Sermon Tone Analysis

Mountains and Valleys

Penetrating into Canaan and establishing itself as an independent state didn’t solve the problem of cosmic geography for Israel.

If anything, it sharpened the conflict.

Not only was Israel surrounded by hostile nations and their gods, but there were also pockets of supernatural resistance from within.

The period of the judges and the monarchy form a tale of military and spiritual struggle.

On the ground, the Israelites were still hamstrung by the presence of the Rephaim/Nephilim who had escaped annihilation in the conquest and by incursions from enemies on the peripheries.

If you remember last week we noted that in Joshua 11: 21-23 it is clear that the eradication of the Anakim had not been total.

The writer of Joshua noted in that passage that some Anakim were known to live in cities that would later become cities of the Philistines — Israel’s chief enemy during the united monarchy.

Spiritually, these conflicts had high stakes, as they signaled the infiltration of other gods siphoning off Israelite worshippers into their own cults.

Since believing loyalty to Yahweh was foundational to God’s protection and remaining in the land, the spiritual battle was just as much of a threat as the physical one.

The books of Judges, Samuel, and Kings clearly describe the military conflict.

That is the one that is easy to see through modern eyes and a modern worldview.

But beneath the surface there is a war of another nature raging.

We will see a few example’s today.

Holy Ground

When Moses was told to construct the tabernacle and its equipment, the Bible tells us that God revealed a pattern for doing so Exod 26:30

Earlier in these meetings we discussed how the Tabernacle fit a pattern of the culture for the location of divine beings.

We need to revisit the tabernacle here, since its history prepares us for the more permanent temple - the place where the Name would dwell.

The implication of God having Moses follow a divine pattern is that the tabernacle tent structure on earth was to be a copy of the heavenly tent- as in heaven, so on earth.

The heavenly tent prototype was the heavens themselves

In other words, the heavens and earth were conceived of as God’s true temple.

The earthly dwelling place erected by the Israelites mimicked the one in heaven.

The tabernacle was more than an abode Isa 66:1

And what is in the tabernacle?

The Ark of the Covenant, the sacred object associated with God’s presence --- His Name.

The tabernacle traveled with Israel during the entire journey.

First it was at Bethel, “house of God.”

Where Jacob had his encounter with Yahweh and the angels of his council atop the ladder.

It was the place where the angels of God appeared when he was fleeing Esau and it was where Jacob built an altar and a pillar to commemorate the appearance of the visible God.

Later the Tabernacle will be moved from Bethel to Shiloh.

Once that occured it was said the “house of God” was Shiloh.

Shiloh became the place of sacrifice and at Shiloh we see the boy Samuel encounter the physicalized Yahweh.

Eli the priest later foolishly sent the ark of the covenant out to battle, and it fell into the hands of the Philistines, who took it to Ashod and installed it in the temple of their god, Dagon.

this cracks me up

God’s presence destroyed the statue of Dagon and the threshold was now Yahweh’s geography — they dared not walk on it.

Eventually the ark was brought to Jerusalem.

At first, David placed it in a temporary tent he had made for it, under the assumption that he was going to build a temple for it.

Like the tabernacle, the temple contains striking imagery associated with Eden.

Eden was a lush garden and a holy mountain.

The tabernacle’s tend enclosure contained furnishings and decorations that evoked Edenic imagery.

All of these motifs, tent, mountain, garden — come together in the temple, the fixed place where Yahweh was considered to dwell and order the earth and the heavens with his council.

The Temple as Cosmic Tent Dwelling

Many Bible readers assume that once the temple was built the tabernacle was forgotten or perhaps permanently dismantled.

In reality, the tabernacle tent, with its holy of holies, was moved into the temple with the ark.

Recall that within the tabernacle was another building, completely covered with curtains, called the holy place.

This room was divided in two by a veil, behind which was the holy of holies, the room that contained the ark.

There was one major difference, though, between the inner sanctum of the temple and that of the tabernacle.

The inner area of the temple has two giant cherubim in it, standing side by side, the tips of their wings stretching across to touch each other.

The effect of this was that the cherubim wings formed the seat of a throne for Yahweh, and the ark was his footstool.

The width and height dimensions between the cherubim can accommodate the size of the tented holy of holies.

This has led some biblical scholars to theorize that the tented holy of holies was moved inside the temple, erected under and between the cherubim.

