Meta-more-foo-may-I
Declaring good news of real change out of, through and into the Spirit of
Jesus Christ Rom. 12:2 Rom. 11:36
Faith
(part 8)
Moving mountains
We have read in Mat. 17:20 that faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains, but what does that mean, really? Was Jesus talking about literal mountains? If not, than what are spiritual mountains? What, exactly, was He referring to? Let’s, as workmen needing not to be ashamed, rightly divide the Logos (word) of truth in the light and life of the Spirit of Jesus (The Anointed One) Christ who is The Truth, The Word, The Life and The Light.
In short, mountains refer to kingdoms or realms of governorship, in the earth or in the heavens. It is important to remember, that we were made of the dust of the earth; so references to the earth are allegorically speaking of our earthly or carnal, and unredeemed soulish nature, our Adamic nature. Just as important though is it for us to see that the heavens refer to an, in-Christ, spiritual and redeemed soulish nature, our Christ-like nature. Mountains of earthy importance and position then are bastions of strength to and within our carnality. We know that God’s holy mountain, Zion, refers to His Kingdom within us, the Kingdom of God and His rule within our lives. It should not be that great a leap of understanding then to see that any other mountain is speaking about a kingdom in opposition to the Kingdom of God within us, and within those around us. God’s governmental reign is always an inside out affair. He reigns within a people, you and me; and as we live and move and have our being in Him, those around us are drawn to the love, peace and joy that we, as a city set upon a hill, display. Let’s look at a few verses concerning mountains to clarify this thought a little better.
Remember we need to receive of God, to have life. Humbly ask God to show you the Spirit and truth in this; do not try to take, in your own strength, even the knowledge of God. Eve, who took of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, is the very picture of our unredeemed souls. That is the way of death, for partaking of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, good or evil is certain death. But God gives good gifts to those who ask in humility and necessity. The act of taking is the carnality of Adam exposed in the light of God’s Spirit. God’s free gift is received as Life to us in Christ Jesus.
King of the Hills
The words, mountain and mountains, are mentioned many, many times in scripture. It is not my intention to do an exhaustive study looking into them. But I will try to set forth a few examples which I feel the Spirit has led me to share. I trust He will then open this up to you in His Spirit within you.
According to the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, the word mountain in the Hebrew language comes from the word “har” # 2022 meaning mountain or range of hills; and it is the short form of the word “harar” # 2042 which means to loom up. Both words are translated in King James English as hill, mount or mountain. That said, I present you a short list of verses in the King James Version of the Bible to consider on your own. I will then go into a few other verses using translations which are not as popular.(Psalm 95:4, Isaiah 49:13, Isaiah 55:12, Ezekiel 6:2-3, Micah 4:1, and Nahum 1:5) Study and consider well O diligent workman.
Isa. 2:2 “And it hath come to pass, In the latter end of the days, Established is the mount of Jehovah’s house, Above the TOP of the MOUNTS, And it hath been lifted up above the heights, And flowed unto it have all the nations.” Young’s Literal Translation Let’s notice a few things here. 1. God’s house or dwelling place (Know ye not that ye are the house of the Lord-Heb. 3:6?) is called a mount or mountain; so, there is a house/mountain of God. 2. This house/mountain is lifted above, and set over the top of other mountains. It has preeminence; it is above the earth and thus not of the earth, and it is positioned to rule over those other mountains. 3. The nations will flow into this house/mountain. This can be individually, or corporately. Corporately, of course, refers to literal nations coming into an understanding and awareness of the love and forgiveness of the MOST HIGH. An individual meaning would entail that the nations consist of all thoughts and desires, needs, motivations, whatever, that are contrary or complimentary to the life of Christ within you. These will all come into subjection to the Life of Christ, in righteousness and holiness unto God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. These all come under the authority or rule of God’s house/mountain established in our earth. He is King of all the hills!
Contrary Nations
So what then are these contrary nations? To answer that, let me ask this: have you ever gotten caught up into some activity or thought that just seemed to take on a life of its own? The Hebrew word for mountain means something that “looms up.” You get wrapped up in what you are doing or thinking so that it begins to determine for you how you plan your day. It looms on the horizon of your thoughts, getting bigger and bigger the closer that you get to it. It looms over you with a feeling of strength and power too big to be conquered on your own. That is a little part of what I mean by a contrary nation. God will have preeminence in our lives over everything else. Even our seemingly “good” things of religious service can become a contrary nation. The example of the Pharisees is all too real, and warned against too many times, to be ignored in that respect.
