The Significance of Mt. Moriah and Us

I have something very interesting to share with you. We're going to have a PowerPoint presentation because the message lends itself to being illustrated. It's a very graphical way of presenting things. And this is another valuable pearl that we have in the Bible. It's a piece of the biblical puzzle to put together something that maybe you didn't catch completely. I know for me there's a lot here that is new and exciting. One more piece of the biblical puzzle. And so this is part one of a topic which is the significance of Mount Moriah and us. It is something not well known. And here we are when Abraham had to take that terrible three-day trek after God told him to sacrifice his son on Mount Moriah.

He was dreading, but he knew it had to be done. Let's go to the next slide. As we will see, Mount Moriah is a vital aspect of God's plan of salvation and how he carefully plans everything. Just amazing how you can take something like this topic and it goes through the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation. So once you understand this, it's going to help you understand one of the main messages in the Bible about God's plan of salvation. So here we have the illustration of Abraham taking his son Isaac to Mount Moriah. What does Mount Moriah mean? The name Moriah means basically from the Hebrew, Yara-Yah, the place of reverence of YAH. So this is some place where God picked out especially to carry out his plan of salvation.

We're going to read several scriptures. Next slide. This will show you the timeline of Abraham and Isaac. So this is important because, of course, Isaac and Abraham, they're both going to be there on Mount Moriah.

And it tells us in Genesis 12. Let's read Genesis 12, verse 1 through 4. That he left Haran at age 75, and God had promised him a son and descendants that would become a great nation. Let me read it to you, Genesis 12, verses 1 through 4. Does now the Lord had said to Abram, Get out of your country from your family and from your father's house to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation. So here he's saying you're going to have descendants, and they're going to be a great nation one day. I will bless you and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. So Abraham departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran. So here we have the timeline. Abraham already lived a good part of his life, first in Ur and then in Haran to the north. And then he had to come back southwest to arrive at the land which God had selected for him. Go to the next slide. So Abraham had to wait 25 years to have Isaac, his son of promise. Notice Genesis 21 verse 5.

It says, now Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him. So again, the Bible gives us the chronology, the timeline for all these things to happen. Of course, for Abraham and Sarah, it was a very long time, 25 long years. They were already old people. They had no hope of having a child. She was 90 years old when she had Isaac and she didn't have a womb that would have been able to have a child, but God miraculously made it all happen. So of course, what joy they had. But Abraham and Sarah were tested in patience for things to happen.

And then, years later, when Isaac was a young man, you don't know exactly, it doesn't tell us how old he was, but in Genesis 22, 1 through 9, we see the greatest test that Abraham had to face in his life.

Verse 1, Now came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham. Remember, God does not tempt with evil anyone. No, but he does test us to, just like a coach has an athlete, and he has to test him and make sure that he gets in better physical conditioning and better mental aspect and perspective of things. So the coach is always doing things for the betterment of the athlete. And here we have a spiritual athlete that God was preparing. So God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham, and he said, Here I am. I love the term I coined one day. It's called the Here I am Servants. No, they're not. What do you want? Or I'm too busy? Or can't you call somebody else? No, it's Here I am, Lord. What can I do for you, Lord? I'm ready. Whatever it is, here I am. Ready to serve God at the moment. No back talking, no delaying, no getting distracted. He was there. Here I am. Then he said, Take now your son, your only son Isaac, he is the only son of promise, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you. So God had a specific mountain in mind. So Abraham rose early in the morning. He didn't delay. He was truly a Here I am servant. Boy, to have people like that, they're ready. No arguments, no delays. He really respected God and did what God's bidding required and saddled his donkey and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son. And he split the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. He didn't tell his wife, didn't tell anyone. He knew it was going to cause all kinds of havoc and worry. So he just said, I'm going to sacrifice to God. I need to go to this place.

In verse 4, then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off.

And Abraham said to the young men, stay here with the donkey. The lad and I will go yonder and worship and we will come back to him. Notice the term lad, which is he was probably in his teenage years. He was no longer a child.

And he said, and we will come back to you. God had told him to sacrifice, but Abraham trusted it was going to work out in the end. So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac, his son. So he was old enough that he could carry it. And he took the fire in his hand and a knife and the two of them went together. But Isaac spoke to Abraham, his father, and said, my father. And then he said, here I am, my son. Then he said, look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, my son, God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering. So the two of them went together. So his son was not worried about anything. He didn't want to cause anxiety to his son.

Verse 9, then they came to the place of which God had told them. So God had said this particular mountain here, what would be called Mount Moriah, is the place where he did this.

