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When Jesus said that even a tiny quantity of faith could move a mountain, no doubt, he referred to the mountains of Israel.
They were the subject of many
prophecies, including the prophecy of Isaiah 40:2-5, that said all mountains
will be made low, and all valleys filled, or exulted, which was a theme taken
up by John the Baptist.
Jesus
said, “And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.
For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.” Mark 11:22-26
For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.” Mark 11:22-26
Jesus was probably not speaking
of moving literal mountains, but He may have meant the mountains of Israel,
which are symbolic of the revelations of God, and the scriptures, and the
promises of God.
He indicated that in some
sense, these mountains might become mobile. They may be moved around, even
across oceans!
In the New Testament, one
particular mountain, mount Zion, is raised up to heaven.
The
author of Hebrews said, “But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city
of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of
angels.” [Hebrews 12:22]
It was raised up, as Isaiah had
foretold, [Isaiah 2:1-3] when Jesus ascended to heaven.
The author of Hebrews
demonstrated the kind of faith that moves mountains.
All believers, wherever they
live, have come to mount Zion or Sion. This does not require travel to
Palestine.
The other mountains of Israel
are mobile too.
The
Psalmist alluded to this mobility of the mountains in Psalm 114:4, which says, “The
mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs,” when Israel
went out of Egypt.
When lambs and rams skip, they
become airborne.
Just as the promises, and
revelations of God, went out of Egypt, with the children of Israel, the
promises and revelations of God apply to the saints who are the citizens of the heavenly city.
Paul attributed mobility to Mount
Sinai, in his epistle to the Galatians, by moving it from Arabia to Jerusalem.
He applied the label Sinai to the earthly
Jerusalem, and he applied the label Jerusalem
to the heavenly city.
“For it is written, that Abraham had two
sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.” Galatians 4:22-26
But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.” Galatians 4:22-26
In the ministry of
Jesus, mountains were places where He went to pray, and He gave His sermon on
the mount upon one of the mountains of Israel.
.
It begins
with several promises.
.
Wonderful
blessings are promised to the poor in spirit, they that mourn, the meek, those
who hunger and thirst after righteousness,
the merciful,
the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and those who are persecuted for
righteousness’ sake.
Promises such as these are
represented by “the mountains of Israel;” they apply to the saints,
wherever they live on the earth.
They are not required to
migrate to Palestine, to possess these spiritual “mountains.”
The promises and revelations of
God, represented by the mountains and hills of the promised land, are the
inheritance of those who believe in Jesus.
They
are described standing with Him on Mount Zion, in Revelation 14:1: “And I
looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty
and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.”
The 144,000 are the saints, the
church of the firstfruits, called the 12 tribes of Israel in chapter 7, who are
sealed with the Spirit, and who inherit the promises.
“These
were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.” [Revelation
14:4]
In his
Olivet Discourse, Jesus said “flee to the mountains.”
“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be
preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the
end come.
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:” Matthew 24:14-16
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:” Matthew 24:14-16
The mountains Jesus refers to
are not literal ones, and He was not speaking of preserving one’s life.
Jesus
said, “Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever
shall lose his life shall preserve it.” [Luke 17:33]
When He said “flee to the
mountains,” Jesus meant the promises and
revelations of God, which are represented by the mountains of Israel.
This
explains why he said, “Let him which is on the housetop not come down to
take anything out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return
back to take his clothes.”
David
said, “Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a
great deep.” [Psalm 36:6]
Jesus was alluding to
God’s righteousness.
Clothes represent righteousness too.
“I put
on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem.” Job
29:14
The clothing that Jesus wants His
saints to have is spiritual. That’s why He said don’t return for our old ones.
“Let
thy priests be clothed with righteousness; and let thy saints shout for joy.” Psalm
132:9
The prophet
Isaiah said, “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in
my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered
me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with
ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.” Isaiah
61:10
Creation Concept. Doug Cox’s blog on
interpreting Bible prophecy.
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