Shabbat Shalom, everyone. Open your Bibles, please. Today we are back to the Gospel of Mark, and we have arrived to the ninth chapter of the Gospel of Mark. So, please take your Bibles, open it. I think you will be blessed as the Word of the Lord being read to you, and as you are looking in the text, and you can see what I'm sharing with you, and hopefully the Spirit of God will encourage us and open to us the understanding of this Gospel of Mark. So, let me read the first 13 verses for this ministry meeting, and I begin from Mark 9, verse 1. And he said unto them, this is Yeshua, Verily I say unto you, that there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.

And after six days, Yeshua, that is Jesus, taketh with him Peter and James and John, and leadeth them up into a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow, so as no fuller on earth can white them. And there appeared unto them Eliyahu with Moshe, Elijah and Moses. And they were talking with Yeshua. And Peter answered and said unto Yeshua, Master, it is good for us to be here, and let us make three tabernacles, three Sukkot, one for thee, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. For he wist not what to say, for they were so afraid.

And there was a cloud that overshadowed them. And a voice came out of the cloud saying, This is my beloved son, hear him. And suddenly, when they had looked around about, they saw no man anymore, save Yeshua only with themselves. And as they were coming down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of Man were risen from the dead. And they kept it saying, with themselves, questioning one with another, what the rising from the dead should mean. And they asked him saying, Why say the scribe that Elijah must come first? And he answered, and he told them, Elijah, that is Eliyahu, verily cometh first, and restores all things.

And how it is written of the Son of Man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at naught. But I say unto you that Eliyahu is indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him. And I'm going to stop with the reading here in verse 13 of Mark chapter 9. Now, I don't know about you, but sometimes we need to learn, as we read the Word of God, that the verses and the chapters are actually not divided by the Holy Spirit of God, but men divided the Gospels into chapters and verses. And so sometimes it seems to be that the place where we start a new chapter is not necessarily the right place to start.

So the chapters and the verses in the Tanakh and in the Brit HaChadashat, the Old Testament and the New Testament is not necessarily divinely inspired. The Word of God indeed is divinely inspired, but the divisions of the chapters and verses is not necessarily divinely inspired. One of these places is, for example, in this chapter where we are studying together in Mark chapter 9. Immediately you will notice that verse 1 of chapter 9 really belonged to the previous chapter, to Mark chapter 8. And I'm going to talk about it in a moment. But I want you to notice, beloved brothers and sisters, that as we are studying the Gospel of Mark, to refresh your mind, that the Gospel of Mark is one of those four Gospels that God had given to us by divine design to present before us one single person, namely the Lord Yeshua the Messiah from four different views.

Matthew presents Him as the Messiah of Israel, the Mashiach, the King of the Jews. Mark, where we are now, present Him as the servant of the Lord, Eved Adonai. Luke presents Him, that is presenting Yeshua, Jesus, as the perfect man, the Son of Man. And John, that is Yohanan, presents before us the person of Yeshua the Messiah as the eternal Son of God. Each one of these Gospels focus on the one single person, namely the Lord Jesus, the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. And why? Because He is the theme of God's Word. He is the central person of God's Word. He is the beginning and He is the end.

He is the Alpha and He is the Omega. He is the Aleph in Hebrew and He is the Tav in Hebrew. The beginning and the end. All things are centered in the person of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. And God graciously wanted to present Him before the whole world. This is the beloved one of the Father. He is the King, yet He became a servant. He is a perfect man, yet He is the eternal Son of God. Once you get it, once we get it and our hearts are open to see what God thinks about this man by the name of Yeshua, we rejoice in our hearts.

And we would fall at His feet to worship Him and adore Him because of who He is and because of what He had done for us. Earlier I said when we were singing together, it's good for us to practice singing now because one day when we are going to go to glory, to the presence of God in heaven, there is one thing that we are going to do. We are going to say, "You are worthy to receive power and glory and honor." We will fall at the feet of Yeshua and we will worship Him as He deserves to be worshipped. Well, in a previous message where we were together studying the Gospel of Mark and we talked about Mark chapter 8 from verse 27 to verse 38, we noticed that the Lord Yeshua the Messiah emphasized the importance of His death.

He had to die. He had to come from heaven in order to die on a shameful altar on the cross in order that you and I, sinners by nature, will be able to receive forgiveness of sins. God is a just God, He is holy and righteous, undefiled, and He must judge sin. You and I cannot pay for our sins because we have a sin nature, but someone had to pay in order to cause you and I to be able to be received by the Lord. And you remember in chapter 8 and verse 31, which we have read in our previous ministry meeting, Yeshua said, He began to teach them, this is His disciple, and He said to them, "The Son of man must suffer many things and be rejected of the elders and of the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days to rise again." That's the Gospel, by the way.

