Tag: Prophet Elijah

  • Why Melchizedek?

    Why Melchizedek?

    Probably there are not many who have heard of Melchizedek in the bible. And there would be still fewer who have ever studied about Melchizedek. Then why is it necessary to know about Melchizedek or the Order of Mechizedek? Who is Melchizedek? To understand the meaning of Melchizedek in the bible, let us think about some of the figures of the Old Testament.

    Typological Figures in the Bible

    To understand the spiritual connotation of Melchizedek, first we must understand a key feature in the bible which God gave us to teach us the Christ: Typology. Typology is defined like this in the Webster’s Dictionary:

    typologies. 1 : a doctrine of theological types; especially : one holding that things in Christian belief are prefigured or symbolized by things in the Old Testament.

    In Theopedia, it says:

    Biblical Typology   Typology is a method of biblical interpretation whereby an element found in the Old Testament is seen to prefigure one found in the New Testament. The initial one is called the type and the fulfillment is designated the antitype. Either type or antitype may be a person, thing, or event, but often the type is messianic and frequently related to the idea of salvation.

    In Typology the bottom line is “a person, thing, or event in the Old Testament is working as type or copy to teach us the antitype or the reality which would be fulfilled in the New Testament.” This is a very important concept to understand the meaning of the bible. The Old and New Testament are related to each other. Otherwise there would be no need for us to study the Old Testament since it is over and finished.

    But according to this concept the Old Testament is the key factor in understanding the peoples, things, and events in the New Testament because the former is working as prophecies to let us know about the latter.

    In the moment of transfiguration, We can see Jesus along with Moses and Elijah. Moses and Elijah were prophets of God in the old days. However, they also have some prophetical aspects in them which were to be fulfilled by Christ.

    Typology Explained By God’s Words

    Even the bible teaches us the same thing and let us know the bible must be understood with the typological concept of the prophecies and fulfillments.

    Hebrews 10:1   The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves.

    “The law” means the Law of Moses in the Old Testament and it was given as copy and shadow to teach us the reality, or the New Testament.

    Colossians 2:15   Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These (or the Law of Moses) are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

    We have to understand the meaning behind it. Does the bible says that we don’t have to know the Old Testament anymore since the reality that is the New Tesament in Christ is established? No. Let us think about the shadow and reality. They are inseparable like the head and tail of a coin. Where there is a shadow, there should be a reality; vice versa. And we can know the reality better by looking at the shadow. So when God gave the Old Testament, he intended to teach us what was to be fulfilled by Christ in the New Testament. Therefore, we can say in this providence of God the Old Testament is essential to understand the New Testament.

    Isaiah 46:8   “Remember this, keep it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels. 9 Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. 10 I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’

    God said that he already revealed what was to come through the things in the past. And therefore, if we want to know the end or the future, we must consult the beginning or the past. For example, if we want to know the Revelations the last book of the bible, we must look at the Genesis the first book of the bible. In this sense, we can say that the two books of the bible are like pieces of a puzzle that we must put together to see the whole picture of the puzzle.

    Isa 34:16  Look in the scroll of the Lord and read: None of these will be missing, not one will lack her mate. For it is his mouth that has given the order, and his Spirit will gather them together.

    All the words of God has a mated verse and those verses are scattered all throughout the bible in the Old Testament and the New Testament, and we must find out the right piece to understand the meaning of certain verses of the bible by putting the mated verses together. And then, only then can we understand the true meaning of the bible.

    Some Examples of Typology

    I would like to give some examples of typology through some characters of the bible. Some figures of the Old Testament are working as types or prophecies to teach us the realities or the fulfillments in the New Testament. First, in the book of Genesis there is one figure Adam and this Adam was given to us to teach us the Christ who was to come as Adam.

    Adam also works as type for Christ who would come at the last day or on the sixth day.

    Romans 5:14   Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.

