Mountains are used symbolically in the Bible.They represent something that is overwhelming, cumbersome,difficult to solve,mysterious,obstructing the path etc.Most times all these are not necessarily evil as most people assume.For example,many of the prophecies of the Old testament were depicted as mountains!

“Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain”-Isaiah 40:4

Until recently,I was used to thinking this Scripture was talking about problematic areas of our lives becoming level ground…Hahaha…We grow and learn daily!

Rather,Isaiah was talking about the promises of God concerning the coming of the Messiah.He said the mountain-looking promise will soon be made low,that is,it will be demystified!The mysteries of this promise will be solved and their true meaning will be discovered.You see,there are some prophecies that are hard nut to crack in the Old Testament(Isaiah,Jeremiah,Daniel,Hosea,Joel,Amos,Obadiah,Jonah,Nahum,Habakkuk etc).Up till now,you can’t fully understand all these prophecies (just like the Ethiopian Eunuch) without the Holy Spirit illumination.

Little wonder when the ministry of John the Baptist started,Dr Luke reminded us of this same verse:

“During the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:”A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.
Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill made low…“-Luke 3:2-5

In other words,He was saying John the Baptist needed to pave the way for the person that would demystify the prophecies of Isaiah: “All those far-fetched promises would be made simple and plain by Christ”.Halleluyah.

Having understood the point above,let’s now continue from where we ended our discussion on Wednesday (Read part 1 here for better understanding):

“He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move.Nothing will be impossible for you”-Matt 17:20

This mountain is different from the one I explained above.This mountain symbolises something different.This type of mountain obstructs the way.It blocks the forward movement of the elect therefore it needs to be transported from one place to another for easy navigation.Such were the mountains before the Israelites along their way to the promised land:

“When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language;Judah was his sanctuary, and Israel his dominion.The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back.The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs”- Psalm 114:1-4

I had to consult the dictionary to recheck the meaning of the word ‘skip’.I found two important definitions:

1)To make a small jump after each step…For example,a ram skips after being threatened by a dog.It jumps up,becomes airborne for a moment,and lands in a different spot…that is skipping.

As rams skip when they are threatened by a dog,mountains skip when faith shows up! Mountains are uprooted,they jump up with their roots,become airborne,and land in another spot ,paving way for the elect to move forward.Halleluyah

2)To not do something that you usually do or that you should do:This definition is deep! A level 12 civil servant is supposed to move to level 13.If such person is promoted to level 14…that is skipping!

Mountains are supposed to be stationary.They are immobile.They don’t move.Mount Hermos,the one Jesus Christ pointed to in this text is an immobile structure.However,when faith is applied,mountains must ‘misbehave’! They must do the unusual.They must do what naturally is not in their nature:They skip!

Time is fast spent…By tomorrow(Sunday morning) we shall look at the reasons the mountain did not skip for the nine disciples.What was unique about that mountain? What was needed to make the mountain skip?

Till then,I pray that every mountain-like promise of God in your life will be demystified and every mountain-like problem will skip like rams before you.Amen