Mountains of God – Mt. Tabor
Mountains of God – Mt. Tabor.
“Your saving grace and your righteousness are like the mountains of God.” (Psalm 36:6).
Yes, God lives in heaven. But all through Scripture He appears to have a second home here on the earth, in the mountains. God’s personal involvement on mountains deepen the meaning and significance of what mountains have come to symbolize through the ages… stability; safety; permanence; majesty; beauty; spiritual inspiration. One of God’s names in Scripture is El-Shaddai (Genesis 17:1), and an ancient meaning of that name is “God of the Mountain.” It’s easy to see why. God’s attributes can clearly be seen in mountains, including the fixed foundation of His faithful love. “For even if the mountains move and the hills disappear, even then my mercy for you will remain. My covenant of blessing will never be broken, says Yahweh Lord, who has mercy on you.” Isaiah is saying that we all know how next to impossible it would be for a mountain to totter and fall. But it’s more likely for mountains to move away than for God to withdraw His unshakeable love for you.
God is like the mountains: He doesn’t change, He stays the same, He is consistently steadfast and stable. Mountains are referenced over 500 times in Scripture. Not only are mountains the go-to place for momentous events all through the Bible, but God Himself made it clear from the beginning that mountains are His first choice as a site to reveal Himself and His favorite place to meet with people. “I lift my eyes to the mountains; where is my help to come from? My help comes from Yahweh Lord who made heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:1-2).
Down through history people have assumed that since God is in His heavens, the closer one can get to God on high, the more spiritual enlightenment one can receive. There have been pagan shrines and mountaintop gurus as long as we can remember. People have always climbed to the “high places” for heavenly insight and personal contact with the gods, or with God. Irish Christians consider mountains to be one of those sacred “thin places” where the layer between heaven and earth is so thin that a believer can easily step from one to the other. As one person excitedly told Barbara Brown Taylor, ‘You’re sinners going up, but you’ll be saints going down!” People still refer to a special time with God as a “mountaintop experience.” As we study the Mountains of God in Scripture, we come to appreciate how central mountains are in the Word, how important they are to God himself. Mountains will be seen as a sacred part of nature that consistently has seen powerful events and profound conversations between us mere mortals and the Almighty God. Let us rejoice and applaud the God who is the Rock, who has a glorious history of preferring His own mountaintop experiences with us.
“One day the prophet and judge Deborah sent for Barak and said to him, ‘This is what the Lord Yahweh, the God of Israel, commands you: Call out 10,000 warriors from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun at Mount Tabor. And I will call out Sisera, commander of the Canaanite king Jabin, along with all his chariots and warriors. There I will give you victory over him, says the Lord.” (Judges 4:6-7).
Mt. Tabor is a rather routine, dome-shaped mountain in the Jezreel Valley, about six miles from Nazareth and ten miles from the Sea of Galilee. Because the mount was settled on a very flat valley, it looked a lot higher than it actually was, the peak at 2,000 feet. So Mt. Tabor was a very familiar and much-used landmark through the history of Israel, including Jesus and His disciples. Because of its strategic location, Tabor and Jezreel Valley, also known as Megiddo, was the sight of many battles. Mt. Tabor is perhaps most famous for two monumental events in Israel’s history… The victory of Deborah during the time of the Judges, and the Transfiguration of Jesus.
Song of Deborah. Written around 1300 BC, the famous Song of Deborah is considered one of the oldest pieces of poetry in the Hebrew Bible, and perhaps the most ancient of early Hebrew literature. The author is unknown, but was certainly an eyewitness to the great Holy War described. Judges 5, the Song of Deborah, is the poetic version of Judges 4, which details the battle in prose. Some scholars wonder if Deborah actually wrote this song, since the song was addressed to Deborah and refers to her specifically. On the other hand, many historians claim that Deborah indeed composed the song and was comfortable in referring to herself in the 3rd person in order to give a full account of the war.
Deborah holds a unique place in Biblical heroism. Deborah was the fourth judge during this era in Israel’s history, and the only woman in a long line of judges. Her courtroom was under a palm tree named in her honor. She was famous for her national leadership, and was renowned in rabbinic tradition for her skills as an insightful mediator and impartial advisor in matters of justice. Deborah was an effective judge, but she was also a military leader, and a prophetess of Yahweh, and was even referred to as “the mother of Israel.” (5:7). She obviously had an intimate relationship with the Lord, and full confidence in and dependence upon the God Of Israel. Deborah was an outstanding example of historic leadership during the era when Israel so easily fell into apostasy. Even her military general Barak would not go into battle without her. Deborah’s name means “bee” or “wasp”. One Hebrew scholar said that Deborah was “a bee in peace and a wasp in war.” Deborah is an inspiration to all, male or female, who want to be an obedient mouthpiece and leader for God during time of national distress. She was one of the few judges who was not corrupted by success, and Israel was at peace with her enemies for 40 years after her victory. That figure has led historians to claim that Deborah was Israel’s leader for a total of 60 years.
