M O UNTA I NS O F TH E BIBLE

B!

J J
. . S U MM E RB ELL
” “
A u th o r of Sc r iptur e D oc trine, L i fe an d
“
W ri ti n gs of N . S umme rb ell ,
”
O utli ne
of Ch u rch H i s to ry of th e Fi rs t
S ix Ce nturi es, e tc :

B O ST ON
SHE RMAN , FRE N CH 57 COMPANY
 TO
M! W IFE
I SA BELLA F V S U M M ERBELL
. .

W H O S E INCENTI VE A ND A SSISTANCE M A DE
TH E WOR ! OF THIS BOO! A DELI GHT

3 041 04
 I N TROD U C TI O N

A fe w wee ks ago I w as r e adi ng a lat e addres s

o f th e grea t mounta in cl i mb er o f th e H imal a ya
Mountains and wa s fas cin at ed by th e charm o f
,

hi s modesty as w ell a s that n atural attraction

,

which th e overc o ming o f difficu lti es al w ays pr e

s ents H e st ated that h e beli ev ed that th e top
.

o f th e highe s t pe ak th ere c ould n ev er be r each ed

by climbi ng .

It is unn e c es s ary t o repeat h is conv i ncing

s cientific reas oning B ut the mere st atem ent
.

of his opini on excited th e desire t o prove that

it could be done ; tha t is that h e w as in e r
,

ror in an nouncing t h at anything wa s impo s

si b le that d epended on enduran c e of su ff ering
,

or on foresight and endeavo r .

Th ere are mountains more i mpo rtant than

the Himalayas ; s om e o f thos e mentioned i n th e
B ible They have interes t from the i r height
.

and from their as so c i ations And s om e o f them

.

a r e very hard to climb

:
. B u t wh en the summit
o f a certa in o ne of them is reache d th e spirit
,
.

ual athlete i s nearer th e Gre a t Whit e Throne

than he m ay be who firs t re ach e s th e to p o f E v
er e s t .

u s t ak e a tri p to thes e mounta i ns o f th e

L et
Bible w ithou t le av i ng our quiet comfortable
, ,
 IN TRODU CT I ON
homes ; t ak i ng do wn a bo o k he r e and th ere from
our library s h elves and studying th e m ap s an d
,

the re cord s of travel and h i s to ry It i s an age

.

o f excursions This trip will no t cos t u s any

.

thin g w orth savi ng ; only that wh ch it i s ad

i

v a n t a ge o u s to l o s e Th e bes t gu i d e boo k m ay
.

be the H oly Bibl e . Le t u s y i eld to th e g entl e

influ en ce an d subdu e s om ewh a t th e d esire for
,

m e re adventu r e .
 C O N TE N TS
PA GE

AR ARA T
HORE B
M OU NT H O R
M OU N T NEB O
M OU N T HERM —
O N FIR ST C H R ISTIA N P RA ! ER
M EE TIN G
LE B AN O N
M OU N T CAR M E L —D O GM A I M P O R TA N T
TH E M OU N T OF B EA TIT U DE S
M OU N T GIL B OA
M OU N T M OR IA H
O L IV —JE S U S
ET ’
G RE AT E S T TEM P T A TI O N
C A L VA R! —CA U SE O F TH E CR! ,
“
E L OI ”
 A RARA T

We ne ed no t stop at Ararat : fo r th e B ibl e

its elf doe s not s p e ak o f any singl e mountain as
tha t m em orable stepping stone from the ante
d iluvian w o rld to t h e n ew ; the language of th e
“
B ible des cribing the ark as re sting upon th e
”
mountain s o f Arar at ; as if Ararat w ere th en
a region r a th e r than a mount a i n
, .

And this w i s e arrangement o f Pro v i dence has

s o w ell prevent e d the idolatry that w ould prob

a b ly have r esult ed from cert ainty a s t o th e

peak that mounta i ns a s far apart as thos e o f
,

the Caucasus Ceylon Arm enia Afghanistan

, , ,

and nort h ern India hav e be en sel ected a s the o ne

,

from whi c h No ah s family de scended

’
.

Bu t if we accept the doubl e peak i n Arm enia ,

whos e hi ghes t point is fee t abov e t h e s e a

,

c apped with etern al ice and s n o w no t s caled

,

unti l 1 8 29 by Dr P a rrot a s t h e right moun

.
,

tain w e will have legend and tradition to s u p

,

port u s The conical symm etry and sunlight

.

glo ry of this mountain looking from whos e sides

,

other mountain s se em lik e hills mak e it appear

,

like a land m ark ; an d we can easily imagin e that

from its foo thills th e tide o f migration n atur
a l ly fl o wed early s outhward to the fe rtile plains
of B abel .
 o t o
, 0 ! . ‘ !,
er “

2 MOUN T AIN S OF THE BIBLE

“ ”
B ut Arar at on whi ch th e ark o f N o ah
‘

r e sted w as no t a single m ou n tai n

, a nd i s n o t ,

s o referred t o in the B i ble I be l i ev e the w ord .

“ ”
Ararat o ccurs in but one other plac e ( Jer .

51 : reading thus

C all to ge th er agai ns t h er th e ki ngd oms o f Ara

”
r a t, Mi nn i an d As hk ena z .

Sinc e writing the foregoing I l o ok ed i nto a

gre at religious cyclope dia f o r th e w ord and ,

find that it is no t tre a ted at all .

 H OREB
“
L et u s n o w go to H oreb the Mount of
'

,
”
God between the two arm s of the R ed S ea
, ,

one o f wh i ch the Is raelit e s cro ssed by the help

o f Go d i n their es c ape from the b ondage o f
E gypt . It w as there that Go d gave th e ten
commandmen t s to men by th e h and o f M os e s
,
-

It is th e mountain to which E lij ah went forty

days and f o rty nights i n his gre a t fligh t from
,

the land W he re his duty lay And i t w as there

.

“
that Go d as ked him What does t thou her e
, ,
”
Elij ah ! Generations earlier Moses wh o als o, ,

had fled from the land o f duty after hav i ng ,

killed an E gypt i an led hi s flo cks n e arer the

,

foo t of thi s m o unta i n and s aw a bush that

,

burn ed w i th fi r e and w as n ot con sum ed .

It is d i s tingu i shed as n o o ther he i ght i n th e

h i sto ry of th e w orld except Mt C alvary and
, .
,

that other ele v at i on wh er e Je sus del i v e red th e

dis cours e called th e S ermon on the Mount .

Ho w stran ge it i s that th e exact loc at i on o f

thes e mounta i ns is s om ewh a t uncerta i n ; al
.

though even ts h a ppe n ed o n them that ha v e in

fl u en c ed the dest i n i es of th e w orld more than any
o ther ! It must be tha t th e same Jehovah that
has ev e r v ei l ed his f ac e th e s ame J ehov ah that
,

3
L
4
MOUNTAIN S OF TH E BIBLE
prevented any likeness o f his Son Jesus from
being pres erv ed by h is d is ciples h as carefully
,

kep t uncertain to us the exact pl aces o f the

ratification o f t h e Old Covenant and the New
Covenant ; infl uenced by t h e s ame motives th a t
caus ed him to keep secret t h e grave o f his serv
ant Moses .

But t he tract i n whi ch Horeb o f Sinai mus t

have stoo d is a wild d reary and b arr en region
, .

There are cra g s and precipices separate d by ,

s an d y defi les s o narrow that they seem to m ake

‘

t h e o p posing cliff s frown on each ot h er ; all

d esola t e an d terrific There are springs and
.

s treams flowing among the cra g s where , ,

prob abl y t h e t h o u sands o f Israelites while

, ,

wai t ing for th e l a w secured water for their

,

flo cks and herds . S ome travel er who se n ame

,

I h ave forgotten without doubt concern ing thi s

,
“
p art o f Ara b i a Petraea s aid It,would
, seem as
if Ara b ia Pe t raea h ad onc e bee n an o c ean of
lava and whi le its wave s were ru nning moun
,

tain s h igh it wa s suddenly commanded t o stand

,
”
still
.

T h us blacken ed pe aks o f n aked granite

, ,

stan d sentinel over s h eer precipices mo re t h an a

thou s and feet in hei gh t In on e place w e may
.

pass t h rou gh a W ild defile in t o a level pl a in t w o ,

miles l ong by t w o t h irds of a mile wide Here

-

we m ay a s sume th at Sinai frowns down : for the

c onditions o f the Bible hi story m ay here be
 HOR E B 5

met . T h e pla i n comes to the foot o f t h e ah

“ ”
m pt mountain th at mi ght be ,
t ouched or ,

n o t according t o th e commandment o f the Lord

, .

The desolate cl i ff s surrounding t h is space s o ,

suitab le for a camp for many thous ands must ,

h a v e l ent help to Moses in h is e ff ort t o bring

th e Israelites into the disposition O f awe and
re v eren ce suitable for receivin g the la w that
,
“
h a s become the cons titut i o n o f the civilized
”
w orld .

Since writing the foregoing I have fou nd , ,

“ ”
in t h e p a ges of the Com m on P eople p ort i o n
’

“ ”
o f t h e Ch r is tiam o f B o s ton in its issue o f
,
!
,

April 1 9 1 1 probably from the pen of the s o n

, ,

of my fri en d H L H a s tin gs the foll o w i ng

, . .
,

mat t er whic h m ay furthe r illustrat e the pe

,

c u l ia ri tie s of th e mountain

TH E MO U NT O F G O D Few s p ot s
on th e face o f th e ea rth a r e i nves t ed w ith s u c h
d ee p an d sol emn i nt e r es t as th a t b ar r en moun ta i n
p eak w h e r e M oses t al ke d w ith Go d ,

‘
Wh en h e p roc l a i m e d hi s h ol y l aw ,

A n d s tru ck th e trembli n g t ribe s wi th awe

’
.

“
N ea r l yi n th e cen t er o f th e now d esol at e p en i n
s ul a w hi c h s tre t c h es be tw een th e pr oj ecti n g h orns
o f th e Re d S ea s t an d s a tri an gul ar l e dge o f gran
,

it e gr iin s tein an d p or ph yry r o ck s r i s i n g be t ween

, , ,

and f ee t ab ove th e l eve l o f th e s ea ,

an d s t re t c hi n over n e x t en t o f fr om t wen ty to
g a
6 MOUNTAIN S OF TH E BIBLE
thi r ty mil es r i s in g a t di ff eren t p oi n ts i nt o l o ft y
,

peak s I n th e no rth wes t e rl y po rti on th ere ar e

.

th e five p e ak s o r h e ight s o f S e rbal fe et ,

above th e l eve l o f th e sea E as t ward o f thi s some

.
,

t wenty mile s i s Jeb e l ! ath e r in ri s i ng t o th e

, ,

h e ight of f ee t abo ve th e s ea l eve l Bes id e .

thi s i s Je bel Mu sa o r Mo ses Mount a bo ut

,
’

f ee t abo ve th e l eve l o f th e s ea ; an d a littl e to th e

no rth o f thi s ri ses Ras es S u f s a f eh o n e o f th e
- -

gr and es t o f all th e d esert pe aks .

“
Th ere h ave be en di ff e r ences o f o pi n i on as t o
th e p a rti c ul a r mo unt ai n on w hi c h th e l aw was
gi ven but th e d o ubt s seem now we ll n i gh di s p e ll e d
, ,

a nd tr ave l e r s r ec o gn iz e one mou n ta i n w hi c h p os

sesses all th e n atural f ea tures d esc ribe d in con

n e c tio n w ith th e gi vi n g o f th e l aw It was a .

‘
moun t th at might be t ou c h e d o r to th e base o f ,
’

w hi c h th e m ultitud e could a pp ro ac h u nl ess fence d ,

away ; an d it mu s t h ave be en a moun tai n h avi n g

an a r ea i n fr on t o f it s u ffi c i en tl y l a r e to i ve r o om
g g
f o r th e vas t multitud e o f th e I srae lit es w ho ga z ed
upo n th e tr emen d ou s scene w h en th e mou nt ai n ,

w as a lt o ge the r o n a s mok e
‘ ’
.

The mountain i n wh i ch w e a r e i nteres ted i s

prob ably tha t now call ed by the Arabs R as es
- -

S u fs a feh .

From the hi gh e r p art s o f these m o untains

c an be se en arms o f the Red S ea a p art of ,

E gypt whos e mi ghty army had s o lately dis

,

ap peared in t h e w aters and terri tory wi thin

,

a fe w days j ourney of Jeru s al em I h ave

’
.
 H OREB 7

s ometimes w o nd ered i f Moses when lo oking

,

from th o s e hi gh p eaks di d no t gaz e fixedly and

,

l o ng i nt o E gyp t ( with that eye th a t ev en f o rty

“
ye a rs afterward w as not to dis cover
the movements o f new E gypt i an armies th at
mi ght be mobilized and hurried thi s time to
compas s th e Gulf of Suez and fall upon the
,

H ebrews wh ile still in this d e s o lat e region b e

tween the tw o arms o f the Red S e a t o br i ng ,

them b ack a g ai n i n to bondage Fo r on thes e

.

heights M lo s es spen t d ays and w ee ks du r m g ,

which the E gypti a ns might have g athered fresh

troops fo r a ne w pursuit of th e Israelite s had ,

no t the terrible cal amity to the m i l i tary related

in the book o f Exodus a wed the nation into
d eep fear o f their es c a ped slaves l i nger i ng mys
te rio u sly s o long so near their borders .

On t h es e peaks from wh i ch Mos es might

,

lo ok i nt o E gy pt h e l i ngered long and o ften

, .

But probably it w a s o nly no w and then th a t he

looke d into the land o f bondage : fo r around
him th e tru mpet w as s ounding the l i ghtning
,

w a s flashing ,
and the thunder o f God w as
ro l ling From the mids t o f s cen e s of subl i mi ty
.

the ten comm and m ents w ere com i ng H ere .

probably was Sinai ; no fore s t or villages

among its black c rags to wering u pw ard
,

feet or mo re The m ount a i n r o se abru ptly

, .

“
fro m t h e plain ; but mus t not be touch ed .

The a w e of th e Israelite s c au s ed by th a t com

,
8 MOUN TAIN S OF THE BI B LE
m an d ment combined with th e trumpe t blasts ,

the li ghtnin g flashes an d th e t h under roars of

the mounta in gradual l y d ie d away in the l ong
,

waiting fo r Moses t o c ome d own T h ou gh the .

mountain s m ok e d and trem bled an d t h e gl o ry ,

o f t h e Lo r d covere d it imperceptibly the feel

,

in g s o f fear in t h e h eart s o f th e I s raeli te s died

away and t h e merely c arn al sense as serted it
,

se l f in t h e tho u ght t h at al l the impress ive

p h enomena o f t h e mountain were only th e eff ect
o f n at u ral causes ; and it may have seemed t o
th e pe o p le th at pos si bly M o ses h imself in t h e ,

mountain s convulsions ( th at mi ght reasonably

’

be at t ribute d to volcanic ac t ivi t y a s far as ,

t h ey kn ew ) mig h t have lost h is life

, .

“
A t leas t t h e Is ra elites we arily s aid As for
, ,

t h is M o ses t h e m an t h at brou ght us u p out of

,

the land o f E gypt we kno w not what is become

,
”
o f h im .Th e time h a d been s o lon g ! They
fo rgot that befo re Mo s es brou ght them to
Ho reb he had smi tten the rock at Rephi dim
, ,

no t far away and water ha d come for them and

,

t h eir flocks in time of need They did not .

reason t h at the God who had been t h eir s alva

tion in distres s woul d continue to protec t
,
“ ”
t h em ; they knew n o t w h at h ad becom e of
Moses Th ey ha d tru sted in m an and t h e
.
,

m an ha d disappeare d Man will a lw ays dis

.

appe ar if he is our final rel i ance If w e t ru st

, .

in man o r his s c i ences o r his achievemen ts or

, , ,
10 MOUN TAIN S OF TH E BI B LE
could s cientific ally be proved dashed aga i n st ,

the rocks the ta bles of div i n e law h e had

brou ght down .

