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Prophetic mountains and time
Doug Cox
How prophetic
mountains are perceived
Commentators have
long claimed that mountains in prophecy represent nations or kingdoms, and it
is true that God’s kingdom is often represented by a mountain.
However, scripture
supports a more fundamental interpretation of the mountains; they represent God’s
blessings, and covenants, and promises.
Natural mountains may
appear differently, when viewed from various directions, and prophecy is
similar.
Promises of blessing,
and covenants, may be represented by mountains, which are prominent parts of
the promised land.
The kingdom of God is
a prophecy, and a promise of blessing, and so it can be represented by a
mountain.
There is much
evidence to show that prophetic mountains represent promises, and covenants,
and prophecies.
Promises and
prophecies couched in symbolic language are high in the sense that they are
difficult to comprehend.
Some of the time
prophecies are in this category. Isaiah wrote:
“For
my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the
Lord.
“For
as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9
The foremost of all
prophecies about time is the 70 weeks prophecy, which remains a puzzle for
many.
It could be
represented by a mountain that is rather difficult to ascend.
Mountains skip like
rams.
If mountains are
symbols of God’s promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and God’s promises to
Israel, the history of those promises is outlined in the prophecies about
mountains.
Psalm 114 shows that
the promises may become detached from the earth, as when rams and lambs skip,
they become airborne.
David wrote:
“When
Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language;
“Judah
was his sanctuary, and Israel his dominion.
“The
sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back.
“The
mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs.” Psalm 114:1-4
God’s promise that
Israel will possess the land of Canaan is represented by a mountain, that may
become detached from the literal earth, as rams and lambs are when they skip,
because the promised land has a higher, spiritual significance; it represents
the eternal inheritance of the saints.
A mountain that grows
A growing mountain is
described in Daniel 2. In Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, a stone cut out from a
mountain without hands struck the great image on the feet, and the image was
destroyed, while the stone became a great mountain.
Zechariah refers to
Jerusalem as a “burdensome stone.”
This connects with
the stone in Daniel’s prophecy. The stone and the mountain refer to Christ’s
kingdom.
“The
burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, which stretcheth
forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the
spirit of man within him.
“Behold,
I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when
they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
“And
in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that
burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the
earth be gathered together against it.” Zechariah 12:3
This prophecy applies
to the heavenly city, the church.
Vertical earth
movements
Christians have come
to a heavenly mount Zion, and Jerusalem, and a better country.
There are other
features in this land that correspond to features of the earthly Canaan, and
there are also numerous differences.
The topographical
changes described by the prophets are figurative, and have a spiritual
significance.
The mountains of
prophecy are symbolic, not literal ones.
In Genesis 49:26, the
blessings Jacob received are compared to high mountains and hills.
Jacob
said, “The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my
progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on
the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from
his brethren.”
These blessings were
the promises given to Abraham and Isaac, as well as promises he received
directly from God.
For example, in his
dream at Bethel God promised to give him the land of Canaan.
Jacob realized that
these blessings and promises were spiritual in nature. They were high, as there
was a higher, spiritual meaning attached to the promised land.
They were also
durable, and eternal, and so he associated them with “the everlasting
hills.”
The mountains and
hills of the promised land represent the great spiritual promises of the gospel.
The kingdom of God is
one of these promises. It is represented by mount Zion, which Isaiah described
as being established in the top of the mountains, and exalted above the hills.
“The
word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
And
it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above
the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.” Isaiah 2:1-2
Jerusalem was raised
up as Isaiah foretold, in New Testament times, when Jesus ascended to heaven,
and to the throne of his Father.
Hebrews 12:22-24
speaks of the heavenly Jerusalem; all believers come to it. This is the church
that Christ is building in the present age.
Mountains made low,
valleys filled
Isaiah said every
valley will be exalted and every mountain made low.
Later, this same
message was preached by John the Baptist.
“Every
valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the
crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
“And
the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together:
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” Isaiah 40:4-5
In Isaiah 40 and 41,
mountains are metaphors, and symbols of God’s promises.
The mountains, as the
most prominent, and highest parts of the land, represent the high and lofty
revelations of God, the truths hidden in prophecies, that need to be threshed,
for us to discover their true meaning. [Isaiah 41:15-16]
There are kernels and
grains of truth in the prophecies that need to be separated from the chaff.
The promises that the
mountains represent are hidden from those who believe that the literal land of
Canaan was all that the land promise involved.
In fact, the land of
Canaan was a shadow and a type of a better county. [Hebrews 11:16]
The mountains that
Isaiah refers to are the promises of God, which are high, and lofty, because
they are spiritual revelations, beyond the understanding of most men.
The prophecy that
every mountains will be made low may be explained as follows.
The literal mountains
of Israel were types and shadows of spiritual realities; however, their true
meaning is hidden; but when the meaning of the prophecies is explained so that
people understand them, God’s glory is revealed.
The hidden mysteries
of prophecy reveal the glory of God.
Land around Jerusalem
becomes a plain
Zechariah wrote:
“All
the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and
it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin’s gate unto
the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of
Hananeel unto the king’s winepresses.
“And
men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but
Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.” Zechariah 14:10-11
Zechariah said
Jerusalem will be “lifted up,” and all the surrounding land will become
a plain.
The land becoming a
plain implies that the literal land is no longer the focus of God’s covenant,
and of the promises of God.
The literal Canaan
loses its significance, as under the new covenant, the land promise has to be
understood in an entirely spiritual or figurative way.
