Bible Mountains
Reading: Joshua 14:6-12
Introduction:
Bible Mountains
There Are Probably SEVERAL Brought To Your Mind: Let's Look At A Few.
· Mt. Ararat: Noah's Ark came to rest there.
Genesis 8:15
· Mt. Carmel: Elijah defeated The Priests of Baal there.
1 Kings 18:2040
· A Mountain in Moriah: Abraham offered Isaac there: "The Lord will Provide"
Genesis 22:114
· Mt. Horeb, A.K.A. Mt. Sianai: Moses saw the burning bush and received the 10 Commandments there.
Exodus 3:12;
19:11-20
· Mt. Hermon, or Tabor, is where Christ was Transfigured
Mark 9:28
· Mt. Olivet: is where Christ ascended into the heavens.
Acts 1:4-12
· "Mt. Calvary:" is where songs tell us Christ was crucified.
Luke 23:33
GOLGOTHA — the common name of the spot where Jesus was crucified. It is interpreted by the
evangelists as meaning "the place of a skull" (Matt. 27:33; Mark 15:22; John 19:17). This name
represents in Greek letters the Aramaic word Gulgaltha, which is the Hebrew Gulgoleth (Num. 1:2; 1
Chr. 23:3, 24; 2 Kings 9:35), meaning "a skull." It is identical with the word Calvary (q.v.). It was a
little knoll rounded like a bare skull. It is obvious from the evangelists that it was some wellknown
spot outside the gate (comp. Heb. 13:12), and near the city (Luke 23:26), containing a "garden"
(John 19:41), and on a thoroughfare leading into the country. Hence it is an untenable idea that it is
embraced within the present "Church of the Holy Sepulchre." The hillock above Jeremiah's Grotto, to
the north of the city, is in all probability the true site of Calvary. The skulllike appearance of the rock in the southern precipice of the hillock is very remarkable. 1 Another place in the same dictionary says, It is nowhere in Scripture called a "hill." I might add a "Mount."
What Are Some Things We Learn From These Places?
· It is EASY understand this from ANY of these Events
Genesis 22:12
After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, "Abraham!" And he
said, "Here am I." He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the
land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall
tell you."
Genesis 6:13-14
And God said to Noah, "I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the
earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make
yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.
2. God Wants Us To Return To Him
Luke 23:33 And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified
him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.
· We walked farther away from God with each of our personal sins.
· Every event in the Bible leads us to conclude: God wants us BACK!
· Nothing more radically than the death of His son! Whether it happened "on a hill far away"
or some "place near a garden," God wants us BACK!
Acts 14:15 (Paul and Barnabas)... we bring you good news, that you should turn from these
vain things to a living God...
3. God Wants Us To Be Faithful To Him
· Did Abraham love his son Isaac more than God?
Genesis 21:8 And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the
day that Isaac was weaned.
· It is the very next chapter that we read where God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac.
· Draw your own conclusions why. There is no doubt God wants us to be faithful to Him.
· Reread 1 Kings 18, where Elijah defeated the priests of Baal.
1 Kings 18:36-37 - Mt. Carmel
And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and
said, "O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in
Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Answer
me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you
have turned their hearts back."
4. God Wants Us To Lead Others To Him
Luke 24:45-49
Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them,
"Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high."