1 Corinthians 15, the Apostle Paul said, "I present unto you the Gospel, the Besorah, for the Messiah died according to the Scripture, and He was buried and He rose again according to the Scripture." Paul said, "If you believe in your heart, Yeshua is Lord, and confess with your mouth that God had raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved." Salvation is depended upon the death, the burial and resurrection of our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. So you remember what Peter, Shimon, Petros, he meant well. He came to the Lord and He said to Him in verse 32 of Mark chapter 8, and He said to Him, "No, no, no, no, He took Him and rebuked Him, "Lord, you're not going to die." And Yeshua said to Him in verse 33 of Mark chapter 8, "Get thee behind me, Satan, for you savers not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men." Don't you understand, Shimon, Petros?

You saying that I should not die, meaning that you want to do the will of men rather than the will of God, because God sent me to this world, so I will die for the sin of this world, so I will be able to provide redemption for all humanity. And you, Shimon, Simon Peter, telling me that I should not die, get thee behind me, Satan. And many do not realize this today, that if we are going to be saved, forgiven of our own sin nature, God the Son as man has to pay for the price of our sin and sins. We needed a substitute. A just substitute for an unjust men and women like you and I.

And that's who Yeshua is. And so Peter didn't grasp it. And you know what? Frankly, if I would have been there, I wouldn't grasp it. And if you would have been there, you wouldn't grasp it. It is the Spirit of God who unfold this before us and help us understand spiritual truth. That all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And that God in grace provided the Mashiach, the Messiah. Israel's promised Messiah. And a Savior of the world. And so when we finish chapter 8, if you remember where the Lord Yeshua said, "Whosoever shall come after me, let him deny himself, take up the cross." Why the cross?

Because of the cross. The Roman cross. Messiah died. It is the shameful cross where Yeshua paid for our sin and sins and provided for us salvation. What shall he prove for the man? If he shall gain the whole world, but lose his own soul. You see, man's soul is precious. And God doesn't want us to live our life, to gain the whole world. But when the day comes and the appointment to stand before God, and if we don't have our sins paid for, God who is just will have to say, "I love you. I provided for you my son. I provided for you the Mashiach, the Messiah.

I did everything I could to enable you to receive salvation. But you didn't accept him. And because I am holy, I cannot allow sin to come into my presence. Therefore, with pain in my heart," God will say, "I have to cast you outside of my presence for time and for eternity." And so, beloved brothers and sisters, these are principles. You don't need to be a bright man to understand them. They are clearly given to us in the Hebrew scripture, both Old Testament, New Testament, in the Bible. It is clearly given to us. So now we arrive to chapter 9. And I mention that chapter 9, verse 1, it really belongs to chapter 8.

And I want you to notice that in the first 8 verses of Mark chapter 9, the Lord does an additional thing. God is doing an additional thing to help the disciples grasp the truth of the necessity of Yeshua, the Messiah, to die, to be buried, to be resurrected, and that one day he is going to come to establish a kingdom in a future day. So you notice it says here in chapter 9, verse 1, "And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that there be some of them that stand here which shall not taste death until they have seen the kingdom of God cometh with power." Now imagine, how is it possible?

There were 12 apostles. Those were 12 Hebrew disciples. They are all standing beside the Lord, beside Yeshua the Messiah. They are following after him. He is instructing them and he is telling them, "Listen, I am telling you that some of you that are standing here right now will not see death, will not taste this until they have seen the kingdom of God coming with power." In other words, what Yeshua is saying, if you are going to look for a moment at the full feast of the Lord that we have been studying, you will notice that there is a coming kingdom right here mentioned, the millennial age, the coming kingdom.

And Yeshua was still here. If you remember, he came, he had to die for us. He didn't even die as yet. And he is saying to them, at that time, just before the Passover, he said, "Some of you who will not die, will remain to see the Son of Man coming in the kingdom." I mean, you would be puzzled. And you see, beloved brothers and sisters, these Hebrew Jewish disciples, they were anticipating the coming of the Mashiach. They were waiting for the glorious day when the Messiah will come and finally restore our people Israel, bring them back to the land, establish the Messianic kingdom, rule and reign, as we just read in the prophet Zechariah, chapter 14 and verse 9.

The Lord shall be the king over all the earth. When will it happen? You promised this to us, God. You have sent now Yeshua, you are saying that he is the Messiah. When will that kingdom come? So notice what Yeshua is saying to them. "Verily I said to you, there shall be some of them that stand here right now, which shall not taste death." In other words, they will not go through the process of death. "But they shall see the kingdom of God cometh with power." Now what does he mean? Did he lie to them when he said to them in Mark chapter 9 verse 1 that there will be some who will remain alive and will see the kingdom of God coming with power?

Well, you may know very well that already 2,000 years passed by and there is no kingdom. In fact, the whole world gone further and further and further from God. Where is the promised kingdom? And Lord, I don't quite grasp it. Are you saying to me that some of us will be around without to die and see the kingdom coming with power? Where is that kingdom? So, he wanted to give them a preview, a glimpse into what's going to happen when the Messianic kingdom will come in a future day, a glimpse of a future kingdom that is going to come that we have seen that, promised through the seven feasts of the Lord and through the prophets of Israel that one day the kingdom will come.

