When the Psalmist wrote, “I will lift up my eyes unto the hills,” he was doubtless contemplating the hills of Jerusalem, which from below, with their battlemented walls, presented a formidable barrier to unlawful entry. But with a deeper than usual insight he exclaimed, “From whence cometh my help ? My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.” Trust should not be placed in inaccessible hills, but in the spiritual resources of the mountain of the Lord.
The little city-states of Canaan all had the seat of their Government on fortified hill tops, which gave a measure of protection against sporadic raids, but very little strength against a determined assault by powerful, well-equipped armies. Even Mount Zion, with its most formidable ramparts and sustained for seige by an internal water supply, viewed with trepidation the powerful Assyrian armies which came against it from afar: its fall was inevitable without divine aid.
As these “little hills” grew in power, it was natural that one amongst them, better favoured than the rest, should grow into the stature of a “mountain”, and should exact tribute and give a tardy measure of doubtful protection in return. Such was the “mountain of the Lord’s house” under the military and administrative ability of David and Solomon; kingdoms from far and near paid homage to its greatness. But the greatness was short-lived and the decline came with the speed and force of calamity, which the sacred historian attributes to overconfidence in the arm of the flesh and neglect of trust in the Lord.
When Zerubbabel and his band which had returned from exile were struggling, against organized opposition in the Persian court, to rebuild the Temple at Jerusalem, Zechariah was able to prophesy of their success:
“Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.”
The divine formula determining this success was, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts.” Isaiah, the elder statesman of two centuries earlier, had prophesied the restoration of divine favour to the people of God’s choice ;it was to be in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s house should be established in the top of the mountains and be exalted above the hills, when all nations should flow unto it. And the reason for it should be that they would seek the God of Jacob and heed the law that should proceed from Zion and hear the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem ; the judgments of God should then be on all the earth, and the destruction of all armaments would ensure peace.
Daniel, among the captives of Judah with inspired foresight could advise the king of “what shall be hereafter”, when, troubled in his sleep by the burden of his newly founded empire, he dreamed of the structure of the kingdoms of men and demanded to know the meaning of his dream. The God of Heaven made known to him that though the kingdoms of men should have wealth, administrative ability, military genius, the weight of law. supported by the sword, yet withal the whole structure should rest on feet of clay. It was at this weak extremity that a “Stone cut out without hands” should strike its blow and smash the structure to powder, while the Stone itself should become a Great Mountain and fill the whole earth. The counsel of Daniel was bold and convincing, and the king could not miss its significance, namely, that the God of Daniel the Israelite, out of weak and base elements of the world was to create a worldwide monarchy which would break his cherished empire and scatter its dust, and in its place should last for ever. Nebuchadnezzar had vanquished Israel, but the God of Israel would prevail.
Imperial visions and political science the king could comprehend, but there was one aspect of Daniel’s counsel which he would be unable to grasp the significance of. The kingdom was to be God’s ; it was to be permanent, not because human beings would perfect a system of government that could survive, but because the designer, being divine, would impart to government the principles that would satisfy all human cravings for justice and righteousness; it was not enough that the government should take of the qualities of Jacob the Usurper, it must have those of Abraham the Friend, whose righteousness was confirmed upon his acts faith. In short, it would require the powers of One like the Son of Man, who could come before the Ancient of Days and receive his commission direct from Him ; one who would have to die in the execution of his appointed duties and bury the frailties of the flesh and receive again his appointment with new powers as the “first born of a new creation.”
It is easy to sum up rather glibly these features of the Mountain of the Lord’s House at this late date, when apprehension of them has long been current as a result of the glorious first work of the Lord Jesus Christ. All the essential features were revealed to Abraham, Isaiah, Daniel, Zechariah and the rest ; yet they were visions that rested on the anticipations of faith, rather than a concrete reality that could only be visualized as a whole when the building whose founder was God was brought to the initial stages of construction.
We are fortunate to live in these days and to see the forward march of the purpose of God. Faith is still required, however, and where faith cannot see there is still the need to rest patiently on the assurances which are supplied from all that is written in the Word of God that the Mountain of the Lord’s House is on the verge of being established. The assurance of this lies most convincingly in the restoration of nationhood to Israel after twenty five centuries of subservience to other powers, beginning with Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian empire.
This historical achievement, however, is but the commencement of great changes to follow towards the acceptance of the New Covenant upon which the Kingdom of God is to be founded. Human government must be superseded in due time by the Reign of Christ as king. Perhaps the caution not to accept Israeli achievements too seriously may be seen in the latest wave of anti-Jewish sentiment which is disturbing the world. The pointer is set to indicate that further purging of Israel will be witnessed before the spiritual requirements of God’s kingdom can be apprehended by them.
Reflections on the Potter and the Clay