    This verse clearly shows us that the first Adam was given as pattern or type to prefigure the Christ who was to come in the future and fulfill the prophecies of Adam. For this reason, to know the Christ first we should know the first Adam in the Old Testament which was a copy or shadow of Christ. Moses was the same. Moses was a great prophet of God who set the Israelites free from the slavery of Egypt and led them to the Promised Land Canaan. And this Moses in the Old Testament was given as type too.

    Deuteronomy 18:17  17 The Lord said to me: “What they say is good. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him.

    God said that he would give “another prophet like Moses” in the future to teach God’s people. Through this verse we can see Moses also was working as type or pattern to teach us the one who was to come as spiritual Moses. And this was fulfilled by Christ by coming as another prophet like Moses and setting God’s people free from the slavery of sins and death and leading to the spiritual Promised Land, the kingdom of heaven.

    Acts 3:20   and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. 21 Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. 22 For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you.

    Apostle Peter clearly says Jesus came as the prophetical Moses to fulfill the prophecy of the Old Testament. We can find many other figures who are working as types: David, Elijah, Melchizedek, etc.

    Melchizedek as the Type of Christ

    As we have already seen in another post, Melchizedek is also working as type to prefigure the Christ who would come as spiritual Melchizedek to fulfill the prophecies of the Old Testament.

    Hebrews 7:15    And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears.

    Then who is this “another priest like Melchizedek” who would appear in the future? It was fulfilled by Jesus Christ by coming as spiritual Mechizedek.

    Hebrews 5:7   During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9 and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him 10 and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

    Who is Melchizedek? Unlike other priests of God in the Old Testament, why did Melchizedek bless Abraham with bread and wine, rather than animal sacrifice?

    Jesus came as “another priest like Melchizedek” and thus to understand Jesus fist we have to understand the Melchizedek in the Old Testament. By studying physical Melchizedek in the Law of Moses, actually we can understand the life and work of Jesus better who came to fulfill the prophecies of Melchizede. In the following posts I would like to explain more about the meaning of Melchizedek?

    Conclusion

    Therefore, people who says that we don’t need to know the Old Testaments are misguided. We MUST know the Old Testament. Without understand the types in the Old Testament given as prefiguration or simply prophecies to teach us the fulfillment or realities in the New Testament, we cannot say we know the bible or we know the Christ who fulfilled all the Law of Moses. (Matthew 5:17)

    Christ Ahnsahnghong is the one who fulfilled all the prophecies of the bible and appeared to us for the second time to give us the salvation. And he let us know the source of the water of life, the last mystery of God in the bible, God the Mother (Heavenly Mother New Jerusalem). Let us accept Christ Ahnsahnghong and God the Mother.

  • Those Who Are Waiting For The Christ

    Hebrews 9:28   28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

    I have already come

     This is a prophecy about Christ who is coming for the second time to this earth. He must appear a second time and bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. That is why those who are waiting for the Christ always want to know about the Christ who will come in the last days. When will he come? In what form would he come? What would be the sign of his coming? Disciples of his first coming also eagerly wanted to know about all these information about his second coming so that they would meet him to receive salvation?

    Mt 24:1   Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” 3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

    They wanted to know about his second coming and they asked about the things that would happen in the time of his coming so that they would know the time for his coming through the signs. To answer these questions Jesus gave a lot of teaching about the signs of his coming in the last days. Therefore, we also must know the signs he gave his disciples so that we would not miss him when he is coming. Then how would he come? In what form or way would he appear to us? The bible says, “He will appear a second time.” Through this we can get the hint of his second time. This sentence means he would appear a second time just as he appeared for the first time. Then how did Christ appear the first time? Even though he was God, he appeared to us as man in the flesh.

    We can find out the Christ coming even through the word, “Christ.” Christ means “an Anointed One.” In the time of the Old Testament three types of people could get anointed: first kings, second high priest, and last prophet. So the Anointed One means a person who gets anointed to be a king, a high priest, and a prophet. Simply it was given to teach us the Christ in Greek or Messiah in Hebrew who would appear to his people to be a king, a high priest, and a prophet. This prophecy was, as we already know, fulfilled by Jesus who appeared to God’s people as Anointed One or Christ. He appeared as man in the flesh just like one of us and spiritually got anointed through his baptism to be a king, high priest, and prophet to the Jews. (John 18:37, Hebrews 5:10, Acts 3:22) Therefore, Christ means God who is coming as man in the flesh to get anointed as Savior for his people. This is how Christ appeared for the first time.

