The Joshua Victor Theory

  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Our OT reading from Exodus 20 is the giving of the 10 Commandments on Mt. Sinai. I’ve substituted Hebrews 12 for the regular Epistle reading of the day. Hebrews contrasts two mountains. Mt. Sinai on the terrifying day when Israel came to the mountain to hear God directly speak the commandments out loud to them. And secondly, Mt. Zion, where we the gathered worshippers have come to this second mountain, and to Jesus Christ. Consider God’s work for us and our salvation at each mountain. First, Mt. Sinai. God delivered volumes of teaching, instruction, and laws to Moses and the Israelites on Mt. Sinai. Most of the 5 books of Moses. Sinai was the place of His revelation, God speaking to His people. But of all that God revealed to them, only the 10 Commandments God spoke directly to Israel without a mediator (Deut. 5; Ex. 20). Everything else came by Moses. But at the scene in Exodus and Hebrews 12 they heard t...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Our Old Testament reading from 1 Kings is a couple of verses short, because someone took out the repetition of a question and answer between God and Elijah. The prophet Elijah meets God on Mount Horeb, another name for Mount Sinai. So what is the repeated question and answer? God asks: “ What are you doing here Elijah?” The first time God asks this, Elijah has arrived on the mountain and is staying in a cave. The second time is after God has beckoned him outside of the cave, to witness the tearing wind, the earthquake, the fire, and the gentle whisper. Then God repeats the question, in the gentle whisper: “ What are you doing here Elijah?” Both times Elijah answers exactly the same: “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. In all of the Old Testament, there is no one of greater glory and importance than Moses, who lead God’s people out of Egypt, who received God’s Law from Mt. Sinai, and taught it to God’s people. While Moses was far from perfect, he is commended by the Bible as being faithful as God’s servant, and having done mighty miracles and signs, besides knowing God face to face. But as great as Moses was, in today’s Old Testament reading, Moses tells of an even greater prophet than himself, who will come later. This Prophet is Jesus—who would be faithful in every way that Moses was—and more. The book of Hebrews compares them, saying Moses was faithful in God’s house as a servant, but Jesus is faithful as God’s Son, and is worthy of much greater glory (Heb. 3). The Gospel of John opens with a comparison of Moses and Jesus, saying, “ the law came through Moses, but grace and truth through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). A pr...