Come, Let Us Go Up To the Mountain of the Lord

Well, we're gathered here tonight on the front side of the High Sabbath. We're assembled here by command of God as He set this time that's beginning at sundown tonight and going into sundown tomorrow night as a holy convocation and holy time. And in Deuteronomy 16, verse 16, I'll just reference it, we read, there are three times in the year in which God commanded His people to assemble in the place where He chose, and that was three times during the year, the days of unleavened bread during the Feast of Weeks and during the Feast of Tabernacles. You know, these three holy days represented the three pilgrimage festivals of God's people throughout history, and they were the festivals in which God's people packed up their things. You know, they gathered their items, they gathered their tithe, they gathered their families, they put them on the carts, they put them on the backs of donkeys, they, you know, tied the shoes up and wandered them down the pathways in order for them to caravan to the place in which God placed His name.

You know, there's actually times in Scripture where we get a glimpse of actually what that looks like. You know, we know that Christ's family accidentally left Him behind in the, at one point in time during the days of Unleavened Bread, and they made it down the road a little ways before they realized that He wasn't with the caravan. So we can assume some things about the caravans. They were probably pretty good-sized, with all the people heading back to their towns, and it appears at least that they were largely free-range, meaning the children were moving from one area of the caravan to the other, to where the assumption was just, well, He's in there somewhere.

He's in there somewhere. I'm sure it's fine. But these caravans went to and from Jerusalem on these days, and the people followed God's command, as all of you have done, traveling to the place, or in our case, a place in which God placed His name. Now, throughout Israel's history, that location changed periodically. You know, today we recognize there's a number of locations that have been put into place, that have been selected regionally to provide people with the most opportunity to be able to attend God's festivals in each of those regions. During the period of the tabernacle, it was where the presence of God decided this is where we stopped.

For a time, it was in Shiloh. As we move into the Kingdom period, where Solomon built the temple, it was there that the presence of God dwelled, and where the people ultimately traveled and pilgrimaged to the city of Jerusalem. Now, after the destruction of the first temple, we recognize that God's glory did not dwell in that second temple that was rebuilt, but that still was the location where people traveled and where they pilgrimaged to to come to worship and to rejoice before their God. They came to Jerusalem, which was also affectionately referred to as the city of God. These journeys took a number of days, depending on where you were in Israel and where you were traveling from. And from most places in Israel or Judah at that time, it meant a climb.

It meant a climb. I don't know how many of you—quick show of hands—how many of you have been back to Israel before? Okay, so for those of you that have been back, you understand the topography intimately. For those that maybe have not, it might be a little bit more challenging to understand the topography. I have a couple of pictures that I've asked our audio-visual folks to put up, and I'd like to have them put the first one up, which is essentially a rough topography of Jerusalem.

Okay, and you can see the areas down in the center where these valley floors are, and then you can see how quickly and how steeply those slopes get into on the left side there Mount Zion and then Mount Moriah, where that box, that yellow box is where the Temple Mount was located, and then the old city down below that. You come off off of that valley floor and you start climbing very, very quickly. But you've already climbed a whole bunch, depending on where you were coming from.

You know, a number of these areas, in fact, Jerusalem itself sits at 2,575 feet above sea level at its highest point. But you know, that doesn't tell the whole story, because some of these folks were coming from places that were negative sea level, that were below sea level. Now, I want to have the next slide go ahead, and I'll show you this, because Herod was a builder.

We know that Herod was responsible for the Temple Mount, as we know it today, and he was also responsible for, and I apologize, this picture has tipped over on its side, north is to the right. So the other picture north was up, north is to the right now. But you can see the Temple Mount there on Mount Moriah, and then Mount Zion on the other side, and how Jerusalem itself encompasses both of these slopes. Now, Herod filled in a good portion of that central valley, and he filled it in and made almost a plane out of it, to a certain degree.

It's still got some depression to it, but by and large, that enabled him to expand the Temple Mount itself. But that temple is built on the slopes where Abraham was told to go and sacrifice his son Isaac, and ultimately where David bought the threshing floor from Orna.

Now, because of these two peaks and where they were located, there's only a few, as you can see on there, valleys that allow you entrance into the city. And you can go ahead and turn those off now, John. Thank you so much. So when the pilgrims came from the north, they traveled through the upper portion of the upper Kidron Valley, or possibly down into that central valley as they came from the north up from Damascus, through that Damascus Gate, through the Hinnom Valley.

