JERUSALEM: Mount Moriah

The first time that Jerusalem appears in the Bible, it appears not as a city, but as a mount: Moriah. On that mount, Abraham went through his hardest test of faith…

(Genesis 22:2) He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

Abraham went to “the place of which God had told him” (Gen. 22:3) to do what God had asked him to do. Although it didn’t sound logical, Abraham believed in God and knew that the Lord had his reasons for what he was asking of him (Heb. 11:17-19; Gen. 22:8). God’s intention was to test Abraham’s faith, not that Isaac would die. In his plan, the Lord already had provided a substitute…

(Genesis 22:11-13) But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” (12) He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” (13) And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.

Abraham named that place: “Yehovah Yireh”, which means: Jehovah will see or provide. Mount Moriah is the place of the vision and the divine provision.

(Genesis 22:14) So Abraham called the name of that place, “The LORD will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”

That day, Abraham not only saw the salvation of his son Isaac, but he understood God’s plan to save the whole of humanity. Jesus mentioned this revelation that Abraham had that day:

(John 8:56) Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.”

Through this experience, Abraham received the revelation of the death of the Messiah as a substitute to all humanity (John 3:14-16). Jesus died on the cross to pay with his blood for our sins. He was our substitute, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29; 1 Peter 1:18-20). Jesus died in Jerusalem, at the same time that the High Priest was sacrificing the Passover Lamb in the Temple - all of this at the same place where Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac: Mount Moriah.

The Place of Mount Moriah

Where is Mount Moriah located? It is in Jerusalem, specifically on the Temple Mount, and it is called that because it is the exact place God set apart to build the Temple that will have His Name (2 Sam. 7:13).

(2 Chronicles 3:1) Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

David instructed his son Solomon to build the Temple specifically on Mount Moriah. David didn’t choose this place just because he fancied it, but it was the place that God himself chose.

(1 Kings 5:5) And so I intend to build a house for the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD said to David my father, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.’

During David and Solomon’s time, the Temple was in the highest part of Jerusalem, since the old city was built towards the south.

(Psalms 48:1-2) Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised in the city of our God! His holy mountain, (2) beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth, Mount Zion, in the far north, the city of the great King.

The Temple Mount was the place where the people would worship God.

TODAY: On the Temple Mount

Much history has lived on the Temple Mount, but since the Temple was destroyed by the Romans on the year 70 A.D., some could wonder what is there today…

Today, the Temple Mount is being occupied by two Islamic buildings: the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the south end, and the Dome of the Rock (where Muslims say that the rock where “Abraham was going to sacrifice Ishmael” was, according to them it wasn’t Isaac). Ironically, today in that place the name of Allah (that is not the same as Yehovah) is proclaimed day after day. What could the Lord think about this? One thing we can know for sure: there will be a day when God will not allow for this to keep happening, because on the Temple Mount only the Name of Yehovah has to be proclaimed, and no other god’s name.

(Psalm 102:15-22) Nations will fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory. (16) For the LORD builds up Zion; he appears in his glory; (17) he regards the prayer of the destitute and does not despise their prayer. (18) Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD: (19) that he looked down from his holy height; from heaven he LORD looked at the earth, (20) to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those who were doomed to die, (21) that they may declare in Zion the name of the LORD, and in Jerusalem his praise, (22) when peoples gather together, and kingdoms, to worship the LORD.

The Temple in Jerusalem will be rebuilt so that the Name of the Lord will be vindicated, lifted high and glorified by all the nations on Earth.

More articles on the Promised Land, in the page: Israel