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"And Jesus was saying to them, "Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power." Six days later, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and brought them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; and His garments became radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them. Elijah appeared to them along with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah." For he did not know what to answer; for they became terrified. Then a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, "This is My beloved Son, listen to Him!" All at once they looked around and saw no one with them anymore, except Jesus alone. As they were coming down from the mountain, He gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man rose from the dead." (Mark 9:1-9) nas.
Here in Mark 9 we see the glory of God shining with radiance; therefore one should only approach such glory with humility and fear, lest their sins be exposed and they be consumed. God through His providence, directs His purpose here through the words of Peter. The suggestion of Peter that there be three tabernacles built points not only to Jesus, Elijah and Moses, but also to the three feasts of the Old Testament. Of these three feasts the feast of tabernacles was the most important:
"Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty: Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee." (Deuteronomy 16:16,17).
The other two feasts are Passover and the feast of weeks.
1.) The feast of Passover pointed to our LORD Jesus Christ, the Lamb slain from everlasting past:
"The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is." (Revelation 17:8).
2.) The feast of weeks pointed to Pentecost of the New Testament which occured in 33 A.D. This is when the Holy Spirit was poured forth:
"And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy" (Acts 2:17,18).
3.) The feast of the harvest (or tabernacles) points to the harvest of the last day:
"And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him." (Jude 14,15).
The gathering of Jesus, Elijah and Moses at the transfiguration paints a wonderful spiritual portrait of the time when every true believer will fellowship with our LORD Jesus Christ in heaven. Amen and Amen.
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