“But
now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not
ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.” [Hebrews 11:16]
Zechariah’s
prophecy of topographical changes in the area around Jerusalem identifies the
mountains that Jesus alludes to in the Olivet Discourse, where he said: “But
when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the
prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then
let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:” [Mark 13:14]
Since all the area
around Jerusalem was to become a plain, only Jerusalem itself, and mount Zion,
remain prominent. They represent God’s heavenly kingdom.
In the Judea of
prophecy, and the better, heavenly country, there is only one mountain to flee
to; it is Jerusalem, the city where Jesus reigns on the throne of David, as
king over all Israel.
Horizontal earth
movements
In Habakkuk’s
prophecy, the everlasting mountains are scattered. These everlasting mountains
are God’s promises.
In the gospel, the
promises of God become available to people of all nations who believe in
Christ.
“He
stood, and measured the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and
the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways
are everlasting.” Habakkuk
3:6
In Zechariah 14:1-2,
the armies and nations that come against Jerusalem are spiritual, not armies of
flesh and blood.
The Jerusalem in the
prophecy is the heavenly one. They include every flawed interpretation of
prophecy.
Zechariah
14:3 says, “Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations,
as when he fought in the day of battle.”
The mount of Olives
divides and the two halves go towards the north and towards the south.
“And
his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before
Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst
thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great
valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it
toward the south.” Zechariah
14:4
The mount of Olives
is not a very high mountain, and it is fairly easy to walk across it; Jesus did
so many times with his disciples.
The mountain is no
obstacle at all for pedestrians.
A literal view of
Zechariah’s prophecy makes no sense; why would survivors of a major earthquake
flee towards the epicenter, which would likely be subject to aftershocks?
What would they flee
from? And why flee after the event? What could be the point of an earthquake
prediction, that says to flee after it occurs?
Zechariah’s prophecy
is fulfilled in our age by the theories of preterism and dispensationalism.
The two halves of the
mount of Olives displaced from their positions represent these two opposite
interpretations of the Olivet Discourse, and other prophecies, which displace
the prophecies of Jesus from their place.
Preterism says all
that Jesus said applies to Jews of the first century.
Dispensationalism
says it applies to Jews in a future seven-year tribulation.
Both theories deny
that Jesus confirms his covenant with his church throughout the whole church
age.
Both limit the 70th
week in the 70 weeks prophecy to seven literal years.
Preterism limits the
70th week to seven years in the first century, and dispensationalism says it is
limited to a future seven year tribulation.
Dispensationalism
also mistakes Christ for Antichrist.
Zechariah
said, “And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of
the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from
before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God
shall come, and all the saints with thee.” [Zechariah 14:5]
The way we need to go
is represented by the figurative valley, between the two flawed interpretations
of preterism and dispensationalism; that is, apply the Olivet Discourse to the
church in the present age.
Mountains and islands
are moved from their places
At the opening of the
sixth seal, heavens depart as a scroll rolled up, and mountains and islands are
moved out of place.
“And
I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great
earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became
as blood;
“And
the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her
untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
“And
the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain
and island were moved out of their places.” Revelation 6:14
The metaphor of a
scroll being rolled together applies to the scientific revolution.
When the two spindles
of a scroll are rolled together, they cease rotating. No further rotation can
occur while the spindles are together.
This aptly portrays
the scientific revolution in astronomy.
After the discoveries
of Sir Isaac Newton were published around the world in the eighteenth century,
men everywhere abandoned the old idea of a rigid firmament revolving around the
world each day, carrying the stars.
The diurnal rotation
was assigned to the earth. The heavens ceased their revolutions permanently;
all the planetary spheres of the Ptolemaic system vanished forever.
Stars falling to
earth like figs from a fig tree that is shaken by a strong wind, probably
depicts the effects of the scientific revolution and the enlightenment upon the
Christian church.
Jesus used a fig tree
to represent the church. [Luke
13:6-9; 21:29-32]
The fig tree casting
her unripe fruit pictures Christians who abandon their faith.
The “mighty wind”
represents a powerful doctrine. [Ephesians 4:14]
The great earthquake
mentioned in verse 12 is best understood figuratively, as in prophecy, the land
of promise represents the truth of the gospel.
The earthquake
pictures the shaking of the belief systems of men. Men’s faith in the church
and in the Bible was shaken, as a result of the enlightenment.
Mountains and islands
being moved out of their places represents prophecies and promises in scripture
being misinterpreted, and misunderstood.
Interest in prophetic
interpretation flourished after the French Revolution, and the Napoleonic wars.
The variety of interpretations increased dramatically.
Flawed
interpretations of all varieties are represented by the mountains moving from
their positions.
The mountains are not
found
After the great
earthquake of Revelation 16:18, the mountains were not found.
“And
every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.” Revelation 16:20
Islands and mountains
represent the promises and revelations of God. They are not found because they
are misinterpreted.
The flawed
interpretations hide the promises of God, like clouds that obscure the
mountains.
Misunderstanding the
time prophecies is probably the greatest reason that prophecy is misunderstood.
One of the purposes
of the 70 weeks prophecy was to “to seal up the vision and prophecy.” [Daniel 9:24]
This has been
accomplished. The meaning of much of Bible prophecy is sealed, unless the
spiritual nature of the time, times and a half, the final half of the 70th
week, is correctly understood.
This portion of the
70 weeks prophecy is figurative, because while the previous portions apply to
the earthly Jerusalem, this part applies to the heavenly city, and the mountain
of the Lord’s house that was raised up when Jesus ascended to his Father’s
throne. [Isaiah
2:1-3]
Natural, earthly time
does not apply to the city of the living God.
Doug Cox’s blog on interpreting Bible prophecy.
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