Montains II

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I just got back from a women's retreat in Casper, where the featured speaker talked about audacious faith and quoted the verse in Matthew that says, if we have the faith of a mustard seed, our faith can move mountains. If you read my earlier blog on mountains, you know they can be made by plate convergence, which causes folded mountains like the Himalayas or subduction, which causes most volcanic mountains or fault mountains, which are caused when plates slip along side each other, So all of these mountains only move when the pressure is great enough. Volcanic mountains can literally lose their tops. Fault mountains can be felt miles away when they move, but mountains are more than obstacles.

Mountains in the Bible symbolize sacred meeting places where heaven and earth intersect.

Mount Ararat (3869 m): Gen 8:4 The place where Noah's Ark came to rest after the flood

Mount Sinai[Horeb) (2285 m):  Exodus 19 and 20, Numbers 3, Nehemiah 9:13-14 God appeared to Moses and gave him the Ten Commandments, establishing a covenant with the Israelites.

Mount Gerizim (881 m): Deut 11:29, Joshua 8:33, Jn 4:19-21 Judges 9:7 Mentioned a few times in the Old Testament, this mount is where the Israelites proclaimed the blessings before entering the promised land. On the same mountain, Jotham delivered the parable of the trees. In the New Testament, Mount Gerizim is not mentioned by name, but it’s implied in the conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman. 

Mount of Olives (826 m) Luke 22:39, Acts 1:9-12, 2 Samuel 15:30
Many events happened on this mount during Jesus’ time on earth. This is where He went to pray before His crucifixion and from where He ascended to heaven. This is also where David escaped from his persecutors. 
Mount Nebo (808 m) Deuteronomy 32:49, 34:1  From this mount, Moses saw the promised land. Here he also died and was buried by God. 
Mount Moriah (768 m) Genesis 22:2, 2 Chronicles 3:1 Where Abraham was to sacrifice Isaac and where Solomon built God’s temple.
Mount Zion (740 m) 2 Samuel 5:1-10, 1 Kings 8:1 The word Zion occurs 150 times in the Bible. It’s mostly used in a theological and spiritual sense, referring to Jerusalem, the temple built by Solomon, Israel, heaven or God’s people.  
Mount Tabor (575 m) Matthew 17:1-9  Known as the Mount of Transfiguration, this is where the glorification of Jesus’ human body occurred after He had acknowledged Himself as the Messiah. 

Mount Carmel (546 m) 1 Kings 18:16-46, 2 Kings 2:25 : The site where the Prophet Elijah challenged the priests of Baal, demonstrating God's power.

Mount of Beatitudes (200 m) Matthew 5:1 The setting for Jesus’ most famous sermon, read in Matthew 5-7. Its location is believed to be on a hill named Mount Eremos in northern Israel.

Gethsemane: A garden on the Mount of Olives where Jesus prayed before his arrest.

In the Bible, mountains have several meanings. They are a

1. Meeting Point of Heaven and Earth

Mountains are seen as sacred spaces where the divine intersects with the earthly realm.

2. Divine Revelation and Instruction

Prophets and Jesus received divine instruction and experienced divine presence on mountaintops.

3. Obstacles and Strength: 

Mountains can also symbolize obstacles that God can overcome, representing His power and strength.

4. Refuge and Solitude: Jesus often sought mountains for solitude and to connect with God, making them places of rest and spiritual communion.

Let's go back to that first one. The garden was on the top of a mountain because that is where Adam and Eve were sent down from. Several times in the Bible, God came down from the mountaintop to dwell among His people and some people. like Abraham; Moses ascended the mountain. 

Ultimately, where God invited all of us back into His presence was on a hill called Golgotha and a Mount of Transfiguration,  Put in that context, the mountains in front of me don't seem like such huge obstacles. but more like opportunities to meet God on the mountain tops.

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