Have you ever climbed a mountain before? There is a difference between climbing and hiking up a mountain. I have hiked up mountains – quite a few. Actual climbing? I think I would regard my first “climb” up High Rock as a climb, especially the last third up that mountain, when we hit snow. It was grueling, slipping, sliding, crawling and clinging onto my son, Shannon. But I made it! I had one thing that literally drove me to conquer this mountain – to congratulate my son on his success graduating and achieving excellent results at the University of Washington, U.S.A. In other words, I had a purpose – an aim, even at the age of 66 years.
With the second mountain, I climbed only about 90 meters high, whereas High Rock was a 3-mile round trip. The 90 meter climb was for a different purpose. I was about to jump off the 90 meter cliff backwards – my first rappel down a mountain. I must admit that rapelling is my preference to climbing down a mountain. It was a great experience!
“Moments on Mountains” is a very interesting topic. I am going to look at 6 mountain experiences in the Old Testament of the Bible, and then 6 mountain experiences in the New Testament. Are you ready to accompany me on 12 mountain climbs? I’ll make sure that you conquer these mountains in record time!
Before we do so, let me first say “thank you” to Shannon for taking the trouble to climb all of these mountains and for taking the pics for me. He suffers from “mountain mania”.
Old Testament Mountains
1. March to the Mountains
“ . . .(they) camped there before the mountain”. “The Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people”. (Exodus 19:2; 11)
Do you desire to meet with God personally? You may find yourself climbing a mountain of great difficulty in your life at the moment. “Camp” – draw aside and wait in His presence. He promises – “Draw near to Me and I will draw near to you”. He will descend onto the mountain that you are experiencing. He can conquer every mountain, because He made every mountain on this earth. Sometimes God may allow us to experience “mountains of great difficulty” in our lives, because He wants to attract our attention to Himself. Camp for a while in His presence. When you enter into the presence of the only living God, present your problem to Him, be it the loss of a loved one, financial difficulties – no matter what, God will descend onto your mountain. He IS there!
2. Mount the Mountain
“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and be there . . .”’” “And Moses went up to the mountain of God . . .”; “The sight of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain. . . “ (Exodus 24:12; 13; 17)
God called Moses to meet Him on Mount Sinai. What was the purpose? So that God could give us the Ten Commandments – our guidelines for living a godly life. God desires to meet with each one of us personally.
Have you experienced a deep longing for God? That is God gently beckoning you to climb a mountain. He has a purpose in mind for meeting you. How often we silence that still small voice of God and rush off in another direction, only to find that we have taken the wrong pathway in life.
God’s Word, the Bible. has the answer to our every experience in life. Before we make any radical moves in our lives let us abide by a 4-C principle – climb up to God, camp in His presence, communicate with Him in prayer, and confirm your move based on the instructions that you get from the Scriptures. Don’t make the wrong turn – you’ll end up on the rocks, and will miss the vistas of life that God has in store for you.
3. Maximize the Mountain
“Then the Lord spoke to Moses the very same day . . . “Go up this mountain . . . view the Land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel, as a possession”. (Deuteronomy 32:49)
Let us backtrack a little. God has called us to meet with Him; we have climbed up the mountain of God; we have camped out as we wait to hear from Him; we have communicated with Him in prayer; He has confirmed His promises in His Word – now He will take us to a viewpoint where He reveals His will to us. He gives us a magnificent view of the beautiful vista, the visual percept of a region of blessings that He has in store for us. God’s choice blessing that He has in mind for us, is that we climb to the “Canaan Land” of His presence, that we worship Him, and work for Him.
How will we be able to claim the Land of Canaan that God has in mind for us?
“Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you”. (Matthew 6:33)
Remember: God’s call, climb, camp, communicate, confirmation and then claim!
4. Move from the Mountain
“The Lord God spoke to us . . . saying, “You have dwelt long enough at this mountain . . . turn and take your journey. See I have set the land before you; go up and possess it ….” (Deuteronomy 1:6-8)
Call, climb, camp, communicate, confirmation, claim . . . now conclude. See your previous mountain (situation) in the distance. It’s far away. It is now only a reflection – a reflection that you can refer to and see how God has led you out of your threatening and dark circumstances; as a reflection of your past mountain, that will give you the strength to conquer future mountains on your way to the “land” to which God is leading you - the next part of your mountain climbing experiences with Him.
5. More of the Mountain
“The lot fell to the children of Joseph from the Jordan, by Jericho, to the waters of Jericho on the east, to the wilderness that goes up from Jericho, through the mountains of Bethel……………..” Their land stretched further, “and it ended at the sea”.
“So the children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance”. (Joshua 16:1-4)
You may ask me, “What does this all mean?” Look for a moment at this pic. There are important contrasts here. Snow (cold) and sun (warmth); light and dark shadows; a close-up mountain range and mountains visible far in the distance – all framed within this shot.
