Moses and Elijah

After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. - Matthew 17:1-3
It is always interesting to see how people look at this passage. If I ask you, why Moses and Elijah, I am sure people will be quoting from Matthew 5:17 that Jesus did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophet, but instead was sent to fulfill them. As such, Moses and Elijah both represent the two categories of Scripture that were mentioned, Moses being the person who gave Israel the Ten Commandments and the Levitical Laws, and Elijah being the person who was deemed as the forerunner of the prophetic ministry which started the writings of the Prophets.

However, I wonder if people are able to see the interesting similarity between Moses and Elijah. It is interesting. I am specifically thinking about the end of their lives. These are the two pax in biblical history whose final resting place was never recorded specifically, or rather God personally oversaw their 'end'. In the final chapter of Deuteronomy, it was said that God 'buried Moses in Moab' but no one knows where's the burial ground. Elijah, in 2 Kings 2, was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind by chariots of fire. In short, no one knows where was his final burial place, if there was one in the first place.

Interestingly, the only such example in the OT was Enoch, who walked faithfully with God and then was taken away by God and was no more. I am not exactly sure whether this means he died and went to God's side, or whether it literally means God took him away like Elijah.

But the focus on Moses and Elijah are interesting because they are the ones who appeared alongside with Jesus in the Transfiguration. The even more interesting fact about these two are that they, at some point, deviated from God's instruction for them with Moses striking the rock for water when God commanded him to speak to the rock and with Elijah eventually hiding in the caves after threats from Jezebel. For Elijah, it was commanded that he went on to anoint Jehu as King of Israel but in the end, it wasn't recorded that he did. In biblical exposition, this is normally interpreted by scholars that he didn't obey God in the end.

But yet, the beautiful thing is that they were the ones who appeared alongside with Jesus in the Transfiguration!!! I think there are a lot to be thought about when it comes to this.

Till the next time I write.

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