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"The Mountain of the House of the LORD
Will be established as the chief of the mountains,
And each of them shall sit under his
Vine and under his fig tree
With no one to make them afraid."
Micah 4:1,4
In Micah's prophecy (4:1-5), which forms the foundation for this Vine & Fig Tree series of archetypes, mention is made of "The Mountain of the Lord." What is this mountain? It seems to be a reference to the Garden of Eden. Let's look at the geography of Garden and see if this isn't the case.
The fact that Eden was the original "Holy Mountain," from which flowed rivers
of water, which we recognize as symbolic of the Holy Spirit, explains the significance of
God's continuing choice of mountains as sites for His redemptive acts and
revelations. Perhaps the most notable is the Gracious Revelation of His Presence, His
Covenant, and His Law on Mt. Sinai. One work of the Spirit is the Law of God (Romans 7:14)
which has all the attributes of the Spirit Himself (Romans 7:12). We are not surprised to
find that coming from the Presence of God is the Law of God, and that this Presence was
made known on a mountain (Exodus 24:16). The people were forbidden to approach the holy
mountain on pain of death (Exodus 19:12; cf. Genesis 3:24). But Moses, the mediator of the
Old Covenant (Galatians 3:19), the priests, and the seventy elders of the people were
allowed to meet God on the mountain (after making an atoning sacrifice), and there they
ate and drank communion before the Lord (Exodus 24:1-11).
Consider this abbreviated list of other ways God's Grace originated from a mountain:
You can expand this list by simply looking up "mountain" in your concordance. You will begin to suspect that in redemption God is calling us to return to Eden: We have access to the Holy Mountain of the LORD through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. We have come to the Mount (Hebrews 12:22), and as we boldly approach the Holy Place (Hebrews 10:19), we are granted by God's grace to partake again of the Tree of Life (Revelation 2:7). Christ has built His People as a City on a Mountain, to give Light to the world (Matthew 5:14), and the Scripture promises that the nations will come to the Light on that Mountain (Isaiah 51:4-8; 60:3).
Our text from Micah emphasizes the movement of the nations toward the Mountain of God:
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 it shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it (Isaiah 2:2; cf. Isaiah 11:9; 25:6-9; 56:3-8; 65:25; Micah 4:1-4).
And the day will come when God's Kingdom, His Holy Mountain, will fill the whole earth (Daniel 2:34-35, 44-45), as God's original mandate is fulfilled by the seed of the woman, the Last Adam.
The "Hills": False Mountains, False Gardens
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(1) Not Mt. Everest; when the King James Version uses the word "mountain" we need not picture those upon it as wearing oxygen masks and spiked shoes (compare Luke 9:28 and 37).
(2) Is Peter nuts? Has he been reading too much Vine & Fig Tree propaganda? Why is he bringing the concept of the Holy Mountain into the New Testament? Doesn't he know what the "Holy Mountain" is? [see Psalm 48:1-2; 87:1; Isaiah 11:9; 27:;13; 30:29; 56:7; 57:13; 65:11,25; 66:20; Jeremiah 31:23; Ezekiel 20:40; 28:14; 43:12; Daniel 9:16,20; 11:45; Joel 2:1; 3:17; Obadiah 16-17; Zephaniah 3:11; Zechariah 8:3; Revelation 21:10; John 4:20-21; Hebrews 12:22; Revelation 14:1).
| Isaiah 56:7 Even them I will bring to My holy mountain, And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices Will be accepted on My altar; For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations." | Matthew 21:13-15 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. {14} And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them. {15} And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the son of David; they were sore displeased, |
| Psalm 48:1-2 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised In the city of our God, In His holy mountain. {2} Beautiful in elevation, The joy of the whole earth, Is Mount Zion on the sides of the north, The city of the great King. | |
| Psalm 87:1 His foundation is in the holy mountains. | |
| Psa 99:9 Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy hill; for the LORD our God is holy. | |
| Isaiah 11:9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea. | |
| Isaiah 27:13 So it shall be in that day: The great trumpet will be blown; They will come, who are about to perish in the land of Assyria, And they who are outcasts in the land of Egypt, And shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem. | John 4:20-21 "Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship." {21} Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. |
| Isaiah 30:29 You shall have a song As in the night when a holy festival is kept, And gladness of heart as when one goes with a flute, To come into the mountain of the LORD, To the Mighty One of Israel. | |
| Isaiah 57:13 When you cry out, Let your collection of idols deliver you. But the wind will carry them all away, A breath will take them. But he who puts his trust in Me shall possess the land, And shall inherit My holy mountain." | |
| Isaiah 65:11 "But you are those who forsake the LORD, Who forget My holy mountain, Who prepare a table for Gad, And who furnish a drink offering for Meni. | |
| Isaiah 65:25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, The lion shall eat straw like the ox, And dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain," Says the LORD. | |
| Isaiah 66:20 "Then they shall bring all your brethren for an offering to the LORD out of all nations, on horses and in chariots and in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem," says the LORD, "as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD. | |
| Jeremiah 31:23 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "They shall again use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I bring back their captivity: 'The LORD bless you, O home of justice, and mountain of holiness!' | |
| Ezekiel 20:40 "For on My holy mountain, on the mountain height of Israel," says the Lord GOD, "there all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, shall serve Me; there I will accept them, and there I will require your offerings and the firstfruits of your sacrifices, together with all your holy things. | |
| Ezekiel 28:14 "You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. | |
| Ezekiel 43:12 "This is the law of the temple: The whole area surrounding the mountaintop is most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple. | |
| Daniel 9:16 "O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us. | |
| Daniel 9:20 Now while I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God, | |
| Daniel 11:45 "And he shall plant the tents of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and no one will help him. | |
| Joel 2:1 Blow the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day of the LORD is coming, For it is at hand: | |
| Joel 3:17 "So you shall know that I am the LORD your God, Dwelling in Zion My holy mountain. Then Jerusalem shall be holy, And no aliens shall ever pass through her again." | |
| Obadiah 1:16-17 For as you drank on my holy mountain, So shall all the nations drink continually; Yes, they shall drink, and swallow, And they shall be as though they had never been. {17} "But on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance, And there shall be holiness; The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. | |
| Zephaniah 3:11 In that day you shall not be shamed for any of your deeds In which you transgress against Me; For then I will take away from your midst Those who rejoice in your pride, And you shall no longer be haughty In My holy mountain. | |
| Zechariah 8:3 "Thus says the LORD: 'I will return to Zion, And dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth, The Mountain of the LORD of hosts, The Holy Mountain.' | |
| Hebrews 12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, | |
| Revelation 14:1 Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father's name written on their foreheads. | |
| Revelation 21:10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, |