THE PROMISE

CONT., page 3

MOSES AND ELIJAH

In Exodus 33:18-23 we read of a promise Yahweh made to Moses per his request that Yahweh show him His glory. We will divide this promise into three clear parts.

"You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!" Then Yahweh said,

1. "Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock;

2. and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by.

3. Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen."

This promise was made to Moses before he made his eighth and final trip up Mount Sinai where he was there with Yahweh for forty days and forty nights without food or water. However, there is nothing in the account of this time that indicates Yahweh ever performed this promise to Moses. The account never records the occurrence of any such event, though it gives an account of Yahweh’s dealings with him during that time on the mountain. Did it happen? We are not told it did; and frankly, considering the ways of Yahweh, I do not believe it did. I believe it was delayed. Certainly since the account is not recorded, this is true prophetically; and more likely it was the case in reality. Why do I say this? First, because of the unmistakable testimony of Moses as the first Remnant part of the two-part "picture." Like the first Remnant disciples who received the promise to not see death until they saw the Son of Man come in the glory of the Father in His kingdom, yet did not receive the fulfillment of that promise, even so Moses served as one who did not enter into the land Yahweh had promised, and undoubtedly did not receive the promise to see the glory of Yahweh as he requested.

The second reason it is evident that Moses did not receive the promise of seeing Yahweh’s glory, is because without question there was another man who did in fact receive Moses’ request at the exact location Moses would have received it. Who was this man? He was Elijah. Let us look at this.

The mountain that Moses went upon in the wilderness was Mount Sinai. This mountain is also called Mount Horeb or "the mountain of God" (Malachi 4:4 and Exodus 33:6). In 1 Kings 19 we read of Elijah’s flight from Jezebel, where he fled specifically to Mount Horeb, or in other words Mount Sinai. Elijah went to exactly the same mountain where Moses and the Israelites were led following their flight from the Egyptians. Elijah was therefore carrying out the same drama as Moses and the Israelites.

We read in verses nine and following the account of Elijah equally being led for forty days and forty nights without food or water (as did Moses) during which he entered into a cave. It is most important to note that this was the exact cave or cleft Moses would have been in if Yahweh had fulfilled His promise to him. On the true Mount Sinai in Saudi Arabia where the fleeing Israelites were led, there is only one cave on that mountain, and it is called by the local residents - Elijah’s cave.

What happened to Elijah when he went into that cave? We will lay this out in the same three-part order which we saw in Yahweh’s promise to Moses.

1. Elijah was told to "Go forth, and stand on the mountain before Yahweh" (vs. 11). This fulfilled Yahweh’s promise that He would cause Moses to "stand on the rock" by Him. But instead of Moses standing there, it was later Elijah. Elijah in fact stood where Moses was promised to stand.

2. While Elijah was yet hid in the cleft or cave, we read - "And behold, Yahweh was passing by!" This is exactly what Yahweh told Moses that He would do next - "and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by." In the cave on Mount Sinai Elijah thus received the second part of the promise to Moses. Elijah was placed in the cleft of the rock while Yahweh passed by.

3. The third part of the promise, that Moses would see His back, is not so clearly lucid as the first two parts. Elijah did in fact come out of the cleft or cave (Yahweh essentially taking His hand away so he could see), and there the voice of Yahweh "came to him." Elijah received specific instructions from Yahweh, directing him in what to do.

We see then that this three-part promise to Moses was fulfilled, not in Moses, but in Elijah - being fulfilled in the exact location where Moses himself would have been, and equally during a forty day fast. Therefore, Elijah received the fulfillment of the promise to Moses. Why? Because Elijah was a preluding type, pattern. or one could even say an intercessoral forerunner of the second-part work of the Holy Spirit that receives the promise(s) made to the first-part disciples.

