The two who stand beside The Lord of the Whole Earth
Matthew 20:20-23
20: Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons worshipping him and desiring a certain thing of him 21: And he said to her What wilt thou? She said to him Grant that these my two sons may sit the one on thy right hand and the other on the left in thy kingdom 22: But Jesus answered and said You know not what you ask Are you able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They said to him We are able 23: And he said to them You shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to it on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father
Comments: The mother of Zebedee’s children knew the scriptures foretold the Messiah would be God in the flesh Micah 5:1-2. Zechariah prophesied of the two who would stand beside the Lord of the whole earth Zechariah 4:11-14. Her sons must have told her about what happened at the transfiguration Matthew 17:3-4, and she made the connection between Moses and Elijah and Zechariah’s prophecy.
Moses and Elijah are the two who stand beside the Lord of the Whole Earth, and the disciples saw that happen on the Mount of the Transfiguration.
Micah 5:1-2 Prophecy of Messiah. These two verses are rich with clues as to who Messiah is. Verse one, tells us he is the Judge of Israel. Is this the same person Abraham called the Judge of all the Earth in Genesis 18:25? Did Abraham learn the title “Judge of all the Earth” from Enoch, whose writings Jude, the brother of Jesus quoted as scripture Enoch 2:1?
Verse two (Yahweh speaking) tells us Messiah is to be a ruler in Israel whose goings forth have been from eternal from days of eon—not from “ancient times,” as some Bible translators would have us believe.
Don’t be afraid to question the scholars. There is a world of difference between eternal and eon and ancient times. The first means no beginning and no end. The last means the beginning happened sometime during ancient earth history. Eternal and eons transcend earth and its history. The two are mutually exclusive and are not synonymous with “ancient times.”
Jocelyn Andersen is the author of several non-fiction books, including, Redemption: Bible Prophecy Simplified, a Study of HOPE.
Note from the editor: I read my Bible every day, always picking up today where I left off yesterday. I call this my “on-track” Bible reading. I have been doing this for over 44 years. It was the best advice I was ever given, and it changed my life. If you are not presently doing the same, I invite you to join me. How much you read on a daily basis isn’t important. It only matters that you read, feeding your spirit with a prayerful dose of the living and powerful Word of God.
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