THE MOUNTAIN OF GOD

THE MOUNTAIN OF GOD

                “But you shall seek the Lord at the place where the Lord your God will choose from all your tribes, to establish His name there for His dwelling and there you shall come.” Deut. 12:5

                There is a city and a mountain where God has indeed placed His name. The city of Jerusalem is made up of three mountains and three valleys. The Kidron Valley flanks the eastern side of the Old City. The Hinnom Valley traverses the western side of the city. Those two valleys form a U shape so that if you go back to the bottom of the U a third valley goes almost directly north along the edge of the old city. It is known as the Tyropoeon Valley and together these three valleys form what looks like the English letter W. But this shape that looks similar to our W is also the 21^st letter of the Hebrew Aleph- Bet and is the letter Shin (pronounced sheen)

                This letter shin came to represent the name of God for the ancient Hebrews for it is the letter with the “sh” sound used in the ancient name of God “El Shaddai. So when God said that He placed His name there, He literally did so and it is interesting that when the religious leaders told Jesus to make the disciples be quiet at His triumphal entry, He told them that if the people kept quiet, the very rocks would cry out. It was more than hyperbole. Jesus was declaring that the rocks are crying out His name.

                The city of Jerusalem is also made up of three mountains. Mt. Zion, the western Hill, is sometimes used symbolically in a wider sense for the city of Jerusalem itself or even the entire land of Israel or even heaven, the mountain of God.

                Mount Moriah, the upper eastern hill is the location of the temple mount’

                Mount Ophel, the lower eastern hill is the location of the old city of David and is more than likely the place where David restored the wilderness tabernacle before Solomon built his first temple on Mt. Moriah.

                Concerning Mt. Ophel the prophet Micah had this to say: “As for you, watchtower of the flock, stronghold of the Daughter of Zion, the former dominion will be restored to you; kingship will come to Daughter Jerusalem.” Micah 4:8.

                The root word for Zion means commandment so that in its feminine form it can refer to the full code of the law.

                Moriah is found only twice in scripture. It is the mountain that God guided Abraham to in order to offer up his only son Isaac. Gen. 22:2. The other reference to Moriah is found in 2 Chron. 3:1 where it tells us that Solomon built His temple on Mt. Moriah in the same place where Abraham offered his son Isaac.

                Mt. Ophel can represent the biblical characterization of God the Father who is our strong tower, our fortress. (Ps. 18:2, Ps 46:7, 11)

                Mt. Zion can easily characterize the Holy Spirit who is the mark or monument or even the seal of God being the sign that we belong to Him. It is the Holy Spirit that writes the Law of God on our hearts. (Heb. 8:10, 10:16, 2 Cor. 3:3; Romans 2:15) And of course the Holy Spirit is also the seal of God indicating that we belong to Him. (2 Cor. 1:22, Eph. 1:13, 4:30)

                Mt. Moriah was not only the place where Abraham offered his only son, but the mountain where God offered His only begotten Son. Moriah means to see God, or to be seen by God. On that day when Jesus hung on the cross, the world saw God and God saw the world and forgave us our sins through the blood of Jesus.

                Carl Gallups in his book, “Gods of Ground Zero” has done a marvelous job of tying many Bible passages together to show us that Jerusalem, where God placed His name, is also where He demonstrates His name in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. but he goes on from there to show us that this area has been at the center of God’s purposes throughout all of earth history and it has eternal purposes yet future as well for Isaiah 2:2 says: “In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills and all nations will stream to it.”

                This is one of the prophecies that Satan is trying to fulfill with his coming global kingdom and why Jerusalem is always at the center of spiritual and physical conflict. Satan wants to reign there as Christ and he will pull it off temporarily in the form of the antichrist, but when he commits the abomination of desolation in the temple just as Jesus warned in Mt. 24:15, Israel will enter its greatest time of Jacob’s trouble. Those who have listened will flee to the mountains. Mt. 24:15-21

                So Jerusalem is at the center of all of earth’s final conflicts including the Battle of Armageddon which will be fought in the land of Israel and it is right in the center of this land that having conquered Satan’s armies, Jesus will set foot on the Mt of Olives (The very spot from where He left earth and He will take up His millennial reign from the City of the Great King… Jerusalem.

                This is what the Lord says: “I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City and the mountain of the Lord Almighty will be called the Holy Mountain.” Isa. 2:2.

                But there is more to this story for it is very likely that the Garden of Eden was also located here  as well as the tabernacle restored by David, the first temple, the second temple and in the future the 4^th temple envisioned by Ezekiel will also occupy the same location. ( the third temple will be built right in the heart of the great controversy for the antichrist, but its existence will be short lived and will most likely fall at the great earthquake that levels all buildings and walls at the second coming of Christ.

                So this place known as Jerusalem was the location of Abraham’s sacrifice, and God the father’s sacrifice of His Son and it is interesting that in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus was crushed by the weight of our sins, in the garden that was named after an olive oil press and not only that , but in the very spot where Adam and Even turned from the will of God to serve Satan, Jesus sweat great drops of blood and said to His Father, “ Not My will, but Thine be done. “ Jesus reversed the curse in the very place where the curse took place and He gave His life in the very spot where Abraham had offered his son Isaac.

                But now there are more interesting connections. The year 1967 was a Jubilee year and Jubilees where known as the time when the land was restored to its original owners. (Lev. 25:10-17) Likewise on this Jubilee year of 1967 in what became known as the 6 day war, Israel got more of its land back and more specifically, its city Jerusalem back. But it doesn’t end there for the year that Donald Trump so recently declared Jerusalem the Capital of Israel, it was 50 years after 1967, another Jubilee year and on Wednesday Dec. 7, 2017, Donald Trump declared from the Whitehouse that Jerusalem would be Israel’s           Capital. Israel got its capital back after over 2000 years on a Jubilee year. And on that very day a super blood moon hung over Jerusalem the longest blood moon in history.

