Commonality Between Moses, Elijah, and Jesus Timeline for Transfiguration

One of the prerequisites for Moses and Elijah to time travel from their time to where Christ was at his Transfiguration was for their timelines to parallel, so they were in the same place at the same time of year in their own timeline. The last few posts gave this, but we haven’t looked at this aspect side by side. Let’s do that now. Here is a table with this side-by-side comparison:

From this table we see that Israel was born as a nation at the first Shavuot, Elijah had his encounter with the prophets of Baal near Shavuot, and Jesus likely celebrated Shavuot in Jerusalem.

Each of their next events took approximately one week. Moses would make sacrifices, take the elders and priests to eat on the mountain with the preincarnate Christ, and ascend farther up the mountain than the others. Elijah would flee to Beersheba and then into the wilderness from Samaria which would take approximately one week. And it would take Jesus and his disciples approximately one week to get back to Galilee from Jerusalem.

Next, Moses remained on Sinai for 40 days. It took 40 days for Elijah to get to Sinai from where he collapsed in the wilderness. It likely took approximately 40 days for Jesus to wind up his Galilean ministry as he would speak in Capernaum, Bethsaida, travel north to Tyre and Sidon, and then travel to Caesarea Philippi at the base of Mt. Hermon.

Each of their next events took approximately one week. Moses would chide the Israelites and make intercession for them. Elijah would be in the cave approximately one week to rest up before God met with him (although we have no specific time mentioned in scripture). And it would take about one week for Jesus to travel to and up Mt. Hermon from Caesarea Philippi.

Christ’s Transfiguration then occurred on Mt. Hermon with Moses and Elijah transported from their place at Sinai.

Moses remains on Mt. Sinai for an additional 40 days in God’s presence, which is why his face still shown when he came down the mountain. It took Elijah 40 days to reach Abel-Meholah and carry out God’s commands. Since it took 40 days to get there, this is likely why there is no mention of Elijah’s face shining because it had worn off by that time. Jesus then travels toward Jerusalem with his disciples and focuses on his coming crucifixion.

Moses then began the construction of the tabernacle according to God’s commands. Elijah followed God’s instructions to call Elisha as his companion prophet and anoint Jehu as king of Northern Israel. Jesus taught at the temple in Jerusalem about his divinity and coming crucifixion.

Therefore, while not proof. The timeline does support the possibility of Moses and Elijah being transported from Mt. Sinai in their timeline to Mt. Hermon for the Transfiguration of Christ. While we don’t know if Moses and Elijah were transported to be with Christ on Mt. Hermon from their own time, the timing of the events in each of their lives would lend itself for this to occur.

So it would seem that Christ used his Transfiguration for multiple purposes. Does it have a significance for us today? Oh, yes, it most certainly does. We’ll discuss this aspect next time.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens