When the earth was unlivable and without inhabitants, YHWH divided and set boundaries: light from darkness, waters above from waters below, and seas from dry land, jutting up to the heavens. He then filled the livable spaces with life, each according to their niche. After forming the human from the dust of the ground, YHWH made a garden with its rivers flowing down the mountain and rested them there. In Adam and Eve’s celestial zenith home, they experienced God, walking and talking with Him in co-rulership, uniting heaven’s blessings with earthly abundance. Tragically, when the first man and woman disbelieved YHWH’s word, they lost their dwelling place with their Creator and access to His wisdom defining the boundaries between life and death.

A focal site of worship, the mountain of life, God’s Dwelling, plays a pivotal role in His redemption promises to humanity. Psalm 2:6 tells us that God has anointed and set His King on a throne upon Zion, His holy mountain. The Hebrew word for mountain is har, הַר, and Zion is tzion, צִיּוֹן, which means “rock, a parched place” (the root of tzion means guiding pillar, sign, waymark, conspicuousness guiding the way through the wilderness or sea, Strong’s H2022). Since the wilderness could not sustain settled life, its lack demanded movement to stay alive; movement toward the mountain was life. This blog explores Sukkot’s wilderness theme linked to YHWH’s sojourners, who, putting their trust in Him, focus on Zion, possess the land, and inherit the King’s holy mountain (Isa. 57:13b).

God calls Jerusalem, situated on Mount Zion, the highest of all mountains because it is His dwelling place. In contrast, humanity’s mountains of pride are laid low (Isa. 40:4). Zion’s gospel of restoration is YHWH’s return to replant His garden mountain by shepherding His people toward Mount Zion (See Blog 111, Isa. 40:9-10). Even the foreigners who join themselves to YHWH, to serve Him and love the name of YHWH, and hold fast to His covenant, everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, He will bring to His holy mountain to make them joyful in His House of Prayer (Isa. 56:6-7). In all His holy mountain, nothing shall hurt or destroy, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of YHWH as the waters cover the seas (Isa. 11:8). All families of the world will come to His mountain to keep the Feast of Tabernacles (Zec. 14:16), to worship the King and hear His voice.

Now it shall come to pass in the latter days
That the mountain of the Lord’s house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And all nations shall flow to it.
Many people shall come and say,
“Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
He will teach us His ways,
And we shall walk in His paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
And rebuke many people;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore. Isa. 2:2-4 NKJV

In that day, there will no longer be heard the voice of weeping in Jerusalem but of joy and delight of heart for the abundance of everything as in the days of gladness of the appointed feast. There will be no more crying, no more pain or sorrow, nor death, for the former things have passed away (Isa. 35, 65, Rev. 21:4). Surrendering to YHWH’s Mountain involves drawing near to His holy Presence, turning away from death and sadness by embracing life. The same wilderness transformation depicted in the Book of Numbers happens to “a remnant,” creating a tested, sanctified people inheriting eternity, worshiping God in the beauty of holiness on His holy mountain, bound to the High Priest by the blue cords of His love. YHWH plants a remnant in His Zion Garden, from which flows the Torah, the story and power of His covenant love to heal all the earth (Heb. 12:22-24).

When YHWH’s Torah¹ instruction goes out, it results in inward and outward righteousness and justice, rightly dividing between nations and interceding between God and people. YHWH will remove (thresh) that which is unholy in that day so that, in understanding, the peoples alter their instruments of death into implements of life. In the sojourn ascent to YHWH’s Mount Zion, the fire of His Presence consumes the stubble and the chaff, the wickedness in the hearts of the proud, replacing them with hearts written with His Torah that perfects (tamim) them. To achieve the call for righteousness, Psalms 15-24 define who may approach and arrive at YHWH’s Eden home. In Psalm 19 (the chiastic center), YHWH revealed that we access His Mountain through His Torah².

Cut out of the Mountain without hands, a Rock will break in pieces and consume all the kingdoms who raise their mountains above YHWH’s holy Mountain (Dan. 2:44:45). This Rock of Salvation is Yeshua, and His work is perfect (1Co. 10:4; Deu. 32:4,15-30). He begot us and led us to life; He is the wilderness Rock struck to gush forth life-giving waters for His sojourners (1Sa. 22:47; Psa. 18). When we drink from that spiritual Rock and eat of His spiritual food, hearing His sayings (Torah) and doing them, we build our house upon the Rock (Mat. 7:24-25). The words of wisdom streaming from the defining Rock are sure and certain to come to pass; His Kingdom will never be destroyed because its citizens live within the boundaries of the will of God.

And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold—the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure.” Dan. 2:44-45 NKJV

Takeaway:
The way to life on the defining Mountain is Yeshua. We come to the Rock of Mount Zion, upon which the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, is built as a dwelling place for the spirits of just humans made perfect (tamim), as depicted in the Torah journey. We remember the Law of Moses (Torah) because Yeshua is the new Moses and the Law of Moses (Mal. 4:4; Mat. 1-28) through whom we have access to YHWH and His celestial city, which comes down from heaven.

Fun Factors:
Isaiah 2:2-4 has 258 letters (6 × 43) in 62 words (2 × 31), totaling 14580, 20 × 272, 1802 + 542 (54 = 2 × 27). Dividing 14580 into 148 and 80, then adding, equals 225, 152, the restoration number.  Twenty is the firstborn’s double portion, and 272 is the Holy of Holies power.

Daniel 2:44-45 has 216 letters in 55 words, totaling 12053. 17 × 709, the sum of two squares in two ways, 732 + 822 and 382 + 1032, 1444 + 10609, 103 is the 27th prime, and 169 is 132, 52 + 122, the power of holiness (52) in 12 tribes (122 = 144), the perfection (10609) of YHWH’s words (216) of wisdom (732). Dividing 12053 into 120 and 53, then adding, equals 173, the 40th prime and 18th Pythagorean prime, 132 + 22, 169 + 4, saying the wilderness trek (40), yields life (18) in God’s city (4).

Psalms 15-24 have remarkable mathematics: 5524 letters, 4(15² + 34²), in 1432 words, 2(2³ x 3³) + (2³ x 5³), totaling 348736, 8²(43² + 60²). The number of letters and their sum display the sum of two squares (square shapes indicate holiness).  The word count shows the will of God (432, the heart of the sun’s radius) added to His family (1000) is the reality (cube) of His sanctuary radiating holiness.