Introduction
Moses, Elijah, and Christ all have something in common in the Biblical narrative. They all fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. Scripture records these events for us.
Moses: “So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. (Exodus 34:28, ESV)
Elijah: “And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God. (1 Kings 19:9 ESV)
Jesus: “And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.” (Mt 4:2, ESV)
These are not the only reference to 40 in the Old Testament. For example, it rained for 40 days and 40 nights on Noah in the ark, (Genesis 7:4) and Israel was in the wilderness for 40 years (Numbers 14:34). The number forty in the bible often relates to a time of trial. It is an interesting study in numerology about what the number 40 may mean in the text of scripture; however, we will focus on Moses, Elijah, and Jesus.
Zeal for God’s Law
Moses, Elijah, and Christ have more in common than just fasting for 40 days. Each of their fasts relates to a life that has the utmost zeal for the Law of God. Only Christ expresses this zeal perfectly; however, we are meant to see in the text of scripture a connection between these men. Moreover, each of them is a party to the distribution and protection of the Law of God. Remember Moses comes down from the mountain having been given the Law on the tablets of stone and finding Israel already sinning and worshiping a golden calf. Moses grinds the calf into dust and make the people drink it. (Exodus 32:20) Elijah also was a man that uncompromisingly stood for the Law of God. The execution of 450 priests of Baal at Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:40) was just one of the examples of Elijah’s zeal for God’s Law. Then there is Christ, of whom the Psalmist spoke “For zeal for Your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.” (Psa 69:9, John 2:17) Each of these people stood against a generation that had violated, abandoned, or bastardized the Law of God. In Moses’ day, the people knew of God’s Holy nature and still worshiped created things and the gods of the surrounding nations. In Elijah’s day, the people had the Law of God with them, and still, they enjoyed the lewdest and murderous false god worship of the nations around them. In Jesus’ day, the teachers of the Law of God had created a set of rules, supposedly to help people keep the Law, yet these rules oppressed and “load[ed] people with burdens hard to bear.” (Luke 11:46, ESV)
The Mount of Transfiguration
Much more can be said about the zeal of Christ, Moses, and Elijah; however, we have enough here to consider their final context. Considering the similarities we have already seen, it is not a surprise that these three met and the moment in history when the Law is perfectly kept and the promises to all of Israel are fulfilled. The scriptures tell us,
And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. (Matt 17:1–3, ESV)
Moses and Elijah are sent as a testimony to the person of Christ.
A Christological Conclusion
God’s word, the incarnate Christ, was the one Moses spoke of when he said, “[t]he LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you …” (Dt 18:15, ESV). In artist renderings of the transfiguration, often we see three glowing persons. But the scriptures tell us that only Christ was transfigured. Moses’ face shown with light in the wilderness, yet it was all of Christ that radiated a bewildering light, light on the Mount of Transfiguration. Moses wrote the Law down, and Elijah preached the Law, but Christ kept the Law. As Calvin put it,
“It was proper that Christ should be surrounded by marks of divine grace and power—at least equally illustrious with those which were bestowed on Moses, that the majesty of the Gospel might not be inferior to that of the Law.”[1]
John Calvin
In this scene, we see that God bore witness to Christ and elevated him above any name that came before; Christ is the person Son of God, God himself. Even the zeal of Moses and Elijah are dim in the presence of Christ.
[1] John Calvin and William Pringle, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke, vol. 1 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 207.