But later Moses c am e agai n down from that

,
“
mountain with la w on stone ; a l a w cloud em -

”
bro i dered ; a la w fi r e be gi rt ; a law stony in
-

terms angular with negat i ves like a bullet in

, ,

its directnes s o f p i e rc ing It did not c arry .

alon g in its elf the pro o f th at it had come from

G o d ; b ut i t wa s not unworthy o f God And if .

t h at law of Ho reb were everywhere ob eyed the

human family w ould live on a level not far be
low the an gels and the w orld w ould again be
,

come the gar d en o f E den .

And Mount H oreb with all i ts desol at i on

, ,

shines w ith the glo ry of the decalogue The .

earth is illumin at ed w ith S ina i s s tony br i ght ’

ness Its beams and rays s h ine over all Chris

.

tian lands made s o fter and sweeter year by

,

year and century after centu ry by th e radiance

’
des cendi ng from C alvary s lowly height that ,

s omehow seems to min gle and te mper and s u b

due H o r eb s s tony glare ; s o th at th e law o f
’

stone b ecomes a commandmen t o f aff ect i on .

’
And w e can more easily w alk in he aven s light
s h inin g t h rou gh the l o vin g de ath o f Jesus .

N ow let u s go to Mount Nebo and Mount

Ho r ; and go more slowly and tread more s oftly ;
fo r th ey are the death chambe rs o f two pr 0 ph
ets Aaron and Mose s
, .
 MOUN T H OR

If a traveler w i sh ed to go from Mount Sinai ,

or Horeb t 0 V IS It the m o unta i n where Mo ses

,
*
~

died he w ould prob ably arrange hi s j ourn ey in

,
-

such a way a s to pas s by Mo unt Hor where ,

Aaron th e brother of Moses di e d n o m a t te r

, , ,

which o ne o f the two mounta i ns in our t i me

n amed by cr i tics b e accepted a s the correct
o ne
. For b oth mountains cla i med by th e
critics to be Mount H o r fulfill the condi t i ons
o f th e B ible history a s clos ely as would be
r easonable after the laps e o f thousands o f
years B oth mounta i ns have bold and strik
.

ing a ppe arance on appro aching th em ; and the

modern tr a v eler moving through ridges of
,

light dri ftin g s and o r over su rfaces mad e u n

,

even by stones w ould frequently a sk himself if

,

th e H ebre w s in th e tim e of Aaron endured such

hard ships .

W e d o no t stop to dis cus s which o f the two

mountains is the c o rrect one : fo r in either case
Mount H o r is th e conspicuous one for a long
distan ce .

As the Chri s tian trav el er w ould approach ,

he w ould dra w forth his po cket B ibl e and read ,

the followin g dign i fied and impres sive ac count ,

in Numbers 2 0 : ee 2 9 of the d eath of Aaron

G -

“
A nd th e y j ou rneye d fr om ! ad es h : an d th e
11
12 MO UN TAIN S OF TH E BIBLE
c hild r en o f I srae l even th e w h ol e con gre gati on
, ,

c ame unt o M oun t Hor A n d Je h ova h s p ak e un to

.

Mos es an d Aar on in Moun t Ho r by th e bo rd er o f ,

th e l an d o f E do m l sayi ng Aa ron s h all b e gath e r e d

, ,

u nt o hi s p eopl e ; fo r h e s h all n o t ent e r i nto th e

l and w hi c h I h av e gi ven u n to th e c hildr en o f I s
rael be c au se ye reb e ll ed a gai ns t m y wo rd a t th e
,

w at e r s o f Me rib a h Tak e Aaron an d E l ea z a r hi s

.

s on , and bri ng th em un t o M o un t Ho r ; an d s trip

Aa r on o f h is ga rment s an d put th em up on E l ea
,

z a r hi s s o n a n d Aa r on s h a ll be gath er e d u n t o hi s
,

p eopl e an d s h all d i e th e r e A n d Moses did a s

,
.

Je h ovah comm an d e d : an d th ey w en t u p i nt o Moun t

Ho r i n th e s i ght o f all th e congr e ga ti on An d .

Moses s tri pp e d Aa r on o f hi s gar ment s and put ,

th em upo n E l ea z ar hi s s o n ; an d Aaron di e d th e r e .

o n th e t o p o f th e mo u n t : an d Moses a n d E l e a z a r

c ame d own from th e mount A n d w h en a ll th e .

con gr e gati on s aw th a t Aa ron was de a d th ey we pt ,

”
fo r Aar on thirty d ays even all th e h o u se o f I s rae l
, .

Aaron was a t hi s d eath o ne hundred and

twenty t h re e years ol d It doe s not appe a r.

that h e died o f ol d a ge no r o f n ervous prostr a

,

tion ; bu t at the co m mand of the Lord ; like a

chil d falling asl eep in th e a rms o f its mo the r .

H e w ent up i nt o the mountain to die and died , .

H i s high pries t s garment s he would n eed n o

’

more ; and he suff ered Moses to remov e them .

Possibly w ith his o wn fin gers h e adj uste d them

on E leazar be comingly ; W hil e do ing s o gi vi ng ,

advic e c oncern ing the i r care .

 MOUN T H OR 13

H e had s erv ed as pries t a full generation .

H e had be en re ad y o f tongue w h en Mos e s w as

,

slo w of sp ee c h H e h ad gon e w ith his brother

.

into th e lan d o f Egypt b e fore th e g re atest mon

arch o f what wa s t h en the wes tern w orld and ,

d emanded that a race of slaves be allo w ed to

e s cap e. But yet h e had be en s o dep en d ent o n
t he inte g ri ty o f Moses his young er brother
, ,

that when he had been deprived o f his help for

a time a s a t Sinai h e had yielded to the ma
, ,

te r ial is tic reas onings of th e Hebre w s who had ,

already lo s t t h eir belief in th e miracles and

provi d ence o f an i nvisibl e God and mad e them !
,

a g olden calf I n all ages human b eings easily

.

los e their tou ch w ith invisibl e t ruth This is .

what is to be expe cted o f the anim al life or the ,

carnal D ogs do no t believe in God Swine

.
'
.
,

as far as w e underst and them do no t have ,

'

pro ph ets . S aloon keepers do no t keep ope n

-

Bi bl es on the bar And the nearer man comes

.

to living the life o f the brute th e less inclined

,

h e is to o be y the prophet ; though more inclin ed

to supersti tions based on the di re ction o f t h e
ne w mo on fro m hi s ri ght shoulder or the hedge ,

hog s shado w on F ebru ary 2 d

’
Ye s ;.

Aaron had m ade for the Hebre w s a golden calf

for Mo s es their prophet had disap pe ar ed , and
the i r Jeho v ah w as i n visible .

But it does not from th e n arrat i ve in Num

,

bers app e ar that th e Lord tr e asured up for

,
14 MOUN TAIN S OF TH E BIBLE
venge ance th e idolatry o f the golden c alf ; but ,

at t h e w a te rs o f Meriba h Mo ses and Aaron

,

had po s sibly assumed to themselv es a pow e r i n

brin gin g wat e r from t h e ro ck for th e p eople
to d rink that o bscured the gl ory that should
have go ne s olely to that One w h o is really able
t o work a m i racle The divine act w as no t
emp h asized and M o ses and Aar o n s eemed as
,

if bringin g w ate r from th e rock by s ome phys i

cal blow o f their o wn .

Seld om in th e hi sto ry o f m ankind has any

, ,

man who h as ha d t h e help o f G od i gnore d that

h elp and a l lo wed the people to b elieve that th e
wonderful work w a s human Usually men .

d o the revers e : and attribut e to the divine that

whi ch is merely hum an But in th is conn ec
.

tion we are reminde d o f that other cl as s o f

mankind : thos e w h o do n ot have th e he lp o f
Go d be cause o f their wo rl d ly spirit or real s in ,

fulnes s In their malice or h a te of spiritual

.
,

forc e s th ese real enemies o f righteousnes s

, ,

whe n a great and g o o d w ork i s done for human

ity by the Spirit o f God attribute it t o evil
,

a g encies Th is is the s in a gains t the H oly

.

Gh ost ; i n its v ery nature an insult to God .

It s ays to G od This w onder is not the gift o f

,

t h y love but is t h e wo rk o f the devil It is

, .

e asily seen that this is a dange rous sin .

But it is al ways dangerous to igno re th e dig

n ity o r hon o r o f the Mo st H i gh A nd a t the.
 MOUN T H OR 15

w aters of M eribah when Aaron s eemed to th e

Isra elites to pe rform th e w ond er which real ly ,

G od s mercy had given to the thi rs ty p eople

’
,

he did n ot immediately turn t h e thou ght of th e

pe ople to t h eir divine De liver er T h is was dis .

pleasing to h eaven Go d demands his own

.

hon o r Everything in the final an alysis de

.
, ,

pe nds on God Everything in the beginning

.
, ,

h as sprung from Go d Such re asons made i t

.

neces sary fo r God to make t he firs t command

“
ment to refer to himself : Th ou shalt have no
” “
ot h er go d s be fore me In th e b eginning
.
,
”
Go d !
But Aa ron was ne glectful o f th e divin e
Helper Therefo re he was forbidden to enter
.

the promised land What a sweet privil ege it

.

w ould h ave be en f o r him to hav e gone in w ith

the people h e lov e d an d seen the land flowing
,

with milk an d honey ; where long before Abr a

h am ha d le d h is flo cks and fou ght his battl e s .

It was in t h at l a nd on Mount Moriah t h at

, ,

Abra h am in obedience to th e mysterious com

,

man d o f Go d h a d been a bout to o ff er his s on

,

Is aac as a s acrific e when h is h and w a s stayed

, ,

and Go d pro vide d t h e victim How stran ge it .

has be en t h at some o f the mo s t exalted ex peri

e n ce s o f t h e mo st spiritual s ervants o f Go d
h ave been conn e ct e d with t h e mountains !
And Aaron w as to die on Mount Hor H e
“

w a s a man o f qu i ck spe ech and ready tongu e ;

16 MOUNTAIN S OF TH E B I BLE
b ut he made n o reply wh en h e h eard the s en
tence o f Je h ova h .

There was another tim e whe n Aaron held hi s

peace under j u d gment o f t he Most H i gh
At t h e t ime of t h e cons e cration o f the tabe r
n a e le h is s ons
, Nada b and Abi h u h ad o ff ered
, ,
“
s t range fire be fore Je h ovah w h ic h he had n ot
,
”
comman d e d t h em And fire came fort h from
.

be fore Je h ova h and ki ll e d t h em T h en Mo ses

.

u t tere d w ords explaining t h e punis h ment o f

Aaron s sons B ut Aaron made no r epl y ; he
’
.

“
h eld his pe ace S o n ow he i s silent
. .

Clad in h is d i gnified robes o f o flic e as hi gh

priest s erene an d composed wit h hi s brother
, ,

l\f o s es an d h is own s o n E leaz ar h e as cen d s the

, ,

mountain in t h e si ght o f al l th e people H is

, .

li fe has prove d to him one th in g ; t h at God mus t

b e o be ye d T h e a scent o f the mountain is ex
.

c ee din gl steep an d toi l s ome but Aaron makes

y ;
no protest t h ou gh h e is one hun d red and t wenty
,

t h ree years ol d and n ow g oin g to his own fu

,

neral He m akes no plea to die at eas e in his

.

t ent ; but obe d ient now as a child h e g oes w it h

Mos es and E l eazar to t h e top o f t h e mountain .

Th ere his g armen t s are removed and plac ed on

th e s o n .In t h e camp o f Israel many heart s
must have ache d a s h e climb ed t h e mountain ,

and many lips mus t h ave bles sed him W i t h .

all his faults he w as their own p riest Many .

o f his faults w ere their faults N o th with .

 MOUNT NEBO

If Mount H or where Aaron di ed attract ed

, ,

a languid in teres t no twithstanding th e u ncer

,

tainty as to the identity of the elevation up

wh ich the Israelites s aw him go w i th his bro ther
an d s o n t h at interes t wi l l p o s sibly be gre ate r
,

w h en we search for th e pe ak fr o m w h ic h th e
great Moses vie wed t h e promi s ed land be fore he
died On almost any expedition from Mount
.

Hor to Mount Nebo or P i sgah which i s o v er

, ,

against Jeri c h o among frigh tful rocky pr ec ip

, , ,

ito u s hills w e might le ave the Dead Se a a t our

,

left That body of water must be mentioned

.
,

as an impo rtant part o f t h e lands cape w ith ,

all i t s depressing influence Lyin g . fe et

below t h e level o f th e Me d iterranean n o r e ,

fres h in g breez e helps t h e traveler It s water is .

s o s a l t t h at the spray kills ordinary vegetation ,

n otwi th stan d ing t h e great h e at Desolation is

.

the appropriate w o r d for mos t o f the s cenery

here The e ff ect o f i t can be understood from
.

t h e fo l lowing des crip t ion o f Lieut Lynch O f .

,

on e of h is experiences during hi s exploration

A li ght a ir fr om th e south i n duced me t o ab an

d o n th e a wn i n g and I s et th e s ail to save th e men
, ,

fr om; l abo ri ng a t th e oar s A light ta ppi n g o f th e

.

18
 M OUN T N E BO 19

r ippl e o f th e bow an d a fai n t li ne o f fo am and

, ,

bubble s a t h e r s id e we r e th e on l y i ndi ca tio ns th at

,

th e bo at w as i n mo ti on Th e o th er b oa t w as a mil e
.

a s t e rn ,
a n d a ll ar o u n d p a rt ook o f th e s till ness o f

d eath Th e weath e r w a s i nt ensel y h ot an d even

.
,

th e light ai r th at urge d u s al mos t i nsens ibl y h ad ,

some thi n g o pp r ess i n g i n it s fl aws o f h eat .

Th e glitt e r from th e wa t e r w ith it s m ultitud e ,

o f r e fl ec ti ons ( for eac h rippl e was a mi rr o r ) con ,

tribut ed mu c h t o o u r di scom fo rt ; ye t th e wat er

w a s not tr ans p a r en t but o f th e col o r o f dilut e d
,

a b s i n th e Th e bl ack c h a sms an d rock pe ak s em

.
,

bosse d w ith gr i mn ess we r e a r oun d an d above u s

, ,

vei l e d i n a trans p ar en t m i s t li ke vi s ibl e air th at , ,

m a d e th em seem u n r ea l ; an d fee t bel ow ou r ,

sou nd i n g l e ad h a d s tru ck up on th e ve r y pl ai n o f
S iddi m s h roud ed i n s li me an d salt s
,
W hil e bu s y .

with s u c h th o ught s my com p an i ons h a d yi eld ed t o

,

th e o ppr ess i ve dr ows i ness an d now l ay b e fo r e m e

in eve r y a ttitud e o f a s l ee p th a t h a d mo r e o f s tu
p o r in it th an o f re po se I n th e aw ful as p ec t .

w hi c h thi s s ea p resent e d w h en we fir s t be h e ld it I
, ,

seeme d t o r e ad th e i nsc ripti on over th e ga t e s o f

D an t e s I n f e rn o ! e w h o e nt er h e re l eave h op e
’

,
‘

be hi nd No w as I s at al one in m y wak e ful ness

’
.
, ,

th e f ee li n g o f aw e r e tur ne d : an d a s I l ooke d up on
th e s l ee p e r s I f e lt th e h ai r o f my fl es h s tan d up
,
”
a s Jo b s d i d ( Lync h w a s w r on g ; thi s
’

“
was E liph a z th e Teman it e ) w h en a
s pirit p asse d b e fo r e hi s face ; f o r t o m y di s turb e d
i ma gi n ati on t h e r e w a s some thi n g fe a rful i n th e
,

e x pr ess i on o f th e i r i n fl a m e d a n d s woll en v i sa ges .