Context of Song. The roller-coaster ride of the Israelites in the Promised Land is highlighted in the book of Judges. Israel’s spiritual weaknesses would cause them to fall into apostasy and immorality, then the Lord would call a judge to help lead them back to obedience to Yahweh. And then, after a few years of peace and obedience, Israel would fall again, and the patient Lord would raise up another righteous and valiant judge. And so on it goes. Deborah finds herself called to be another judge during twenty years of oppression under the Canaanite king Jabin of Hazor, which was situated north of Galilee. These pagans were known for their ruthless and well-equipped military, which included 900 iron chariots, weapons of mass destruction if there was ever such things in the ancient world. Their military was led by a bloodthirsty general named Sisera, and he was a formidable enemy of Israel. God told Deborah to engage in battle with Sisera in order to free the Israelites from their oppression. She confidently turned to her general Barak and told him what the Lord has said… Get 10,000 Hebrew soldiers and go to war with Sisera and his army, and the Lord will bring certain victory. As it turns out, after Deborah’s personal involvement and her inspiration of Barak into action, the Lord did indeed bring victory. The Song of Deborah was written to celebrate this amazing triumph over the Canaanites.
Flow of the Song. This was a song of triumph to honor Yahweh and highlight the two heroines of the battle, Deborah and Jael. The composer of the song rightly gives credit to the Lord of Israel, Yahweh, for the important victory over the Canaanites. After rejoicing in the Lord and noting His awesome power, the song mentions Israel’s sin, their choosing other gods. God once again intervened, and Deborah helped gather the warriors among Israel, and rebuked those Israelites who were indifferent and didn’t join in the battle. Then the victory of Israel over king Jabin and his general Sisera is highlighted, especially the brutal but heroic exploits of Jael. The song then closes with a beautiful word of blessing for all those who choose to love and follow Yahweh, “May those who love You rise like the sun in all its power!” (5:31).
Megiddo. This ancient hill, valley and plain was the site of Deborah’s battle (v. 19), and it’s a famous site for warfare. This is where Gideon had his victory (Judges 6), where Saul was defeated (I Samuel 31), and where king Josiah died (II Kings 23). This is also the site of the final great holy war mentioned in Revelation 16-17, the catastrophic battle of Armegeddon.
Mud. Verses 21-22 highlight the turning point of the great battle between Deborah’s forces and the Canaanites. God sent a torrential rain to the battlefield area, which caused the main river to rise. This led to Sisera’s defeat, because the overrun river caused all 900 of those famous chariots and horses to get stuck in the mud. Sisera’s army panicked, and was then routed by the more nimble Israelites.
Jael. Deborah’s heroism was matched by that of Jael. Jael was married to Heber, who for some reason was sympathetic to Sisera. Jael, however, supported the Israelites, and she was willing to go to great lengths to help them succeed. Jael was rather devious in her deadly spycraft… Sisera had run away on foot once the mud led to his army’s defeat, and he ended up sneaking near Jael’s tent. Jael offered her tent as a sanctuary for Sisera, and he happily stepped into the tent for a nap after all that running to escape from the Israelites. While Sisera was sleeping, Jael did the unthinkable. Jael picked up a tent peg and hammer and assassinated Sisera. She drove the tent peg through his temple, in one side of his head and out the other. Naturally, Sisera died immediately, and the rout was completed. The songwriter seemed awe-struck with praise of Jael, calling her “the most blessed among women,” and “may she be blessed above all women who live in tents.” Jael is highly favored indeed in Biblical history, despite her gruesome rejection of hospitality protocol.
Transfiguration. Mt. Tabor is also known as the traditionally accepted site of the Lord Jesus’ Transfiguration. Some say it might have been nearby on Mt. Hermon, but that seems to be doubtful.
“The disciples were terrified and fell face down on the ground. Then Jesus came over and touched them. ‘Get up!’, he said. ‘Don’t be afraid.’ And when they looked up, Moses and Elijah were gone, and they saw only Jesus.” (Matthew 17:6-8).
There was a time when Jesus told His disciples that some of them would be eye witnesses to the glory of Christ in His Kingdom. (Matt. 16:28). Six days later His prediction came true as Jesus led Peter, James and John to a lonely mountaintop, probably Mt. Tabor. The three disciples were intently watching as Jesus’ appearance was transformed into pure radiance. His face shone brightly like the sun, and His clothes became luminescent, whitened by divine uncreated light. For the three disciples, the curtain between the two kingdoms was parted, and they were privileged to sneak a glimpse of the glorified Christ, the Christ who is full of light, surrounded by light, pulsing with light. To make matters more astounding and miraculous, they then witnessed Jesus having a conversation with Moses and Elijah, the two greatest prophets in Hebrew history.