We are talking about mountains, which are earthen in nature and composition. They are the highest extension of man into the realm of the heavens without leaving the earth behind. So in that regard, we are talking about things of the flesh, and things of the soul unredeemed which is still married to her first husband Adam. Jer. 3:23 “Truly the hills and the strength of the mountains were a lying refuge: but by the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel.” Brenton’s English Septuagint We can see by this that our own strength is a lying refuge. Jesus said that except our righteousness EXCEEDED the righteousness of the Pharisees, we would in no wise see the Kingdom of God. We might think we are safe, and oh so high and mighty in the mountains of our own strength, but God has told us different. Isa. 64:1 “If thou wouldest open the heaven, trembling will take hold upon the mountains from thee, and they shall melt.” Brenton’s Jeremiah tells us what he saw when God did open His heavens, “I beheld the mountains, and they trembled, and I saw all the hills in commotion.” Jer. 4:24 Brenton’s Have you ever had YOUR earthy mountains tremble in the presence of God? I tell you, in no uncertain terms, anything contrary to the nature of God through Jesus Christ in us will tremble and fall to make straight the highway of the Lord (Isa. 40:3-5). All the mountains of any contrary nation will come down; to reveal the Lord’s glory!
Spiritual Realities
I know that there are such things as earthquakes, but do you really think that that is what is going on here? Remember these are spiritual realities. So when we read in Isa. 55:12, “For with joy ye go forth, And with peace ye are brought in, The mountains and the hills Break forth before you with singing, And all trees of the field clap the hand.” Young’s Literal Translation we understand that this is not talking about mountains having deep sonorous voices; and trees having arms and hands that we don’t see, but are really there; or that clapping refers to the wind rustling through the leaves of the branches. Jesus’ healing of the blind man with His spittle gives us an in-sight into the nature of spiritual realities. Mark 8:23-24 “And He took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of town; and when He had spit on his eyes, and put His hands upon him, He asked him if he saw ought. And he looked up, and said, ‘I see MEN AS TREES, walking.’” Jesus, in the only record of Him having to heal a man twice, healed this man a little too well, the first time. This was not an accident; God through Jesus did this to show US the real-ness of spiritual vision. It is my personal belief, that He also did this to benefit the man healed. God gave him a vision, and began thereby to fulfill His purpose within him. I do not believe that he just forgot what he had seen the first time Jesus healed him. Scripture tells us that without a vision God’s people perish. God, through Jesus Christ, branded this healed man as one of His own, by opening his spiritual eyes to see “men as trees walking.” Do we have spiritual vision? Do we have eyes to see? So then are we ready to receive? Men, people, have arms and hands. People as trees walking can clap, but mountains do not have voices; so mountains breaking forth with singing must refer to something other than literal mountains and literal singing. Yes?
Mountainous Voices
Kingdoms have many voices; but the most prominent and listened to voice in any kingdom is the voice of the king. There are, however, other voices; the heralds and town criers, the city dweller and the country dweller, don’t forget the lawyers and priests, even the voice of the village idiot or fool are all voices of a kingdom. There are many voices in a kingdom; but all will, on the pain of extreme displeasure, echo, mostly, the voice of the king. Yes/No?
So then what are the voices of the mountains which need to come under subjection to the mountain of God? John tells us in 1 John 2:16. “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” This is pretty straightforward, is it not? These “voices” of the world are those things which need subjugating to the Mountain/House of God within us. These are the mountains that get cast into the sea by faith the size of a grain of mustard. These are those contrary nations which seek to rule or be ruled by anything other than the rule and authority of God in you. These are the voices of the mountains which echo the voice of their carnal king, Adam. Are we echoing the voices of principalities, and powers, and the rulers of the darkness of this world (age-course of nature)? Or, does our voice reverberate with the voice of the King of the hills?
God’s Holy Mountain
“It is quite evident one cannot obtain sainthood (separated, dedicated, consecrated to God—characteristically God likeness) through human accomplishment. God provided the believer’s holiness through the undefiled life of Jesus, the Lamb of God, who took away the sin of the world (1Co. 1:29-31; 2Co. 5:19, 21; Eph. 5:25-27). Further-more, God has chosen living stones and places each where it pleases Him. This is how He forms the temple for His own habitation (1Co. 12:18; 1Pe. 2:5; Eph. 2:20-22). Again, because He is a holy God, the temple in which He dwells is also holy. The accomplishment of God is the foundation on which a saint stands. The exceedingly great and precious promises of God enable us to become sharers of the divine nature (2Pe. 1:4). However, let us look at another side to this matter that we must not neglect. That is, by the same promises that enable us to partake in the divine nature we must also depart from the corruption that is in the world through human desire. (As we come out of anything, the world, the organization of man’s religious systems, etc.--we must also be coming into the reality of God through Jesus Christ within us--Author’s note) The fundamentals of the entire cosmos (world, ordered arrangement,) rest upon the lust of the eye, lust of the flesh and the pride of life (1Jo. 2:15-17).