Th e fi e r ce ange l o f di sease seem ed h ove r i n g over

20 MOUNTAI N S OF TH E BIB LE
th em an d I read th e fo r erunne r o f h is pr e s ence in
,

th e ir flu s h e d an d f eve ri s h s l ee p Th e solitud e th e
.
,

scene my o w n th o ught s we r e too m u c h ; I f e lt a s

, , ,

I s a t thu s s tee ri n g th e drows i l y mov i n g bo a t as i f

'

I we r e C ha r on f e rryin g n ot th e So ul s but th e ,

bodi es o f th e d e p art e d a nd th e d amne d ove r some ,

i n f e r n a l l ak e an d c o uld en dur e it no l on ge r ; but

,

br e aki n g fr om m y li s tl essne ss o rd e r e d th e s a il s
,

t o be furl e d an d th e oa r s re s u me d ; acti on seeme d

be tt e r th an s u ch! unn atur al s tup o r ( Tr ave l s a n.d
Adven tur es pp 2 1 9
,
.

Along suc h depressing s cenes or amon g ,

ro cks and h i lls appropriately encompas sing

suc h w aters Moses m a y h ave pass ed during the
,

l as t d ays of his eart hly life And suc h scenes .

m ay have se r ved to i ncreas e his men tal o r

’
spiri tual d epression c aused by God s sentence
,

upon him fo r hi s s in at the waters o f h I e r ib ah ;

t h at h e should not ent e r the P romised Land
wit h t h e beloved people whom he had led to i ts
border .

Moses felt deeply th i s sentence of his God .

Like a child petted b y a lovin g father he plead

, ,

wi th G od to chan g e the decree H o w often h e .

importune d his heavenly Fath e r we do n ot

kno w ; but it was s o o ften that God at las t told
h im to qui t t o cease ; like a mother wearie d by
,

the teasing o f a petted child For we read the .

fo l lowin g complaint of Moses ab ou t it to the ,

c h ildren o f Israel when he a tt ri b utes his mis

,

fortune in part t o them

, ,
 M OUN T N E B O 21

A nd I b es o ught Je h ova h a t th at ti me s ayi n g , ,

O Lo rd Je h ova h th o u h a s t be gu n t o s h ow th y
,

se rvan t th y gr eatness and th y s tr on g h and : f or

,

w h at god i s th e r e in h eaven o r i n ea rth th at can ,

d o a cco rdi n g t o th y wo rk an d a cco rdi n g to,

th y mi ght y a ct s ! Let me go over I pr ay th ee , ,

a n d s e e th e goo d l an d th a t i s be yon d th e Jo rd an ,

th at goo dl y mo u nta i n an d L e ban o n B ut Je h o

,
.

va h w a s w roth w ith me fo r yo u r s akes an d h eark ,

ene d no t u n t o me ; an d Je hova h said un t o me L et ,

it s u flic e th ee ; s p eak no mor e u nt o me o f thi s m at

t e r Ge t th ee up u n to th e top o f Pi s ga h an d lift
.
,
’

up thi ne e y es wes twa rd an d no rth w a rd an d south

, ,

wa rd and eas t wa rd an d be h old with thi ne eyes

, ,

f o r th o u s h alt no t go ove r thi s Jo rd an B ut .

c h a rge Jos hu a an d enco ur age hi m and s tr en gth en

, ,

h im ; fo r h e s h a ll go o ve r b e fo r e thi s p eopl e an d ,

h e s h all c a u se th em t o i n h e rit th e l an d w hi c h th ou
”
s h alt s ee ( D e ut .

Thus his teasin g o f God had no success al ,

~

t h ough Go d loved h im s o God told him to .

stop talkin g ab out i t ; but he comfort ed hi s

child by prom i sing t o let him s ee the land from
,

a distance .

W e may e asily understand that Mos es

stopped talking abou t it when he received from
,

G od t h e c omm and w e h av e quo ted ; t h at i s ,

stopp ed talking to God about it althou gh he ,

told his sorro w to the peopl e .

And when th e tim e came for the people to

cro ss over and fo r M oses to die he recei ved
, ,
22 MOUNTAI N S OF THE BI BLE
the following stern final comm and from God
,

G e t th ee up i nt o thi s mounta in Aba ri m u nt o ,

Moun t Ne b o w h i c h i s in th e l an d o f M oab th a t is ,

over a ga i ns t Je ri c h o an d beh old th e l an d o f C a

,

n a an w hi c h I give u nt o th e c hildr en o f I s r a e l for

,

a p ossess i on : an d di e i n th e moun t w hith e r th o u

g oes t up a n d be
,
g a th ered u n t o th y p eo pl e ; as
Aa r on th y br oth e r di e d in M oun t Ho r an d w a s ,

ga th e r e d unt o h i s pe opl e : b eca u se ye tr es p asse d

a ga i ns t me a mon g th e c hildr en o f I s r a e l at th e

w at e r s o f Me riba h o f ! a d es h in th e wild e rness o f

! in ; be ca u se ye s anc tifi ed me n o t in th e mid s t o f
th e c h i ld re n o f I s r a e l ! et th o u s h alt see th e l an d
.

b e fo r e th ee ; but th ou s h alt no t go thith e r i n t o th e

”
l an d w hi c h I gi ve th e c hildr en o f I s r a e l ( D e ut .

Moses h a d bee n a lawgiver to the Israelite s ;

t h eir commander in c h ief in battle ; the ambas
sa d or at P h arao h s cou rt ; t h e messen ger o f
’

G od in miracles ; t h eir h a r d o f almost d ivine

ima gin ation ; their p re eminent statesman i n
a d ministration ; t h eir j udge whe n t h ey sinned ;
t h eir uncrowned king w h o se s cepter wa s t h e
, ,

ro d t h at parted t h e waves of the Red S ea .

Fo r forty years he ha d been th eir leader an d

savior O f t en th ey had reb elle d a g ainst him
.
,

and as o ften been subdue d to humi l ia t in g s u b

mis sion His ton gue h ad l ashed t h em in r e
.

buke ; an d had more sweet l y commanded t h em

to teach h is law to t h eir c h ildren With a .

’
prop h et s confi d ence he had assured th em of
 MOUN T NEBO 23

the P romis ed Land and for a generat i on had

,

led them to and fro in a w i ld ernes s wh ere their

,

hopes were en couraged or d i s appointed only i n ,

les s degree than his o wn .

And n o w as the time appro aches when th e y

,

are abou t to enter Mo ses i s commanded t o

,

lo o k an d d i e.

Does this m e an that fo r the tru ly great life

, ,

is a tra gedy ! Does i t mean aft e r John the

,
“
B aptis t h a s clearly pointed out the Lamb of
”
Go d that taketh a w ay th e sin o f the w orld ,

and prov ed hi mself th e gr e a tes t o f men that he

,

mu st: die i n pri s on on a ccoun t of the h a tred

o f an insignifican t w o man w hom h e had a c
c u s ed o f s in ! Does i t mean that wh en P aul
“
h a s fought the good fight he must be ready
”
t o be o ff ered ! Does i t mean that whe n
S t ephen h a s bo rn e h is great wi tnes s he mus t
“ ”
fall asleep under a sho w er o f stones ! Does
i t mean that as soon as J esus has fully founded
his kingdom he mus t b e cro wned w i th th o rn s
and thro ned on a cros s !
N o ; it only means that God kno w s of better
th ings than earth ly tr i umphs . God can a f
fo rd t o let his chi ldren su ff er for a t i me be ,

c au s e he i s gre a t en ough t o set things r i ght n o ,

matter w hat the dis as ter of earth may be .

“
God i s wis e enough t o make ou r light afflic
t i on which i s but f o r a moment w ork out for
, ,

u s a far more exceed ing and et ernal w eight o f

2 41 MOUN TAI N S OF TH E BI BLE
“
gl ory . Go d s a ys Let t h ere be li gh t
, .

Therefore knowing t h e greatnes s o f Go d as

,

few men of earth h ave d one M os es obe ye d ,

vn th o u t a murmur His sis t e r Miri am th e

'

.
, ,

prop h etess is d ead H is b rot h er Aaron the

, .
, ,

hi gh pries t is dead ,
Mo ses 1 2 0 years old
.
, ,

bu t wit h eye un d immed a n d his n atural

s trengt h una b ated turn s t o the chi ld ren o f
Israe l and b lesse s them assurin g th em that ,
“ ”
under t h e m are t h e everlasting arms Fro m .

t h e p l ains of Moab w he re they are enc a mped

, ,

h e go e s wit h steady step t o Nebo over a g ainst ,

Je r ic h o an d Jehovah shows h im t h e l an d o f
,

Canaan n ort h and s outh eas t and west ; from

, ,

t h e Wa t ers o f Merom t o the b ri ne of t h e De ad

“ ”
Sea ; from the palm trees o f Jeri cho and
e ast o f there to the vineyards of Ashkelon on
,

the we s t .

’
I have o ften ima gin ed that Moses n u
d immed eye had greater help than physical
keennes s : fo r in vain s o far h ave travel e rs
s ou ght a pe ak over against Jeri cho whence ,

they could s ee all C anaan even to Merom and ,

th e Medi t err anean .

When Moses told th e awestruck Isra eli te s

that he w a s going to the top of P i s g ah to sur
vey the lengt h and b readth o f th e Promis e d
Land o f w h ich he had s o often talked to the m
, ,

and t h at Go d w ould give him a vision o f C a

n aan before they could see i t and that God ,
 MOUNT H E RMON
FI R S T C H R I ST I A N P R A! E R M E E TI NG

G oing northward from Mount Nebo whe re ,

Moses d ied all t h e time kee ping the River

,

Jordan t h e S ea o f G alilee an d th e Wate rs of

,

Merom a t our l eft we reach t h e city o f C aes

,

area P h ilippi near wh ic h Jesus w as de ter

,

mined to question hi s dis ciples concerning hi s

gr eatnes s .Th e heaven l y an s w er s prang to
“
t h e lips o f Peter t h a t Jesus wa s the S on o f
,
”
the living God the Chris t
, .

When at t h e b aptism o f J e sus a s i milar

h e avenly statemen t was made as he was co mi ng
up out o f the w ater he wa s imm ed iately d riven
,

into t h e wi lde rn es s b y th e S pi r it an d w as ,

tempted by S atan After the s tat em ent of

.

Peter at C aes area Philipp i Jesus was again ,

tempted ; b ut t h is time by that dis ciple who

op p o s ed J esus prophecy of the comin g cruc i
’

fi x io n s o d an gerously that Jesus rebuke d hi m

“ ”
and sai d G et t h ee be hind me S atan ; prob
, ,

a b ly thinkin g o f that form er temptation o f th e

wi l dernes s fol lowing th e baptism and the s am e ,

d o ctrine there stated From C aesarea Phi

.

lip p i Jesus went no rthward practically to the ,

extreme o f the H oly La nd to o ne o f its hi gh ,

es t mountains Mount H erm o n and th ere

, ,

26
 MOUN T H E RMON 27

pray ed and w as tr a n s figu r ed before hi s three

favo rite d is cipl es who now h e ard from th e
,

glory cloud th e stat ement o f P eter made a

week befo re ( The opinion that h e was trans
.

fi gu r e d on Mount Tabor is a mistake ) .

On th is Mo unt Hermon at the e dg e of t h e ,

P romise d Lan d two g rea t chara c ters appear ed

,
“
and t al ked with Jesus of t he departure whi ch
”
he shou l d accomplish a t Jerus a l em M oses .
,

on another mountain Mo un t Nebo during one

, ,

o f t h e sweete s t s easons o f his life h ad b een ,

with G od prep aring for his own dep arture

,

from earth N ow on Mount Hermon h e talk ed

.

with t h e S on o f God concerning his departure .

Another gre at prophet als o was at Mount

H ermon : E lij a h w h o at Mount Ho reb had
,

t alked with God ; E lij ah who at Mount Car ,

mel had fou ght hi s g reat duel with the prophets

o f B aal ; E lij ah w ho took h is departure from
,

earth by the wh irlwind wit h horses and char

,

io t o f fire ,
tempestuously according t o his ,

d isposition from the s ame moun tainou s r e

,

gion over a g ainst Jericho, where Jeh o vah

,

gently nursed Mos es t o sleep Th es e two men .

,

o f hi gh ecs tatic expe rien ce s on mounta ins and ,

o f sin gular depart ures from e arth on Mount ,

Herm on talked with the S on o f G od o f h is

dep arture which he w as to acc omplis h from
Mount Calvary .

And he re they w ere talking on a m ountain ,

28 MOUN T AIN S OF TH E BIBLE
and t alkin g in glory And Jesus w a s
.

c l o th e d in glory Jesus h ad gone up ther e to

.

pray po ssi b ly a gainst temp t ation

, Whether .

h e h a d g one be yon d t h e snow lin e o f the elev a

tion risin g more t h an feet towar d t h e s ky
we h ave n o w a v to know ; b ut h e cert ai nl y in
spiri t came near t o heaven : for they a l l h eard
“
a v o ice a he aven l y voice s aying This is my
, , ,

b e l ove d S on in w h om I am well pleased

,
.

“
T he re was another time whe n Jesu s was on an
”
excee d in g high mount ain but t h ere he w a s
,

“
tem pted ; be in g s h own t h e kingdoms o f th e
”
worl d and t h e glory o f them and w as o ff e red ,

them as a bri be to compromis e and us e h is

o wers in h arm ony w ith popular i ty a nd
p
worl d lines s An d his only compa nion on t h at
.

“ ”
exceeding hi gh mountai n was th e devil .

B u t o n Mount H erm on the comp any w as

more deligh tfu l : Peter James Jo h n Moses
, , , ,

E l ij a h and t he Sh ekinah from which came

, ,

t h e h eaven l y Voice announcing the sons h ip o f

Jesus Blessed company ! a company the mos t
.

s el ec t o f the univers e ! a co m pany ga t h ered

from h e aven an d e arth come t o the Chris t ian
,

prayer meetin g ! No t very many of them on l y

-

,
“ ”
s even ; but Jesu s w as in t h e mids t o f t h em !
A g ain consider tha t company on Mount
H ermon .

T h ere w as the g reat apo s tle Peter He was , .

a t ype of o n e clas s o f Christi ans : th e impu l

 MOUN T H E RMON 29

sive th e em o tio nal th e ready ; r eady at o n e

, ,

hour to fi ght fo r Jesus and a t anot h er hour

,

re ady to curse and swear denying him ; but ,

yet in the en d dying for him W e cannot .

spa re th e Pet ers o f Christianity even t hou gh ,

t he y may s ome t imes backs li de F o r it w as.

“
Peter w h o s ai d God is no r es pec to r o f per
,

sons ; but in every nation h e that feareth him ,

and wo rketh ri ghteousnes s i s accepted w ith,

”
h im .

And there w as the ap o stl e J ames H e w as .

a type o f another kin d of Chris tia n : the

ste a dy the faith ful the bu rden bearer ; t h e
, ,
-

kind that c a n always be relied o n the pillar ,

in th e c h urch W e need such m en as James

.
,

t o sus tain the work o f t h e church whe n th e

Peters gr o w col d o r lukewa r m in the s e r vi c e .

“
It w a s James p rob a b ly who s a id Bless ed is
, , ,

the man that endureth temptation ; for when

h e is trie d h e shall receive the crown o f life
, ,

which t h e L o r d hath promised to them that

”
lo ve him .

The thi rd type o f Chri stian th e re w a s John ,

the bel o ve d d i sciple ; the loving aff ection a te ,

C h ristia n ; dra wn to the s e rvice o f the Master

by his heart ; pres ervin g for humanity t h ose
“
tender wo rd s o f Jesus Go d s o loved t h e
,

w o rld t h a t he g av e his only be gotten S on th a t

, ,

wh o soever be l ieveth in him should not peris h ,

”
but h av e e v erlasting life Jo h n W a s th e man
. ,
30 MOUN TAI N S OF TH E BIBLE
th e humb le fisherman of Ga l ilee who antici ,

pated by m any cen turies the vaun ted dis c o v

ery o f mo dern t h e o logians con cerning t h e dis
“
position o r character o f God and said God , ,
”
is love .

