"Ekklesia: Moses #1 and Moses #2"
by Dr. Patti Amsden
by Dr. Patti Amsden
Before announcing that He would build his church, Jesus questioned His disciples as to whom they thought Him to be. Jesus must have wanted to insure that His followers had clarity on His person before giving them clarity on His plans. So, He asked, “Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?” They responded with a variety of answers: John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets.
Their replies indicated that they were contextualizing. They were plugging the man who stood before them into the history of God’s people, into the biblical storyline, among other covenant heroes. They did not pull from a knowledge general history and suggest that He was connected to some Gentile king of historical notoriety or associated with any of the philosophical sages so well-known during the Greco/Roman era. No! Apparently the chatter bantered about between the disciples and other fellow countrymen who deliberated upon this Man and His ministry had placed Jesus among those personages found in Jewish, religious, and redemptive history. The disciples and other followers had profiled Jesus among the prophets.
Next Jesus inquired, “But whom do you say that I am?” Peter articulated the reply, “You are the Christ.” In that proclamation, Peter was saying that the Lord was the long-awaited Messiah, the promised Anointed One. Indeed, Peter proclaimed Jesus to be the Deliverer who had been pledged to Israel and the Redeemer whom the nation believed God would send. Peter continued: “You are the Son of the Living God” – the mature heir of the Ever-Existent, Supreme Deity of our Fathers. Peter’s proclamation was totally accurate. It was based upon his knowledge of the writings of scripture and predicated upon the fact that Israel had been waiting for God to manifest His promises in the flesh of a person. Peter recognized that the man who stood before him was the One. Prophets had foretold of Him. Scribes had recorded the promises of Him. Ancestors had expected Him. The faithful had believed in Him. But, Peter was beholding him – the realized promise. Jesus was, indeed, the consummation of the chronology and the object of the chronicles. Jesus affirmed Peter’s words and even informed him that his understanding and revelation came to him directly from the Living God.
Jesus brought about the convergence of the past and the present. He presented Himself as the point into which the Old had funneled and from which the New would flow. He must have understood that His disciples would not comprehend how the future could unfold unless they could plug their present into the eternal narrative. Continuity! Jesus was insuring that his listeners were connecting. They were. Peter did. Jesus was the Promised One.
Once Jesus was assured that His followers had clarity as to His person, the Lord was ready to bring clarity to His mission. He would build His Ekklesia. The English word church is translated from the Greek word ekklesia. Ekklesia is a compound word from ek, meaning out, and kaleo, meaning to call. Simply defined, ekklesia means those who are called out. Jesus’ words about His purpose and plan had just as much historical significance as did His person. When questioned about who He was, the disciples recounted their knowledge of Israel’s history, her heroes, her register of the faithful. Once again, Jesus would have been expecting these men of Israel to draw from their knowledge of the work of God among their own. Called out ones! Who had been the called out ones?
Undoubtedly, the minds of the disciples would have considered their ancestors who were called out of Egypt under the leadership of Moses (Hos. 11:1). As a called out nation, the Israelites were built together into a nation as a special possession of God and a special priestly people to the other nations of the earth (Ex. 19:3-6). They were given a tabernacle. They were afforded access to God’s glory and God’s laws. Moses was called unto the Mountain and given the oracles and the plans for building a biblical society. They were called out of darkness to become a nation of light (Deut. 28:1). Could all of that chronology and chronicle be providing the back-drop for Jesus’ proclamation? What would have been the reference point for the concept of a called-out people? Did the disciples use that historical reference from which to contextualize Jesus’ words?
If Moses and the Israel of the Old Testament can, indeed, provide the background of Jesus’ announcement of His called out, then the Bible should be able to verify that position. Moses, in his work as deliverer, law-giver, tabernacle-builder, and shepherd is repeatedly paralleled with the corresponding works of Christ. Moses told the Israelites to be expecting someone to come who would be like him. Hear the words of Deuteronomy 18:15, 19-20: "The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear" (verse 15).
"And the Lord said to me: . . .I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him" (verse 19-20).