                Are these things coincidences? I think not. God’s Word and His eternal purposes are still in play and nowhere do we see it more clearly than in Jerusalem where a giant battle is raging even now for ownership of Jerusalem. We can see the people involved, but the real battle is an invisible one going on over the eternal purpose of God and Satan’s desire to overthrow God’s plans and to reign in Jerusalem in the place of Christ.

                Do we think for a moment that this act by Trump did not set up a panic among the gods of this present age? In Dec. 21, 2017, 4 days before Christmas the United Nations voted 128-9, with 35 countries abstaining, to ignore President Trump’s legal recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital.

                In other words the whole world stood up against the United States and Israel in its acknowledgement of Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital. But think about this for a moment. Israel is the only nation on earth in which the world refuses to allow it to have a capital city. Don’t you think it a bit odd that such a dispute should even exist? Not really, because behind the scenes, there is a giant spiritual battle going on as Satan tries to prevent the reign of Christ in Jerusalem. He knows that His time is short and the only chance he has to delay his final destruction is to abort God’s plans in Israel. If he can destroy Israel, he will have won.

                This is why Satan’s people from all races and religions seek ownership of Jerusalem and Israel. This is also why Israel has become one of the sin capitals of the world… for it is called in Revelation 11:8 Sodom and Egypt where also our Lord was crucified.” Satan is seeking to destroy it from within and without.

                This same spot… these same hills and valleys where God has placed His name have from the very beginning also been the very point of conflict between Christ and Satan. Whatever we see playing out, not only throughout Biblical history but to this very day, is a physical representation of a much bigger spiritual war over earth’s future.

                Through replacement theology, Satan has blinded the church, through nearly all of its 2000 year history, to the eternal purposes of God. And to be sure, just as Steven and Jana Denoon will warn us, nearly everything that is visibly going on in Israel today is evil for we are witnessing the build- up of Satan’s fake global kingdom. But we should not let that throw us off from understanding Christ’s eternal purposes for His eternal city.

                Revelation 19 shows Christ returning with His saints to defeat the armies of Satan at the battle of Armageddon and Revelation 20:4 shows the saints who died during the tribulation coming to life and reigning with Christ for a thousand years. And Zechariah pictures this same event as Christ returns with His saints first to defeat the armies of Armageddon and then to set foot on the Mt. of Olives right where He promised to return and He will enter the eastern gate into the city and take up His 1000 year reign. And for this 1000 year reign there are volumes of information in Ezekiel and Zechariah, in Isaiah and in all of the prophets major and minor. Christ’s plans are hidden right in plain sight and our traditions prevent us from seeing them.

                So don’t be dismayed by the fact that Israel has become a sin capital and has literally become like Sodom and Egypt. It is nothing but Satan’s futile attempt to abort the plans of Christ.

                But the saddest part of this whole story is that a large portion of the church does not understand this and in fact many are going as I have often said, with hat in hand to Rome and of course, Rome is partnered with the global kingdom of the Beast in forming a one world global religion for which it will seek to enforce with the Mark of the Beast. So the global government is being made up of the world’s satanic entities: the false church, the false prophet, the military industrial complex, the world leaders of the nations, the kings of the world and all of their secret societies such as the Free Masons, Skull and Bones, the Club of Rome, the New World Order, the United Nations, most of the leadership in Washington D.C., the liberal globalist movement… even the environmentalists seek global solutions that will set them on the side of Satan as law after law begins to take away our every freedom.

                Today it is very popular to call good evil and evil good and George Orwell in his futurist book 1984, written in about 1949 showed a surveillance state in which a man took notebook and pad and hid in his closet and wrote down over and over again 2+2=4… 2+2=4. But the surveillance cameras in his own house read his lips and they arrested him and tortured him until he reluctantly had to write: 2+2=5.

                We are rapidly approaching this scenario right now with our political correctness our transgender and the new meanings we attach to words so as to twist society and control it. And surveillance is becoming ubiquitous as well even within our homes as 5 g makes everything in our homes and cars into a locater and recorder.

                Be faithful to God and to His Word, for in the end His eternal plans will take place. Satan will indeed be defeated and Jesus Christ will reign as King of kings and Lord of Lords and He will restore Eden, the Garden of God and He will reverse every curse and restore this earth to its original purposes and then the end will come when in the eighth day, (the 8^th millennium) we will enter eternity with sin and all of its effects far behind us forever.

                Thus God’s 7000 year week will be over and we will enter into His eternal time of new beginnings and the circumcision, the cutting away forever of all that is sinful and evil. And then God’s promises to Abraham will be fulfilled for His descendants will be like the stars and like the sand of the sea and as Isaiah said, “There will be no end to the increase of His government or peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore.” Isa. 9:6-7

                We live in the time of the unsealing of the prophecies of Daniel. His prophecies are being unsealed because Israel is back in its land and that opens up an entirely new understanding of God’s eternal plans and purposes. Until Israel literally returned to their land we took God’s promises and prophecies to be allegorical. Now we know that they are literal and we are seeing the final conflict unfold right before our eyes and we must by all means make sure that we are on the right side of the issues or we will be deceived just as Jesus warned. (Mt. 24:4, Mark 13:5, Luke 21:8)

                Don’t be deceived by man’s plans for Israel… but don’t be ignorant of God’s plans for Israel either. And knowing the difference can mean life or death. Selah