But those that were coming from the south, they connected up with the lower end of the Kidron Valley. And for those guys, they were the ones that had the hike. They were the ones that had the climb to go up to Jerusalem for the feast. For those that were coming from, say, Jericho, the city of Jericho, Jericho is 864 feet below sea level. Okay, the Dead Sea is actually 1400 feet below sea level. If they were coming from the deeper parts of the Negev, that would be an even higher climb. But they were going from negative 864 feet to 2575 feet at its highest in Jerusalem.

That is a net elevation gain of 3400 feet. Just for perspective, we're a little over 3000 feet here at the fairgrounds in Ben Redmond. Some of you that drove over, drove over Saniam Pass, possibly from the Willamette Valley and I-5, which is a peak of about 4000, and then dropped back down in. They were doing that on foot in carts with caravans and gaggles of children along the way, carrying their tithe, carrying their food supplies, carrying their families with them, going up to rejoice before their God in the place where He chose.

So this was a significant uphill trip for many of the pilgrims that would be coming to Jerusalem for the feast. And as they came up into these valleys that led into Jerusalem, as the city, you can imagine, is towering on the hillsides in front of you as you come in. You can see the slopes, you can see Mount Zion, you can see Mount Moriah, you can see this beautiful jewel of a city on the slopes, and that excitement and that anticipation must have been palpable as they neared the city and as they got closer.

But again, Israel is not a land of, you know, flat lands, it's a land of hills and it's a land of valleys. So even once you've made the effort to get to Jerusalem, once you arrived, there was still a climb that was ahead of you. The final stage of the journey for many that were coming from the south was the end of the entrance to the bottom part of the old city near the pool of Siloam. The pool of Siloam you might be familiar with from a standpoint of Hezekiah and his funneling of the Gihon spring water down into the pool, and that pool served a variety of functions at the time of the Second Temple.

The priests would come down and they would dip water from the pool for the water ceremony that they would hold during the Feast of Tabernacles, climbing back up the steps to back up the steps to the temple. Those that were arriving as pilgrims would utilize its waters for ceremonial cleansing before they made the final steps up what is known as the stepped road or the pilgrim road from the pool of Siloam to the Temple Mount. Now that final climb after, by the way, you've just climbed all of this distance already, that final climb was an elevation gain of about 377 feet.

377 feet from the pool of Siloam to the Temple Mount. Roughly 27 stories. So it's a 27-story climb. The pathway that they walked on, that paved path that had steps leading up to it, was a distance of a little over a third of a mile. So a little over a third of a mile. So almost 400 feet of elevation gain and a little over a third of a mile. I did some digging. Did a little bit of digging for you because we're here in Bend Redmond. We're here in an area that is also an area of many hills and many valleys. And there are two hikes here in Bend Redmond that approximate the elevation gain in the distance of the Pilgrim Road from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple Mount.

I'm calling it, affectionately, the Pilgrim Road Challenge. So if you are up for it, and if you would like to give this a shot, you can experience what it was like to go from the Pool of Siloam, at least your calves, can experience what it was like to go from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple Mount. Both of these hikes are located in Smith Rock State Park. Smith Rock State Park, some of you have been there before. There is a hiking trail that is known affectionately as Misery Ridge.

Yep, Misery Ridge. And there's two ways you can access it. You can go down from the parking lot to the bridge, cross the bridge, and then there's a set of switchbacks that go up the mountain. They go up over the top and around the back. That's one way that you can access the Pilgrim Road Challenge.

Okay, and what you'll do is you'll start on that trail that heads up Smith Rock. You're going to need a smartwatch because you need to know how far you've traveled. There's not good markers on that one. But if you go 0.35 miles up that trail, you've walked the distance and reached the same elevation that you would have as climb from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple Mount. The easier one, well, easier in terms of measuring it, is to go left when you get to the bridge, go all the way around the back of Smith Rock, and you're walking along what's called the River Trail.

At some point, you'll reach a connection that leads to a trail called the Mesa Verde Trail.