“This condition caused Paul to write to the church in Corinth saying, ‘Do not become joined with unbelievers; for what partnership has righteousness and lawlessness?’ ‘What fellowship has light with darkness?’ ‘What harmony has Christ with worthlessness?’ ‘What have the faithful in common with the faithless?’ ‘What agreement has the temple of God with idols?’ ‘We ARE the TEMPLE OF THE LIVING GOD!’ God said, ‘I will dwell in them, and walk in them. I will be their God, and they will be my people.’ ‘Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘Do not touch what is unclean, and I will welcome you.’ ‘I will be a Father to you, and you will be sons and daughters to Me,’ says the Lord Almighty (2Co.6:16). ‘Therefore having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness or sainthood in the fear of God’ (2Co. 7:1).” –End Quote- Stacy Woods--Ephesians-Lesson Three-What Does It Mean to Be Faithful? We are God’s holy mountain, by belief in the promises of God through the faith of Jesus Christ. Do we see? We are His House framed in righteousness. Come, let us go on up to the mountain of the Lord’s house!
Words to the Wise
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” may sound like a clever comeback in a child’s argument, but it is not found in the scriptures; as a matter of fact, the scriptures plainly state that there is death and life in the power of the tongue (Pro. 18:21). Truly in the tongue is the power to defile the whole body (Jms. 3:6). Yet, it is also a truth that a wholesome tongue is a tree of life (Pro. 15:4). We may not realize just how much of an impact our words can have, much less the role they play in contributing to the spiritual climate of this age. However, it is not so much the tongue, nor our words, in and of themselves, that are so powerful, but rather the thought and the spirit behind them.” Travis Ogletree—A Word to the Accused
Laid out in scripture though are several admonitions for us to guard our words and our tongues, as well as the spirit of which we are (Lu 9:54-55). Bro. Ogletree relates a very poignant story concerning the way of words. “Early in my walk I would find myself very frustrated with a lot of the inconsistencies within the Church system. I would later realize that there was a potential danger in becoming consumed with my frustrations. One day I was venting my anger about the Church to a very wise brother. He agreed with my reasons for frustrations, yet he told me, ‘The Church already has an accuser.’ As soon as I heard those words, I felt immediate conviction.” Travis Ogletree-A Word to the Accused How many of us today spend our energies and words on accusation rather than edification? Guard well, your spirit, and the words of your mouth. I must be honest; when I read this story, I felt convicted also.
This does not mean that God will not send a messenger to prophesy against a particular nation, king or mountain. Ezekiel 6:2-3 says: “Son of man, set thy face against the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them; 3. and thou shalt say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord; thus saith the Lord to the mountains, and to the hills, and to the valleys, and to the forests; Behold, I bring a sword upon you, and your high places shall be utterly destroyed.” Brenton’s English Septuagint Is this a word against a literal mountain; or is God speaking to the nation/kingdom of Israel?
In Jeremiah, though, we get a clearer picture of the full purpose of God in prophecy of judgment on any particular nation, kingdom or mountain of human nature. “Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, ‘Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. 10. See, I have this day appointed you to the oversight of the nations and of the kingdoms TO ROOT OUT and PULL DOWN, TO DESTROY and TO OVERTHROW, TO BUILD AND TO PLANT (Jer. 1:9-10) The Amplified Bible. Hallelujah! God will not only over throw, but He will also build and plant. If you have had this happen in your life, then you know this is true. “Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? Let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.” James 3:13 KJV A word to the wise, Psalm 46:2 “so we are not afraid though the earth shakes and the mountains move in the depths of the sea,” Revised English Bible. God will shake and crumble every mountain, in order to build and plant His holy mountain within you (Rom. 12:2).
Joy and peace to all who read, in Christ Jesus…Larry.
References: Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, The Companion Bible with the King James Translation, Young’s Literal Translation of the Bible, The Amplified Bible, Brenton’s English Septuagint,
Stacy Woods Jr.—Ephesians-Lesson Three- What does It Mean To Be Faithful?, Travis Ogletree—A word to the Accused, and The Revised English Bible