So, we learn immediately from that text that it didn't mean that the kingdom is going to come immediately and right now. The kingdom will come, but he's going to show to some, notice it says in verse 1, some of them that stand here, not all, but some of them that stand here which shall not taste death until they have seen, visual experience, the kingdom of God come with power. and how beautiful it is, the Hebrew word, the kingdom of God, Malchut Ha'elohim, a kingdom when God has his rightful place over this world which represented here in the seventh feast, the feast of Sukkot, which speaks about the Messianic kingdom, Israel historically dwelled in Booth in Sukkot, in a type, the feast of Sukkot speaks about the future millennial age, kingdom age when Yeshua, the Messiah is going to reign and rule.

But the kingdom hasn't arrived. And before the kingdom is going to come, in the feast of Booth, the Messiah has to die in the feast of Pesach, Passover. And you see beloved brothers and sisters, these two feasts, the first feast, the last feast, represent the first coming of the Messiah and the second coming of the Messiah. The first coming he comes to die, Pesach. The second coming is coming to reign, Sukkot. The first coming he's going to be judged for the sin of the world. The second coming he's going to come to rule of a world that rejected him and he's going to rule as king of kings and lord of lords.

But they wanted it to happen immediately. If I was there, I would have loved to see the Messiah immediately introducing the Messianic kingdom and all is going to be fine and all the disciples follow after him. They lived with him for the ministry, the three and a half years of his ministry on earth. They followed after him. They gave everything over just the day, believe that he was the Messiah of Israel and that he will establish the Messianic kingdom. Well, you notice now, he promised that some will not die and they will see the kingdom of God coming in power well, obviously we see with the next verses that he didn't mean that the literal kingdom will come immediately because he only gave them a preview over the future kingdom that will come to some of those apostles that were there.

So now notice, beloved brothers and sisters, that's why I said verse 1 of chapter 9 belonged to chapter 8 and verse 2 on began, you might say, another section because in verses 2 on six days have passed by and now he is taking them into this experience, visual experience, a preview of the future Messianic kingdom. And so we read in verses 2 and 3, he said, after six days. You remember, they were, before those six days, they just have confessed that Yeshua is the Messiah, that he is the one that is the Messiah. Peter says to him, "Thou art the Mashiach, the son of the living God." And now, six days after, notice what the Lord does in verses 2 and 3.

And then after Yeshua takes with him, he only takes three. He takes Peter, James and John. Shimon Petros, James that is Yaakov, and John that is Yohanan. He takes those group of people that were constantly mentioned. Peter, James and John. Peter, James and John. Shimon, Yaakov and Yohanan. Those are the ones you might say, the inner circle. And he is taking them in verse 2, and he says here, and he leads them up into a high mountain, apart by themselves, and he transfigured before them, and his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow, so as no fuller on earth can white them. There is no bleach on earth that can do as white the raiment that Yeshua, the Messiah, had, that it was really, became shining and white as snow.

Now you notice that it says here in verse 2, that he led them into a high mountain apart. Now most people ask, where is that mountain? And most Bible teachers believe, because he was in Caesarea Philippi, Caesarea Philippi, which is right in the north of Israel, by the border with Lebanon and Syria. The next high mountain above called Mount Hermon. Mount Hermon is mentioned, if I'm correct, about 13 times in the scripture. And Mount Hermon became a symbol in biblical days, even today, as the highest place there, and it is really a place that in a type, in a picture, it symbolically speaks of the Messiah, who ruled over all the world, and specifically all the nation of Israel in a future day.

I want you to turn to Psalm 133, please, in your Bibles. Psalm 133 is one of my favorite Psalms. And this Psalm 133 speaks about the future restoration of Israel in coming days. There the Psalmist of Israel says, and I want you to notice, as I'm reading the text, I often sing even today, Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. Notice I'm reading that Psalm, it's a very short Psalm, only three verses. David, David, the king of Israel, wrote that Psalm by divine inspiration. He said, Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren, to dwell together in unity.

Now it's good in Israel's history, but it is good, it is pleasant today, for we are all brothers and sisters. We are brethren, and how wonderful it is when the brethren dwell together in unity. But in the context of the brethren of Psalm 133, he's speaking about the nation of Israel. Those are the nation of Israel which were divided, scattered, at enmity against each other for one reason or another. He says, What a day that will be. How beautiful it is. How pleasant it is. How good it is when the Achim, the brethren, will dwell together in unity. And then he says, It is like two things.

Verse 2, It is like the precious ointment, upon the head that ran down upon the beard of Aaron's beard, and went down to the skirt of his garment. You see, when Israel is dwelling together in unity, or will dwell together in unity, it is very similar to the ointment that Aaron, the high priest, received upon his head, and it fell all the way down to the skirt. To the bottom of the skirt. Symbolically, the oil, the Holy Spirit of God, will cover the whole high priest's garments. And again, it symbolically speaks about the brethren, the nation of Israel, the Holy Spirit of God, will completely restore them, as a nation that will be guided, and born of the Holy Spirit of God, in a future day.

But not only that. He says in verse 3, it is not only the oil, the precious ointment that fell down on Aaron's head, beard, and garment, but it is also, and here he mentioned the name Hermon. See, it says here in verse 3, it is the dew of the Hermon. Hermon, the Mount Hermon. The highest mountain in Israel, which is called the Eye of Israel. It is like the dew of Hermon, and as the dew, the descending upon the mountain of Zion. Because there the Lord commended his blessing, even life forevermore. In other words, the dew, the dew, again, is another representation of the Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit of God, that will come down all the way from the highest mountain in Israel, called Hermon, and go all the way down to all the mountains of Israel, including all the mountains of Zion.

because only there, because only there, and only then, God can commend his blessing. When there is divisions, and friction, and broken down, there is no blessing. But when the Holy Spirit of God is coming, and poured upon the whole nation, resembled by Aaron's garments, and resembled by Mount Hermon, everything falling down, all the way, and all the future restoration of the nation of Israel, in the coming day. And so it's not accident that Yeshua the Messiah took them to Mount Hermon, which was immediately above Caesarea Philippi, where there was paganism there, there was disorder there, the Lord said to them, I'm telling you, I'm going to bless you one day, and he takes Peter and James and John to that high mountain.

What happened upon this high mountain, it's extremely interesting. What happened here in that high mountain, because immediately, notice what it says here in verse 2, he transfigured before them. That word for transfigure, comes from the Hebrew, lehishtanot, which comes also from the Greek, metamorfeo, but it's easier to say in the English, metamorphosis. It's like the caterpillar, or the butterfly, that he's turning around, and he changed from within. There's a change. All of a sudden, that cocoon become a butterfly. All of a sudden, this man, by the name of Yeshua, changing before them, and he's been presented to them as one that his raiment did become shining, exceedingly shining, white as snow.

Can you imagine the sight that they have seen? The Gospel of Matthew presented a little bit better, because in Matthew chapter 17, in verse 2, not only that his garment was changed into white as snow, but it says, and he was transfigured, metamorfeo, before them, and his face did shine like the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. Not only that his raiment, but also his face did shine. Luke presents another thing a little bit in Luke chapter 9, Matthew 17, Mark 9, and Luke 9, presenting the transfiguration. changed all of a sudden, in the appearance of the Lord, Yeshua the Messiah. His raiment changed. His face changed. And that word, transfigure, is found in the scripture a few times, and it speaks about change from within.

You see, there is a hypocrisy, which is a change from without, and there is transfiguration, that is a change from within. The reality comes out. That's what happened. He veiled, the Messiah veiled himself. He veiled his glory. You remember in John chapter 1, we read, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1, verse 1 and 2. And then John 1:14, it says, "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt, or tabernacle among us." He took the form of a man, but in actuality, he is the eternal Son of God. And so, imagine, he's taking them up to the mountain, he transfigures before them, and they're seeing a sight.

They would never imagine to see, it's like a preview of what's going to happen in the second coming of the Messiah, when he's going to come to reign and rule as king of kings. As it says here, "His raiment becomes shining exceeding white as snow." And in Matthew it says, "His face as well." And it says, "There is no any kind of cleaning thing, or any chemicals, or anything that can ever provide such a white, clean presentation here on earth, as Mark said that in verse 3 of our chapter. So there is no fuller on earth can white them." Nothing like that has ever happened. You see, beloved brothers and sisters, what Yeshua is really showing to them, a preview of the future messianic kingdom, where a Messiah one day will come and will have his rightful place on this earth.

This is exactly what he says in verse 1, "Some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death until they have seen, preview, the kingdom of God come with power." Six days after, he takes them to Mount Hermon, he transfigured before them, and there they were amazed at the presentation of the Lord. And I think this gives you a little bit of an idea, more or less, how it might have been when Yeshua had transfigured there. In Hebrew we say, "Hishtana." "He changed." "Lehishtanot" means to change, to transfigure before those three men, Peter, James, and John. And so we find out, in this verse 4, that not only he was there, and it is so interesting, because it says in verse 4, "And there appeared unto them," Peter, James, and John, all of a sudden, so who do they see?

Elijah, Eliyahu, and Moses, Moshe. And they were talking with Yeshua. In other words, they see a scene of not only that Yeshua transfigured before them, but they see these two important personalities in our nation's history, two important men that are very dear to the hearts of the people of Israel. Moshe Rabbeinu, the lawgiver. Eliyahu Hanavi is the prophet. Eliyahu, which is the one that has gone to heaven with a chariot of fire. And you notice, if you go back to the seven feasts of the Lord, when we celebrate usually the Passover, in every home of our Jewish people who celebrate the Passover, you will notice that there is a plate and a cup at the end of the table for Eliyahu, the prophet.

And maybe he would come this day to restore us back to God. And I remember as a little boy, we were told always to go to the door and open the door and look left and right. Maybe Eliyahu will come finally. And every year you open the door, you look left, you look right, you shut the door and you're going back to grandfather, to Saba or to Abba and said he hasn't come. Maybe next year. Maybe next year. Maybe next year. But beloved brothers and sisters, the scene of Yeshua the Messiah transfigured and Moses and Elijah is seen with him. It's an amazing sight. Who saw that?