And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order. And he bound Isaac, his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. Of course, Isaac was in shock, but he allowed his father to bind him. And so next slide.

Abraham obeyed and took the knife to sacrifice his son.

And then it says here, verse 10, and Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. So it's just a matter of just one or two seconds. It was going to be done because Abraham was that type of man. He didn't delay things. He carried out God's will, whether he understood it perfectly or not. But he trusted in God that it was all going to work out for good.

Verse 11, but the angel of the Lord, so this is the pre-existent Christ, the Word, called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham. So he said, here I am always. Boy, how would you like to meet Abraham in God's kingdom? Have a man that just always ready to do God's will, even when against his own will. And he said, do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me. Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of the place the Lord will provide.

And it is said to this day, so that would be another name for that mountain. In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided. So it would be called Mount Moriah, would be called the Mountain of the Lord. Later on it would be called Mount Zion. They are in Jerusalem. This would be the area of Jerusalem. Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven and said, By myself I have sworn, says the Lord. So God made an oath, and he cannot break that. Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, blessing I will bless you and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed because you have obeyed my voice. So it was Abraham's obedience and faith and trust that carried it out.

So Abraham returned to his young men and they rose and went together to Beersheba and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba. And so this moment in history is so vital because this is when God committed to using Abraham as the father of the faith that we are all children, spiritually speaking, of Abraham. When we come into the church and we're starting our path, we become a child of Abraham in a spiritual way and also not just spiritually but we also are part of the inheritors of this earth and the coming kingdom as well because of what that man did to show his faithfulness to God. And I call this message the significance of Mount Moriah and us because we also have to put God first in our lives. Let's go back one slide.

See, we also are committed to putting God first in our lives at baptism and for the rest of our lives. In Luke 14 verse 25 through 30, let's read this.

We always talk to the person who wants to prepare for baptism. This is the first scripture that I use. It says in verse 25 of Luke 14, now great multitudes went with him and he, talking about Christ, turned and said to them, if anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother. Now the term here, like in Matthew 10, 37, means love less. It doesn't mean you hate somebody, but you have to love less your father, your mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters. Yes, in his own life also he cannot be my disciple. Now, you have to put God first the same way as Abraham did. Of course, he was tested beyond what most human beings will ever be tested because of the position that he would have in the kingdom, but it's the same way. It is giving up our sovereignty, our head, and saying, here I am, Lord, I'm willing to do your will and not my will. Continuing on, Christ said, and whoever does not bear his cross, which is symbolic of the sufferings, persecutions, difficulties by following God, we are going to go through persecutions and sufferings and misunderstandings and everything. He says, and whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Well, Abraham had the heaviest cross of any human being. Only Jesus Christ had one greater, but Abraham had to be willing to sacrifice his only son. And he goes on to say, he cannot be my disciple, for which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it, lest after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, this man began to build and was not able to finish. So this is the first point I do with baptism, counting the cost. Have you counted the cost? Are you going to follow through? Or is this just an emotional high that you have, or something that's going to last maybe a couple years, and then something's going to distract you, something's going to get you out of the way. Okay, if it's that way, the person is not ready. This is a lifelong commitment. That's why it's not obligatory. Nobody is pressing you or pressuring you. You have to do it on your own free will. But once you do it, you don't look back. You don't turn back. Notice what it says in Luke chapter 9.

In verse 62. Some people wanted to follow Christ, but oh, they had other things they had to do first. And Christ said in verse 62, but Jesus said to him, No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. Another example of what Abraham did. When he committed, he committed fully their leaving ore, where he had a nice, cushy life. And he went, and he didn't know where God was taking him. But he followed him faithfully throughout his life.

And so, continuing on, we see here in the next slide that Abraham renamed Mount Moriah as the mount where, quote, the Lord will provide, Yahweh Yireh. And it was also called the Mount of the Lord, Har Yawe, Genesis 22.14. We read that. Now, the Jebusites, which were one of the Canaanite tribes, would control this area while the Israelites were in Egypt and later. So, when Joshua came to conquer the land, he couldn't conquer the area here with Mount Moriah and with the city of Jebus, which was lower on that mountain. Notice Joshua 15, verse 63. Joshua 15, verse 63.

It says, as for the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out, but the Jebusites dwelled with the children of Judah at Jerusalem to this day. So, when the book of Joshua was written with all of the things going on, it says up to this time that the writer was saying that area was still controlled by the Jebusites.

Next slide.

And who was it that finally conquered the Jebusites? It was King David. David was the one who conquered Jebus.

