He Wrote about Me

I have often said that in heaven I am looking forward to finding the Cinema 24 and sitting through the collection of historical movies that I am sure will be offered. You know, watching first hand the stories of Noah and Esther, Joshua and the battle of Jericho and the battle of the gods on Mount Carmel. The list goes on and on, doesn't it?

This morning, I read a verse that put another movie in my mind. This one won't be as thrilling as seeing the walls crumble from the sound of horns, but it will be thrilling nonetheless. Here's the verse:

"For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?" John 5:46,47

My first thought was this - what exactly did it look like when Moses received the written word of God? Not just Moses, but all the authors of the various books. I really want to see that process. Did they know their penned words were inspired? Did they sit at at a table, face to face with Jesus and just copy His words? Did they write of dreams and visions that were actually true? The NT writers were probably familiar with the Holy Spirit's guidance, but were the OT writers filled with the very presence of God to do his bidding?

I think that probably there were several methods that God used to deliver His Word, but when it comes to Moses and the book of Genesis, God had to have simply given an eye witness account, right? Because who else could have testified to creation?

The second place my mind went was to the substance of these verses. These are Jesus' words, obviously, and they come after a long discourse on Jesus' relationship with the Father, a comparison between John the Baptist's ministry and Jesus', and then ends with a pointed charge that the Jewish leadership has rejected Him, despite the fact that the one whom they claimed to follow (Moses and the Law) wrote specifically about Him.

But the phrase, "...he wrote about Me..." got me thinking. What did Moses write about Jesus? And I started a list:

He is the Creator (and how He created)

He is the ultimate sacrifice (seen in the concept of the innocent given for the guilty)

He is intimately involved with His creation (as seen in His several appearances and conversations with the patriarchs and others, as well)

He is holy (the WHOLE book of Leviticus)

He is righteous (the Law flows from His character)

He is faithful (many, many miraculous interventions for His people including the parting of the Red Puddle, oops, I mean Sea...)

He is sovereign (made a plan, communicated a plan, set the plan in motion, despite man's sinfulness)


I could go on but I think you get the idea. Moses wrote about Jesus. He testified to His character, His plan, His actions and His will. But the leaders in Israel rejected, not only Jesus, but Moses as well, for when they failed to see Jesus in the Pentateuch, they discredited the author as well.

Believers do that today and this scares me. If Moses wrote about Jesus but we reject Moses' writings as mere fairy tales told to freed Hebrew slaves, then are we rejecting Jesus as well? I am not trying to make a belief in literal creation a salvation issue, but I have to wonder if Jesus was not just giving a warning to the Pharisees with His words here, but to us as well. Do we reject portions of scripture because it offends our sense of fairness or it contradicts scientific theory or it just sounds too unbelievable?

By the way, I have been accused of "Torah Worship." I have been told that I hold the Bible in too high esteem and should focus on faith and love rather than truth all the time. I have been told that the Bible was never intended to be studied and scrutinized to the extent that it consumes me and that I should "lighten up."

So what do you think? I know I need a balance of worshipping in spirit and truth, and that maybe I am heavy on the truth side and need more love, but if truth is not my foundation, then my love is going to be rudderless. (There I go making excuses again...)

One last note - did you know that Jesus quoted from twenty-two Old Testament books? And that the author of Hebrews alone quotes the OT eighty-five times? And to top that, in the book of Revelation the OT is quoted two hundred and forty-five times?

If knowing scripture and using it to support your life was good enough for Jesus, then it's good enough for me...

Have a great day!