Peter, James and John. They were there on that Mount Hermon and they saw the preview of the future Messianic Kingdom. Moses, Eliyahu and none else but the central figure, Yeshua the Messiah is right there. Now, this is an amazing lesson that we learn from that. You know, sometimes people say, "Well, I don't know. What will I see when I die? Will I know the people who have gone ahead of me?" Well, you notice that Yeshua never needed to introduce to Peter, James and John these two men. They knew very well that there was that there was Moshe Rabbeinu and Eliyahu Hanavi, Moses the lawgiver and Elijah the prophet.

You know, that tells us a lot. That if the Messiah will not come and we will have to go through the process of death, we will know the people that have gone before us. We will have full knowledge. We will know who Yeshua is. We will also know Moses and Elijah and those that will be in the presence of God when a person pass away into eternal presence of the Lord of God. But there's even more. Why Moses and Elijah? Because Moshe and Eliyahu represent two important parts of the Hebrew scripture. Moshe represents the law. "Bereshit, Shmot, Vaikra, Bamidvar, Dvarim" Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

The law given by Moses, John 1. But grace and truth came by Yeshua, the Messiah. And therefore what is meant by the name of Moshe is representing all that which God had promised about the Messiah through the law. And Elijah, Eliyahu, he is representing all the prophets. He is representing all the promises that have been given to Israel through the prophets. And both of them, if you will read the scripture, both the Torah and the Nevuot, the prophets, you will notice how many times the promise of the coming of the Messiah is there. In fact, the first promise in the Bible about the coming of the Messiah, Moses wrote in Genesis 3:15.

The seed of the woman. That he will crush the head of the serpent. He will defeat Satan. But, he will be bruised. His feet will be bruised. He will have to die to suffer for sin. And what about the prophets represented by Elijah? Well, Isaiah, the prophet, says, "Who has believed our report and the arms of the Lord to whom it had been revealed?" And he's presenting before us the coming Messiah that he will come and he will suffer here in this world. Do you remember how Isaiah said, all we, like sheep, have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. But the Lord laid upon him the iniquities of us all.

Isaiah 53:6. And there, as we read in that famous chapter, and not only this chapter, we read that he was oppressed and that he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearer is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. He was taken from prison, from judgment, and who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off, out of the land of the living. For the transgression of my people was he stricken." Isaiah 53:8. And we can read numerous things, beloved brothers and sisters, about these two men that appear there on the two sides, you might say, of Yeshua, the Messiah.

But let me suggest a third thing that we need to bear in mind. That in Moses, Moshe, and Elijah, Eliyahu, we see the two ways whereby God is going to take his people to be with him in heaven. On the one hand, if you remember in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 34, verses 5, 6, and 7, Moshe died. Literally died and he was buried and no one knew the place where he was buried until this day. We read it in Deuteronomy, chapter 34. But what about Elijah? Eliyahu, he never died. Do you remember as we read of him in 2nd Kings, chapter 2, that he was taken to heaven with a whirlwind in a chariot of fire?

He never died. He went to heaven, not through the process of death. And the lesson is, beloved brothers and sisters, that just like Moshe and Elijah, the way God is going to take his people to glory may be in two ways. Some will die. But the Apostle Paul make it clear in 1st Corinthians 15, in 1st Thessalonians, chapter 4, we shall not all fall asleep. Paul said in 1st Thessalonians, chapter 4, the dead in Messiah shall rise first, but then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. It's amazing the lessons that we learn about this transfiguration where the Messiah transfigured himself before Peter, James and John.

He took them to the high mountain, Mount Hermon. He gave them a preview of what's going to happen in a future day. And you know, brothers and sisters, if Yeshua is going to come today, we do not know when he comes. according to the scripture, the Lord might come at any time. We are living in the last days of the church age, of the assembly. He is going to come and he is going to rapture. And again, I know we are not all see this in the same light, but that's fine. I mean, I am just sharing what I understand from scripture. when the days of the church age will end.

Then the rapture will occur and the dead in Christ and we which are alive and remain shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. Then, the physical restoration of Israel back to the land will happen. Even though today there is over 6 million Jews who are back in the land, but that's not all Israel is yet. There will be physical restoration of Israel to the land. Therefore, this is the Feast of Trumpets. Then later on, the Day of Atonement represents the mourning of Israel in repenting over the fact that they rejected the Messiah, Yeshua, for 2,000 and more years since the time that he came.

That's represented in the Day of Atonement and finally the Feast of Booth, the Feast of Sukkot where he is going to establish the Promised Messianic Kingdom. But, Peter, James and John would have loved to see it happen immediately. And therefore, they had a lot of difficulties in grasping it in the previous chapter. Peter says, "No, no, no. You shouldn't die, Yeshua." And Yeshua said, "Get deep behind me, Satan. I must die to finish the work of redemption." So now notice that in verses 5 and 6, in verses 5 and 6 of Mark, chapter 9, Peter gave a suggestion to Yeshua. You know, Peter, you know, always has been the one that has something to say.

