Spiritually Significant Mounts
Is what I’ve named this poem,
Starting with the testing of Abraham
To the New Jerusalem.
Each mount is of significance:
Of a significance that is spiritual
And mostly speaks to some triumph
Re the children of Israel.
From mount Moriah to Sion
From Abraham to Christ,
The penultimate mount of Calvary
Where Jesus was crucified.
Called from a land of pagans,
I speak of Abraham,
His was to follow the lead of God
To the promised land.
But a crucial test lay ahead
To show him who held full sway,
On the way that led to the promised land
Mount Moriah
was in the way.
The offering up of Isaac
The son that Abraham loved
And Abraham was definitely convinced
The command was from above.
There upon mount Moriah
God held back his hand
And provided a substitute sacrifice,
A foreshadowing of His lamb.
The lamb already slain
Before the foundation of the world;
The lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ,
The written and living Word.
From mount Moriah to Horeb
From Abraham to Moses,
One of the greatest leaders ever to live
But Israel’s heads were like sieves.
A rebellious and stiff-necked people
Prone to quickly lose hope
Who, after witnessing God’s miracles,
Still found it difficult to cope.
Introducing mount Sinai
Where Moses received God’s law,
The mount that burnt with great fire
Forcing Israel to withdraw.
Now with the tablets of stone
Given to Moses on the Sinai’s mount,
The children of Israel had God’s law
That held them to account.
Required to depart mount Horeb
To enter the promised land,
The fear-struck children of Israel
Would ignore God’s command.
Just an eleven days journey
Would be turned into forty years
As they wandered in the wilderness
And died along the way.
Just two: Joshua and Caleb
Would enter of the original set,
The rest wandered in the wilderness
Until their deaths they met.
To mount Sinai, they came again
With Moses at the head,
Remember, of those he left Egypt with,
All but two were dead.
On the threshold of Canaan land
Now for the second time
However, Moses would not be able to enter,
He would be left behind.
God allowed him to view it
From mount Nebo's lofty height,
Up to the summit of the mount he climbed
And took in the lovely sight.
Fast forward to mount Carmel
Where a great victory was wrought,
Baal’s prophets versus the prophet Elijah;
The former were left distraught.
Baal was a definite no show
And his prophets miserably failed,
They shouted and even cut themselves
But all this to no avail.
Compared to the fuss they made
And with nothing to show,
Elijah simply called on the Lord
And the sacrifice was aglow.
It even licked up the water
That was in the trench around,
That unusual day on mount Carmel
The fire of the Lord came down.
And now to the mount of Olives
Where Jesus often sat
And from where he would minister
To the multitudes of their lack.
It was there He prophesied
About the temple’s pending destruction
And of many other tribulations
To come on that generation.
In Matthew, Mark and Luke
The details can be found
And all these events would be witnessed
By some standing around.
Mount Calvary
is next up
Where Jesus was crucified,
There his mission was accomplished
When for sinners he died.
From Abraham to Christ
From Mount Moriah to Calvary,
The plan of redemption culminating
In glorious victory.
“It is finished!” Jesus said,
The cry of the vanquisher,
The head of the serpent was crushed
By the Lamb of God our Saviour.
Next the glorious resurrection
Followed by Pentecost,
None indwelt by the Holy Spirit
Need not fear being lost.
This innumerable band
Known as the elect or born again
Is come to mount Sion, the city of God
Where the King of kings reigns.
Spiritually Significant Mounts
Dotting the road to redemption,
Starting with the testing of Abraham
To the heavenly Jerusalem.
Stewart Russell © May 31, 2024
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