T h os e th ree living men ap o stl es o f Jesus , ,

were types of th e C h ri s tian w orl d Th ey h ad .

not yet depar t ed fro m the e arth ; and m

am a zemen t were lis tenin g to t h e convers ation
o f two ot h er m en wh o appe ared in gl o ry and
, ,

were t alking wit h Jesu s o f his departure ,

“ ”
whi ch h e shou ld accompl ish from Jeru s alem .

An d t h o se two m en Mos e s and E lij ah wer e

, ,

typ es a l s o as w ell a s t h e three apos tles

, .

Moses was the great lawgiver of the w orld ;

E lij ah th e great prop h et .

Moses dep art ure from t h e w orld had been

’

peculiar an d here on Mount H e r m on h e talk ed

,

a b out Je sus d e p arture s o di ff erent fro m hi s

’
,

own when on Mount Neb o h e w as alone w ith

,
’
G od quie tly falling as leep in Je h ovah s arm s
, .

I w onder if Jes us told h im o f the coming cru c i

fi x io n as he h ad told his dis ciples
, of the ,

slanders h url ed a g ainst h im of blasphe my or , ,

treason ; o f the riba ld gibes o f the J ews about

“
his makin g hims elf t h e S on o f G od an d com ,

in g d own from t he cross th at t h ey mi ght be

”
lieve on h im If s o Moses must h ave recalled
.
,

his own sweet depart ure cared for s o tenderly ,

by Jesus Father on qui et Pisgah afte r h e

’
, ,
 MOUN T H E RMON 31

ha d look e d ov e r t h e P r o mise d La nd wh il e ,
’
Go d s o nly S on d ied on a cros s in the m i ds t of ,

j eering enemies w ith n o one to say a kind

,

w o r d t o him excep t a dying thief .

A nd Mo ses was a favored one o f God ; a

“

favori te ; one s o p ett ed by th e Al mighty that

h e s ometimes s pok e t o God in resistanc e or
oppo sition t o t h e rev e aled di vi ne purp os es .

O n ce God asked Mo ses to let him alone in

his anger w it h the Is raelite s on account o f
th ei r s in announcin g to Mo ses his plan t o de
,

stroy them promi sing to raise up of Mos es

,
“ ”
himself a g reat natio n Mo ses w a s s o .

familiar with the eternal Monarch that he

dared to resis t t hi s purpo se expo stulating and , ,

app e aling t o God s mercy And a litt l e la ter

’
.

“
he cried out Yet no w if thou w ilt forgive
, ,

their S in ’
and in his grief for
n
,

Israel could no t fi i sh that prayer but broke ,

down ; and as s oon as he could reco ver himself

“
he cr ied If not blot me I pray t h ee out of
, , , ,

”
t h y b o ok which t h ou has t written Thus .

Mos es in th e familiar a ff ectio n o f a n intimate

,

friend dared God to destroy t h e sinners p ro

, ,

fessing desire to s h are t h eir fate What could .

God do to the Israelites but spare them when ,

Mo ses l o ved them s o ! How thi s spirit o f lo ve

for S inners reminds u s o f Je sus own prayer ’

“
on Calvary Father forgive them for t h ey
, , ,
”
kno w no t w hat they do And no w this Mo ses . ,
32 MOUN TA IN S OF T HE BIBLE
t h is lawgiver who left t h e w orld in a pe culiar
,

way is ta l kin g on Moun t Herm on wi t h Jesus

, ,
“
of his d e parture whi ch he shoul d accomplish
”
a t Jeru s alem .

P e t er J ames Jo h n Moses
, , ,
four .

T h ere was anot h er typical man on Mount

H erm on Elij a h t h e prop he t
, .

He wa s als o a man whom God lov ed s o muc h

t h at he bore wit h hi s failin g s indulgentl y ; lik e
a fa ther with a petted chil d Onc e h e ran .

away from t h e lan d o f Israel from the coun ,

t ry where h is duty lay down to Horeb in the,

wi ld ern ess On the way he be came tired and

.
,
’
lay do wn and wish ed to die
, G od s angel .

woke h im showed h im food ; and w it h out r e

,

p rovin g him for running a w ay from Jezeb el

w h en G o d was takin g care of hi m told him to ,

rise an d e at fo r t h e j ourney was too gre at for

,

h im When he g ot down to Horeb and con

.
,

s ide r e d himself s afely h idden fro m th e wrat h

o f t h e wic ked qu een who se t h eol ogians an d

,

d o cto rs o f d ivinity he had ki l le d the voice o f ,

conscience translated to h im t he question of

“ ” “
Go d in t h e
,
still sma l l voice What doe st ,
”
t h ou h ere E l ij ah !
,

Pet u lantly l ike t h e s poiled child t h a t he

,

was h e answere d t hat h e h ad done noth ing

, ,

wron g t h at he ha d a ri gh t to b e there in
,
“
H ore b excusin g him s elf s ayin g I h ave been
, , ,

very j ealous for t h e Lord God o f hos ts : be ,

34 MOUN TAI N S OF THE BIBLE
of God is talking with that other lov ed o ne ,

Jesus o f hi s dep arture

, .

Peter James John Mo ses Elij ah

, , , ,

five A n d o f t h e five tw o a r e pe ts o f the Lord

.
,
.

An d w h ile th os e tw o Moses and E lij ah are , ,

ta lking with Jesus Oh ! Jesus ; t h at

makes s ix s o far at t h is prayer meetin g on
, ,
-

Moun t H ermon whe re Moses and E l ij a h ta l k

,

with Jesus o f hi s coming singul ar depar t ure

from e arth s a c tivitl e s j oys an d sorrows
’
, .

And t h ere come s another one God ;

making t h e s acred number seven a t this firs t
—
, ,

Chri stian prayer meeting .

Fo r a bright clou d ove rshadowed the s ix ,

“
an d a voice ou t o f the clou d s aying Th is is , ,

my belove d Son in whom I am w ell pleas ed ;

,
”
hear ye him .

And this voice makes us know that there

were three favo ri t es o f G od t he re Moses E li , ,

j ah and Jesus all havin g sin gular d epartures

,

from eart h ; to w h ic h each on e was directly

comman d e d by God .

And t h e impres sion o f th a t meeting fell upon

the hearts o f th e disci pl es l ik e s h owers of
d ivine b lessings to m a k e t h em fruitful an d
,

strong in la te r life ; s o t h at P eter lon g after ,

“
war d s aid And t h is v oice we h eard out o f
, ,

heaven w h en we were wi t h him in t h e holy

,
”
moun t ( 2 Pet .

E ven materi al Mount Herm on w as a locality

 MOUN T H ERMON 35

where physical dew s d es c end ed in such full nes s

as to at t ract the attenti on of travel ers i n
“
modern t i mes Mr M a u ndr el says :
. .
'

W i th
thi s de w even i n dry we a ther their tents were
, ,
”
as wet as i f it had rained the whole night .

But nineteen centuries ago a tent w as th ere ,

’
m ade o f the glory o f the Father s p resence ,

from which the com forting and refreshing

dews o f divine g race s ank i nt o th e heart s of
“ ”
those who entered i nt o the cloud ; Peter ,

James J ohn M o s es E l ij ah J esu s ;

, , , ,

bles sed c o mpany rem inding u s of the 1 33d

,

p s alm

Be h old h ow good an d h ow pl eas an t it i s

,

Fo r br e thr en to d we ll t oge th e r i n u n ity !

It i s li ke th e pr eci ou s o il up o n th e he a d ,

Th a t r an d own up on th e b ear d ,

Even Aa r on s be ar d ;
’

Th at came d own up on th e s k i rt s o f hi s garm en ts

L i k e th e d ew o f He rmo n ,

Th a t come th d own up on th e mo u nt ai ns o f ! i on
Fo r th e r e Je h ova h comman d e d th e bl ess i n g ,
”
E ven li f e fo r e ve rmo re .
 LE BANON

Le t u s leave Mo u nt Herm o n wit h its g reat

,

h ei gh t ma d e sacre d b y t h e t r a n s fi gu r a tio n of
Jesus ; le t us cross t h e va lley going westward
, ,

s t i ll refrainin g fro m entering th e heart o f t h e

Holy Lan d W h il e at a d istance looking at
.
,

th e ran g e comm on l y cal l e d Moun t Lebanon ,

we become mi ld ly in t erest ed in it fro m its

splen d or o f colo r n o th w ith s t a n ding its mo not
,
’

ony o f form T h e control o f t h e fu ll range

.
,

o f pos sib ly one h undred miles mus t l argely be

,

assi gne d t o t h e land o f T y re and Sidon ; a l

t h o u gh its glory depends on t h e sacred w riters
o f th e following bo oks o f the Bible
D e ut e r onomy I s ai ah
Jos hu a ; Jeremi a h ;
Jud ges ; E z ek i e l ;
! i n gs ( l s t an d 2 nd ) Hosea ;
2 d C hr on i c l es ; Na hum ;
E zr a ; Hab akkuk ;
Psa lms ! ec h ari ah .

C an ti cl es
Singularly Lebanon is no t men tioned in
,

the New Testament by n ame ; althou gh Jesus

ha d one of t h e mos t pleasant experiences in
t h e bord ers o f Tyre and Si d on where he s aid
,

to th e Syro Phoe n i cian woman w h o had plead

-

36
 LE BANON 37
“
with him for only a c ru mb dro ppe d under th e
,

”
table by t h e chi ldren ( t h e h ealing o f her
“
dau ghte r ) , 0 woman great is t h y fait h : be
,
”
it unto t h ee even as t h ou wilt Yet gre a t
.

crow ds came fro m Tyre and Sidon into Israel

to hear his word .

Th e word L eb an o n sign i fies wh ite and may ,

h ave been given to t h e ran ge fro m the tin t o f

,

the wa l ls of chalk or li m eston e ro cks or the ,

snow which remain s on the summit s even in th e -

summer : fo r s o me p eaks rise feet But .

w h en we speak o f L ebano n we never now think

“
o f wh ite but of gr een ; be c ause o f t h e cedars
,

”
o f Le b a non .These ce d ars were s o a ppr e ci
ate d in ancient times that the k i ngs o f As s yr i a
when making expeditions in to P ales tine cut ,

t h em and bore them to their far distant c api

tal s ; wh ere even in modern t i mes this w ood
, ,

transported s o far has been found .

B ut the des t r uction o f t h es e tre e s i n Leb

anon throu gh the a ges was s o cru el that a s ,

early as the sixth century o f our e r a the

Roman emp e r or Justinia n the Great the cru el
, ,

pe rsecuto r of tru th ( in the n am e o f truth ) and

des troyer o f th e church ( in the name o f th e
“
church ) found it diffi cult to secure cedar t i m
,
”
ber e nough fo r the roo f o f a single church
bu i lding
. These trees are no w s o fe w t h at
tra velers cou n t th em and cyclopedias tell ho w
,

many a r e left at diff erent dates : In 1 5 5 0 only ,

38 MOUN TAIN S OF T HE B IBLE
2 8 ; i n 1 5 73, only 2 4 ; i n 1 696 , only 1 6 ; i n
1 749 , only 1 5 , when th e traveler measured
twelve o f them and found their circu m fer
,

e n c e s from 2 2 to 40 fe et an d the diameters of

,

some o f th e largest about 1 6 feet I have for .

g o tten where I read it ; bu t one tr a veler s r e ’

po rt is that bu t five o f t h ese giant s now r e

main . S o destruct iv e has man been o f t h e
“ ”
wonderful cedars o f Lebanon amon g whose ,

groves Sol o mon had men at work when

h e b uilt the temple at Jeru s alem ( Ho w ever .
,

one cyclop ed ia repr e s ents thes e tr ees as no w

increasing in number ) .

The beauty of these cedars be fore the rav ,

a ges o f civilization had laid the mount ain

slop e comparatively desolate m ay be ima gi n ed
, ,

or inferred fro m th e following words o f the

,

P s almist ( 92 : 1 2 1 5 ) -

Th e righte ou s s h all fl o uri s h lik e th e p al m t r ee -

He s h all gr ow lik e a ce d ar i n Le banon ,

Th ey a r e pl an t e d in th e h ou se o f Je h ova h ;
Th e y s h all fl ouri s h in th e co urts o f o ur G od .

Th ey s h a ll bri n g f orth f r uit i n o l d a ge ;

Th ey s h all b e full o f s ap and gr ee n
To S h ow th a t Je h ova h i s up right :
’
He i s my rock an d th ere is no un right eou sness i n
,
”
hi m .

I f you read l s t K ings 5 th and 6 th chap

,
~

“ ”
ters you will s ee ho w the cedars o f Leban on
,
 LE BANON 9

entered in to th e build i n g o f the temple If w e .

w ere livin g i n anc i ent times undoubte d ly w e

,

mi ght mingle w i th th e w orkmen o f Hiram and

So lomon in the mounta in s of Leb anon ; w e
mi ght ob serv e th eir sk ill i n cutt i ng th e tim
bers and bo ards for the temple ; w e might a t
tend them in transporting t h is m aterial to th e
seap ort ; we mi ght then tak e p ass age on one
o f th e rafts or flo at s by whi ch the lumber w a s
transport ed to the po rt o f Japho w es t o f Jeru
,

s alem If s o we w ould p as s w i th idly curi ou s

.
,

eye t h e celebra t ed Mount Carmel j utt i ng out ,

into the Mediterranean ; where E lij ah ye ar s ,

later sent his serv ant to look out over the sea
, ,

i n exp e ctation o f the cloud th at w ould be token

rain in answer to h is p rayer a fter he had,

conquered th e prophets o f B aal .

But on our present excurs i on ha vi ng knowl

,

e dg e o f ev ents which th e builders o f the tem

ple at Je rus alem could no t for es ee happ ening ,

nearly a hundred y e ars later w e w ill simply

,

d epart from L ebano n by land mak ing ou r w ay

,

s outh w ard t o Mount C a rm el

.
 MOUNT CARM E L
D O GM A I M P O R TA N T

l\I o u n tCarm el al th ou gh t h e learned w riters

,

in cyclope d ias seem to lab o r to lure us away

from t h e t remendous events relate d in t h e 1 8 th
c h a p te r o f First Kin g s t o thi s day for u s
, ,

derives i t s chief interes t fro m t h ose even ts .

An d h ere th e reader s h ould re fres h hi s

memory b y reading a g ain that t h rill ing
,

record .

S ome years before that time Elij ah the ,

Tishb i t e h ad met Ah ab t h e kin g o f Isra el and

, ,
“
s ai d
, As Jehovah t h e God o f I srael livet h
, ,

before w h om I stand there shall not be dew

,

no r rain these years b ut a ccording to my

,
”
w ord .

Th e prophet fled i mmedi ately and hi d from ,

t h e king and t h e people o f Israel .

Years passed and t h ere was n o rain

, .

Necessarily t h e matter b ec ame on e o f n a

tio n al import ance T h e threat of t h e prophe t
.
,

an d h is prediction that rain woul d n ot come

except acc o rding to his word m a d e the king ,

and t he s tatesmen desire to meet him Th e .

d rou th and E lij a h be came subj ects o f d o mi

natin g intere s t .

But the years passed there was no rain , ,

40
42 MOUN TAI N S OF THE BI BLE
is th e comm andment most impo rta nt of all .

Its violation l eads to all oth er s i ns ; po i son ing

the i ntellect and making th e victi m unabl e to
,

reason correctly Its violat i on v i tia te s (th e

. .

d ai l y life ; making the sourc es of moral author

ity un certain o r v i le Its vi olation debases .

the spiritual natu r e : for God i s sp i ri t ; an d

they who worship hi m must w orship h im in
spiri t and truth In no other w ay can h e be
.

tru l y w o r s h iped or tru l y be wo r s h iped

, .