And he, perhaps like me or like you because we are just the same. And so, Peter is saying, notice in verse 5, he says, "Peter answered and said unto Yeshua, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three tabernakas, three Sukkot, one for you, one for Moses and one for Eliyahu." But he says, "He wist not what to say for they were so afraid." Now pause with me for a moment. Peter loved the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, dearly. He loved him so much that he didn't want him to die. In fact, some people say, when they read this text, they said, you know, Peter, he put on the same level, Yeshua, Moshe, and Eliyahu.

But that's not at all what Peter was doing here. Peter's desire was that the Maxianic kingdom will immediately come in since he saw that Yeshua is transfigured, that Moshe is already there, and that Eliyahu is there. Well, why don't we already celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles and have before us the three booths already right here for you, and the rest of us will continue on and we will have the Massianic kingdom established. See, Peter knew very well that Yeshua is far above Moshe, and far above Eliyahu. But he wanted to hasten the Feast of Tabernacles. You see, this is the problem that Peter had just like you and I might have.

See, the Lord wants to teach him an important lesson. Before the Feast of Sukkot, the booth, can be established, the Feast of Passover has to take place. before there will be glory and blessing, there will be, first of all, death and judgment because of sin. In other words, you cannot celebrate Sukkot before you celebrate Passover. In other words, before you will be able ever to enjoy a kingdom of blessing under the King Mashiach, he, first of all, has to pay in dying for us on the tree. And Peter, just like he did it before, when the Lord said to him in chapter 8, verse 31, he said to them, the son of man, must suffer many things, be rejected of the elders and of the chief priests and scribes and be killed and after three days to rise again.

He taught them and he was trying to instruct these to disciples, but Peter said to him, no, no, he took him, he began to rebuke him and Peter had to be told by Yeshua, the Messiah, get deep behind me, Satan, because you really savor us, not the things of God, but the things of men. So now again, beloved brothers and sisters, Peter does not quite grasp it as you and I will not grasp it. He says, wait, wait, Lord, I know you already told me that you have to die, but let's not go through Passover, let's jump immediately to the feast of Sukkot, the feast of Booth.

Let's not have you suffer, but let's go to glory. And who wouldn't want it? We all would have loved to go through the process of immediately having the glory to come, but ah-ah. How can sin be paid for? What do you think? That you and I can sneak in to the Messianic kingdom and get in? They say, well, we can all enjoy a kingdom. Really? And what about God? Isn't he holy? Isn't he righteous? Isn't he righteous? Doesn't sin have to be paid for? In other words, you see, that's the thing. That's what we learn, unfortunately, by many. Oh, yeah, we all go to heaven in the same way.

You go your way, I'm going my way, and we're all going to find a solution. Eventually, after all, God is love. Well, God is love. And he proved it by sending the Mashiach. But God is also light. And he's holy. And sin had to be judged. Therefore, before the Messiah ever could rule and reign over a world of men and women who have sinned, he need, first of all, to pay for them when the Messiah died on a shameful tree. And the blood was shed. And now atonement was made. And in a future day, a kingdom will come to pass. And he will rule and reign over all the world that will ultimately will have to bow before the king, recognize him as their Lord and Savior.

So now notice, beloved brothers and sisters, it's not only that Yeshua said to Peter earlier in chapter 8, "Get deep behind me, Satan." Now God the Father has something to say. And so in verse 7, we find out in Mark chapter 9 in verse 7, we find that there was a cloud. Notice that. And there was a cloud that overshadowed them. And a voice came out of the cloud saying, "This is my beloved son. Hear him." In other words, God the Father now is seen in the cloud. By the way, that word for cloud in Hebrew, Anan. That's the Shekhinah. The Shekhinah glory. That's the same cloud that led Israel in the wilderness by pillar of fire by night and pillar of smoke by day.

Exodus chapter 13. This is the same cloud of God's manifest presence that when we were just studying together, beloved brothers and sisters, the day of atonement, where God said to Israel and to Aaron, "I'm going to meet you there in the cloud, in the Holy of Holies." That's the presence of God. That's the Shekhinah, the Shekhinah glory. And we find out in just verse 7, he says here, he immediately said, "There was a cloud that overshadowed them and a voice came out of the cloud." And that voice is the voice of the Abba, of God the Father. And he said, "This is my beloved son. Hear him." Peter, James, John, Shimon, Yaakov, Yohanan, hear him.

What does he say? Well, he just said in chapter 8, verse 31, he said to them, "The son of man must suffer." He must suffer many things. He will be rejected of the elders. He will be rejected of the chief priests and the scribe, and he will be killed, and he will rise again on the third day. The Abba, the father said, "Peter, James, and John, listen to what my son has to say." In other words, "My son have already said to you that before he can celebrate tabernacles, Sukkot, he must first of all pay for the price of sin by dying as it is represented at the feast of Pesach, Passover." I mean, when I read these passages, I was overwhelmed with the truths that they are learning here which they could not grasp otherwise unless the Lord will reveal it unto them.

and saw the Shekinah glory. By the way, that's the same cloud that in Acts 1:9 received Yeshua into glory. It's a Shekhinah. It's a manifestation of the presence of God, the glory of God. It is the same cloud that represented in the star that came from the east to the west and the wise man saw his star. And they say, "Where is he that was born the king of the Jews? For we have seen his star." It's not an ordinary star, but it is his star, the Shekinah glory, the Shekhinah, the manifestation of God. And so you notice what happened here. Immediately when the voice of God the Father came, it says here, notice that in verse 8, "And suddenly, when they had looked around about, they saw no more anyone except Yeshua only." That's it.