Notice 2 Samuel, chapter 5, verses 6 and 7. It says, It says, And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who spoke to David, saying, You shall not come in here, but the blind and the lame will repel you, thinking David cannot come in here. The Jebusites have repelled everybody. Even the armies of Joshua, they couldn't take it. So now David comes with his men, and they look at him, and they disdain him. They think, oh, there's no way you can conquer this. Why, we're not even man, the strongest soldiers on the walls. We can put the blind and the lame, and they can repel you, just throwing rocks and whatever it is. And so they ridicule David. Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion. That is the city of David. That's what he named it.

Now David said on that day, whoever climbs up by the way of the water shaft and defeats the Jebusites, the lame and the blind, who are hated by David's soul, he shall be chief and captain. Therefore, they say, the blind and the lame shall not come into the house. Then David dwelt in the stronghold and called it the city of David, and David built all around from the milo and inward.

So here's what would become the capital. Now it was in the hands of the Israelites. Again, God is carrying out His will. Now that mountain of Moriah, God was going to exalt. And He did so during the days of David and his son Solomon. Let's look at the next slide.

Now David built in the lower area.

But above it, you still had a Jebusite that was in charge of that. Let's look at 2 Samuel 24 verses 13 through 25. This is a very interesting story, so I don't want to cut off the narration of it. Let's go to 2 Samuel chapter 24.

This is very interesting what happened.

It shows us here how even David being such a great king, the Bible shows he made serious mistakes in his life. And one of them was when he tried to number the tribes of Israel that were under his power and how big his army was.

A prophet told him, don't do it. That's not something that God wants to do.

Notice in verse 1 it says, again the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel and He moved David against them to say, go number Israel and Judah. And so Satan was involved. They're in Chronicles. It explains as well. God permitted this because of what was going on.

It continues on.

Verse 10, and David's heart condemned him after he had numbered the people. So David said to the Lord, I have sinned greatly in what I have done, but now I pray, O Lord, take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done very foolishly. So he was very honest. That's one thing about David. He made mistakes, but he went to God and repented. He didn't pawn off the mistakes to others. He didn't blame others. He took. He said, I'm the one that acted foolishly.

Now, when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to him through the prophet, Gad, David's seer, saying, go and tell David, thus says the Lord, I offer you three things. In other words, three types of punishments. Choose one of them for yourself, that I may do it to you. So Gad came to David and told him, and he said to him, shall seven years of famine come to you in your land, or shall you flee three months before your enemies while they pursue you, or shall there be three days plague in your land? Now consider and see what answer I should take back to him who sent me. And David said to Gad, I am in great distress. He was heartbroken. He knew that had been his mistake. He says, please let us fall in the hand of the Lord, for his mercies are great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man. So he didn't want the second curse, which would be to be pursued by his enemies.

And so the Lord sent a plague. So this is what David accepted. It would be the least damaging to his people. Sent a plague upon Israel from the morning till the appointed time. From Dan to Beersheba, that's from the north to the south, 70,000 men of the people died. And when the angel stretched out his hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, now it was Jerusalem's turn. The Lord relented from the destruction and said to the angel who was destroying the people, it is enough. Now restrain your hand. And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Arana, the Jebusite. That was Mount Moriah. When God reached that moment, he remembered Abraham. He remembered the special moment, and he stopped the plague. Verse 17. Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people and said, surely I have sinned, and I have done wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Let your hand I pray against me and against my father's house. And God came that day to David and said to him, Go up, this is what God is telling him, go up, erect and alter to the Lord on the threshing floor of Arana, the Jebusite. So David, according to the word of God, went up as the Lord commanded. Now Arana looked and saw the king and the servants coming. And finally, David bought the place. Verse 25. And David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord heeded the prayers for the land and the plague was withdrawn from Israel. And so this area then was in the top of the mountain. That's where they did the threshing of the wheat and barley because it's up on a hill. A lot of wind up there. You can always thresh and separate the shaft from the wheat. And so this area was cleared. David wanted to build the temple, but God said, no, you're a bloody man. You kill many people. So I'm going to have your son, who hasn't killed anyone, Solomon. He's going to be the one to build it. And so with the next slide, we see up there on the hill. That's where Solomon built the temple. According to God's instructions and still God remembering Abraham's obedience, he would build the temple on Mount Moriah, also known as Mount Zion. Let's look at 2 Chronicles 3, verse 1. This is a key verse because it explains about Mount Moriah being Mount Zion. 2 Chronicles chapter 3, verse 1. Solomon is about to build the temple. Now Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan, which is here. It's pronounced in a different way than what we read in 2 Samuel. But it's the same Jebusite. And so God hasn't forgotten what Abraham did and what his descendants would one day inherit.