It is astonishing that Christians should

neglect this commandment both in theory and ,

pra ctice But they do An d i n th i s age when

. .
,
“ ”
covetousnes s is i dolatry Al exander Mc ,

Laren D D in the S un day S ch o o l Times

. .
,

of May 28 th 1 8 87 us ed th e foll o w i ng l an
, ,

guage
Th e fir s t comm an dmen t be ar s i n its ne gati ve
f orm m a rks o f th e con diti on o f th e w o rld w h en it
w a s s po k en an d o f th e s tr on g t em pt ati o n t o p ol y
,

the i sm w hi c h th e I s rae lit es we r e t o res i s t Ever y .

w h e r e but i n th a t corner amon g th e wild rock s o f

S i na i m en be li eved i n go d s m any Egypt
,
.

swa rme d w ith th em All th ese many god s

.

we r e on ami cabl e t e rms w ith one anoth er and ,

r ead y t o we l come new come r s B ut th e m o no th e .

i sm w hi c h w as h e re l a id a t th e very foun d ati on o f

I srae l s n ati onal li fe p a rt e d th em by a d ee p gu lf
’

fr om all th e wo rld an d d e t erm i ne d th e i r hi s t ory

,
.

“
Th e p ro hi biti on h as littl e force for u s
: etc ,
.
 MOUN T CARMEL 43

Oh ! that th e re could have be en an E lij ah

looking over M cL a r en s shoulder when he
’
,
“
wrote , Th e p rohibition has littl e force for
”
us, to rebuke him no twit h s tanding all the
,

fine w ords whi ch foll o wed endorsing t he fi r s t

commandment If E lij ah had be en t h ere he
.
,

mi gh t have predicted to M cL a r en that there

would be a fa min e in C h ristendo m o f t h e W ord
an d Spirit o f God for a quarter o r half a cen
tury ; that th e pastors o f churc h es w oul d be
unable t o r each t h e mas ses o f th e working pe o
—
ple in the c i ties ; that s o called revivals“ ”

would become a product o f human m achinery ;

that instead o f th e S piri t s w orking a s t h e
’

breathing o f the wind s o t h at w e w ould not

,
“ ”
kno w whence it c ame and whither it w ent ,

w e would know all about it ; th a t the pr o fes

“ ”
sioual evangelists w ould t ell u s w hence they
w ould come h ow long they w ould stay and
, ,

whither they w ould go ; that instead o f leaping

on the altar crying unto B aal and cutting
, ,

themselv es w ith kn i ves they w ould cut out al l

,

churc h s ervices but their own m ake th e rafters

,

tremble w ith grand music and have the c o n

,

r e a tio n s bo w t h eir h e ads and shut t h eir eyes

g g
while sinners bra v ely ra is ed t h eir hands to con
fe s s their sins a g ainst God o r secretly si gned
,

th e cards admitting that they had b e en s erving

Ashtaroth .

In all ages and i n all lan ds J eho v ah i s neg

,
44 MOUNTAIN S OF THE BIBLE
l e c te d ,
except by t h ose who w alk w ith him and
keep his comman d ments .

In t h e time o f I s rael s ido la tr v Go d brou ght

’
,

the famine on t h e land at th e wo r d of his

prop he t At las t G o d commanded E l ij ah to
.

S h ow himself to Ahab to te ll h im th at he wo u ld
,

brin g rain on t h e e ar t h Th e meetin g o f t h e

.

kin g an d prop h e t wa s S torm y ; but the king

obeyed the pro ph e t who sai d to him
, ,

“
Now th e r e fo r e sen d an d gathe r to me al l I s
,

r a e l un t o Moun t C a rme l an d th e pr o ph e t s o f
,

B aa l four hun dr e d an d fi fty an d th e pro ph e t s o f

,

th e As h e ra h four hun dre d th a t eat a t J e z e be l s

,
’

So Ah ab sen t unt o al l th e c hildr en o f I s r ael ,

a n d gath e r e d th e pr oph e t s t ogeth e r u n t o Mo u n t

C a rme l .A n d E l i j a h c ame nea r u n t o a ll th e p eo
p l e
, a nd s a i d How
,
l on g go ye li m pi n g b e t ween th e
two s i d es ! I f Je h ova h be God foll ow hi m ; but ,

i f Baa l th en f o ll ow h im
, .

“
An d th e p eopl e answere d hi m no t a wo rd ( 1
! i n gs

T h en came t h at d uel lasting for hours on

, ,

Moun t Ca r mel T h e king Ahab had o beyed

.
, ,

t h e orders o f Elij ah to g at h er th e false pr Oph

,

e t s an d t h e peopl e toget h er t h ere nea r t h e ,

coas t o f t he Medi t erranean about due w est ,

from t h e s ea o f G alilee .

Mount Carmel consists of a ran ge o f hil l s ,

perhap s or fe et high adorned ,

 MOUN T C AR M EL 45

wi th v erdure o f fragrant wild flo wers o f many

,

kin d s pines oaks olive an d laurel trees wi th

, , , ,

br o oks o f clear w ater emptying into the

Kis h on .The outlook from t h e graceful and
Verdant summi t is s aid to be b eau t iful includ ,

in g t h e se a and its fert ile S h ores th e pasture s

,

an d fru it trees o f t h e valleys and t h e d istant

,

blu e o f t he mountain s of Le b anon .

On w h at elevatio n o f thes e hills whi ch j ut ,

out int o the Me d iterranean like a p romonto ry ,

t h e pe o ple gat h ere d at the w o rd o f E lij ah is ,

no t known .

But t h ere came that duel las ting fro m the

,

fo renoon t ill th e eveni n g in t h e beginning o f

,

whic h w h en El ij ah ha d calle d on th e peop l e

,
“
to c h o o se between Je h o vah and B aal th e peo ,

ple answered him no t a word .

It w as t h e pr op h et against th e king ; one

theologi a n a g ainst eigh t hundred and fifty ;
one man a g ainst all Israel ; one agitator
against a govern m ent ; duty agains t popular

But it w as tru th a g ains t error ; it w as right

e o u s n e s s agains t s in ; it w as Jeh o vah against

B aal And G od took c are o f E lij ah

. .

T h ere are times whe n God visibly and v ery

plai nl y takes care o f his children Why wi l l .

men be s o n a rr ow that th ey c ann ot believ e i n

miracle ! It is not brea d th o f mind t h at
s ophis ts u s e to keep the infin i te Ch emi s t out
46 MOUN TAIN S OF THE B I BLE
of h is laboratory the in finite E n gine er a w ay
,

from his m achine the i nfinite Fat h er from ,

pleasin g h is fait h ful chil d It is na r rown es s .

o f in t e ll ect t h at d enies t h e po s sibility o f mir

acles It is als o narr owness o f h e art : fo r it
.

rej ects the te stimony of fe l l o w men unles s t h e ,

sophi st kn o ws the event related ( or s omething

like it ) indepen d en tl y o f the wi tness But he .

is unwi se w h o s e on l y lamp is t h at o f expe ri

,

ence .

E lij ah prayed t o God an d fire fell from ,

h eaven an d consumed t h e s acrifice t h at lay on

t he a l tar t h at E lij ah ha d built ; the fire burnt
up t he stones o f t h e altar ; t h e fire licked up
t h e water that was in the trench ab out th e
altar T h e miracle was evident and the peo
.
,

pl e acce pted Jehovah as th e tru e God .

A n d E lij ah prayed on Mount Carm el He .

prayed for rain T h e drouth ha d brou ght

.

t h e famine and the p eople were su ff ering

, .

E lij ah prayed with h is fa c e to ward th e earth ;

,

and woul d n o t lo ok out to w ard t h e west from ,

w h ere th e rain would come H e sent hi s s erv .

ant to lo ok ; but t h e servant reported n o S ign

of rain But E lij ah sent him back s even
.

times Ah ! this favored ch ild o f God this pe t

.
, ,

wi l l no t let Jehovah alon e H e kee ps on ask .

ing and asking an d asking and asking and

, , , ,

asking and a s king and aski ng for rain

, , .

At las t th e serv ant repo rts th e cloud o f the

 MOUN T CARMEL 47
’
size o f a man s hand ; and Elij ah kno w s that
G o d wi l l ans w er this prayer als o ; and he hur
ries to Ah ab t o tell th e king to h aste n to his
,

capit al And t h ey leave M ount Carmel racing

.
’
,

furiously to escape from t h e drenchin g rain .

But from t h is time forw ard Mo unt C a rmel

,

wi l l be remem be red wi th Mo un t Nebo w i t h

,

Mo unt Ho reb w ith Mount H erm on an d oth er

,

h eigh ts w h ere the earth came near to t he skies

, ,
’
because God s petted chil d ren there pr a y ed to
“
him ; th ey who feared God and w orked right
e o u s n es s .
 TH E MOUN T OF B E ATI TUDE S .

Al th ou gh wi ll ing to tarry amon g the tree s

an d flowers of Mount C a rmel ma d e s acre d by
,

th e fait h o f E lij a h we realiz e t h a t we have n ot

,

yet entere d the h eart o f th e Promise d Land ,

wh ere t h ere are tw o or th ree moun t ains o f

d eep interes t to th e follo wer of the S avior ; and
we t urn our faces ea stwar d be arin g s l i gh tly t o
,

t h e no rth ; an d o ff to t h e northwest o f t h e Se a
o f G alil ee only a few miles wes t o f Capernaum
, ,

t h ere is a mountain t h at meets the conditions

required fo r the Mount of Beatitudes where ,

t h e Sermon on t h e Mount w as delivered by

Jesus .

E l ij a h w a s not the only s ervant o f Go d wh o

ha d fe l t the ha tred o f sinners .

T h e animosi t y o f Jesus enemies had s o

’

grown t h a t h e needed his Fa ther s he l p and ’

,

he went out int o a mountain where he c o n ,

tin n ed all ni ght in prayer In t h e morn ing h e

.

call e d to h im hi s d is ciples c h os e from t hem

,

twelve an d then d escended to a lower plateau

,

on t h e mountain w h ere travelers tell u s t h ere

,

i s a level s pac e t h at mi gh t accommo da te about

pe ople ; and there he delivere d that s eries
“ ”
of bl es sin gs c ommon l y called th e be atitu d es
, .

Th e S ermon on th e Mou nt of w hich they ,

48
50 M OUN TAI N S OF THE B I BLE

ship to heav en Th e di s cipl e that obeys it has

.

“
a fli ght h i gher than tha t of the birds o f th e
”
heaven and a raiment more golden tha n that
,
“ ”
o f the lilies of the field . He lear n s that
“ ”
suffici ent unto t h e day is the ev il t h ereof ;
an d that t h e h eav enly Fa th er knows w h a t man
needs .

T h e Mount of Beatitudes m ay n ot be snow

cappe d ; b ut it is in on e sense s o hi gh t h a t only
t h e perfect man can clim b it It is s o high
.

t h a t he w h o h a s mastered t h e principl es o f its

great sermon is s o near to t h e heaven l y Fathe r
th at he can feel th e beating o f the divin e
heart .

Th e Mount o f B eatitudes i s s o high th a t he

wh o reaches its top has ri sen out o f th e bogg y
swamps o r lonely w astes of selfishn es s fore ver ;
he has pas sed ou t o f the stupefying and poi
s o n o u s ca rbo nic acid gas o f infidelity ; h e h a s

escape d from t h e metaphysical fogs ; and w ith

“ ”
clear vision an d a pure h eart he s ee s Go d .

On Mount Sinai only Moses mi ght s ee God .

On the Mount of B eatitudes any one may lo ok .

Mount Sinai s pe lls law . Mount of B eati

tudes spe lls love .

The law o f Mount Sinai bristles w ith nega

tives w a s s tony ; but would if ob ey ed m ak e the
, , ,

earth a Paradise .The law o f th e Mount o f

Be atitu d es is mellow with t h e music of a f
firma tiv e s is alive with h e a v enly pulsations
, ,
 TH E MOUN T OF BEA T I TUDE S 51
’
and w ould tak e e arth s p a radis e prepared by
,

s ton y la w
, and trans form i t in to a sp i r i tual
heaven .

Mo unt Sina i the mount of Mos e s l aw wa s

,
’
,

n e ar the Red S ea th e dividing g ulf from

,

hea th en darknes s and sinful O ppres sion ; and

in a w ildern ess ; and only glared to th e Israel
ites for a short t i me with deterri ng lightnings .

But th e Mo unt o f B e at i tud es w a s in the

Prom i sed Land and shi n e s t o th i s day wi th
,
’
the wi nn ing smil e s o f J e sus lov e
.
 MOUNT GILB O A

We leave the Mount o f Beatitudes and go

s out h w ard le a ving t h e Sea o f Gali l ee on our
,

le ft T h en we may pas s Mou n t Gi lb o a m ade ,

fam o us b y t h e deat h o f S aul t h e king o f Israel

, .

It is thi s event whic h prompte d th e poe t Byro n

“
t o wri t e th e S ong of S aul befo re His Last
”
B a t t le,
in su ch a way that th e poe t s genius ’

cas t s a kind o f glamour over the c h aracter o f

t h is king who to t h e end o f his l ong rei gn
, , ,

was l i k e an artles s bo y eit h er self willed and

,
-

s t ubbo rn or supers titiou s and chivalrous

, .

Byron make s h im s peak as follo w s to h is troops

before h is las t b at t le with t h e enemies of hi s
country no twithsta nding hi s flight in Mount
,

Gil b oa and h is suicide t h ere

,

“
Wa rri o r s an d c hi e f s ! s h ould th e s h a ft or th e
swo rd
Pi e r ce me in l e adi n g th e h os t s o f th e Lo rd ,

Heed n o t th e co r se th o a k ing s in you r p ath

,
’ ’

B ury your s te e l in th e bosoms o f G ath !

Th o u w h o a rt be a ri ng my bu ckl er and bow ,

S h ould th e soldi e r s o f S a ul l ook away from th e

f oe ,
S tr e t c h
me th a t momen t in bl oo d at th y f ee t !
Mi ne be th e d oo m w hi c h th ey d are d not t o meet .

59
 MOUN T GILBOA 53

Fa r ewe ll to o th e r s but neve r we p art

, ,

He i r t o my royalty ,s o n o f m y h e art !
B right i s th e di ad em boun dl ess th e S way
, ,

Or ki n gly th e d eath w hi c h await s u s t o d ay

,
-
.

But the romant i c touch of Lord Byron could

no t make Mount Gilbo a e v en s eem to b e th e
.

s cen e of events that turned the destinies o f

mankind like other mountains mention e d in t he
,

Bi ble And we tarry only long enough to

.

find in our Bi ble the curse uttered by Dav i d

again st Mount Gilb o a becaus e o f the dea th
,

there o f S aul and J onathan

Th y gl ory O I srae l i s s l a i n upon th y high pl aces !

, ,

How a r e th e mighty fall en !

Te ll it no t in Ga th ,

Publi s h it no t in th e s t r ee ts o f As h k e l o n ;
Le s t th e d aught e r s o f th e Phili s ti nes r ej oi ce ,

L es t th e d au ght e r s o f th e unc i rc u mc i se d t r iu m ph .

! e mo un t a i ns o f Gilboa ,

L et th e r e be no d ew o r r a i n up on yo u ne ith er ,

fi e ld s o f o ff e ri n gs
Fo r th e r e! th e s hi e ld o f th e m i ghty w as v il e l y c as t
away ,

Th e s hi e ld o f S aul as o f one no t anoi nt e d w ith

,
”
oil .
 MOUN T MORIAH

We resume our j ourn ey to the s outh w ard ,

be ari ng a little to th e w es t that w e may pas s

,

Moun t Ebal and Mo unt Gerizim celebrated a s ,

th e mountains over against each other where

t h e H ebrews assembled Almost be tween th em
.
,

in t h e va lley w as probably the w ell wh ere Jesus

,

met t he Woman of Samaria Wh en s h e talke d .

about worshi ping God in that mountain ( E ba l

o r Ge rizim ) Jesus i nsist ed that lo cality w a s
,
“
no t t h e chief el ement in w orship but truth ,
”
and spirit ; fo r God is s p i rit .