This amazing prophetic tie between these two men is not limited to this occasion alone. These two represent the two-part Remnant that receives Yahshua’s promise, and this unifying testimony occurs in at least two other occasions. The next unmistakably prophetic tie or common identity between these two men is evidenced in their departures from this earth. We know that when Elijah was caught up into heaven alive in a whirlwind, this took place on the east side of the Jordan River opposite Jericho (2 Kings 2). Most significantly, this was once again exactly where Moses died. Moses led the Israelites to this very area, and was instructed by Yahweh to go up on Mount Nebo "which is ... opposite Jericho" (Deuteronomy 32:49). There he was to "die on the mountain where you ascend." As once again these men’s lives were to intertwine, this was the very place that Elijah sought out when he knew that he was to ascend alive unto Yahweh. Moses was instructed to ascend Mount Nebo opposite Jericho and die; while Elijah approached from the other side, crossed the Jordan opposite Jericho, and there at the same location as his forerunner he ascended into heaven alive. These two men are once again a clear picture of the two Remnants - the first died without entering the "promised land," the second enters and ascends alive into heaven.

A third and most significant prophetic testimony of these two men as the two-part promise-receiving Remnant is seen on the mount of transfiguration. Once again, who is it we find there now physically united together, being glorified with Yahshua, but the two Remnant testimonies Moses and Elijah? Here we find Moses, who was promised to enter the land but could not and died in the wilderness, and Elijah who in fact occupied the promised land, and even more significantly ascended alive into heaven. These two Remnant-representing men whose lives were at least twice united by their acts though separated in time, in the end were physically united as one witness, bearing testimony in the presence of Yahshua in His glory. It can well be said in this third testimony that the two parts of the "picture" were finally brought together into one united witness. These two men in their prophetic roles as the two Remnants separated by 2,000 years of Christianity, are a clear evidence of the uniting of these two Remnants when Yahshua is glorified upon this earth as King of Kings.

One final unique common bond between these two men is that both men’s works were completed by a successor. Moses’ works were completed by Joshua, while Elijah’s works were completed by Elisha. In both cases, a two-part testimony prevailed, evidencing that it will be a two-part Remnant that is necessary for the promise of the kingdom to be fulfilled - the former and the latter, separated by a breach (even as the "chariot of fire and horses of fire" separated Elijah and Elisha).

Before departing from this, we should point out the repetition of this pattern even within this account of Moses and Elijah. You will notice that the three-part promise is, within itself, the identical pattern we have been seeing, the central breach being most clear. Laying the promise out in the same style as we have before, let us see what this example reveals.

 
Here the central breach is most evident. But of course the former and latter two-part works are also most revealing. While we cannot elaborate a great deal, it can be noted that the first Remnant stands by Him on the rock, while it is in fact the second Remnant that performs the work that leads to seeing Him. It is this second work that fulfills the promise made by Yahshua. Thus this promise to see His glory was actually a pattern for the church or the kingdom of God men have occupied while in earthly bodies.

This breach or delay period is often testified to in the Scriptures, and understandably so. It accounts for the longest work of Yahweh in the history of man. There has never been a longer period or dispensation by Yahweh; the patriarchs from Adam to Noah being the next longest, but falling short of 2,000 years. (From Adam to when Noah left the ark was 1,657 years. Abram was born 1,948 years from Adam.) Equally significant, these 2,000 years of Christianity have been the presence of the kingdom of God among men; similarly the first time this has occurred in the history of man. But additionally significant, we have here in this breach called Christianity a delay period in Yahshua setting up His more perfect kingdom with Him reigning here on earth. This is one of the problems with Christianity. Without the King here, as frequently declared in Judges, "every man does what is right in his own eyes." This, of course, has led to over 2,000 divisions (denominations) within Christianity or the body of Christ. And as Yahshua warned, a house divided against itself will not stand; and neither will Christianity. Its tenure is cut short to 2,000 years, thus ending the loooooong breach, as Yahshua completes through the latter rain the work He began under the former rain. Then the uniting of the two Remnant works in heaven with Yahshua (the two glorified Moses and Elijah works on the mountain with Him) will result in the repairing of this breach - both the uniting of the two Remnants, as well as providing healing and cleansing for Christianity, the breach.

As an added testimony to these two former and latter works, separated by the breach of Christianity, let us look at one of the most revealing testimonies to this. While there is so very much more we could draw from this following account, we will limit our examination to its basic message.

Continue to page 4 of The Promise for TWO MORE TESTIMONIES

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