Let's go to the next one. Next slide. So we see there where overlooking Jerusalem, Mount Moriah, now Mount Zion, became a symbol of God's abiding presence and where God would dwell in his coming kingdom. Notice Psalm 48. Many of the Psalms talk about this place. Psalm 48, 1 through 2.

It says, Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. We just sing this all the time. In the city of our God, in his holy mountain, beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion on the sides of the north, the city of the great king. God is in her palaces. He is known as her refuge. Notice in Psalm 68.

Verse 16.

It says, Why do you fume with envy, you mountains of many peaks? This is the mountain which God desires to dwell in. Yes, the Lord will dwell in it forever. Talking about Mount Zion. This is what God has established. Another scripture, 125. Psalm 125 verses 1 and 2.

It says, It says, So we got this geographical place. Why is it important? It's not because it's in the mountains somewhere. That's what Abraham did. God is still remembering Abraham's willingness to give up the most precious thing he had to go that far. Notice Psalm 132. Verse 13.

It says, And one final scripture. Isaiah 2. Isaiah 2. It's a little bit further up in the Bible. Isaiah 2 verses 1-3. This is in the kingdom of God, describing the area of Mount Zion. The word that Isaiah the son of Amun saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 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 and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, and we shall walk in his paths, for out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. So again, we just see this moment in Genesis. Looks like it just goes away after this. It's just, Abraham is able to go up there and willing to sacrifice his son. It's never forgotten through all of scripture. It is so important to understand Mount Moriah, Mount Zion, all of these key terms that God uses throughout the Bible.

And the final scripture. After that temple was built, lasted some 400 years. But because of Judah's sins, God permitted the temple on Mount Moriah or Mount Zion to be destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC. But it would be rebuilt after 70 years. Let's look at Jeremiah 7. Jeremiah 7 verses 3 through 4.

This is a scripture that I've never forgotten when I read it for the first time because of the context that it had at that time. Jeremiah 7, 3 through 4. Thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, amend your ways and your doings and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Talking about Jerusalem. Do not trust in these lying words saying, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these. For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless and the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place or walk after other gods to your hurt, then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.

Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit. Will you steal, murder, or commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to bail, and walk after other gods whom you do not know, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name and say, we are delivered to do all these abominations. Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it, says the Lord.

So people in the past thought, well, God has built this great thing, this great work, and it's going to last. It doesn't matter what kind of problems and corruptions there are. This is what people were saying is, well, God is not going to allow the Babylonians to come and destroy Jerusalem because the temple, that's where God dwells. And God said, no, I don't dwell in physical things. And so he says in verse 12, But go now to my place, which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel.

And now because you have done all these works, says the Lord, and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you, but you did not answer. Therefore I will do to the house which is called by my name, in which you trust, and to this place which I gave to you and your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh, I will cast you out of my sight. So there was a time maybe 30 years ago, we had the beautiful auditorium in Pasadena, California. We had this beautiful campus, and everything was going great in that sense. And then God said, don't trust in that. If you become corrupt, if you are breaking my Sabbath, if you're doing the wrong things, I will take this away from you.

And he did so. And there are some people that just couldn't accept that. They thought, oh God could never do that. You better believe it. He's not going to substitute the spiritual worth for some physical things. And that can happen in our own lives, too. People say, oh I'm going to be protected. I can get away with things. No, you can't. Not in the long run. And so let's go on to Jeremiah 29.10 as we are concluding.

It says, for thus says the Lord, after 70 years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word toward you and cause you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and go and pray to me and I will listen to you and you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.

Yeah, we go back to obedience. The relationship is restored. God forgives 70 times sevens if it's necessary, but we need to change. And so this is what he's telling the people at that time, don't trust in the temple. Notice in 2 Chronicles 36, 2 Chronicles chapter 36, the very end here.

In verse 14, it says, Therefore, he brought against them the king of the Chaldeans, which is a the neo-Babylonians, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of the sanctuary, and had no compassion on the young men or virgin. And then it says here, verse 20, And those who escaped from the sword, he carried away to Babylon, where they became servants to him and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, seventy years, to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate, she kept sabbath to fulfill seventy years. So 490 years they hadn't been able to keep that land sabbath. And so God said one year for every seven years that you didn't do it properly. And those were the seventy years of punishment.

So this is the first half of this message. We've only gotten through half of the Bible. And the next part, the story about Mount Moriah, gets even more interesting. So stay tuned.