Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Jesus and Jeremia in normal Tuesday conversation

In doing research for the Bible study I'm doing on the book of Revelation (I know, I know; I've given proof to the old statement about biting off more than I can chew), I came across an answer to a question I wasn't aware I was asking.

In Revelation 2, in the letter (mailed or e-mailed I'm not sure) to the church in Pergamum, there's this reference: "Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give some of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven." That's in the New Living Translation. In the NIV, it's called the "hidden manna."

Not being aware that there was or is manna that had been hidden, who might have hidden it, or just where in the world it might be, I went in search of what this might mean (as I do in any Biblical reference in any study I'm doing whether that makes for inticing Bible study or un-inticing).

What I found was a discussion I didn't know was needed, but that which I found fascinating. You might or might not.

In Matthew's Gospel, there's a discussion about who people say Jesus is. The "people" declared, "Some say John the Baptist (which is a discussion unto itself), some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets." I've, of course, read this many times but it never struck me in any way unusual because I was reading it instead of pondering it. This blog is about pondering.

In the top 10 listing of Jewish prophets, Moses would be on top, Elijah second (my sport background comes out here as we rank everything today, don't we?), with Daniel, Ezekial and others falling in behind somewhere Jeremiah? Jeremiah wouldn't be third, even. His defensive skills were suspect, at best.

So, why would the people think Jesus would be Jeremiah and what the heck has that got to do with hidden manna, and what the holy heck does that have to do with us?

First, Jeremiah and Jesus both talked about the coming Messiah (Jesus from a completely different viewpoint of course). In a sense, both were prophets of doom who became enemies of the Jewish state. Both were weeping prophets whose biggest tears were for Jerusalem. Both were misunderstood by the people of their day. Both rejected Temple worship as corrupt and beyond repair. Both taught about a new Covenant that would come. Both were falsely accused. Both were forcibly taken into Egypt to escape persecution. There was a lot of similarities.

Of course, that whole being the Son of God thing was a big divider. But if Jesus was going to be mistaken for someone, Jeremiah wasn't all that bad a choice.

But the thing that ties it all together (tada) is a Jewish tradition, one of the oldest and strongest regarding the fate of the Ark of the Covenant of all things. It is one that is found in the apocryphal book of 2 Maccabees, which was written during the inter-Testamental period (in the 400 silent years before Matthew's Gospel). It contends that Jeremiah fled Jerusalem with the Ark and buried it in a cave in Mount Nebo, which is located in the modern day nation of Jordan, which borders Israel.
The narrative in that book says:
"...the prophet, warned by an oracle, gave orders for the tabernacle and the ark to go with him when he set out for the mountain which Moses had climbed to survey God's heritage. On his arrival, Jeremiah found a cave-dwelling, into which he brought the tabernacle, the ark, and the altar of incense, afterwards blocking up the entrance" 2 Maccabees 2: 4-5.   
The Ark is mentioned in the letter to the Hebrews and in Revelation. Hebrews 9:4 says that the Ark contained the golden pot that had manna. ... In Revelation 11:19, John says he saw God's temple in heaven opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple.
 
Because I've been told these things are getting to be too long, let me wrap this all up in a few sentences. Jesus was thought to possibly be Jeremiah because Jeremiah and he had so much in common. Most importantly, Jeremiah was a key prophet involved in Messianic prophecy and prophecy of the end of days, two things Jesus excelled at. Within the language of the end of days, there was also the notion that the Ark of the Covent would play a prominent part. And within that Ark rested the pot of "manna."
 
Thus, the promise given to the church in Pergamum was that anyone who was victorious, anyone who persevered, anyone who overcame would receive the manna that was hidden. Who had hidden it? Jeremiah. Who would use it in the end of days? Jesus, who was and is and will ever be in heaven.
 
If one believes all that, even the traditional non-cannonical things, one is one step closer to the prophecy of the end of days. And to Jesus.

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