“So,
You shall know
That I am Yahweh!
Your God!
I dwell in Zion!
My holy mountain!
Jerusalem
Shall be holy.
Strangers
Shall never again
Pass through it.”
Yahweh, via Joel, wanted them to understand that Yahweh was their God. He lived in this holy mountain, Zion. Thus, Jerusalem was to be holy. Never again would strangers pass through it. It was a great desire that was not fulfilled.
“I was speaking.
I was praying,
I was confessing my sins,
As well as the sins
Of my people Israel.
I was presenting
My supplication
Before Yahweh
My God,
On behalf
Of the holy mountain
Of my God.
While I was speaking
In prayer,
The man Gabriel,
Whom I had seen before
In the vision,
Came to me
In swift flight,
At the time
Of the evening sacrifice.”
Daniel was continuing with his prayers and supplications to Yahweh. He was confessing his sins and the sins of his people Israel. He was praying for the holy mountain of God that had been desolated. Then a man called Gabriel came flying in. Daniel said that he was the same Gabriel that was in the preceding chapter that helped Daniel interpret his vision before. There, he had the appearance of a man. Here, he is referred to as a flying man who arrived at the time of the evening sacrifice. Was this the angel Gabriel?
“Now!
O Lord!
Our God!
You brought
Your people
Out of the land
Of Egypt
With a mighty hand.
You have made
Your name
Renowned
Even to this day.
We have sinned.
We have done wickedly.
O Lord!
In view of your righteous acts,
Let your anger,
Let your wrath,
We pray,
Turn away
From your city Jerusalem,
Your holy mountain.
Because of our sins,
Because of the iniquities
Of our ancestors,
Jerusalem
With your people
Have become a disgrace
Among all our neighbors.”
Daniel continued with this prayer to God, reminding him how he had brought them out of Egypt with a mighty hand. His name was renowned. However, they had sinned and done wicked things. Thus, God, the Lord, had a righteous anger and wrath. Daniel wanted God to turn away from the holy mountain, the city of Jerusalem, because it had become a disgrace to all its neighbors. Their sins and the iniquities of their ancestors have brought disgrace to Jerusalem and its people.
“I placed you
With an anointed cherub
As a guardian.
You were
On the holy mountain
Of God.
You walked among
The stones of fire.
You were blameless
In your ways
From the day
That you were created,
Until iniquity
Was found in you.
In the abundance
Of your trade
You were filled
With violence.
You sinned.
So I cast you
As a profane thing
From the mountain
Of God.
The guardian cherub
Drove you out
From among
The stones of fire.”
Ezekiel has a variation of the Garden of Eden story, in Genesis, chapters 2-3. This time, Tyre is on a mountain of God or God’s mountain. Usually this referred to Jerusalem. This may have been a reference to the Canaanite myth about Mount Sapon, near the Turkish-Syrian border. This holy mountain had a guardian anointed cherub angel. There Tyre could walk on stones of fire. He, like Adam, was created blameless. Then iniquity came from the abundance of his trade. Tyre became violent and sinned. Then he was cast out from this mountain of God by this guardian cherub as something profane and not holy. Thus Tyre could no longer walk on the stones of fire.
“‘Before they call,
I will answer.
While they are yet speaking,
I will hear.
The wolf shall feed together
With the lamb.
The lion shall eat straw
Like the ox.
But the serpent’s food shall be dust.
They shall not hurt.
They shall not destroy anyone
On my holy mountain.’
Says Yahweh.”
Everything will be wonderful in the New Jerusalem. Yahweh, in the first person singular, says that he will answer before they call. He will hear them while they are still speaking. The wolf and the lamb would eat together, while the lions would eat straw like oxen. However, the food for the serpent would be dust. They will not hurt or destroy anyone on his holy mountain.
“Foreigners join themselves to Yahweh.
They minister to him.
They love the name of Yahweh.
They want to be his servants.
They keep the Sabbath.
They do not profane it.
They hold fast to my covenant.
‘I will bring these to my holy mountain.
I will make them joyful
In my house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings,
With their sacrifices
Will be accepted on my altar.
