Climbing God’s Holy Mountain
One of the early names applied to God in the Hebrew scriptures is “El Shaddai” which can be transliterated as “God on the mountain”. The role of mountains in scriptural imagery and the Word of God is most important. Moses received the 10 Commandments on Mount Sinai; the prophet Elijah walked for forty days from the outskirts of Beersheba to Mount Sinai where he experienced God not in the storm or earthquake but in the gentle breeze; Jesus taught the Sermon on the Mount and was transfigured on a mountain; and finally, there is Mount Zion itself, the holy city. Clearly, the imagery of the mountain is very important when dealing with God’s message for us.
St Paul tells us, in his letter to the Romans, that many of the events and symbols of the Jewish scriptures are concrete adumbrations of spiritual and heavenly realities. In chapter 9 of his Letter to the Hebrews he presents the temple itself is a concrete metaphor of the heavenly Jerusalem and God’s fightback plan for humanity. It is not surprising, therefore, that the symbolism of the mountain is also employed as a metaphorical expression of these spiritual realities. In chapter 8 of Zecgariah it is written:
Yahweh sabaoth says this. I am coming back to Zion and shall dwell in the middle of Jerusalem. Jerusalem will be called Faithful City and the mountain of Yahweh Sabaoth, the Holy Mountain. [Zechariah 8.3]
Exodus and the Mountain of God
In chapter 19 of Exodus, one of the most poignant chapters in the Old Testament, Mt Sinai takes centre stage. Behind the physical reality of the mountain is hidden the spiritual mystery of the “Kingdom of Heaven”.
Now at daybreak on the third day there were peals of thunder on the mountain and lightening flashes, a dense cloud, and a loud trumpet blast, and inside the camp all the people trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the bottom of the mountain.
The mountain of Sinai was entirely wrapped in smoke, because Yahweh had descended on it in the form of fire. Like smoke from a furnace the smoke went up, and the whole mountain shook violently.
Louder and louder grew the sound of the trumpet. Moses spoke, and God answered him with peals of thunder. Yahweh came down on the mountain of Sinai, on the mountain top, and Yahweh called Moses to the top of the mountain; and Moses went up.
Yahweh said to Moses, ‘Go down and warn the people not to pass beyond their bounds to come and look on Yahweh, or many of them will lose their lives. The priests, the men