But let us go do wn ( o r up as th e ancients ,

woul d s ay ) to Je rus alem I t w a s a city o f

.

mountains The Psal mis t ( 1 2 5 :1 2 ) s aid

.
-

Th ey th at tru s t i n Je h ova h
A re as Mo un t ! i on w hi c h canno t b e move d but
, ,

a bid e th fo r ever .

As th e mount a ins a re ro un d a bo ut Je ru sal em ,

So Je h ova h i s ro un d a bo ut hi s p eopl e
Fr om thi s ti me f orth and foreve r mor e .

There we find M o unt Mori ah Moun t ! ion , ,

Mount Calvary and the M o unt o f Oli ve s B ut .

let u s imagine and medita te c once rni ng Mount

h I o r ia h .

Th e name i s s aid to s i gnify tha t J ehovah

54
 MOUN T MORIA H 55

provides or s ees or chooses A nd w e fancy

, , .

t h at t h e name m ay h ave be en given be cause on ,

t h at mou n tain Go d provi d ed the victim fo r th e

fait h ful Abrah am whom h e had commanded t o
,

o ff er h is s on a s a s acrifice .

Des tru ctive critic s have tau ght tha t Abra

ham w as mistaken 1 n thi nking t hat God had
given th is comm andment ; th at Abra h am was
rather infect ed by the contagio n of the s u r
roundin g idolatrous influences ; and they hav e
t h us done away with revelation in wh at t h ey
“ ”
call the sto ry . But w e do not follo w t h em .

Let thos e who s e lives are com parativ ely b arren

in spiritual e ff ectivenes s be modes t in contra
dicting sta tements o f s piri tu al giants concern
ing experiences and events recorded in honest
recor d s p reserved b y a rac e o f mankind that
has produced no t merely one religiou s leader ,

but a pro ces sion o f mighty prophets through

the ages They ha ve done things and kno wn
.
,

things and felt th ings that critics can n o m ore

, ,

unders tand than common mosquitos can com

prehend o f the w orking o f a ste am engine .

On Mount Mori ah Abraham in obed i ence to ,

God was about to s acr i fice h i s s o n when the

, ,
’
angel s call s tayed his hand and anoth e r vic
,

tim w as pr o vided H o w o ften God provides

.

for th e needy ! It could n o t ha v e been far

from Mou n t Moriah that God provided t h e
“ ”
Lamb that tak eth a w ay th e S in of th e world .
56 MO UN TAIN S OF TH E B I BLE
But on th at s pot w h ere A b raham s h and was ’

stayed th e Jews t h ink stood t h e altar of

, ,

b urnt off erin g s o f t h eir temple in la t er y e ars .

T h ere was t h e t empl e o f Solomon T h ere was .

the th res h in g floo r w h ere Davi d o ff ered th e

sacrifice a f t er h e had sinned in num be ring t h e
,

c h i ld ren of Israel ; refusing to take t h e place

as a gi ft from t h e o wner It is suppose d t h at
.

th ere stoo d t h e t emp l e of Herod t h a t caused ,

“
t h e Jews to b o as t t o Jesus forty an d six years
,
”
wa s th is t em pl e in b ui l di n g T h e h istorical
.

associations t h at may b e connected wi t h Mount

l\I o r iah if we h ave correctl y i d entifie d t h e
,

place are s o many t h at t h ey f o r b id us to

,

g ratify our imagination ; and all that w e do is

t o reco l lect that h ere t rod the fee t o f Ab raham ,

Is aac David Solomon and generations and

, , ,

generati o ns of worshi pin g Hebrews until ,

finall y Jesus came and s h owed t he world that

G o d w as no t c onfi ned to a Hol y o f Holies in a
ta b ern ac l e or templ e but mi ght be found in
,

t h e h ear t s o f his c h ildren anywhere And .

w h en we t h ink o f Jesus as t reading and teach

in g on Moun t Moriah we look over to the east
,

war d acros s t h e B ro ok Ke d ron and see the

, ,

Mount o f Olives from whic h Jesus ascended to

,

h eaven fro m t h e si ght o f his wondering dis

,

c i l es And we w i ll g o there be fore w e go to

p .

C alvary .

But as we go thi nk ing o f Mount Mori ah th e

, ,
 JE S U S G RE AT E S T T E M P TAT I O N
’

S o l i ttle does the H o ly Land no w look like

’
the closely populate d country o f our S avio r s
time that t h e traveler o f our o wn generation
,

mus t los e s ome o f t he realism o f his imagina

tion b ased on the impres sions concerning it de
rived from th e Bible H o weve r the account s
.
,

of modern travelers may help us w h o do not

visit the lan d in s o me de gree H o w diff erent
, .

J erus alem mus t seem now from that time when

i t w as s o be au tiful ; be fore it rebelled and while
,

a Roman procurator was executive ; wh en Jesus

visited the tem p le that had be en forty an d s ix
years i n building ; and wh ere h e predicted
Je rus alem s overth row during t h at generation
’
,

s o that the disc i ples remembe ring hi s direc

,

tions ( Luke es cap ed from th e R oman

maneuvering armies to the mountains whi le ,

t h e thousan d s o f fanati cal J ews w ere co o pe d

up in th e city and during the siege were killed
, ,

s t arved captured and cru cifi ed !

, ,

In t h e time o f J esus if on e were to go from

,

Mount Mori ah down acros s the B rook Kedro n

toward the east he w ould as cen d t h e Mount
,

o f Olives on wh o se e aste rn slope at B ethany

,

58
 OLIVE T 59

t h e S avi or was a w elcome gu e st on the nights

o f t h e l a s t w eek o f his li f e
.

From t h e summit o f th e M ou n t o f Ol i ve s th e
D ead S e a may be seen ev en t h e w ater o f i t
, ,
’
though distan t nearly a day s b risk riding It .

is at a level o f mor e than feet belo w :

for the Dead S ea lies lo w e r than t h e o cean .

Lo oking to th e w es tward from the mountain ,

which is a low ri dge of hills t h e w hole o f ,

Jeru s alem m a y be seen W e may easily under

.

s tand ho w J esus on looking at the city o f th e

,

Great King callin g to mind the stubborn u n

,

belief of the ecclesiastics there and the coming

des olation o f the c i ty w ould be touch ed w ith
,

tender pity H e w ept o v er the coming de

.

s tru ction o f Jerus alem and the s elf su ffi cient

,
-

e gotism o f i ts cultivated citizens In their .

“ ” “ ”
times t h ey w ere m odern and pr o gre ssive ,

interpreting aw a y the law o f God and m aking ,

it void by their traditions Th e S addu cees

.

e ven con tradicted the pr ophets and denied the ,

possibility o f a resurrection Th ey w ere s o .

learned But Jesu s knew mo re about human

.

n ature than they d id and c o uld s ee farthe r

,

into th e future than they c o uld ; and on th e

Mount o f Olives he w ept over Jeru sal em .

But it wa s fitting t h at th e king who s e com ,

“
ing the prop h ets had foretold should sud ,
”
denly come to hi s temple ,
though th e prophet
“
( Mal. h a d s aid a messenger w ould pr e
60 MOUNTAIN S OF THE BIBLE
“ ”
ce d e an d p repar e the w ay be fore hi m ; an d
that in some way he s h ou l d hav e a triump h al
entry in t o h is eart hl y capital An d t h i s event
.

is d escribe d b y the Dean o f Westminster a s

fo llows
Tw o vas t s tr eams o f p eopl e me t th at d ay .

Th e o n e p o ure d out from th e c ity ( Jo h n

a n d a s the y c a me thr o ugh th e ga rd ens w h ose

c lu s t e r s o f p al m tr ees r ose o n th e south eas t e r n

co rn e r o f O li ve t th ey c ut d own th e! l ong br anch es
, ,

a s w a s th e i r wont a t th e f eas t o f ta be rn a c le s and

,

move d up w a rd tow a rd B e th an ytw ith s h o uts o f we l

come Fr om Be th any s t r e ame d fo rth c r owd s
.

w h o h ad assembl e d th e r e o n th e pr evi ou s n i ght ,

an d w h o c a me t e sti fyi ng t o th e gr eat even t

at th e se pul c h r e o f La z a ru s I n goi ng t owa rd
.

Je ru s al em th e r o ad soon l oses s ight o f Betha n y .

It i s now a r ough but s till br o ad an d well de fi n ed -

moun t ai n track w i nd i n g ove r l oose rock s a nd

,

s t ones an d h e r e a n d th e r e d ee ply e xcava t e d ; a

,

s tee p d ecl i vity b el ow o n th e l e ft th e s l opi n g s h oul

—
,

d e r o f O l i ve t above it on th e r ight ; fi g tr ees be

l ow a nd ab ove gr ow i n g o u t o f th e rocky so il
, .

Al on g th e r oad th e multitud es thr ew d own th e

br anc h es w hi c h th ey cut a s th e y wen t al on g o r ,

s pr ea d out a rud e m a tti ng fo rme d o f th e p al m

br anc h es th e y h ad a lr e ady c ut a s th e y c ame o ut .

Th e l a rge r porti on those p e rh a p s w h o

h ad escort ed hi m fr om Be th an y uh

w r app ed th e i r l oo se c l oak s fr o m th e i r s h ould e r s

an d s tr e t c h e d th em a l on g th e r o ugh p ath t o f or m
 OL I VE T 61

a mo ment ary ca rp et a s h e appr oac h ed ( M at .

Th e t wo s tr e ams me t Pa rt o f th e va s t
.

m ass turn i n g r oun d pr ece d e d ; th e oth e r h alf fol

, ,

l owe d ( M a r . Gr a du all y th e l ong pr o c es

s i on swe pt r oun d th e l i ttl e va lle y th a t furr ows th e ,

hill an d over th e ridge o n its wes t e rn s i d e w h e r e

, ,

fir s t be gi ns th e d escen t o f th e M oun t o f O l ives

t owa rd Je ru sal em At thi s p oi nt th e fi r s t V ie w i s
.

c au ght of th e so uth wes t er n co r ner o f th e c ity .

Th e t em pl e an d th e m o r e n o rth e r n p o rti ons a r e

hid by th e s l o p es o f Oli ve t o n th e right ; w hat i s
seen is only M o un t ! i on now fo r th e mos t p art
,

a rou gh fi eld c r own ed w i th th e m o s ! u e o f D avid

,

a n d th e an gl e o f th e wes t e r n wa ll s but th en co v ,

e r e d wi t h h ou se s t o i t s ba se s urmoun t e d by th e ca s
,

tl e o f He r od o n th e s upp o s e d s it e o f th e p al ace
,

o f D avid fr om w hi c h th at p o rti on o f Jeru sal em

, ,

emph ati call y th e city o f D avid d e rive d it s n ame ,

.

It w as a t thi s pr ec i se poi n t a s h e dr ew near a t

,
‘

th e d escen t o f th e M o un t o f O li ves ( m a y it no t
’

h ave b een fr om th e s i ght thu s op eni n g up on

th em ! ) th a t th e s h o ut o f trium ph bur s t forth fr om
th e mu ltitud e Hosanna to th e S o n o f D avid
,
‘
.

B l essed is h e th at come th in th e na me o f th e
Lo rd ( M at Th e r e was a p a u se as th e
’
.

s h out r an thr ough th e d e fil e ; and a s th e Ph a ri sees

w h o s too d by i n th e c r ow d com pl ai ne d h e p oi nt ed ,

t o th e s ton es w hi c h s tr ewn bene a t h th ei r f ee t

, , ,

wo uld i mme di at e ly c ry out i f th ese we r e to h old ‘

th e ir p eace . Agai n th e process i on a dvance d

’
.

Th e r o a d de scend ed a s light d ecli vity an d th e ,

glim p se o f th e c i t y w a s agai n w ithdr a wn b e hi nd

th e i nt erven i n g ridge o f O li ve t A few moment s .
62 MOUNTAIN S OF THE BIBLE
an d th e p ath mount s agai n ; it cli mbs a rugge d as
cen t it r eac h es a l e dge o f smo oth r ock an d in
, ,

an i ns t a nt th e w h ol e c i ty bur s ts i n t o vie w As .

now th e dom e o f th e M os ! u e E l Ak s a ri ses l i k e a

g h os t fr om th e ea rth b e f o r e th e tr ave l er w h o
s t an d s o n th e l e dge s o th en mu s t h ave ri s en th e
,

t empl e t owe r ; as n o w th e vas t encl os ur e o f th e

Mu ss ulman sanctu a ry s o th en m u s t h ave s pr ead
,

th e t em pl e co urt : a s now th e gr ay town o n its

brok en h i ll s s o th e n th e magni fi cen t c i ty w ith it s
,

back gr oun d l on g s i nce v ani s h e d a w ay

,
r

o f gard ens and s uburbs o n th e wes te r n

pl ate au b e h i n d I mmed i a t el y be l o w was th e V al
. .

l e y o f th e ! e dr on h e r e see n at it s gr ea te s t d e pths
,

as it j oi ns th e vall ey H i nnom an d thu s gi vin g ,

full e ffect t o th e gr e at p ec ul i ar ity of Je ru sal em ,

seen only on its e a s t ern s id e it s S ituati on

a s o f a c it y ri s i n g o ut o f a d ee p abyss It is .

h a rdl y p oss i bl e t o d oubt th at thi s ri se an d tur n

o f th e r oa d thi s r o cky l edge
w a s th e e x a c t p o i n t w h e r e th e mult i tud e p a u se d
a gai n a nd h e w h en h e b e h e ld th e city we pt
‘

, , ,

ove r it .
’

O mount of s a dn es s thou mount of Olives ! ,

It wo u l d be vain to trus t t h e traditions

brou gh t down to o u r day by ignorant monks
concern ing th e lo cality of t h e g rave o f Laz
aru s But th e B ible history makes us kno w
.

nearly the location of B et h any ; and w e may

we l l reason th at somew h ere a bo ut t h is mountain
“ ”
was th e grav e of Laz aru s where Jesus w ept ,
.
 OLI VE T 63

But t h e resurrecti on t riumph to follow s o ,

s oon did no t lift the burd en o f Jesus heart :

,
’

fo r when they ma d e a feas t for h im in t he rich

’
man s hous e where Laza rus was a gues t o f
,
“ ”
h ono r where M art h a serv ed
, and Mary ,

brou ght an alabaster box of pre cious spike

nard and anoint ed J esu s and broke t h e box h e
, ,

a ff ectionately and s adl y s aid that s h e had come

“
to a n oint hi m beforehand fo r hi s burying ( to
prepare me for Thus he spok e on
this Mount o f Olives on who s e we st ern sid e h e
,
“ ”
wept over Jerus alem .

Our a ff ect i ons are ne ar our sorro w s and our ,

s orro w s are near our a ff ections On the lower .

slope o f t h is Mount o f Olives on the Jerus al em ,

side w as the Garden of Gethsemane where a

, , ,
“
few nights l a ter J esus be gan to be exc eed i ngly
,
”
s orrowful even unt o d e a th
, and he w as
“ ”
greatly amazed and sore troubl ed ; and he
,

w a s in agony and his s weat became ,

a s i t w ere g reat drops o f blo od falling down

,
”
upon the ground And there he asked hi s
.

dis cipl es to watc h w ith him ; but they fell

a sleep H e awoke th em ; but they fell asleep
.

aga in .

