Monday, July 11, 2016

Mount Olivet as Mount Moriah



 abraham isaac

by

 Damien F. Mackey

 

 

The Ark of Noah landed on “the mountains of Ararat (Urartu)”, a country, not just on a single Mount Ararat – and likewise in the biblical “land of Moriah” (Genesis 22:2) there were mountains (plural) of which Olivet was one, the “Upper Moriah”.  

 

 

 

In the case of Noah’s Ark and the ancient land of Urartu, I wrote:  

 

Mountain of Landing for the Ark of Noah

 


 

Now, Doug Jacoby, following the research of Dr. Ernest L. Martin (RIP), has drawn a parallel case between “Ararat” and “Moriah”, in his discussion of Moriah as, in part, Mount Olivet (http://www.greatcommission.com/TheRedHeiferandtheCrucifixion.html)

 

…. MORIAH: THE PLACE OF SACRIFICE

 

Sacrifice is found in nearly every book of the Bible, and this theme binds together all the other themes and plots in Scripture. The place of sacrifice par excellence is Moriah. Often we hear mention of "Mount Moriah." In a sense, there is more than one "Mount Moriah." Just as the Ark came to rest on "one of the mountains of Ararat," rather than on the Mount Ararat (Genesis 8:4), so Abraham was bidden by God to sacrifice his son on one of the mountains in the land of Moriah (Genesis 22:2):

 

Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."


There are conceivably a number of "Moriahs." Jesus too was sacrificed in the land of Moriah. Is there any need to remind the reader that there are at least ten amazing parallels, by way of foreshadowing, between the sacrifice of Isaac and the sacrifice of Jesus? It would come as no surprise if they were "sacrificed" and "received back" on the same mountain. The sacrifice of Christ takes on new meaning when we understand the Old Testament foreshadowing – in this case, with startling coincidence of detail. 5

The site of Jesus’ execution, like that of Isaac’s "sacrifice," is never identified with the Temple Mount, unlike the threshing floor of Araunah:

 

Then Solomon began to build the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David. It was on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, the place provided by David (2 Chronicles 3:1).

 

There are, in effect, two theologically significant places of sacrifice in the land of Moriah. The Mount of Olives is located on Moriah, and it is probable that here both Isaac and Jesus were offered. The threshing floor at which David stemmed the plague, indeed the very site at which Solomon erected his magnificent Temple, were not on the Mount of Olives, but on Moriah. The Mount of Olives we could call "Upper" Mt. Moriah, the Temple Mount, "Lower" Mt. Moriah.

 

The Four Sacrifices

 

1
2
Upper Moriah
Sacrifice of Isaac
Sacrifice of Jesus
Sacrifices with "resurrection"
One of the mountains in land of Moriah
Also on a mountain in Moriah6
 
 
 
Lower Moriah
Sacrifice to stem plague
Sacrifice of "bulls and goats"
Sacrifices without "resurrection"
Threshing floor of Araunah
Solomon’s Temple

 

You may be caught off guard by the thought that the Mount of Olives was a place of worship or sacrifice in the Bible. After all, wasn’t this a serene place of prayer? Was blood actually shed on this mountain?

According to 2 Samuel 15:32, there was already a significant place of worship on the Mount of Olives – some thousand years before Jesus was crucified:

 

But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went; his head was covered and he was barefoot. All the people with him covered their heads too and were weeping as they went up. Now David had been told, "Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom." So David prayed, "O Lord, turn Ahithophel's counsel into foolishness." When David arrived at the summit [place of the head], where people used to worship God, Hushai the Arkite was there to meet him, his robe torn and dust on his head (2 Samuel 15:30-32).


Yes, the elevated location was already a place of worship and sacrifice. At any rate, the threshing floor of Araunah (2 Samuel 24, 1 Chronicles 21), located on the other side of the Kidron on what would soon become the site of the First Temple, 7 was not the only place where reconciliation between man and God took place. The place of the Head, on the Mount of Olives, near the road into the city, was also a "holy place", as 2 Samuel 15 reveals to us. ….

[End of quote]

 

This article is worth reading in full.

Along very similar lines - but with interesting new information - we read this piece (albeit somewhat difficult to follow), reflecting on Luke 16. I do not necessarily agree with every identification being made here (http://www.sheshbazzardaq.com/olivet-zeytiym.html):

 

Olivet Zeytiym
The Father YHWH already stood over the holy Mount Olivet Zeytiym
The Clouds are the dust of His feet - Nachum 1:3 - Lukos 9:34-35

 

Lukos 16:19-31

….

 

 

