"GIVE ME THIS MOUNTAIN" (2)
The Requested Typified the Church
Joshua 14:12

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1. The church of Christ, like Hebron, is identified as a "mountain".

i. The church of Christ is identified as "Mount Zion ..., the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven" (Hebrews 12:22f).

1) Christ's church is in this passage contrasted to Mount Sinai (see vv.18-21; cp. Exodus ch.19ff). The church of Christ in this New Covenant dispensation of grace, unlike Mount Sinai in the Old Covenant dispensation of the law, is ...

i) not "the mountain that may be touched" - a physical entity. Rather, the church of Christ is a spiritual mountain - comprised of "the spirits of just men made perfect" (v.23).

ii) not "the mountain that burned with fire" - because God there revealed Himself as Lawgiver and Judge. Rather, the church of Christ is the mountain where Christ reveals Himself as the Fulfiller of the law and the Deliverer from its curse.

iii) not "the mountain" of "blackness and darkness and tempest" - because God was to reveal the curses of His law. Rather, the church of Christ is the mountain where Christ reveals the light of the glory of His calming grace.

iv) not "the mountain" where those who heard Him "begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore" – "For they could not endure what was commanded." Rather, the church of Christ is the mountain in which His people beg Him to speak often to them - for they desire to hear what He commands.

v) not "the mountain" at which "if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow." Rather, the church of Christ is the mountain in which all who touch it (in the sense of entering it) live forever, never to be destroyed.

vi) not "the mountain ... so terrifying ... that Moses [the mediator between God and the people] said, 'I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.'" Rather, the church of Christ is the mountain in which Christ the Mediator is not afraid, and gives His peace to all.

2) Christ's church is in this passage rightly compared to Mount Zion (see Psalm 48:1-3; 125:1). Mount Zion is ...

i) "His holy mountain" – that which Christ has sanctified to Himself.

ii) "beautiful in elevation" – exalted by Him in the earth and above all man-made religion.

ii) "the joy of the whole earth" – because people from all the nations are being joyfully gathered into it.

iii) "the city of the great King" – because "God is in her palaces; He is known as her refuge" (v.3). "Is not the LORD in Zion? Is not her King in her?" (Jeremiah 8:19).

iv) the place of eternal security – "Mount Zion ... cannot be moved, but abides forever."

ii. The church of Christ is identified as the "The Mountain of Jehovah" (see the prophecies of Isaiah 2:2f / Micah 4:1f). Here we learn that the church of Christ is ...

1) "the mountain of the LORD's house" – and "the house of God ... is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth" (1 Timothy 3:15).

2) "the mountain ... established on the top of the mountains" – by virtue of being established in Christ who is higher than all the mountains of the earth (as in Matthew 28:18).

3) "the mountain ... exalted above the hills" – by virtue of being in Him who is exalted above all (Philippians 2:9f).

4) "the mountain" to which "all nations shall flow" – because "all nations ... shall come to the Desire of All Nations [i.e., to Christ]" (Haggai 2:6).

5) the mountain of all the faithful: "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."

2. The church of Christ, His "mountain", is described by the things descriptive of a mountain.

i. In the natural realm, ...

1) Mountains are places of stones. Solomon "quarried stone in the mountains" for building Jehovah's temple (1 Kings 5:15). Christ's church is comprised of "living stones ... being built up a spiritual house" (1 Peter 2:5).

2) Mountains provide grass for grazing. God "who prepares rain for the earth ... makes grass to grow on the mountains" (Psalm 147:8). God prophesied of Christ's church, "I will feed them in good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel" (Ezekiel 34:14).

3) Mountains are places of trees. The "height of the mountains ... of Lebanon" was known for "its tall cedars and its choice cypress trees" and "its fruitful forest" (2 Kings 19:23). God prophesied of Christ's church, "On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it; and it will bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a majestic cedar. Under it will dwell birds of every sort; in the shadow of its branches they will dwell" (Ezekiel 17:23).

4) Mountains provide sweet-smelling spices. The Shulamite said her beloved dwelt "on the mountains of spices" (Solomon 8:14). God prophesied of Christ's church as being "on My holy mountain" where "I will accept you as a sweet aroma when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered" (Ezekiel 20:40f).

5) Mountains are speaking platforms (e.g., Judges 9:7; 2 Chronicles 13:4). Christ's church is the mountain from which her ministers declare the gospel: "O Zion, you who bring good tidings, get up into the high mountain; ... lift up your voice with strength, lift it up, be not afraid; say to the cities of Judah, 'Behold your God!'" (Isaiah 40:9). She also is "a city that is set on a hill [and therefore] cannot be hidden" (Matthew 5:14).

6) Mountains are refuges in times of trouble. The "children of Israel made for themselves the dens, the caves, and the strongholds which are in the mountains" (Judges 6:2). Christ's church is a refuge when Satan attacks (Revelation 20:7-10).

ii. In personification (in which mountains are represented as persons, and as performing what the church does), ...

1) Mountains rejoice before Christ (Psalm 98:8): "Let the hills be joyful together before the LORD."

2) Mountains skip because of Christ's goodness (Psalm 114:1, 4): "When Israel went out of Egypt" in the Exodus "the mountains skipped like rams."

3) Mountains sing because of Christ's redemption (Isaiah 44:23): "Break forth into singing, you mountains ...! For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and glorified Himself in Israel."

3. Mount Hebron, which Caleb called "my mountain", in particular typified the church, which Christ calls "My mountain".

i. The site of an alliance. The name Hebron means "confederacy, association, league", and derives from the Hebrew word (habar) meaning "be joined, have fellowship with". We know not why this name was given to Hebron. But we know the church of Christ is joined to Him, being "the church, which is His body" (Ephesians 1:22f). And she confesses "truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ" (1 John 1:3).

ii. A promised possession. Caleb was promised Hebron by Moses many years earlier (v.9; cp. Numbers 13:22; 14:23f). Christ was promised His church before the foundation of the world, when His Father decreed, "Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession" (Psalm 2:8).

iii. A conquered possession. Caleb had to defeat the occupants of Hebron before he could occupy it (v.12). Christ's possession is comprised of enemies conquered through grace (Colossians 1:21f): "And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight."

iv. A place of refuge. Hebron was one of the six cities of refuge appointed by Joshua (Joshua ch.20). Christ is the refuge of His church, for she says of Him, "God is our refuge" (Psalm 46:1).

v. The place where the theocratic kingdom was established. God sent David to Hebron, where he was anointed king over God's people (2 Samuel 2:1-4; 5:1-5). God sent Christ to His church, where He has become "King of the saints" (Revelation 15:3).

What a blessing it is to be in the church of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ - and to be owned by Him!

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