O f cours e n o one w ould contend that w e are

,

qualifie d adequately t o appreciate the su ff er

in g s o f Jesus in Gethseman e B u t t h ere is .

more than that to be s aid : it is likely that few

o f u s can ev en und ers tand them A S the toad .
64 MOUNTA IN S OF THE B I BLE
s t ool canno t c ompre h end the beauty o f the
rose or the li on s w h el p the patrio t ism o f Wil
,
’

l iam Tell s o we sinners cannot un d erstand the

,

h orror of t h e S on o f God a t be in g classified as

“ ”
a bl asp h emer by th e j ud gment of h is Fat h er s ’

“
c h osen people an d th e ver d ic t
, wor t h y o f ,
”
d ea t h w h ich h e received from t h eir h i gh priest
,

an d regu l ar officials Jesus men t a lly fores aw

.

it all an d in G et h semane h e be g an to realize its

,

clos e appro ac h .

In J e r s u a lem he had a few hours be fore given

the brea d an d the c u p to the disciples And .

one o f t h em was a traitor Anothe r was to .

d eny h im All were to fors ake him and fly

. .

“
He was to be despised an d rej ec t ed o f men .

And that h e was to taste d eath for every

man s o mastere d his feel ings t h at his disciples
,

part ook o f h is d epres sion an d h e felt com ,

“
e lle d s oon to s ay to t h em Let not your h eart
p ,

be t roub l e d ye b elieve in G od ; be lieve als o in

,
”
me . Pos sibl y t h ere were sign s eve n th en v i s i
bl e t o his keen perception t h at t h e d is cipl es,

were some o f t h em h esi t atin g in t h eir alle giance ,

in h armony wi t h his own p redic t ion a b o u t them ,

“
t hat t h ey s h ou ld all b e o ff ende d in h im that
nig h t .

Was it to strengt h en t heir w aning alle giance

“ ”
tha t h e a d vise d t h e buyin g o f a swo rd ( Lu ke
“
22 : and th ey rep l ied Lord be h old here
, , ,
”
are tw o swor d s ! You remember th at he s aid ,
66 M O UN TAI N S OF THE BIBLE

o f ri ghteousness and made the w orld again i n

,
“
outwar d appe a rance like P aradi se Th e .

”
kin gd om s o f t h e w orld and the gl o ry o f them
, ,

woul d have be en on th e side o f Jesus with th e ,

’
d evil s hel p har d ly visible .

An d as Jesus m ay h ave thought o f thes e

thin gs althou gh he knew well t h a t to continue
,

such a reign hi s visible miracu l ous leadership

woul d ( from th e h uman point o f view ) be
needed forever s o that th e kingdom wi th in y ou
,

would n ot s o well h ave develop ed h e nnay ha v e ,

thou ght t h at h is Fathe r s wisdom w ould I n ’

s ome w ay overcom e tha t spiritual difficulty ;

G od un d oubtedly know i ng o f s o m e so th er w ay to
“ ”
whip the w orld than for lambs to conquer
“ ” “ ” “
wolves and for do ve s t o c onqu er s er
,
”
pents .

Po ssibly with such lingeri ng hope h e may

have departe d from Jeru s alem for Gethsemane ,

kn owin g his own tremendous influence w ith his

Fat h er in prayer .

And yet it was with sad depress i on o f spiri t

t hat he crossed t h e b rook Kedron be g an t o ,

as cend th e Mount of Olives and entered th e ,

G ar d en o f G et h semane follo wed by a b and of ,

ha l f believing half skeptical men who had for

-

,
-

years be en ent h usiastic adherents but afte r , ,

a l l wer e only human an d were likely to f o r

, ,

sake him when his po wer O r popularity w ould

“
seem to wane In vain h e said t o them Let
.
,
 OL I VE T 67
”
not your heart b e troubled Th ey wer e .

troubled .

But though they w ere men they seemed to ,

b e the only comp anions available for him that

evening until he gained h is great spiritual vic
,

to ry over his gre atest temptation ; that in the

Garden o f Gethseman e .

H e left the mos t o f them telling th em to ,

t ake their seats while he went still furth er

,

into the Gard en to pray As he thu s w ent .

away h e a sked P eter Jam es and John to go ,

with him Sometim e s he had gon e a part by

.

himself to pray to his Father not d esiring any ,

on e with him He woul d abide all ni ght in

.

prayer to God B u t a greater tri al w as n o w

.

before him and he desired the presence of tho se

,
“
he loved Ha ving loved his own
. he loved ,

”
them unto th e end And h e told th em his
.

heart w as troubled that it would be s o till his

,

death H e ask ed them to stay there and

.

w atch with him It w a s only a littl e thing for

.

him to ask .

Then he w ent and pray ed that prayer that

has pe netrated the hearts o f his followers for
“
two thousand y ears : Father if thou be will ,

ing remove this cup from m e : nev ert h eless n o t

,

”
my will but thine be done
, , .

But ho w few o f u s r e al i z e the gre at burden

of that pray e r ! H ow th e mo s t o f us put our
i ntere st o n th e unden i abl e fact that J e sus w a s
68 MO UN TAI NS OF T HE BI BLE
off ering t o s u bmit h is will to God s will ! T h at
’

is true o f course ; no one c o ul d deny i t But

, .

t h a t was n ot w h at Jesus was es pecially pray

ing fo r H e was praying to b e fre ed from
.

d rinkin g t h e c u p o f deat h and al l t h e res t of

,

t h e fa t al struggl e with s in Jesus was temp t ed

. .

How o ft en be fore t h is h e h ad prayed t o h is

Fat h er f o r th e s ame rel ief we d o not kn ow : for
h e o ft e n praye d alone .

We kno w t hat G o d d id n ot grant his prayer

“ ” “
fo r t h o u gh h e pray ed fo r t h e cup to be r e
”
move d w h en some time later Peter wou l d h ave
,

“
defen d e d him against arr est Jesus said Put , ,

up t h e swor d into the s h eath : the cup whi ch th e

”
Fat h er hat h given me s h all I not d rink it !
,

Th is s h ows t h at he was compe lled by God

to d rink t h e c u p ; t h at his prayer wa s not
grante d He was no t pe rm itted t o u se th e
.

“
swords .

“ ”
Po ssi b ly t his cup w as what he referr ed to ,
“
when he asked the s on s o f ! ebe d ee Are ye ,
”
a b le to d rink t h e cup t h at I am about to dri nk !
w h en they asked fo r prominenc e in his king
dom A nd t he bloo d o f t he ne w covenant he
.

“
h a d typifie d b y t h e cup containing t h e fruit
of t h e vine only a fe w hours b e fore ; and that
,
“ ”
cup comes down t o u s .

T h e temptation that Jesus w as going

through in the Garden o f Get h semane was th e
s ame one only now it was far more i ntens e
,
 OLI VE T 69

because o f the nearne ss of the t i me o f drinking

“ ”
t h e cup w h ich h e experienced at t h e advice
,

o f Peter s h ort ly after Peter ha d asserted t h at

,

h e w a s th e Son o f t he living God For when .

“
Jesus sho we d his d is ciple s t h at he must s u f
fer many t hin gs o f the elders an d be
”
ki lle d, Peter t ook h im and be gan to rebuke
“
h im s aying B e it far from t h e e Lord : thi s
, , ,

”
s ha ll never b e unto thee T h e tempta t ion t o
.

“
Jesu s w as s o sore that he s aid to P eter Get ,

t h ee be h ind me Satan : thou art a stumbling

,
”
b lo ck unto me .

T h at cup God had put to hi s lip s : for he

was to be tempted in all p o ints And in Geth .

semane he praye d fo r t h e removal of t h e cup .

Gradually the cons ciousnes s O ppressed him

t h at God w a s not granting the prayer And .

“ ”
h e began t o be greatly amaze d and s o re ,

troubled Hit he rto God had always answered

.

h is prayers ; s o that at t h e grave of Lazaru s ,

“
when he was about to a sk t h at Laz aru s come
” “
forth he pray ed to h is Father s ay i ng Fath er,
, ,

I t h ank t h ee t h at t h ou h eardest me And I .

knew that t h ou hearest me always .

But men s prayers are not always answered

’

for they ask fo r t h ings th at God does not de

sire o r that may not be fo r human good
, .

Jesus w a s no w asking for s om ething that wa s

not fo r human good and tha t God did n ot de
,

s i r e ; because if granted Jesu s could not be

, ,
70 MO UN TAIN S OF TH E BIB LE
“ ”
s o hi gh ly exalted And God loved Jesus s o
.

“
much t h at h e wis h ed t hat in all t hin g s he
”
mi gh t h ave t h e pre eminence ( Col .

Hence Jesus pr ays in vain : a new experience .

To pray to h is Fa th er in vain is to rture to

t h e Son o f G o d ; and h e sweat s great d rops o f
bl ood T h e dis ciples see t h e crimson swe at
.
,

from their l ittle d ista nce be fore th ey fa l l ,

as l ee p For Jesus keeps on praying and a g

.

o n iz in He knows h w t o pray t ask for

g . o : o

t h e th in gs h e nee d s ; t hat he d esires the m o st .

His su ff erin g becomes s o grievous th at he prays

to b e d elivered from th e h our itse l f H e cries .

“
out A bb a a l l things are po ssible un t o t h ee ;
, ,
“
remove t h is cup fro m m e It was th e be .

” “ ”
l ove d S on G o d s b oy s ayin g Papa please ;
,
’
, , ,
“ “
or , P l ease Papa ( T
, h ou gh he was a Son ,

yet h e learn ed obedi ence by the things which he

” —
suff ere d H eb 5 :
. .

T h e dis ciples enter into his s orrow thou gh ,

they do n ot understand it s caus e ; but his

prayer is repeate d so mon otonously s o w earily , ,

t h at their eyes gro w heavy and they fall ,

asleep thou gh he had asked them to watch

,
.

Heaven see m s d istant He comes for com .

p a n io n s h i
p t o the di s ciples and fin d s them ,

s l eeping He wakes them and repro aches

.
,

them H e had only been praying an hour ; and

.

“ ”
could they not watch one hour ! It w as only
a little thing he thought h e w as ask ing of men .
 OLI VE T 71

They neglected him H e had bee n ask i ng a

.

little thing o f hi s Fat h e r And God seem ed to

.

ne glect him .

But o n e hour i s not long to pray to God .

Jesus had o ften prayed a l l ni ght S o h e g oe s .

b ack and prays a g ain : the s ame monotonous

praye r Ho w h is h oly spiri t revolte d at t h e
.

coming accusati o ns agains t him ! H o w his

h eavenly experience abhor red the eart h ex
“
p e r ien c e ! In agony he asks if h is s oul must

b e poured o u t unt o death and he be numbered

,
” “
with trans gres s ors . Mu st he be led a s a
”
lamb to t h e slau gh ter ! Must his s oul be
“made an off erin g fo r s i n ” ! Mu st he be ar s o
much ; must God m ake him su ff er a burden s o
heavy that it seemed a s i f all the s i nners and
crim i nals o f all mankind for all the age s had
, ,

been combining and concentrating t h eir malig

nant dep ravi ty in th e coming crime to be
“ ”
worked on him ; t h e in i quity o f u s all !
“
Father i f it be po s sib le let this cu p pass
, ,

”
from me .

But the two bein g s in this case were o f like

nature ; t h ey w ere divine Therefo re the S on
.

“
s ays not my will but thine b e done
, , , .

He returns t o h is dis ciples He i s b ew il .

dere d at the dullnes s o f th e ear o f his F ath e r .

A t h ird time he g o es t o pray He gives it up . .

He ful l y surren d ers his will to God as he s a i d , ,

and a s he intended if Go d would not yield and ,

72 MOUN TAIN S OF T HE BIB LE
as Go d kne w he would And how quickly an .

an gel comes t o strengthen him for dri nking

the cup to be the Lamb of Go d the hea v enly
, ,
“
victim furnis h ed by heaven in the ne w cove
”
nant made stron g and mi ghty by hi s blood !
,

O mount o f sa dness thou M ount o f Ol i ves !

,

There Jesu s ha d to pray and watch alone .

But Mount Calvary w as hospi t able ; there

t h ieves suff ere d alon g wit h Jesu s ; and there a
centu rion kept guard ; th ere the citizen s o f
“ ”
Jeru salem g aped upon him ; there the ri ff ra ff -

o f the city and th e ra bb le of the c o untry as ,

they passe d by reviled him ; and the pr i ests s a t

,
“ ”
d o wn and watched hi m there But on the .

Mount of Olives Jesus h ad t o pr a y and watch

“
alone Elij a h w as left alone ( Rom 1 1 3)
. .

O mount ain o f sadnes s thou Mount o f ,

Olives !
Does this mean that ev e ry gr eat l i fe i s a
tra gedy !
No : fo r God is g o od Unto Jesus the .
,

Mount o f Olive s be cam e the m ount o f as een

sion Becaus e weeks after he ro se from the
.

d ead he led his disciple s out to the Mount o f

Olives an d w hil e he w as ins tructing t h em and
, ,

reproving them and comman d ing them and

, ,

loving them and res training them and bless

, ,

ing t h em he a s cen d ed from the ir midst to a

,

be t te r home than e art h ; and angels explained

to them tha t he w ould c ome aga i n They .
 C A U S E O F TH E C R! , E LO I

N o m an kno w s the exact location of Mount

Calvary W e only assume that it w a s a hill
.
,

b ecaus e o f the w ord Golgotha mention ed by ,

“
Matt h ew Mark and Jo h n a s me aning the
, ,
”
place of a skul l . And yet that w ord may r e
fer only t o s ome pro tru ding rock o r to som e ,

ass o ciation o f thou ght crea ted by ex ec utions

of crimin als at tha t place Th e phras e .

“
M o unt Cal v ary i s not Biblical ; bu t cam e
into use in t h e sixth century .

It is not surpri sing that the exac t locat i on

is unknown : for a generation late r the city w as
d es t royed by the R om a ns ; and centuries later
the E mpe ro r H adri an took care to inclose th e
reconstru cted city with w alls built al o n g lines
di ff eren t fro m the former ones w ith a view to
,

obliterating traces o f h istorical lo c alities .

Therefore a ll t h at we can reason ably s ay a s

to t h e location of Calvary is that it w as prob
ably on th e northwestern side of the city of
Jerus alem clos e to t h e ci t y entrance and by a
, ,

h i ghw a y lea d ing in fro m t h e country .

Th is o bs curin g of the location o f the ma

te r ial Cal v ary harmonizes with th e administra
tion of God conc erning s om e other materi al
74
 CALVA RY 75

th ings Of J. e su s h m sel f ,
' i
n o p i cture w as left .

N o d es cription o f hi s pe rs on o r physical ,

h ab its w as attemp ted by eithe r M atth ew

, ,

Mark Luke or Jo h n E ven conc erning the

, , .

cru cifixion w e are left in ign oranc e as to some

p h ysical points Not one o f th e writers makes
.

an
y attempt t o des crib e o r comment on the
, ,

s cene Th ey simply relate the hi stor y a s wit

.

nes s es The y make n o ap pe al for pity for

.

Jesus They do n ot ev en hint tha t the plac e

.

w a s s acred .

Have you ever no ticed ho w God conc e aled

the grave of Mos es ho w even th e mountain
,

where he died cann o t posit i vely be i dentifi e d !

how als o w e a r e not sure o f the place o f
, ,

Moun t Hor where Aaro n died ! ho w the gar

,

den o f Jo seph o f Arimathea th e plac e o f J esus ,

’

bu ri al and resu rrection th o ugh s aid t o b e near

,

to C alvary is no t truly identified ! H av e you

,

e v er notic ed ho w th e bread and w ine o f th e

comm uni o n which Jesus himself made symbo li c
,

o f Calvary s c entral ev ent so little res embl e a

’
,

dying body and fl owing blood that w e n atu ,

rally and w ithout e ff o rt to reason upo n it

, ,

reco gnize th e symbo l as symbol ! H ave you

n oticed ho w the Mount of B eatitud es ( where
t h e Sermon on the Mount was delivere d ) and
the Mount o f T ransfigurat i on a r e n o t geo
g raphically locat ed by the Go spels ! H ave
you not i c ed that n ot o ne o f the B i ble w rit ers
76 MOUN TA IN S OF TH E BIBLE
mentions ho w ta l l Jesus was ! w h at wa s hi s
wei gh t ! or what hi s complexion ! or t h e ton e o f
his voice ! o r i t s music o r po wer !
,

W h y have you no t noticed these t h ings if ,

you are familiar wi t h the second c o mman d

“
ment :
T h ou s h alt no t make unt o thee
any likenes s o f anything that is in
h eaven above or th a t is in the e arth b eneath :
,

t h ou s h al t not bo w d o wn thyself t o t h em nor ,

”
s erve t he m !
I s it n ot evident th a t God w a s guiding hi s
h is t orians o f t en preventing their leavin g data
,

for rel ic wors h ip and ot h e r forms o f idolatry !