In this temple, the imagery of Yahweh on his throne and “living” in the ancient tent were both preserved.

The Temple as Cosmic Mountain and Garden

As we look at several texts note this:

But .. let’s face it… Mount Zion isn’t much of a mountain and it certainly isn’t located in the geographical north — it is in the south, so what is it about that reference?

other gods of the region had their thrones in the far north.

Here the Psalmist is stealing glory from Baal, restoring it to where it belongs, it is a theological and literary slap in the face, another polemic.

This explains why it sounds odd when dealing with Jerusalem’s actual geography.

This is why Isaiah and Micah used phrases like “the mountain of the house of Yahweh”.

The description is designed to make a theological point, not a geographical one.

Zion is the center of the cosmos, and Yahweh and his council are its king and administrators, not Baal.

The temple is also the Edenic garden, full of lush vegetation and animals.

The description of the temples construction in 1st Kings 6-7 is explicit in this regard.

Flowers, palm trees, gourds, cypress trees, cherubim, lions, and pomegranates all adorn the temple via its carved features.

In Ezekiel vision of the new temple, he saw a temple built on a high mountain, whose courts were decorated with palm trees.

The interior was decorated with more palm trees and cherubim.

Ezekiel’s temple garden was well watered, like Eden, since a river flowed from it that supernaturally gave life to everything else.

In Israel’s theology, Eden, the tabernacle, Sinai, and the temple were all equally the abode of God and his council.

The Israelites were constantly reminded of the fact that they had the God of the cosmic mountain and garden living in their midst, and if they obeyed him, Zion would become the kingdom and domain of Yahweh, which would serve as the place to which he would regather the disinherited nations cast aside at Babel to himself.

Look at Micah 4: 1-2

Unholy Ground

In stark contrast to the temple, there were sinister places within Canaan that became associated with the powers of darkness specifically the remnant of the Rephaim/Nephilim, bloodlines.

Earlier we discussed (some time ago) that the conquest came across the Rephaim.

The Rephaim were giants.

Deuteronomy informed us that the Anakim were considered Rephaim Deut 2: 11

as were the Zamzummim Deut 2:20

Remember Og Deut 3:11

And the location Bashan Deut 3:13

We are told in Joshua 11:22 that the conquest had failed to eliminate all the Anakim; that some remained in the Philistine cities of Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod.

The Rephaim presence remained until the time of David.

The giant Goliath, who came from Gath, was a descendent of the Anakim/Rephaim.

He had brothers also 1 Chron 20: 4-8

The Rephaim of the Transjordon in the days of Moses were associated not only with Bashan but also Ashtaroth and Edrei, two cities that, in the literature of Ugarit, were considered as marking the gateway to the underworld.

In David’s time, the Rephaim were also associated with death in a more peripheral, but similar, way.

Valley of the Rephaim.

There are around 10 references in the Old Testament to a place known as the Valley of the Rephaim.

On several occasions the Philistines are described as camped there.

Joshua 15:8 and 18:16 tells us that the Valley of the Rephaim adjoined another valley - the Valley of Hinnom, also known as the Valley of the Son of Hinnom.

In Hebrew “Valley of Hinnom” is ge hinnom, from which the name gehenna derives.

In New Testament times, gehenna had become a designation for the fiery realm of the dead — hell or Hades.

The history of this valley was no doubt a part of the reason for this conception.

The translated meaning of Gehenna is most likely “valley of wailing,” an understandable description given the child sacrifice that took place there.

The Valley of Hinnom was the place where King Ahaz and King Manasseh sacrificed their own sons as burnt offerings to Molech.

These sacrifices took place at ritual centers called topheth (burning place), and later the Valley of Hinnom became referred to by the place name Tophet Jer 7:32

The meaning and identity of Molech is a hotly debated topic for historians of the time period.

It is hard to see one clear association, however, as coincidental.

Molech’s name appears on two snake charms connected with the city Ashtaroth, the place known from the biblical accounts about Og.

Another text puts Rpu, the patron deity of the Rephaim, in Ashtaroth as well.

These texts at the very least inform us that there was a close relationship between Molech and the Rephaim.

This makes sense in light of the geographical relationship between the Valley of the Rephaim and the Valley of Hinnom in the Old Testament.