In verse 15, Moses declared that a comparable-to-him prophet would come. In verse 19, God is credited with announcing the same thing. Moses said it and God said it: expect a prophet like Moses. Jesus was that prophet. The book of Acts, chapter 7 records the words of Stephen, which he communicated as he was being questioned by the religious leaders because he was a follower of Jesus. Stephen, speaking in his own defense, recounted the history of the nation from Abraham, through Jacob and Joseph, and until Moses. He recalled how Moses was used of God in the nation’s miraculous deliverance from Egypt and then quoted Deuteronomy 18:15 as first, a testimony that Jesus was the promised Moses #2 and secondly, a warning because Moses had admonished the nation to hear the words which this prophet would say. Stephen was identifying Jesus to those who seemingly had not been able to see Him and issuing a warning to those seemingly were not able to hear Him. Their deafness was problematic and Stephen was appealing to them from their own history. Acts 7 ends with a deadly outcome – Stephen was stoned to shut down his witness that Moses #2 had arrived in Christ Jesus.
The book of Hebrews is another place in scripture where Moses #1 and Moses #2 are compared. The whole text relates how the tabernacle, the priesthood, the sacrifices, and the ordinances that came through Moses’ administration served as pictures, types, and illustrations of that which Jesus instituted. Moses #1 preceded and foreshadowed Moses #2. Moses #2 followed and fulfilled Moses #1. Biblical integrity is maintained by understanding the one in light of the other. Listen to Hebrews 3:1-6: "Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His (God’s) house. For this One (Jesus) has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God. And Moses indeed was faithful in all His (God’s) house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end."
Moses was a house builder. Jesus was a house builder. Jesus and the house He builds is worthy of more honor just as surely as every object has more value than a picture of that object. Moses was faithful. Jesus was faithful. Moses was faithful as a servant; Jesus was faithful as a son. And, all that Moses #1 built was to serve as a testimony to that which would come in Moses #2.
Into the history of the person of Moses and the work of Moses, Jesus stated that He would build His called out. Jesus was stating that He would do a similar work. Jesus was calling out His twelve apostles instead of Moses’ twelve sons of Jacob. Jesus would build His called out into a holy nation with a special priestly anointing (I Peter 2:9; Ex. 19:3-6). He would build His new tabernacle (I Cor. 6:19; Eph. 2:19-22) and give His followers access to God’s glory and God’s Word. Jesus would train His followers and then commission them to go into society as lights to disciple the nations (Mt. 28:18-20). The parallels are unmistakable.
When Jesus stated He would build His called out – His Ekklesia – He was declaring that just as Moses had a covenantal, called-out people to steward God’s kingdom in the earth, He would have a covenantal, called-out people. That day of this great proclamation, Jesus identified His called out in contrast to the called out of Moses. And, He identified the distinguishing mark of His Ekklesia – “The gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
Their replies indicated that they were contextualizing. They were plugging the man who stood before them into the history of God’s people, into the biblical storyline, among other covenant heroes. They did not pull from a knowledge general history and suggest that He was connected to some Gentile king of historical notoriety or associated with any of the philosophical sages so well-known during the Greco/Roman era. No! Apparently the chatter bantered about between the disciples and other fellow countrymen who deliberated upon this Man and His ministry had placed Jesus among those personages found in Jewish, religious, and redemptive history. The disciples and other followers had profiled Jesus among the prophets.
Next Jesus inquired, “But whom do you say that I am?” Peter articulated the reply, “You are the Christ.” In that proclamation, Peter was saying that the Lord was the long-awaited Messiah, the promised Anointed One. Indeed, Peter proclaimed Jesus to be the Deliverer who had been pledged to Israel and the Redeemer whom the nation believed God would send. Peter continued: “You are the Son of the Living God” – the mature heir of the Ever-Existent, Supreme Deity of our Fathers. Peter’s proclamation was totally accurate. It was based upon his knowledge of the writings of scripture and predicated upon the fact that Israel had been waiting for God to manifest His promises in the flesh of a person. Peter recognized that the man who stood before him was the One. Prophets had foretold of Him. Scribes had recorded the promises of Him. Ancestors had expected Him. The faithful had believed in Him. But, Peter was beholding him – the realized promise. Jesus was, indeed, the consummation of the chronology and the object of the chronicles. Jesus affirmed Peter’s words and even informed him that his understanding and revelation came to him directly from the Living God.
Jesus brought about the convergence of the past and the present. He presented Himself as the point into which the Old had funneled and from which the New would flow. He must have understood that His disciples would not comprehend how the future could unfold unless they could plug their present into the eternal narrative. Continuity! Jesus was insuring that his listeners were connecting. They were. Peter did. Jesus was the Promised One.