    Then through this first coming we must understand his second coming too. The bible says he would appear a second time to bring salvation. Then how would he appear a second time? Many says that he would appear in his spiritual glory among the clouds and with a loud trumpet call with all the heavenly angel to make a judgment for all the people of the world. This is not true at all. Because Jesus himself prophecied that he would appear as man in the flesh for the second time and the purpose of his coming for the second time is not to make a judgment, but to bring salvation. It means his second coming is not for the destruction, but for eternal life. He foretold that the world would be filled with lawlessness in the last days and all the people would follow and worship the dragon (the Satan) in the last days without having the knowledge of God. In this situation, if he comes to make a judgment, who would receive salvation? Nobody.

    Luke 18:8   8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?

    This is not  a question, but he says that he would not be able to find faith on this earth. Then when he comes to this faithless world as judge in the last days, who would receive salvation? Through this we can see he must not appear among the cloud with full spiritual glory to make a judgment. Let us confirm one more time.

    Luke 12:49     “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed!

     

    He said that he must be baptized again in the future. Baptism is one time ceremony to be born spiritually on this earth. But Jesus said that he must be baptized again. Then what does this mean? It means he must come as man in the flesh for the second time and he must be baptized for the second time. In short, he is teaching us that he must come again as the Anointed One or Christ in the future to be a king, high priest, and a prophet. In the Book of John he teaces the same thing.

    John 10:16   I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.

    He came as shepherd for the Jews 2000 years ago, but now he was prophesying that he must come as shepherd for the sheep outside the pen, which means Gentiles who were once not considered as people of God. He must come for the Gentiles and preach to them too, Then if Christ is coming as judge without preaching to the Gentiles, what would happen to the Gentiles? They would be destroyed, right? Therefore, he must appear for the second time as Anointed One and must preach the words of God to the people who did not know God and give them salvation. According to the bible he must come for the seocnd time as man in the flesh in secret and preach the gospel to his people to gather them together in the last days.

    In the parable of “Weeds and Wheat” Jesus said that he would send out his angels at the harvest time or the end of age and pull out all the weed to tie them into bundles and burn in the fire. And also he would gather all the wheat or his people in the heavenly barn. About his Apostle John explains in the Book of Revelation:

    Revelation 7:1   After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: 3 “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” 4 Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.

    “Four winds” means disasters coming from all the four corners of the earth, which brings complete destruction for land, sea, and tree. The day when the winds are released is the Day of Judgment. But just before the Day of Judgment, God send out his angel to seal his people to give protection from the disasters so that they could receive salvation. Who would this angel be who brings “the seal of God”? Who has the authority to use the seal of God? The seal of a king can be exercised by the King himself. In the same way, the one who bring the seal of God is God himself coming down to bring  salvation. That is the Second Coming Christ “who appears to bring salvation.” According to the bible, the seal of God which gives protection for the disasters is the Passover. Therefore, the angel who brings the seal of God is Christ who brings to restore the Passover of the new covenant which was abolished by Emperor Constantine in 325 BC. According to this prophecy, the one who brings the seal of God (or salvation) is the Second Coming Christ who we should wait for. Then at our time, who restored the Passover the seal of God again for us so that we can be protected from disasters? It is Christ Ahnsahnghong. Nobody on this earth could restore the Passover because God’s prophecy can be accomplished only by God himself. No wise man or scholar can understand the words of God in the bible. Therefore, Ahnsahnghong, even though he came in humble human form from a unknown family and country, is the Christ who we have been waiting for salvation.

    All those who are waiting for the Christ who appears for the second time to bring salvation must come to Christ Ahnsahnghong and keep the Passover of the new covenant to receive the seal of God. Also we must receive God the Mother who is the reality of the new covenant, the true reality of Adam’s flesh and blood which gives us salvation.

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