Moses, the Christian

When I began to write these articles, my first was, “Abraham, a Christian”, because I was distressed that my church was referring to Abraham as a Jew. And why should this upset me? We are giving our Christian heritage over to the Jews, even though there was no such thing as a Jew in Abraham’s day. In fact, one could make a better case for calling Abraham a Chaldean, since he was domiciled in the city of Ur in Chaldea. So, again in my church, I hear Moses and his forebears referred to as Jews.

Did Moses know Jesus?

So, who were the Jews? They were the exiles from the nation of Judah that were taken from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar and returned seventy years later under the decree of Cyrus to rebuild the city and the temple. These Jews comprised a small part of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and some of Levi. And we know their fate. After refusing to have Jesus reign over them, He told them the kingdom was taken from them and given unto a nation bringing forth the fruits. In 70 A.D., the Roman Titus came and destroyed Jerusalem and the temple, killing many Jews and scattering the rest. So it should be easy to accept that Moses, his grandfather Levi, and indeed Abraham existed long before Jews were known or so labelled.

If the Old Testament was therefore not Jewish, what was it? It was Christian! From the first verses of the Bible to the last verses of Revelation, it is the story of Jesus Christ, first as creator, then as bride of the nation Israel, formed at Mount Sinai, and finally as Saviour, Lord of Lords and King of Kings. Well, is this story not shared with the Jews? The returning Jews intermarried with the local population compromising their bloodlines but more importantly, they returned with the Babylonian Talmud which stood/stands in contradiction to the laws of Moses. Consider Matthew 16: 6 – 9, “Thus have ye made the commandment of God of NONE EFFECT by your tradition. Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophecy of you, saying, This people draw nigh unto Me with their mouth and honoureth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, TEACHING FOR DOCTRINES THE COMMANDMENTS OF MEN.” Consider also John 7: 19, “Did not Moses give you the law AND YET NONE OF YOU KEEPETH THE LAW?” So, the Jews corrupted the laws of Moses, departed from the Truth delivered by Jesus and finally executed the Word of God made flesh. This is fascinating indeed because all of this history was forecast by the prophets. By the way, some of the Jews did accept Christ; consider John 8 : 30 – 32,”As He spake these words, many believed on him; then said Jesus to those Jews who believed on Him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye My disciples indeed. And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”

Well, did Moses know Jesus? He not only spent a lot of time with Jesus on Mount Sinai when he organized the constitution of Israel, but he attended the marriage feast with the seventy elders. Exodus 24 : 9 – 11, “Then went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel. And they saw the God of Israel: and there were under His feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in its clearness. And upon the nobles of the children of Israel He laid not His hand: also they saw God and did eat and drink.” So, Jesus took His bride, the nation of Israel, later to be divorced by reason of idolatry. Again, did Moses know Jesus? Deut 34 : 10, “And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses whom the Lord knew FACE TO FACE.”

When Jesus walked with the two disciples to the town of Emmaus, Jesus referred to Moses. Luke 24 : 25 – 27, ” O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory? And beginning AT MOSES and ALL the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scripture the things concerning Himself.” In one of His discourses with the Jews, He mentioned that Moses wrote of Him. Deut 18 : 15 & 18, “The Lord God will raise up unto thee a Prophet, from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto Him shall you harken; I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee and will put My words in His mouth; and He shall speak unto them all that I shall command Him.”

Are there other Christian signs in the Old Testament? You recall in the new church there was a great debate about circumcision, whether or not it was required of Christians. How about this Old Testament text in Deut 10 : 16? “Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your HEART, and be no more stiffnecked.”

I will close this discussion with two descriptions of Jesus Christ, one from the Old Testament and one from the New. From the Old, Daniel 10 : 5 & 6, “Then I lifted up mine eves, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz; His body was also like the beryl, and His face as the appearance of lightning, and His eyes as lamps of fire, and His arms and His feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of His words like the voice of a multitude.” And from the New Testament, Rev 1 : 13 – 18, “And in the midst of the seven candlesticks, one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and His hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and His eyes were as a flame of fire; and His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and His voice as the sound of many waters. And He had in His right hand seven stars; and out of His mouth went a sharp two edged sword: and His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. And He laid His right hand upon me saying unto me, Fear not, I am the First and the Last. I am He that liveth and was dead: and behold I am alive for evermore, Amen.”

…Moses is a Christian.

Now, we know both these are a description of Jesus because both Daniel and John fell to worship Him and were not rebuked. As an example of a rebuke let us look to Revelation 19:10, “And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, SEE THOU DO IT NOT: I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: Worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy.”

I believe that the Jews feel as I do, but it is convenient for them to allow the term Judeo-Christian to exist since it helps blind the Christians to their inheritance. So, I take offence at the term Judeo-Christian. We worship Jesus; the Jews do not. We sanctify the laws of Christ; the Jews do not. We have the sacred Scriptures including the Torah; the Jews have the Talmud. I fail to see anything common, so I conclude this essay by stating again that the whole Bible is Christian, telling a coherent story of Christ from beginning to end and that MOSES IS A CHRISTIAN.