Once Jesus was assured that His followers had clarity as to His person, the Lord was ready to bring clarity to His mission. He would build His Ekklesia. The English word church is translated from the Greek word ekklesia. Ekklesia is a compound word from ek, meaning out, and kaleo, meaning to call. Simply defined, ekklesia means those who are called out. Jesus’ words about His purpose and plan had just as much historical significance as did His person. When questioned about who He was, the disciples recounted their knowledge of Israel’s history, her heroes, her register of the faithful. Once again, Jesus would have been expecting these men of Israel to draw from their knowledge of the work of God among their own. Called out ones! Who had been the called out ones?
Undoubtedly, the minds of the disciples would have considered their ancestors who were called out of Egypt under the leadership of Moses (Hos. 11:1). As a called out nation, the Israelites were built together into a nation as a special possession of God and a special priestly people to the other nations of the earth (Ex. 19:3-6). They were given a tabernacle. They were afforded access to God’s glory and God’s laws. Moses was called unto the Mountain and given the oracles and the plans for building a biblical society. They were called out of darkness to become a nation of light (Deut. 28:1). Could all of that chronology and chronicle be providing the back-drop for Jesus’ proclamation? What would have been the reference point for the concept of a called-out people? Did the disciples use that historical reference from which to contextualize Jesus’ words?
If Moses and the Israel of the Old Testament can, indeed, provide the background of Jesus’ announcement of His called out, then the Bible should be able to verify that position. Moses, in his work as deliverer, law-giver, tabernacle-builder, and shepherd is repeatedly paralleled with the corresponding works of Christ. Moses told the Israelites to be expecting someone to come who would be like him. Hear the words of Deuteronomy 18:15, 19-20: "The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear" (verse 15).
"And the Lord said to me: . . .I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him" (verse 19-20).
In verse 15, Moses declared that a comparable-to-him prophet would come. In verse 19, God is credited with announcing the same thing. Moses said it and God said it: expect a prophet like Moses. Jesus was that prophet. The book of Acts, chapter 7 records the words of Stephen, which he communicated as he was being questioned by the religious leaders because he was a follower of Jesus. Stephen, speaking in his own defense, recounted the history of the nation from Abraham, through Jacob and Joseph, and until Moses. He recalled how Moses was used of God in the nation’s miraculous deliverance from Egypt and then quoted Deuteronomy 18:15 as first, a testimony that Jesus was the promised Moses #2 and secondly, a warning because Moses had admonished the nation to hear the words which this prophet would say. Stephen was identifying Jesus to those who seemingly had not been able to see Him and issuing a warning to those seemingly were not able to hear Him. Their deafness was problematic and Stephen was appealing to them from their own history. Acts 7 ends with a deadly outcome – Stephen was stoned to shut down his witness that Moses #2 had arrived in Christ Jesus.
The book of Hebrews is another place in scripture where Moses #1 and Moses #2 are compared. The whole text relates how the tabernacle, the priesthood, the sacrifices, and the ordinances that came through Moses’ administration served as pictures, types, and illustrations of that which Jesus instituted. Moses #1 preceded and foreshadowed Moses #2. Moses #2 followed and fulfilled Moses #1. Biblical integrity is maintained by understanding the one in light of the other. Listen to Hebrews 3:1-6: "Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His (God’s) house. For this One (Jesus) has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God. And Moses indeed was faithful in all His (God’s) house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end."
Moses was a house builder. Jesus was a house builder. Jesus and the house He builds is worthy of more honor just as surely as every object has more value than a picture of that object. Moses was faithful. Jesus was faithful. Moses was faithful as a servant; Jesus was faithful as a son. And, all that Moses #1 built was to serve as a testimony to that which would come in Moses #2.
Into the history of the person of Moses and the work of Moses, Jesus stated that He would build His called out. Jesus was stating that He would do a similar work. Jesus was calling out His twelve apostles instead of Moses’ twelve sons of Jacob. Jesus would build His called out into a holy nation with a special priestly anointing (I Peter 2:9; Ex. 19:3-6). He would build His new tabernacle (I Cor. 6:19; Eph. 2:19-22) and give His followers access to God’s glory and God’s Word. Jesus would train His followers and then commission them to go into society as lights to disciple the nations (Mt. 28:18-20). The parallels are unmistakable.
When Jesus stated He would build His called out – His Ekklesia – He was declaring that just as Moses had a covenantal, called-out people to steward God’s kingdom in the earth, He would have a covenantal, called-out people. That day of this great proclamation, Jesus identified His called out in contrast to the called out of Moses. And, He identified the distinguishing mark of His Ekklesia – “The gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