If you leave off of the River Trail to the Mesa Verde Trail at that connection point, and you walk to the next connection point on the Mesa Verde Trail where it connects to Misery Ridge going up over the top, that is 0.37 miles and an elevation gain of 380 feet. It's essentially the same. So if you want to give it a shot, if you want to see what it was like to climb that final climb as you've come in, you can do that this year at Smith Rock here at the Feast in Bend Redmond.

But it doesn't matter how you slice it. The trip to Jerusalem was an ascent. It was a climb. And the Book of Psalms contains a series of Psalms that commentaries and scholars have attributed to the pilgrimage that leads to Jerusalem. And there's some debate whether or not these were sung on the road on the way up, or as some others have suggested due to the word assent, possibly on the stairs from Pool of Siloam to the Temple, or even by the priests as they descended and ascended up the steps to the Temple. These Psalms, Psalm 120 through Psalm 134, have become known as the Songs of Ascent or the Pilgrim Songs. These songs would be sung, they would be recited on the ascension to Jerusalem in order to focus and frame the mindset of those who were traveling to the feast to keep up their spirits as they were trekking up the hill, especially the young ones potentially. Maybe the older ones do.

Keep their spirits up as well. And it would encourage and remind them of the hope that was to come of God's kingdom. And so in some ways these Songs of Ascent served as what we might call the first road trip playlist in many ways. So if you really want to get the full Israelite road trip experience this feast, go do the challenge, but sing or recite Psalm 120 through 134 on the way up the hillside. And that'll give you the full experience, the full rounded experience that you can have there. You know, we think about it as if we weren't already peculiar enough, that would certainly be icing on the cake. Pass somebody on the trail reciting the Psalms as they climbed. Title of the sermon here tonight on this opening service is, Come, Let Us Go Up to the Mountain of the Lord. And with the time that we have left, I'd like to examine some of the primary themes that we find in these Songs of Ascent and really consider their application for us today as we come together, as we come to worship and to rejoice before our God, as we journey to the feast and as we go through the Feast of Tabernacles. There are a number of concepts that can be brought out of these Songs of Ascent, but I'd like to focus on three of them tonight with the time that we have left, and hopefully those will help to set the tone for this year's Feast of Tabernacles. The first of those themes that we see is the idea of looking to Him, the idea of looking to Him, lifting up our eyes to Him. The second thing we'll look at is the concept of coming into His presence, coming before His presence. And then lastly, hoping in Him and placing our hope in Him.

Let's begin today by turning over to Psalm 123. Psalm 123. And we're going to stay for most of the message today in between Psalm 120 and Psalm 134. We're going to bounce around a little bit, so if you want to just keep your Bible open to this section, it'll be pretty quick to turn to those places. But Psalm 123, and I want to begin there today as we kind of consider the words of these Songs of Ascent. Psalm 123, we'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 1. Psalm 123 in verse 1, says, Unto you I lift up my eyes. Unto you, speaking of God, I lift up my eyes. O you who dwell in the heavens. Says, Behold, as the eyes of servants, look to the hand of their masters. As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God until He has mercy on us.

Verse 3 says, Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us. For we are exceedingly filled with contempt.

Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorn of those who are at ease with the contempt of the proud. You know, as the travelers made their way to Jerusalem, they reflected on these things.

They reflected on their God. They reflected on their relationship with Him. And so as they approached Jerusalem, as they came within the distance of the city, with the city on the hill in front of them, they literally lifted up their eyes as they came up the trail to that location.

And as they sang and they recited these Songs of Ascent, with Jerusalem being that focal point of their journey, that goal that they were marching forward to, to keep the feast before their God. Again, these Songs helped to keep their focus. It helped to frame their mindset toward the end goal of their journey. And similarly, as we come before our God to keep His feast, we also keep our eyes lifted upward, focused on Him, focused on the end of the journey that He has called us to, this Christian walk we sometimes discuss, keeping our focus on Him, keeping our eyes lifted upwards to that coming Kingdom of God, to that new Jerusalem that is to come.

Now, it's interesting in this passage, it says that He lifted His eyes, or they lifted their eyes to God, but how did they do so? As a servant looks to their master, or as the eyes of a maid to her mistress, and we're largely removed from the servant-master relationship in society today, probably the closest thing that we have today is, say, the service or hospitality industries.

It's probably about the closest thing that we have today, really.

A good waiter or waitress learns to anticipate your needs. They learn to watch.