God is now centered, the person of Yeshua, the Messiah, before the apostles, the disciples, Peter, James, and John. And once the voice of God was given through the cloud, through the Shekinah glory, they couldn't see any more neither Moses nor Elijah, but only Yeshua. And you know what you and I learned from that? That we as believers need to learn that. That we need to see only Jesus. Because when we look around, we are occupied with all kind of men's opinion and men's ideas and so on. We need to be like those early Hebrews in Hebrews chapter 12, which they were told, "Looking unto Yeshua, the author and the finisher of faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and he sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Consider him." The Hebrew writers said to the early believers, "Look to him." And that's what we need today. We need to be occupied with him. It will help us in our spiritual progress, in our spiritual growth. So, beloved brothers and sisters, in verses 1 to 8 of Mark chapter 9, we see the transfiguration of Yeshua the Messiah, who allowed some of the disciples to see a preview of the Messianic kingdom, which represented by the feast of Sukkot, the feast of Booth. And this is why Peter says, "Let us build here three booths, one for the Lord, for Yeshua, one for Moses, and one for Elijah, it was not the time for the kingdom to be established.

The Messiah must die first, before he will be glorified in a future day." Now, please, quickly, turn with me to 2 Peter. And I just want to read these verses there in 2 Peter chapter 1, where Peter is mentioning later on about his experience. But we read here in 2 Peter chapter 1, he says there in verse 16, "For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and the coming of our Lord, Jesus the Messiah, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.

And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him on the holy mount." You see what Peter is saying? I share this with you, beloved brothers and sisters, because we were witnesses. We were there on that holy mountain when we heard the voice of God saying, "This is my beloved Son." When we saw the Mashiach, the Messiah, transfigured before our face. So we didn't follow cunningly devised fables. No, no, no, no. We gave you, as eyewitnesses, what we have seen firsthand when we were with the Messiah on Mount Hermon some years earlier. Okay? Now back to Mark chapter 9, please. And verses 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13.

Those five verses, just to go over them for the benefit of us all. In these verses, Yeshua now corrects the disciples, and he helps them to understand the order of the events that will happen. You notice what he says in verse 9. He charged his disciples, Mark 9 and verse 9, "As they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen until," and I want you to underline the word, "until the Son of Man was risen from the dead." In other words, "Don't go immediately and tell everyone what you have seen," he's saying to them, "Wait until literally I will die, I will be buried, and I will rise again, which will validate what I'm teaching you all along.

The Son of Man has to die. He must pay for the price of sin." So don't go tell everybody right now. Keep it within yourself, not even to the other disciples, but once I have been risen from among the dead, then you can spread it. And actually that's what Peter have done in 2 Peter 1. He says, "We have been on a mountain. We have seen him with our eyes. We have heard the voice of God the Father saying, "This is my beloved Son." And that's what we are sharing with you." And so in verse 10, the disciples actually were faithful enough, as it says in verse 10, that saying with them, questioning one another, what the rising of the dead should mean.

You know, brothers and sisters, you see, when was the last time you have seen somebody who rose from among the dead? You never did, right? But you believe in the resurrection. I believe in the resurrection, never seen anybody rise from the dead. Wouldn't it be wonderful if somebody who passed away, and we see all of a sudden the grave open, coming out of the tomb, and we see him and say, "Hey! We used to be together, and now you died, and now you rise again." It would be wonderful if we could see that, wouldn't it? But, they had the same problem that you and I would have if we would have been there 2,000 years ago.

So they were always perplexed. What does he mean when he says, "Oh yeah, you know, what does he mean about the rising from the dead? What does it mean? Does he speak perhaps of the promise that Daniel gave in Daniel chapter 12? He received the promise of the resurrection? Of the dead in a future day? Does he mean what Isaiah said in Isaiah chapter 26 about the resurrection? Or does he mean about his own personal resurrection? See, they were kind of not sure. They had the prophets, they knew somewhat of the prophetic word, but they were not sure. Paul and I also have so many questions. And the Corinthians have the same issue.

The Thessalonians have the, "How shall the dead rise?" they ask. How is it possible? He died. He's underneath the ground, six feet under. How shall the dead rise? Paul said that the Messiah indeed rose from among the dead and became the first fruits of all those that slept. They will be resurrected one day, but the Messiah became the first fruit. And so in verse 11, the disciples ask a question. Because they didn't quite grasp between the time of Passover and the time of Sukkot, the first coming of the Messiah, the second coming of the Messiah, what does that mean? And if the Messiah is going to come and he's going to establish the kingdom, why not now?

