begin to beat faster and my eyes filled with tears. I was so surprised by my reaction that I questioned my sis-in-law to see if she felt it, too. She suggested it might be indigestion from the torturous mountain drive, but we both knew it was something more. Something... sacred. I couldn't help but wonder why - surrounded by all these ancient wisps of Jesus - why was I so moved by Elijah?
A few days later, I found myself standing in the Jordan River, reflecting on the baptism of Jesus. Our guide had taken us to the place referred to in the Bible as Bethabara, which means “Place of Crossing”. Tears stung my sunburned cheeks as I envisioned Jesus being baptized in these very waters. I could imagine the heavens opening as the Son rose up out of the river... the Holy Spirit appearing in the form of a dove... and a proud Father's voice from the clouds saying:
"This is my Son, whom I love;
with him I am well pleased."
(Matthew 3:17, NIV)
A beautiful, tangible reunification of the Trinity.
🕂🕂🕂
Last night, my Bible took me back to the Jordan River. And the heavens opened up, once again.
I was reading of how Joshua led the Israelites across the Jordan and into the Promised Land. How God held back the waters of the raging river while His Chosen walked across a dry riverbed. How 12 stones were taken from the riverbed to build a memorial in Gilgal, as commanded by God.
And then, a simple little verse jumped out at me. One I had never noticed before.
Joshua also set up another pile of twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, at the place where the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant were standing.
And they are there to this day.
(Joshua 4:9, NLT)
Joshua, seemingly without any prodding from God, took it upon himself to build a second memorial of 12 stones. Why?
My spidey senses started tingling, so I did what any self-respecting wannabe Biblical Scholar would do: I mixed a healthy dose of prayer with Google and dove right in.
The deeper I delved, the more I began to realize a potential purpose behind the punishment of God forbidding Moses to enter the Promised Land. Moses represented The Law. Moses delivered The Law. Moses was the embodiment of The Law. Symbolically, Moses could not be the one to deliver the Israelites into the Promised Land, because The Law, alone, cannot deliver us.
But Joshua could. Moses had changed Hosea's name to Joshua, which means “The Lord's Salvation”. In many ways, his life paralleled the life of our Savior.
I believe Joshua placed those 12 stones in the bottom of the Jordan River for two reasons:
- To symbolize the 12 tribes and the end of the wilderness wanderings, thereby effectively memorializing the leadership and ministry of Moses and demarking the old generation from the new.
- To prophetically mark the site of subsequent miracles for Elijah and Jesus.
(Wait a minute... there's Elijah, again. What is up with that guy??)
Elijah was not your run-of-the-mill prophet. Nope. Elijah was a Bold, In-Your-Face, Bonafide Miracle Working Prophet, mentioned more times in the Bible than any other prophet. Just as Moses was The Law, Elijah was The Prophet. He came to prepare the way for Christ, and he was so beloved by God that he didn't even have to die. Instead, he was escorted up to heaven in a whirlwind and a freaking chariot of fire! And just where do you think God sent Elijah to catch his VIP ride to heaven? Directly to the river Jordan, to Bethabara... the place marked by Joshua's stones.
(Are you starting to pick up what I'm laying down here?)
The very river in which John the Baptist stood almost 800 years later, when he was approached by a group of Sadducees and Pharisees and the following conversation occurred:
“You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of THESE stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
(Matthew 3:7-9, NIV)
(Hmmmmm... I wonder WHICH stones John the B is referring to? Could it be those SAME 12 stones which Joshua placed in memory of the children of Abraham?)
So, let's go back to where we started. My own scripted series of hairpin turns brings us right back to the top of Mount Tabor and the story of the Transfiguration.
...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.
(Mark 9:2-4)
Can you imagine how blown away Peter was when he recognized Moses and Elijah? Don't you know his eyes were popping as he saw the two of them casually chatting with Jesus in all their radiant glory? As Peter nervously offered to build three tabernacles for them to hang out in, God covered them all in a cloud and said...
“This is my Son, whom I love;
with him I am well pleased.
Listen to him!”
(Mark 9:7)
...which effectively scared the crap out of Peter who fell to the ground. When he looked up again, POOF! Moses and Elijah were gone. Clearly God wanted to make a point to Peter and the other two disciples: Jesus was now the Law and the Prophet. And the Savior.
Man, don't you wish you coulda been a fly on that mountain while those three were talking? Is it possible that Jesus was thanking Moses for delivering the Law of God to Israel? Might the Messiah have been recounting the wonderful works of the Prophet Elijah to his very face?
There, beneath the waters of the Jordan at Bethabara.
“Don't misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose."
(Matthew 5:17, NLT)