They learn to notice when maybe your water's low and you need to be refilled. They learn to notice maybe when the table's getting restless and it's time to bring the check.

Right? They learn these things. They recognize these things. They learn to read the signs so that they can be more effective. It was the same way with servants at this time in history. Many of the signals that they would learn from their masters were hand signals. When it was time to do a job, or when it was time to be dismissed, it would be done not vocally, but by hand. Some sort of a hand signal that would let them know. The psalmist alludes to this concept in our lifting up our eyes to God for His mercy. That we look to Him, that we cry out for His mercy and deliverance from contempt, from the feelings that develop within us naturally as we go through our lives and we rub up against people interpersonally. You know, we as human beings, we aren't real good with relationships a lot of the times. We have challenges sometimes, interpersonally. We have contempt, we have pride, we have things that well up inside of us and begin to wedge us away from our God. This song recognizes that it's God who provides us with deliverance from these things.

God helps us to have this mercy, to be able to be reconciled to Him, to receive that mercy, because it is so challenging to have reconciled relationships with others if we are not reconciled with our God first. There's a similar concept in Psalm 121, if you want to just flip back to Psalm 121. Psalm 121, and we'll begin in verse 1. Psalm 121 121, and verse 1. Again, similar concept here, this idea of lifting up our eyes.

Lifting up our eyes, Psalm 121. Verse 1 says, I will lift up my eyes to the hills.

It says, From whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.

He will not allow your foot to be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall not slumber or sleep. The Lord is your keeper. The Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve you from all evil. He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth. You know, as they ascended the roads into Jerusalem, their eyes were literally lifted up to the hills. They were lifted up to the place in which God resided at that time in Israel's history. You know, as they came into the lower Kidron Valley and their eyes again met the slopes of the city of Jerusalem and their eyes were drawn to that temple that was at the top at the peak of Mount Moriah where Solomon built. God's glory rested in at that time. They were lifting their eyes to the house of God. They were lifting their eyes to the house of God and that song helped them recognize that it was from him and only him that our help comes. It's from him and only him that our help comes. We cannot trust in ourselves or in man where Scripture says there is no help. Our help comes from the Lord. Our help comes from He who is all-powerful, the creator of heaven and earth. He keeps his people. He protects his people. He doesn't slumber. He doesn't sleep.

You know, he's not someone who is busy doing something else. God watches his people. He is protecting his people. He preserves them from evil. He watches them as they enter and as they leave, again, a city reference here as they come into and out of the city. You know, we consider the Feast of Tabernacles for us today and the focus that we need to maintain during the time that we're here keeping these days. That focus also needs to be upward. It needs to be focusing on him, focusing on his ways, not looking elsewhere for our help or for our deliverance, instead coming into his presence. Coming into his presence. As we already mentioned, during the time of Solomon, the presence of God resided in the temple. The pilgrims that were coming to Jerusalem from those far off towns and cities where they dwelled, ascending these paths up the slopes to come into the city, they were coming into the presence of their Lord. They were coming into the presence of God. Psalm 132, we'll break into the context here. This one's one of the longer of the songs of Ascent.

Psalm 132, we'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 13.

They were coming to the home and the dwelling and the abode where God had chosen.

Psalm 132, verse 13, says, For the Lord has chosen Zion, He's desired it for His dwelling place. This is my resting place forever. He says, Here I will dwell, for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provision. I will satisfy her poor with bread.

I will also clothe her priests with salvation, and her saints shall shout aloud for joy.

There I will make the horn of David grow. I will prepare a lamp for my anointed.

His enemies I will clothe with shame, but upon himself his crown shall flourish.

God chose this location as His dwelling place. He desired it. He chose it as the place where He would forever dwell. That He would bless His inhabitants, or its inhabitants, I should say, with physical blessings, with spiritual blessings. We know this is where David's kingdom would grow, where Messiah would come from that line.

All of these physical and spiritual blessings come from God choosing Zion.

It's here that His house was established. Let's turn to Psalm 122, Psalm 122. We'll pick it up in verse 1. Psalm 122, verse 1, says, I was glad when they said to me, let us go into the house of the Lord. It says, our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is built as a city that is compact together, where the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, to the testimony of Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord for thrones are set there for judgment, the thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May they prosper who love you.