Why not build those three tabernacles and get the messianic kingdom started? After all, he transfigured before us. So notice what it says here in verse 11. They asked him. They asked Yeshua. They said to him, "Why then the scribes said that Elijah must first come?" Well, we just saw Elijah in the transfiguration on Mount Hermon. And now you are telling us, "No, no, no, no, no. It's not the kingdom. I have to die first." Well, why does the prophet say that Elijah must come first? You see, if you please turn to Malachi chapter 3. Malachi in Hebrew. It's the last book of the Tanakh, of the Old Testament.

Malachi chapter 3 and chapter 4. Look what there is a promise that has been given to Israel, to the remnant of Israel who returned from Babylon. In Malachi chapter 3, it does say there, notice that verse 1, "Behold, I will send my messenger and he shall prepare the way before me and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in. Behold, he shall come, says the Lord of hosts." Apparently, there is a messenger who was going to come to introduce the Messiah at the second coming when he's going to restore the nation of Israel. Look at chapter 4 of Malachi.

Actually, the last two verses of the whole Old Testament. It says in verse 5, "Behold, I will send to you Eliyahu, the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers unto the children and the heart of the children to the fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." So it promised to Israel that Elijah, Eliyahu, will come first. But they needed to understand that when Elijah is going to come, and the reference in Malachi chapter 3 and chapter 4, it's not to the first coming of the Messiah, but to the second coming of the Messiah.

And that's why the Lord had to help them a little bit. And you see, and I just want to sum it all up. You notice that in verses 12 and 13, Yeshua respond to clarify for Peter, James, and John, and the rest of the disciples in general, and you and I, about the coming of Elijah, the prophet, Eliyahu Hanavi. And so we read, in verse 12 and 13, and he answered and he told them, Elijah, Eliyahu, verily cometh first. And he will restore all things. And how is it written of the Son of Man, about the Messiah, that he must suffer many things and be set at naught? Verse 13, But I say unto you, that Elijah is indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him.

Now Yeshua wanted to clarify things for them. And I want, in a few minutes, to clarify things for all of us. Because wait a minute. Elijah will come, verse 12, and then Elijah has come, verse 13. Will he come? Or has he come? If you notice, when we read Malachi chapter 3 and 4, it says that Elijah will come at the time of the second coming, before the great day of the Lord, in the tribulation period, in the judgment days. And he will restore the hearts of the fathers to the children. Israel will be restored to the Lord. The Lord will use also Elijah to be a source of blessing, in a future day, when he will restore the nation of Israel back to himself.

But at the same time he's saying, but I say unto you, that Elijah is indeed come. This is notice verse 13a. Now here, beloved brothers and sisters, this passage, verse 13, of Mark chapter 9, the truth of the matter, in the context we understand, that Elijah-like person will come, but it is not going to be that Elijah in the first coming. It's going to be none else by John the baptizer. So you say to me, Brother Gideon, how can you prove that John the baptizer is not Elijah? How can you say this? Well, please bear with me. Go with me to Luke chapter 1. There, and I just give you those verses for you to consider.

Luke chapter 1, the high priest, Zechariah, is ready to serve in the temple in Jerusalem. It says there, and I'm reading, verse 12. And when Zechariah saw him, this is the angel, he was troubled, and fear came upon him. But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zechariah, for thy prayer is heard, and thy wife Elisheva, she shall bear thee a son, and you shall call his name Yohanan, John. And thou shall have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice at his birth. And notice verse 15. He shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and he shall drink neither wine nor strong drink, and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb.

Many of the children of Israel shall return unto the Lord their God. And verse 17 said, He will go before the Lord, or before him, notice, in the spirit, and in the power of Elijah. He will not be Elijah, but he will go in the spirit, and in the power of Elijah. In other words, John, Yohanan Hamadbil, John the baptizer, will go before the Messiah, and he will come in the spirit, and the power of Elijah, but he will not be Elijah. John is John, representing the Lord at his first coming. Elijah is Elijah, representing the Messiah at his second coming. Now you say, Brother Gillian, is that sufficient?

Verse to testify to what the Lord said in Mark chapter 9? No. Let me give you another verse. John chapter 1 now. Please go to John chapter 1. And look at this. John chapter 1. Here we find out people speak to John the baptizer. And they come from Judea, and they ask him a question. And I'm reading John chapter 1. Verse 19. This is the record of John. When the Jewish leaders, or the Jews, sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem, and they're asking him, Who are you? Tell us. In verse 20. He confessed and he denied. No, no. I'm not the Messiah. So they ask him in verse 21. What then? Are you Elijah?

Eliyahu? And notice it's clear answered. And he says, I am not. I am not. Elijah is Elijah. Eliyahu is Eliyahu. John is John. He is going to come in the spirit and in the power of Elijah the prophet. John introduced the Messiah at his first coming. Eliyahu will introduce the Messiah at his second coming. That's the lesson that we learn, beloved brothers and sisters. And that's the lesson that Peter, James, and John, and all the disciples had to learn. That the Messiah will come twice. Once to die, Pesach. Once to reign, Sukkot. Once to suffer, Passover. Passover. And once to reign, the feast of tabernacles.

And we're waiting for that glorious day. When Yeshua is going to come to reign and rule. And take his rightful place here in this world. Can we say amen to that?