If you h ave never t h ou ght of thes e thin g s in
t h eir mutual relation t h e n be impres sed w i t h
,

—
t h e f o ll o w in g z ( l ) Fo r 5 00 years fr o m t h e
d ea t h of C h rist the follo w ers o f Jesus had no
,

s u c h t h ing as a m o dern cruc ifix VVlith all .

t h eir love o f th e cros s t he y placed n o image of

,

Jesus on it ; ( 2 ) Th e early Chri stians were so

supe rior to t h e p h ysical idol a try of ou r age ,

tha t t h e firs t kn o wn painting o f t h e c ruci fi xion

o f C h ris t appe ars not before t h e year 5 86 .

An d abou t t h at time under t h e d ecrees o f the

,

Roman E mpe ro r Justini a n the Grea t the tru e ,

c h urc h o f t h e L o rd dis ap pe are d from civ i l iza

“ ”
tion and fl ed int o th e wilderne s s
, Th e .

s culptures of the crucifixion the pictu ring o f

,

t h e to rt ure d Lor d or th e picturing of the

,

descent o f th e dead body a s well a s the pic tu r

,
 CALVAR Y
in g o f h is faintin g under th e cros s pr eviously ,

are a l l fo reign to the s piritual practices o f th e

early Christians And yet t h ey felt t h at the
.

cros s had been trans formed b y what happened

on Calvary from an emblem of s h am e to a si gn
,

o f glo ry T h ey wors h ipe d in spirit It w as

. .

n ot neces s ary for them t o bow down b efore an

image however i m pressive to a b eholder th e
,

simulated crow n o f t h orns mi gh t be T h ey .

ma d e n o pilgri m ages to Pilat e s j udgmen t seat

’
,

to the Moun t o f B ea t itudes no r Mount Cal ,

v ary They worshipe d in spirit

. .

They rea l ized t h at th e only w ay to get t o

Calvary w a s to deny thems elves an d bear the ,

burdens o f practic a l life un d er t h e influence

,

of the Spirit o f God A nd no w to get to C al

.

vary you must be ar your cros s

, .

“
C alvary may ha v e be en only a place o f a
sku l l to t h e thronging Jews in Bi b le times
”
,

har dl y as hi gh as the city wa l ls ; but it w as s o

hi gh h istorically morally and s piri tu ally that
, ,

its physical propo rtions n ever see m to have

been measur ed by the dis ciples who alone ,

would h ave care d to t ell us the tru th It m ay .

“ ”
then have b een only a place o f a skull in ,

pas sin g wh ich the travelers enteri ng t h e city

,

w ere a ccustomed to j eer the executed victims

’

o f Roman j ustice o r Jewish c ruelty ; bu t n ear

it was a garden all glorious w ith flo wers o f
love faith and hope becaus e th ere Jesus ros e
, ,
78 MO UN TAIN S OF TH E B I B LE
from th e dead De ath was o n th e w ay to th e
.

“ ”
resurrection ; the skull w as on the w ay to
t h e lilies ; Calvary w a s o n th e w ay to t h e gar
“
den ; th e darkness over the whole land until
”
the nin t h hour was on the w ay to the resur
rection brigh tness ; th e evening was on t h e w ay
to t h e morni ng .

Calvary w a s a pe cu l iar mountain Its top .

“ ”
mi gh t be cal led a skul l or a cros s or a be d , , ,

or a t h rone Jesus cro ss be came a sym bol o f

.
’

c h ara cter ; an d thou gh it w a s a grievous dying

b ed it rea l ly be c am e a throne
, S o that th e .

d is ciples of t h e Lo rd w ere never he ar d pl ead

ing for pity for him as cru cifi ed victim ; but
“
P aul exultingl y exc l aimed Go d forbid that ,

I s h ou l d glo ry s ave in t h e cros s o f our Lord

,

Jesus C h rist b y w h o m the w orl d is crucified

,
”
unto me an d I un to t h e w orld
, And t h e .

t h rone room o f t h is c rucifixion gl ory was C al

vary .

Jesu s himself i m parted t h is spirit unto his

d isciples When h e was g oing t o Cal v ary he
.
,
“
s ai d to t h e Jewes ses o f the city Dau gh t e rs ,

of Jerus alem wee p not for m e ; but w eep for

,

yourselves and your children And after he

had pas sed Calvary to Mary in t h e garden o f
, ,

resurrection wh o did no t yet know that he had

,
’

“ ”
risen h e s aid W oman why w eepe st t h ou !
, , ,

An d that afternoon to the dis ciples dismally,

wending their way to Emmaus h e s aid , ,

 CALVARY 79
,

Ought not Chris t to have su ff ered and to enter

”
into hi s glo ry !
B reak away for a moment from the spiritual
a ttraction o f Calvary and look at it a s a ma ,

te ri a l h istorical mountain
, .

Ca lvary i s rem a rkable as w e have p o inted ,

out in t h at n o m a n knows its exact s pot ; al

,

though i t is most intima tely connected his

t o r ic ally w it h the succes s o f th e gr e at founder
o f a great religion .

Calvary is pe culiar a s a place o f forgive ,

“
nes s Jesu s said o f the imp enitent Fat h er
.
, , ,

forgive th e m for they kno w not wha t they

—
,
” “
do . H e s aid o the p enitent To d ay shalt
t , ,
”
t h ou be with me in Paradi se .

Cal vary w as an as s embly place of mixed s o

c ie t
y Th.er e w ere p ries ts there ; s oldiers ;
countrymen ; w omen w h o had follo wed Jesus ,

from Galilee ministering t o hi m ; gamblers ;

,

m embers o f th e s anhedrin ( the mo s t dignified

and celebrated religious bo dy o f th e w orld ) ;
loafers loungers along t h e highway deriding
, ,
“ ”
the victim s they s aw a t th e plac e of a skull ;
Mary t h e mo ther o f the Lo rd ; crim inals c ru
, ,

c ifi ed w it h h im ; ri ch men who buri e d h im ; high ,

ecclesiastics who w ere w atching against fraud

,

or res cue ; timid d i sciples ; s cri be s ; pagan s ;

“ ”
J e w s ; Chr i s tians ; and the Lord o f glory .

Calvary w as a place o f pe culiar family

grouping as t o relat i on Je sus said to J ohn .
,
80 M OUN TAIN S OF TH E BI B LE

Son b e h o l d t h y mot h er
, and to Mary ,
”
Woman b e h ol d t h y s o n, A fe w hours later . ,

“
Jesus loo ked up t o he a ven and s ai d It is fin ,

is h ed
. Fat h er into thy h an d s I commend my
,
”
s piri t . Fro m t h a t day Jo h n took care o f
Mary an d Go d took care of Jesus
, ( We men .
~

t ion t h is becaus e from t h at hour there w a s

,

n o more h umiliation fo r Jesus He w as even .

taken d own from the cros s an d buried by

weal t h y men and th ey richly embalmed his
,

bo d y )
.

Thou gh Calvary is on th e w ay over the

”
great divide separating earth from the River
o f Life and t h oug h on mountain si d es there
,

are usually s prin g s of w ate r and gurgling

“
b rooks th e traveler on t h is n arro w w ay
, ,

c l imb ing t h e hei gh ts towar d the cro wn o f im

mo rta l ity finds t h e mountai n parch ed and
,
“ ”
d esert Jesus sai d
. I thi rs t ( I ,t h i nk h e .

s ai d it in G reek Notice th e contra ctio n and

.
,

t h e one word ) Calvary wa s h arder fo r Jesus

.

to c l imb t h an N ebo wa s for Moses In his

, .

j ourney th e C h ristian wi ll find so m e s po t clo se ,

to t h e cen t er o f p opular interest with the a d ,

vanta g es o f civi l iz ation w h ere art and cul tu re ,

are a t h and but where the th irsty su ff erer

, ,

needing so m eth ing more refreshing than e ccles i

a s tic al organiz ation g rand o rgan music es , ,

sa
y sermons O peratic ant,h em s stained glass -

w indows impressive liturgy and pres tige o f

, ,
82 MOUN TAIN S OF THE B IB LE
But mere translation does not unlock it .

“
Soon he d ie d ; but hi s t h un d er cry E loi , ,
”
E l oi lama s abachthani
, still echoed i n the
,

heart s o f t h e Je w s familiar with their S crip

“ ”
tures : for he ha d quote d with a gre at s ound
in their own Hebrew language th e firs t w ords
o f t h e 22 d ps alm c ontaining the lan guage of
,

D avi d in prop h ecy which they all believ ed r e

,

ferre d to th e C h ri st t h at w h en t h e prophecy
,

w as writ t en David s aw in t h e distant future

, .

And many o f th e s cri be s pr i e s ts and Je w s o f

, , ,

t h at vast multitude mus t have re cal l ed the

wo rds of that ps alm :
E l oi , El o i ,
l ama sa bac htha ni .

All th ey th at s ee me l au gh me t o scorn .

Th e r e i s none t o h e lp .

Many bull s h ave com p assed me

T h ey ga p e up on me w ith the i r mouth s .

My t on gu e c l eave th to m y j aws .

“
D ogs h ave comp asse d me
A com pany o f evil d o e r s h ave i ncl os e d me ;
-

Th ey pi e r ce d my h an d s an d m y fe et .

Th ey l oo k and s t are up o n me .

Th e y p a rt e d my ga r me n t s amon g th em ,
”
A n d u pon my ves tur e d o th ey cas t l o t s .

And w h en the y o u nger pries ts an d s cribes r e

c alled t h os e words of the ps alm, w ritten con
f es s edly ( even in our day ) a thous and years
previous to th e even t on C al v ary ,
 CALVAR Y 83

t hose w ords o f the p salm brought to their rec

,

o l lec tio n by th e gr e at vo i c e of Jesus b e fore

h is death they kne w that Calvary w a s only a

,

stat i on on the great hi ghw ay o f righteousn es s ,

which the ir Messiah w as trav eling s traight

from the desert o f eart h to th e metropolis of
Go d. And whe n th e ri ch men J oseph and ,

Nicodemus to ok the b ody down and buried

,

Jesus the o lder h a rden ed pries ts w ent to P i lat e

,

and w arn ed hi m aga i ns t an y pos s ibility o f

blunder by l e avin g the grave unguarde d ; i n
“
which cas e as they s aid The last error w ill be
, ,
”
w o rse than th e firs t .

Th a t s h owed tha t th ey th en knew the y h ad

m ad e a mis ta ke .

Th at cry of Je sus made Calv ary a mounta i n

o f prophecy ; so th a t the J e w s recognized that
they h ad cru cified the i r Chri s t A n d when a
.
,

fe w days later t h e report spread ab ou t the

,

city that th e dis c i pl e s claimed that he had risen

from the dead and that they had s een him
'
, ,

J eru s ale m w as stunned ; and hon e s t people

w a i ted in dread Th ey feared les t Calvary
.

had be com e for the H ebre w n ation the p o rtal

to S heol .

Mo re days and w eeks p a ssed If th ere had .

been the least dishones ty on th e p art o f the

dis c i ples that would have b een the ti m e when
,

vi gorous con ce rted mov ement on th eir part fo r

 MO UN TAIN S OF TH E B I B LE
th eir o wn benefit
would hav e b een made They .

w oul d h ave ma d e eff o rt for place position o r

, ,

a d vantage They mi gh t h ave w o rked on t h e

.

fears of th e supe rs titious Pilate to secure po

,

litic al preferm en t O th er e ff orts mi gh t hav e

.

be en exerte d for their own worl dl y interest .

B ut t h ere was no fraud on th eir p art A n d .

i t is evident t h a t th ey h a d n o plan of campaign

whatever Not h ing h ad been d o ne b y th em for
.

eff ect Running to t h e s epulchre on t h e resur

.

rection mornin g when t h ey h eard t h e reports

,

o f t he women ; g at h erin g th at ni gh t in a closed

ro om for fear o f t h e Jew s ; goin g o ff about
t h eir b u sines s to Emm aus ; o r h alf d aze d go
, ,

ing fis h ing to G a l ilee or elsewher e t h ey were ,

li ke s h eep fleeing here and t h ere : and w ere

,

only roun d e d up by the voice o f t h eir risen

“
Shep h er d exp os t ulatin g O fools and slow o f
, , ,
”
hea rt to be lieve proving to t h em his bodily
,

presence and fin ally commandin g them to

,

t arry in Je rusalem till they w ere endued w ith

,

power from on b ig
T h ey were t h us to tarry near to Calvary ;
near t o Ge th s emane ; near t o t h e Moun t of
Olives ; near to t h e Roman barracks ; near to
t h e headqu a rters o f the pri esthood ; near to
t h e g ar d en w h ere Jesus had been buried ; near
t o al l th e s ources o f info r mation for investiga
tion and ne a r to the comma nding i nfluences o f
,

O ppo si t i on .
 And the sheep obe yed their sheph erd .

T hey s tayed ri ght there near the w ol ves near , ,

t o C alva ry whe re the w olves had mangl ed th e

,

Lamb o f God .

But no w mark A fe w days more and these

-

fri gh tened dis ciples, on the s treets o f J e ru s a

lem proclaimed the v i ctim o f C alvary to be th e
,

Christ of the Jewis h race An d t h e e ff ec t of .

their pre a ching following the thunder cry o f

,
-

“
Jesus fro m his Calvary t h rone E loi Eloi , , ,
”
lam a s abachthani w a s that thre e thous a nd
,

Jews on the first day o f the preac h ing a c

, ,

c e te d him as th ir Lord S avior King and

p e
, ,

C h rist .

There is n o explan ation o f this tremend o u s

chan ge excep t th e tru th acce pted under t h e
, ,

influence o f t h e great prop h ecy called to their

’
recollection by Jesus dying cry deepened by ,

the rumor o f h i s resurrecti o n from th e dead ,

and the investigations con cern ing i t fo r more

th an a month .

An d yet all o f them preachers and convert s, ,

w ere un d er th e shado w o f Calvary .

Ah ! Calvary thou art a lowly hill ; but th y

,

summit is n o t far from the garden of Joseph ,

“
the counselor of honora b le esta te who also ,
”
himself was l ooking for the kingdom o f God .

Calvary thou art a lowly hill ; bu t

,

th ou art the vestibule to P aradise ( the ga r den

of God ) .
 A nd it s h all come to p a ss i n th e l as t d ays th a t
th e mo unt ai n o f th e Lo rd s h ou se s h a ll b e es tab
’

l is h e d in th e t o p s o f th e mo un t a i ns a n d be e x alt ed
”
a bo ve th e hill s ; a n d a ll na ti ons s h all fl ow it
.

A men .
U N IV E R S IT! OF CA LI FOR N IA L IB R A R! ,

THI S B OO! I S D UB ON TH E L A S T D ATE

S TAM P E D B EL OW -

B oo ks n ot retu rn ed on e tim ar e bj e t t a fi n
su c f o e o
o ea
5 00 p e r v l u m f te r th e th i r d d ay
o e d e i n ea i n g
v r u cr s
ol m e a f te th i th d y B ook n t i n
,

t
o er v
p u r e s x a s o
d e m an d m y b new e d if a ppli ati on i m a d e b e f o e
.

a e re c s r
ex pi a ti on
r of l oan p e i o d
r .

AUG 1 1 1930