Joseph was a truly righteous man. God never left Joseph when he was hated by his brothers, carried away as a slave to Egypt, faced with temptation from Potiphar’s wife, and imprisoned unfairly with his feet and neck in iron chains. We read, “The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man. . . The Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand" (Genesis 39:3-4) Because this man remained faithful to God in the most trying circumstances, and because he lived a righteous life before God, God’s blessing rested on his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim, and even on their future generations. When the Israelites reached the Promised Land, there was no “tribe of Joseph” – but rather two tribes, two territories allocated to Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.
Joseph experienced “snow and sun; cold and warmth; bright and dark times; he climbed mountains that stood before him – “mountains of hardships and heartaches”, and then God took a permanent snapshot of the mountains that his children and their children would receive in God’s appointed time.
Ponder over Joseph and his juniors for a while. How many men and women can measure up to Joseph’s standard? How have their children benefited from God’s promises? Does God keep His promises – promises of good for us if we obey, or evil if we disobey? Let these questions hit closer to home. Are we like Joseph? Have and are our children going to benefit from our faithfulness to the Lord? If not, is there hope for us and our children? I can only give you God’s answer:
“A certain man had two sons….the younger journeyed to a far country and wasted his possessions with prodigal living. . . He came to himself and said. . . “I will arise and go to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against you and against heaven, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son”’”.
“And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had great compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned and am no longer worthy to be called your son”. But the father said to his servants, “Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found”. (Luke 15:11-24) That, I would call, complete restoration.
I leave this promise for both you and I!
6. Mourning on and Mounting from the Mountain
King David’s son Absalom, lured the people away from his father, and eventually David fled out of Jerusalem. 2 Samuel 15:30 describes the situation. “So David went up by the Ascent of the Mount of Olives, and wept as he went up; and he had his head covered and went barefoot”. David’s pain must have been great. He was dethroned, disgraced and he must have been devastated as a result of his son’s actions. Can you just picture that for a moment? Your son is against you, you have to take off your crown and your kingly garments, leave all your treasured possessions behind; you have no social status; the people are left without a king, and the once royal man, is now fleeing for his life. His wounds have become deep crevasses and his kingdom is cracked and gaping.
David had another deep crevasse. The reason for his punishment. was because of his adulterous relationship with Bathsheba. David mourned bitterly for his sin.
One of the greatest events in Jesus’ life occurred here on the Mount Olivet, forty days after His resurrection. Jesus gathered His followers together and while He blessed them, a cloud appeared and carried Jesus into Heaven. The Scripture says, “and they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up”. (Acts 1:9-10) Just pause and ponder for a moment at this beautiful sight. Jesus standing and blessing His people, and a cloud lifting Him up carrying Him into Heaven. What a glorious sight – our King of kings being transported to His Home in Heaven, which He left, to come down to this earth, to die for our sins! Can you picture yourself gazing after Jesus, as He in His majesty rises higher and higher until He is out of sight? How can people not love this Son of God!
God did not leave them wondering. Two men in white garments appeared and gave this wonderful assurance: “This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you have seen Him go into heaven”. (Acts 1:11)
In summary then – David sinned with Bathsheba. That revealed huge cracks in his character, but being a righteous man, that was not the end of David. He climbed the Mount Olivet and grieved bitterly for his sin. He grieved bitterly on this mountain when his son took over his throne, and on that same mountain, Jesus ascended into heaven on a cloud, after His resurrection. Our lives are full of cracks and crevasses. We are snowed under with sin. We are as it were, frozen to death, lifeless in our sin. Like David, we have to acknowledge our sin, see how grotesque it is, and grieve deeply as we see ourselves as miserable and hopeless. Then we can look at Jesus. The Creator of this world and of all men, the King of heaven. comes down to DIE FOR US, in our place. He rises from the dead – alive, and because of His resurrection, we. too. can rise from our dead-in-sin state, alive forevermore and we will “dwell in the House of the Lord forever” – we are awarded Eternal Life in Heaven! And it’s all free! It’s a gift paid for by God, who gave His Son to us, and Jesus who gave His life for us – He paid for it! And people, still today, refuse this gift, and cling tenaciously to their cracks, crevasses and eternal death!
This brings us to the close of this short study on a few of the mountains mentioned in the Old Testament of the Scriptures. I have now rapelled down from this vertical cliff and I will meet you on the next post, as we take a look at some of the mountains found in the New Testament. Then I want to invite you to study the comments and references that Doctor Curt has contributed to this post on "”Moments on Mountains”.
Come on! Join me as we pause for a moment and consider the lessons that we can learn from the mountains that our Master and Messiah frequented!
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