A Not-So-Coincidental Connection (in my humble opinion)

One advantage to living in Jerusalem is that the Bible absolutely comes alive when I can actually visualize the places that I am reading about.   For those of you who have traveled here, I am guessing that you haven't read the Bible the same way since you left.  Over the past month or so, I've particularly focused on reading Biblical passages that deal with Jerusalem (for obvious reasons), and what I uncovered today struck me in a pretty profound way.

Mount Moriah stands prominently in the heart of the Old City and is the modern site of the Dome of the Rock and the Temple Mount.  The earliest reference to Moriah, you may remember, is in Genesis 22 with the near-sacrifice of Isaac.  Although the passage isn't absolutely explicit about the fact that the sacrifice was to take place on Mount Moriah, scholars generally agree that God was referring to this particular mountain when he commanded Abraham, "Take now, your son, your only son, who you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you" (Genesis 22:2).  There is obviously much to be gleaned from this story, but I am going to focus on two particular facets of it: 1) God required a costly sacrifice from Abraham, and 2) God ultimately showed mercy to Abraham because of his obedience (and relented in allowing something potentially devastating).

It is obvious that what God was asking Abraham to do required extreme sacrifice on Abraham's part.  The sacrifice of his own son was not only completely heart-wrenching, but it also seemed quite contradictory to God's promise to make Abraham's descendants as numerous as the stars through Isaac.  Because of Abraham's obedience to this near-impossible command, however, God ultimately showed mercy and allowed Isaac to live: "But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, 'Abraham, Abraham!... Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me" (Gensis 22:11-12).  Now we all know the story from this point: Abraham discovers a ram caught in the bushes nearby, and he sacrifices this instead of Isaac as a burnt offering to the Lord (22:13).

Keep all of this in mind as we fast-forward to 2 Samuel chapter 24.  This particular story of David may not be quite as well known, but it is significant to this discussion because of its similar themes.  In a nutshell, David commands Joab to take a census of the land of Israel (much to Joab's -- and God's -- chagrin).  The census is completed after almost ten months, but God is displeased with David's actions and offers him three different choices for punishment: 1) seven years of famine over the land, 2) three months of pursuit by enemies, or 3) three days of pestilence for Israel.  David ultimately chooses the three days of pestilence with the meaningful statement, "Let us now fall into the hand of the LORD for His mercies are great, but do not let me fall into the hands of men" (2 Samuel 24:14b).

This story continues as God carries out the plague and wipes out seventy thousand men across the land (so much for that accurate census that took ten months to complete).  At the climax, an angel of the Lord comes to completely destroy the city of Jerusalem, but at the last minute God stops him: "'It is enough! Now relax your hand!' And the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite" (2 Samuel 24:16). David repents of his sin, goes up to the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, purchases the land from him, and offers up a burnt offering to the Lord as repentance for his actions.  The Lord accepts the sacrifice and holds back the remainder of the plague from the land of Israel.

Let me briefly return to the two observations I made about the Abraham-Isaac narrative.  First, Abraham's costly sacrifice of Isaac parallels David's costly sacrifice on the threshing floor of Araunah (also called Ornan) the Jebusite.  Although Araunah offers the land to David for free, David responds with the significant statement, "No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price, for I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God which have cost me nothing" (2 Samuel 24: 24).  Thus, in both stories, the point of costly sacrifice is a key element to the fabric of the story.

Next, I pointed out that Abraham's obedience led to a display of God's mercy (at the very last minute) that protected against a devastating situation.  Do we not see that same idea echoed clearly in this story of David? When David repented of his wrongdoing (and thus showed humble obedience), God relented from destroying the city of Jerusalem at the last minute and held back the remainder of the pestilence from Israel.  The parallels, in my humble opinion, are clear and profound.

Still, however, the question remains: why is it significant that these two stories have a pair of thematic parallels? The answer lies in the particular location of the stories.  I already mentioned that the Abraham-Isaac narrative took place on Mount Moriah, and we learn in 2 Chronicles chapter 3 that the threshing floor of Araunah (Ornan) was in the very same location: "Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite" (2 Chronicles 3:2).  So now these two stories not only have themes in common; they also occurred in the exact same place.

The final story I want to look at is actually one of the final stories in the Old Testament that takes place specifically on Mount Moriah, and it is mentioned in that last passage from 2 Chronicles.  The temple of Solomon was built on Mount Moriah around 957 B.C. (since the land had come into David's possession from Araunah the Jebusite).  After the temple was completed, Solomon offered up a prayer of dedication, and the Lord actually appeared to Solomon shortly afterward and confirmed that he'd heard his prayer.  The first significant statement that God makes to Solomon is this: "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice" (2 Chronicles 7:12, emphasis is mine).  Does this ring a bell? God is confirming here what was true in the stories of Abraham and David: Mount Moriah is a place where costly sacrifices should be made.  

Now, think about the second parallel observation that was made in both earlier Mount Moriah stories: in both cases, God relented from sending hardships because of the obedient hearts of his servants.  Now hear these words of God to Solomon in light of those previous observations: "If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:13-14). Again, God is confirming here what has been true for centuries before: that He will show his mercy and goodness in response to repentant, obedient hearts.

I think these discoveries were meaningful to me for two reasons.  First, it is encouraging to know that God's actions can never be contrary to His words.  God completely confirmed his previous actions with Abraham and David with his words to Solomon, and seeing that continuity is such a positive reminder that our God does not, cannot, and will not ever change.  He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

The other reason that I personally love these observations is because Mount Moriah is about a thirty minute walk from our apartment.  If I ever need a personal reminder about God's promises to his people for mercy when we come to him with obedient hearts, I can literally see a place where he has confirmed that truth three times over.  And while I know we are called to walk by faith and not by sight, I think it's acceptable to be encouraged by a visual reminder every now and again.

I applaud you if you have made it to this point in this post... I hope that these observations encourage you today, as well.