My house shall be called
A house of prayer
For all people.’
Thus says Yahweh God!
He gathers the outcasts of Israel.
‘I will gather others to them,
Besides those already gathered.’”
Third Isaiah keeps the universal theme alive. He has Yahweh extend a hand to the proselytes, those people who were not originally Israelites but joined their religious community. In pre-exilic times, they would have been excluded from the community. These foreigners are the ones who have joined themselves to Yahweh, the Lord. They have ministered to him and want to be his servants. They love the name of Yahweh and hold fast to his covenant. Yahweh will bring them to his holy mountain where they will be joyful in his house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be acceptable on his altars. No longer is the Temple a place for clean Israelites, but all the people are invited to Yahweh’s house of prayer. Yahweh, the Lord God, has gathered all the outcasts of Israel, but he has also gathered other believers who were not Israelites.
“On that day,
Yahweh will thresh out the grain.
O people of Israel!
You will be gathered
One by one,
From the channel of the Euphrates River
To the brooks of Egypt.
On that day,
A great trumpet will be blown.
Those who were lost
In the land of Assyria,
Those who were driven out
To the land of Egypt,
Will come.
They will worship Yahweh
On the holy mountain at Jerusalem.”
Isaiah has a return to Jerusalem after the exile. Yahweh will be the harvester. The people of Israel will be gathered one at a time from Babylon on the Euphrates River to the brooks of Egypt. On that day, the holy trumpet to call for a solemn convocation will sound. The lost in Assyria and Egypt will come home to worship Yahweh on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.
“You have given a command
To build a temple
On your holy mountain.
You have given a command
To build an altar
In the city of your habitation.
This will be a copy
Of the holy tent
That you prepared from the beginning.”
God commanded Solomon to build a temple on his holy mountain (ὄρει ἁγίῳ σου). He was to build an altar in his city of Jerusalem. This was to be a copy of the holy tent that existed from the beginning at the time of the Exodus story, chapters 25-40.
“Let Mount Zion be glad!
Let the towns of Judah rejoice
Because of your judgments!
Walk about Zion!
Go all around it!
Count its towers!
Consider well its ramparts!
Go through its citadels!
Thus you may tell the next generation
That this is God,
Our God forever and ever.
He will be our guide forever.”
The psalm ends with a demand that the people appreciate Mount Zion. The towns of Judah should rejoice because of God’s judgments. The psalmist wanted everyone to walk all around Mount Zion. He wanted them to count the towers, see the ramparts, and walk through the various fortresses. Then they would be able to tell the next generation about God. This seems to imply that there was some kind of special presence of God at this holy mountain. Normally, they would say the presence of the name of Yahweh, but here it is God directly, who was there eternally, forever and ever as a permanent guide.
“Then Yahweh said to Moses, ‘I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, in order that the people may hear when I speak with you and so trust you ever after.’ When Moses had told the words of the people to Yahweh, Yahweh said to Moses, ‘Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes and prepare for the third day, because on the third day Yahweh will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. You shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Be careful not to go up the mountain or to touch the edge of it. Any who touches the mountain shall be put to death. No hand shall touch them, but they shall be stoned or shot with arrows. Whether animal or human being, they shall not live. When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they may go up on the mountain.’ So Moses went down from the mountain to the people. He consecrated the people. They washed their clothes. He said to the people, ‘Prepare for the third day. Do not go near a woman.’”
Yahweh told Moses that he was going to come in a dense cloud. The people could hear him but not see him. Moses was told to consecrate the people and have them wash their clothes to prepare for the third day, when Yahweh would come down upon Mount Sinai. They have certain limitations and restrictions. They could not go up the mountain or to touch it. The men could not touch women. If they touched the mountain they would be put to death. No hand would touch them, but they would be stoned or shot with arrows. However, when the trumpet sounded a long blast, they could go up the mountain. Moses conveyed this to the people. Yahweh has very clear strict regulations about purifying themselves and if they failed to follow them, they would die. Notice that the killing by stoning and arrows meant that you did not kill with your own hands, but used materials to kill them.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 