A New Exodus. Here were three spiritual men, representing the living Word, the written Word (the Torah), and the prophetic Word. They appeared to be discussing the expected exodus of Jesus from this world, Jesus’ coming Passion, His suffering and death. The topic of conversation was the messiahship of Jesus. This makes sense, since Moses predicted the coming of the great divine Prophet in Deuteronomy 18, and an Elijah-like prophet would foretell the coming of the Messiah (Malachi 4:5, 6). These central biblical figures, one divine and two human, were talking about Jesus’ messianic mission yet to be completed, a new, spiritual exodus for His people.
Biblical Heroes. How did the disciples know that these two men were Moses and Elijah? We don’t know for sure. Maybe it was deduced by their conversation, or maybe the Holy Spirit simply revealed it to them there at the scene. And where did Moses and Elijah come from? Maybe they had been recalled from the Kingdom, and then were sent back after the conversation. Or maybe they were raised bodily from the grave just for this special occasion, and then sent back to the grave to await the Great Day of Resurrection when Jesus returns. We just don’t know, but why lose any sleep over it? It happened, and that mystery only adds to the glorious mystery surrounding the whole situation.
The Cloud. Brash Peter impulsively blurts out that maybe he should build them three shelters, three booths celebrating the coming Kingdom in the Feast of the Tabernacles. Peter evidently knew that the coming of the messianic kingdom, the culminating event of the world as we know it, was prophesied in Zechariah 14:16-19. The Feast of Booths, or Shelters, will somehow accompany the arrival of the Final Kingdom in the spirit of thanksgiving, and gratitude for the final harvest of human souls. Peter might have thought that he was witnessing the new kingdom coming then and there on the mountaintop with Jesus. Peter seemed to assume that Jesus, Moses and Elijah were three co-equals having a heavenly conversation, but he was straightened out later when the voice of the Father pointed out the divinity of Jesus. Another astonishing miracle then took place. A bright cloud filled with light, as if the cloud was self-lit by some interior force, came out of nowhere and overshadowed them on the mountaintop. Peter, James and John were totally enveloped in this dazzling cloud, and they were mystified and terrified. One thinks of the cloud over Mt. Sinai, the cloud that guided the Israelites through the wilderness, the cloud that filled the Temple, the cloud that took Jesus up to heaven in the Ascension, and the cloud that will accompany Jesus coming to earth on that great Day of the Lord.
The Father. And then, once the cloud appeared, a divine Voice spoke out of that cloud, and said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to Him.” (17:5). The Father’s voice quoted short phrases from three different passages in the Hebrew Bible… “My Son,” came from Psalm 2:7; “My chosen in whom I delight” came from Isaiah 42:1; “Listen to Him” came from Deuteronomy 18:15. SHEMA (sh’ma) is usually translated “hear,” but actually means hear and do, listen and obey, hear and respond, listen and take action, take heed; there is a traditional Jewish saying that “to hear God is to obey God, and to obey God is to hear God.” Hearing and doing are two sides of the same coin of faith, and is a vital aspect of biblical spirituality. Peter, James and John would have understood the Father’s command to “listen” in this light. Shema was deep in the consciousness of all the observant Jews. Listen and obey this Son of mine, says the Lord. Deuteronomy 18:15 is a great passage about God bringing a new prophet for the people. It is a clear messianic passage that the Father wanted to underscore with Jesus Messiah. This was the eternal voice of God, the voice of the Father, that Voice that both Moses and Elijah had listened to on Mt. Sinai. What did that Voice sound like? Was it even describable? The Father said essentially, Listen to Me as I tell you to listen to Him. Of course, we know that listening to Jesus is actually the same as listening to the Father. Everything Jesus said or did represented the Father, down to the tiniest detail.
Fear Not. After witnessing this other-worldly spectacle, the disciples were beyond terrified. They fell down face first on the ground, maybe out of fright, maybe out of worship, probably a mixture of both. Then Jesus graciously touched them, once again performing his ongoing ministry of touch. And He told them to get up on their feet and fear not. Don’t be afraid, despite what you’ve seen. Have no fear, despite the fearsome glory of the Christ. And when they looked up, they saw only Jesus. Jesus only, our mode of operation, our style of life, our call to discipleship. Jesus only. Not Elijah. Not Moses. Things seemed to be back to normal in no time, as if nothing had happened on the mountain. But then again, did life ever get back to normal for Peter, James and John after their unforgettable experience on Mt. Tabor?