Peace be within your walls, prosperity within your palaces. For the sake of my brethren and companions, I will now say peace be within you because of the house of the Lord our God. He says, I will seek your good because of the house of the Lord our God. He says, I will seek your good.

During the time of David, the Ark of the Covenant was brought to Jerusalem, where it was placed in a tabernacle that David pitched to house it on Mount Zion. He established priestly service at that time before the Ark. It often went before God there. But interestingly enough, the bronze altar in the tabernacle of meeting, so to speak, was at that time a little north of Jerusalem in Gibeon.

In fact, if you look at the account where Solomon comes before God and asks for wisdom, he is coming to God at that time in Gibeon. And it was there that offerings were made to God, but Psalm 122 talks of the dwelling place of God, the dwelling place of God, the abode, the home of God. And David talks about how the house of God will in perpetuity be in Jerusalem. We know that'll be in the new Jerusalem at some point in time in the future, but that it is there where the tribes go up. It is there where they come before him to give thanks to God. And because of that, David would seek the good of the city. Ultimately, that would become God's dwelling place. It would become his home, would become his abode, where he resided. Now today, we understand that as a result of the new covenant, that the presence of God is indwelling in his people, both individually, and we might say collectively as bricks in a temple, so to speak. And as such, as we gather together at these days, we come together into the presence of God. Because the presence of God is indwelling in those whom have been baptized and have received God's Spirit. The place where God is chosen to place his name is among his people. And we're going to have a number of opportunities, this feast, to come together and to gather together. We're going to have opportunities to gather together for instruction, for fellowship, for fun. We're going to have opportunities to get together and to get to know each other better, to get to know our brothers and our sisters, to have opportunity to fellowship, to get, you know, to talk about God together, to have opportunity to sharpen, have iron sharpened iron. Brethren, don't miss these opportunities this week.

Don't miss them. Take the opportunities. Make the most of them. Take the chances to go and enjoy meals together. Take the chances to go Pilgrim Challenge together. See if you can get up there quicker than the next guy. Right? But take those opportunities, take those opportunities to get to know one another and to be here to receive instruction and to discuss these things with one another. Psalm 133 and verse 1. Psalm 133 and verse 1. Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. This is the goal. This is the goal. This goal is described as being good and pleasant when it's achieved. It's described as precious oil running down the beard of Aaron. It's described as being like the dew of Herman where God commanded the blessing of life evermore. This unity, this fellowship, this collective worship of our God pleases him greatly. When his people gather together and rejoice before him as we are commanded, when we worship him together, it pleases him.

Let's endeavor this week to maintain this unity. Let's endeavor to build this fellowship that pleases our God. One of the other stronger themes that we can see found in these songs of ascend is the theme of hoping in God, of hoping in God. You know, as the people that traveled from their homes, as they went to various, you know, from their various cities and towns up into Jerusalem, some of them had a little shorter distance to travel, some of them had longer distance to travel, some of them had roads that were notoriously dangerous. The road from Jericho to Jerusalem, for example, is one that is notorious for being dangerous. In fact, that's the road in which the events of the Good Samaritan happen, where the man falls among robbers. That road has one of the highest elevation gains. It's also very rocky, a very difficult road to pass, which makes it hard for people to get through there without somebody lying in wait for them.

But these roads oftentimes were frequently worked by robbers, by people lying in wait.

And as you noticed on the images that we saw earlier, it's not like there was a lot of other roads leading in. Some of those roads would add days and days to the journey, as they went around and up and above and then down into the city from a different direction. So this danger would certainly be on their minds as they were traveling, as they had their families with them, as they were waiting to find out whether or not they would be waylaid by someone.

They'd have to place their trust and their hope in their God for protection, and ultimately hope in the promises that He provided. Psalm 125, again, as we look at these songs of ascent, the songs that were sung and recited on the way to Jerusalem, on the steps leading up to the temple. Psalm 125, we'll pick it up in verse 1. Psalm 125 in verse 1 said, those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but abides forever.

As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people. From this time forth and forever. Verse 3, for the scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the land allotted to the righteous, lest the righteous reach out their hands to iniquity. Do good, O Lord, to those who are good and to those who are upright in their hearts. As for such as turn aside to their crooked ways, the Lord shall lead them away with the workers of iniquity. Peace be upon Israel.