In the above passage the Master Yeshua Messiah seems to reveal that he knows where the Ark of the Covenant of Elohim is located. Likewise the passage reveals that Lukos, and therefore Paulos, also may have known where the Ark of the Covenant was located. This is because the Ark was hidden by HaNavi Yirmeyahu in the "Bay of Abraham" beneath Mount Moriah just before the king of Babylon took the city. However Nagiyd Yeshua does not merely know this only because he himself is the Word but also because it is having been written in the Word. And for the same reason Yirmeyahu also knew where to hide the Ark according to the written Word. The place is called "Beth HaMerchaq" which translates into "The House Afar" which is clearly a reference to father Abraham "lifting up his eyes" in the "Third Day" and seeing the appointed place afar off. In Genesis 22:4 we find written "HaMaqowm Merachoq" which translates into "The Place Afar" or "The Station Afar" which is located upon the highest peak of Mount Moriah. However, the highest point on Mount Moriah is not where the Temple was later to be built, (for David numbered the people and provoked the Most High which led to the alternative location at the Threshing Floor of Araunah the Yebuciy-Jebusite). Therefore says David in the Psalm, "The Stone which the builders disallowed has become the Rosh-Head of the Pinnah-Corner, this is from YHWH". And the reason it is from the Most High is because he sent his Messenger when David had sinned in numbering the people; and not only were seventy thousand slain, (supernal in meaning) but "the builders had rejected the Chief Corner Stone" meaning that David himself had done so by his own actions and it would be Solomon his own son who would later build the Temple. The "builders" also becoming prophetic had now "disallowed" the highest peak location of Mount Moriah which is the same location wherein is found Ha-'Eben Ha-'Ezel, the Stone of Ezel or Departure which is the "Skull Face" Stone at Beth HaMerchaq, the House Afar. The lower peak of Moriah, at the Threshing Floor of Ornan the Yebuciy, was revealed by the Malak of YHWH as the direct result of the actions of melek David himself, (but all things work together for the good to them that love God). The highest peak on Mount Moriah is called Olivet and therein is likewise found the Gan-Garden, (of olive-shemen-oil) and in the midst of the Garden is also found the ancient winepress, (Gath or Geth). When we put the two words together, Gath-winepress and Shemen-oil, we perceive the true meaning of the Garden which is having been called Gath-shemeni or Gethsemane. Gan Gethsemane is about a "stone's throw", (Lukos 22:41) from Ha-'Eben Ha-'Ezel, the Stone of Ezel, (or Azal) which is to the side of the north just beyond the second northern wall of the old city of Yerushalaim between the Damascus and Herod Gates. The same place contains the stoning grounds where Stephen is traditionally said to have been stoned, and yet again when Saulos leaves the city by the Damascus Gate, in the Way to Damascus-Qumran, he sees the vision of Messiah and the Light blinds him for three days. This event likely occurred also at Golgotha where Saulos himself had just recently been employed, (unknowingly) to oversee the fiery immersion of the "whole house" of Stephanas. It may be perhaps Paulos was inspecting the site on his way toward the Qumran Essene Damascene Ekklesia, (where was Ananias the Zadokite and "the street having been called Straight") with papers from the chief priests to hunt down and bring back any talmidim of Yeshua to Yerushalaim for punishment. It may have been here at Golgotha, near the highest point of Moriah called Olivet, where Paulos had received the vision of Yeshua Moshiya, the bright and Morning Star, as he came upon the astonishing and overwhelming evidence that this man Yeshua, whom he was pursuing, was indeed the Messiah.

 

2 Samuel 15:13-32 ~ And there came the messenger to David, saying, The hearts of the men of Yisrael are after Absalom. And said David unto all his servants that were with him at Yerushalaim, Arise, and let us flee; for we shall not else escape from Absalom: make speed to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly, and bring evil upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword. And the king's servants said unto the king, Behold, thy servants are ready to do whatsoever Adoni the king shall appoint. And the king went forth, and all his household on foot. And the king left ten women, which were concubines, to keep the house. And so the king went forth, and all the people on foot, and they stationed at Beth HaMerchaq, (the House Afar). And all his servants crossed over by his side; and they stood by the Olivet in the wilderness, (LXX Septuagint) and all the people marched near him, and all his court, and all the men of might, and all the men of war, six hundred which were present by his side: and every Kretiy, and every Pletiy, and all the Gittim, six hundred men which came on foot from Gath, (winepress) crossed over in the presence of the king. Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite of the Gittim; For what reason should you also go with us? return to thy place, and abide with the king: for thou art a stranger, and also a goleh. As of late have you come; and should I this same day make thee go up and down with us, seeing I go wheresoever I go? Turn back, and take thy brethren: and mercy and truth be with thee. And Ittai answered the king, and said, As YHWH lives, and as Adoni the king lives, surely in whatsoever place Adoni the king shall be, whether in death or whether in life, even there also will thy servant be (same words as Petros and the Twelve Talmidim at Mount Olivet in Mattityahu 26:35). And David said to Ittai, Come then, and cross over with me. And Ittai the Gittite crossed over, and all his men, and all the little ones that were with him. And all the earth wept with a loud voice, and all the people crossed over: the king also himself crossed over in the brook Kidron, and all the people crossed over upon the face of the way to the wilderness. And, behold, Zadok also, and all the Levites were with him, bearing the Ark of the Covenant of Elohim: and they set down the Ark of Elohim; and Abiathar went up, until all the people completed crossing over out from the city. And the king said unto Zadok, Carry back the Ark of Elohim into the city: if I shall find favor in the eyes of YHWH, he will bring me again, and he will show me both it, and the navey-habitation of it: But if he thus say, I have no delight in thee; behold, here am I, let him do to me what seems good unto him. The king said also unto Zadok the priest, Art not thou a seer? return into the city in peace, and your two sons with you, Ahimaaz thy son, and Yonathan the son of Abiathar. See, I will tarry in the Arabah-fords of the wilderness, until there come word from you to certify me. Zadok therefore and Abiathar carried the Ark of Elohim again to Yerushalaim: and they tarried there. And David went up by the Ascent of Olivet-Zeytiym, and wept as he went up, and had his head covered, and he went barefoot: and all the people that was with him covered every man his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up. And it was reported to David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And said David, O YHWH, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness. And when it was that David was come unto ("Ros" LXX Septuagint) the Rosh-Head, (which was where he did humbly bow himself to Elohim) behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat rent, and earth upon his head.

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