The people who traveled to Jerusalem for the feast, who went up before the Lord on these pilgrimage festivals, they trusted in the promises of protection from their God.

And as the psalmist writes, those who had that trust, those who had that confidence in Him were like Mount Zion. They cannot be moved. They abide forever. In fact, they were like the foundation upon which the city was built along the slopes of Mount Zion. They were like an unmovable mountain that abides forever. They can't be shifted. They can't be shaken by the things which occurred to them, by the external factors that they have no control over. They're unmovable. They're unshakable. Those who have their trust and their hope in the Lord. He says, as the mountains surround the city, so shall God surround His people. Not just now, but forever.

You know, it's in this stretch in the songs of ascent that we begin to see some hints towards future protection as well and future fulfillment of the promises that they place their hope in. Look at verse 3 again. Verse 3, for the scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the land allotted to the righteous, lest the righteous reach out their hand to iniquity. This isn't just a promise for the people of Jerusalem then. This is a future promise as well, that the scepter of wickedness will not rest on the land. The coming kingdom of God will abolish that scepter of wickedness forever. And with it, the iniquity which mankind finds himself so easily ensnared.

Psalm 130. Psalm 130. Psalm 130 in verse 1 says, out of the depths I have cried to you, O Lord, Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.

If you, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with you, that you may be feared. It says, I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I do hope.

My soul waits for the Lord, more than those who watch for the morning. Yes, more than those who watch for the morning. O Israel, hope in the Lord, for with the Lord, there is mercy. There is abundant redemption, and he shall redeem Israel from all of his iniquities.

There's a time of forgiveness and mercy and peace that is coming. And it's not a peace that is just the absence of war, as we sometimes consider peace to be. You know, peace being the absence of conflict or war, armed conflict, but a true and a lasting peace which is the cessation of hostility at its core, which is that enmity of the human heart. And a change that changes that enmity in the human heart takes that heart of stone and makes it a heart of flesh.

That can't be brought about by the hands of man. There's no multi-step peace plan that can cause the cessation of internal hostility.

These things can't be enforced by kingdoms, by governments. They can't be brought about by technological or societal change. Mankind cannot remove this enmity. Mankind cannot do it.

There's one source for this peace, and he is coming soon. Let's go to Isaiah 2.

We'll leave the songs of ascent and we'll bring the message here this evening to a close. Isaiah 2.

We'll pick it up in verse 3 of Isaiah 2, as we see a promise of a time that is to come, a time which we are here to commemorate this week, a part of God's plan that we are so eagerly anticipating. Isaiah 2 and verse 3. Isaiah 2 and verse 3 says, many people shall come and say, actually I want verse 2, sorry, verse 2 of Isaiah 2, now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob.

He will teach us his ways. We will walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations and rebuke many people.

They shall beat their swords into plowshares, their spears into pruning hooks.

Nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.

This time is described by this passage in Isaiah 2. It's not today. It's not now.

The world still has a long way to go before we are beating our swords into plowshares and our spears into pruning hooks. But this passage describes a time that is coming. It describes a time that we look forward to and we anticipate with a great deal of eagerness.

It illustrates a time in which the Lord's house will be established on the top of the mountains, a kingdom which is above all other kingdoms, upon the highest of hills.

The people of every nation will flow to it in pilgrimage. They will do so to go up before their God, to keep his feasts, and to learn his ways. Again, that is the time that we are here this week to commemorate the beginning of that process. A time in which the law of the Lord will go forth from Zion when he will judge the nations with righteous judgment and bring about a time of peace that this world has not seen since the beginning of human history. I want you to picture this for a moment. Just close your eyes and picture it for a moment. A time in which the people of every nation will journey together in caravan along these roads to Jerusalem, walking up the valleys to begin the ascent, singing together the songs of praise to God as they look to him, as they come into his presence, and they place their hope in him.

You know, it's an incredible time that we are here to commemorate. It's an incredible time that God has put together and planned for mankind. I want to wish all of you, both those of you that are here in person with us, as well as the multitudes that are gathered together with us online, I wish you all a spectacular Feast of Tabernacles. I hope this year's feast exceeds your expectations, and I hope that it fills your cup spiritually. So welcome to the Feast of Tabernacles, and brethren, come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord.