Calvary’s Mountain
Study Guide, April 13, 2025
Pastor Clay Olsen
One of the countless wonders of the Bible is how so many things are all tied together…linked together relationally and prophetically. Why, how remarkable that even the Mountains are linked together in wondrous ways. Many people are kind of surprised by how mountainous the land of Isreal really is. From the plains near the Mediterranean Sea the land starts rising up to the foothills, called ‘the Shephelah’, and on up to the mountain chain. In the North is Mount Hermon, the highest of the mountains…almost 10,000 feet above sea level.
And, although some traditions identify Mount Tabor as the Mount of Transfiguration, where the Church of the Transfiguration was built, still many believe it was on Mount Hermon where this took place. Matt 17:1-6- “Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!” NASU
It’s been pointed out how common to many Peter’s response was of, basically, ‘when in doubt, say something!’ Whoops…More appropriate is ‘when in doubt…don’t’…just ‘don’t!’ And yet, how kind of the Father to essentially just say, “Peter, this is the time to listen to My Son…not to talk.”
But, also, this is where we get a glimpse into the fact that the recognition of others from Heaven, and in Heaven, is given to us, like a ‘gift of recognizing others’, as Peter had never seen Moses or Elijah, but he recognized who they were! We will recognize them, too, along with the recognition of all the family of Heaven! That’s exciting.
And Mount Hermon is also the headwaters of the Jordan River. And at the time of Jesus the Greeks had carved shrines into the mountainside of their god, Pan, the so-called god of nature and of the wild kingdom. There was even a cave or pit there that, ironically enough, was referred to as ‘the Gates of Hades’, where these ‘gods’ could come and go. And either directly or indirectly it was nearby that Jesus declared to His disciples: Matt 16:18- “I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” NKJV Of course we know that this declaration was against all the powers of the devil and evil.
About one hundred miles south of Mount Hermon is Mount Megiddo. This area was originally occupied by the Canaanites before the Israelites were granted those lands. It is also located near its famous valley, the valley of Jezreel, or the valley of Megiddo, or as we see it in the culmination of the battles at the end of the Great Tribulation that takes place in this Battle of Armageddon. This place had been the scene of many Old Testament battles, and it becomes the very battle place of demonic and rebellious human forces against the Second Coming of Jesus Christ…which, of course, is futile. Ironically enough, even Napoleon is to have said that this Valley of Jezreel was the finest place in the world for a great battle. It will be the last battle on Earth before the Millennial reign of Christ upon the Earth. Rev 16:13-16- “And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs; for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty…And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.” NASU
Less than twenty miles from Mount Megiddo is Mount Carmel. The whole area is now referred to as Mount Carmel National Park. How great is that?! Here in America so many are trying to discredit the reality of the Bible and its people and its places, while in Israel, Biblical places are the national parks of the country! Even Biblical people are their national heroes! America could learn something from them about that!
When we were traveling around Israel, we came upon this on the top of Mount Carmel: [show statue of Elijah] This is the site of the defeat of the prophets of Baal through God’s prophet of Elijah! Plus, what a spiritual rush to be in the same place where this and so many other real Biblical people once lived in real Biblical places.
Speaking of Old Testament heroes, this hero once stood upon this mountain and looked over the Promised Land. This is Mount Nebo. Mount Nebo is also near the Dead Sea, which is the lowest place on Earth, some 1400 feet below sea level. And, of course, the saltiest of the Seas. How salty? Well, the salt content of the Ocean is about 4%. But the salt content of the Dead Sea is 33%! I remember just floating in the Dead Sea, like a bobber on a fishing line…it was the strangest feeling. But you remember, nearing the end of their forty years of wandering, the Israelites came to the Desert of Zin. There was no water, and the community turned against Moses and Aaron. God told Moses and Aaron to gather the assembly and speak to the rock. Water would come forth. Moses took the staff and gathered the men. Then, seemingly in anger, Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” Then Moses struck the rock twice with his staff (Numbers 20:10–11). Of course, water came from the rock, as God had promised, but God immediately told Moses and Aaron that, because they failed to glorify Him and to honor Him as holy, they would not bring the children of Israel into the Promised Land.
Notice again…here is another example of the sometimes-sad consequences of forgiven sin. Although we can receive forgiveness of sin, there may be consequences that follow. Also, whenever we take credit, or the glory that belongs to God alone, it sets harsh consequences into motion. Yet, also notice God’s goodness…for now, after all these years, here now is Moses, on the Mount of Transfiguration, talking with Jesus in the Promised Land.
Soon after that, Jesus was on another Mountain…called the Mount of Olives. The Mount of Olives is across from the temple mount. It’s about a half mile away, across the Kidron Valley. On the side of it is a Jewish Cemetery that is still used. The hillside is covered with stone tombs…many with small stones on them, as the stones are placed on them as signs of love, just like flowers here are placed on gravesites. We were told that those buried there are placed with their feet facing the Temple Mount, so when the resurrection comes, they will just stand up and enter Jerusalem. We pray that many there are those who had received Jesus, Yeshua, as their Messiah, and were spiritually resurrected before the final resurrection occurs.
Also, from that hillside came the most famous ride in all of history…a ride that was first foretold by Moses. Gen 49:10-11- “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from his descendants, until the coming of the one to whom it belongs, the one whom all nations will honor. He ties his foal to a grapevine, the colt of his donkey to a choice vine. He washes his clothes in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.” NLT This prophecy of the coming Messiah to rule, with even His ride on a colt of a donkey, was written some 1500 years before Christ came to Earth. And another Prophet, Zechariah, was written some 500 years before the event of this famous prophecy: Zech 9:9- “Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your King is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet He is humble, riding on a donkey—riding on a donkey’s colt.” NLT
And exactly as Zechariah prophesied, on what we call ‘Palm Sunday’ Matthew records: Matt 21:4-5- “All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: “Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.'” 8-9- “And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Hosanna in the highest!” NKJV
But soon after the celebration of the King came the suffering of the Messiah. For on this Mount also was a garden, which we know of as ‘The Garden of Gethsemane.’ Matt 26:36-38- “Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with Me.” NLT And that soon led to another mountain. It was originally known as Mount Moriah.
This was the mountain where Abraham offered a symbolic sacrifice. And where God stayed Abraham’s hand from offering his son Isaac, God would later not stay His hand from offering up His Son, Jesus. For only through Jesus’ offering could any of us, anyone ever, have any hope of forgiveness and eternal life. And Mount Moriah also took on another name…a name we find over 100 times in the Bible…Zion, or Mount Zion, meaning ‘the holy place’. It was renamed after David captured the city of Jebus, of the Jebusites, which became ‘The City of David’, and also ‘Jerusalem.’ And while the whole Temple Mount is thought of as Mount Zion, just outside the city, part of the mountain took on another name. Luke 23:33- “And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.” KJV
Calvary is the Latin translation of the word ‘Golgotha’, which is from the word ‘calvaria’, meaning ‘place of the skull.’ They called it this due to the shape of the hill that apparently reminded people of a human skull. And, again, it was ‘outside the city.’ Why outside the city? Not only did the Romans use the high grounds for their public crucifixions, but even more, it was not only the practice of how the sacrificial animals were treated throughout the times of the Old Testament, but it was also to fulfill the prophecy of Jesus’ sacrifice. Lev 4:12- “…and carry it away to a place outside the camp that is ceremonially clean, the place where the ashes are dumped. There, on the ash heap, he will burn it on a wood fire.” NLT
That is what we find in the explanation of Jesus’ sacrifice for us as explained in Heb 13:10-14- “We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore, Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.” NASU The writer to the Hebrews draws the parallel with the ritual where the bodies of sacrificed animals are taken outside the city, especially on the day of atonement.
When Jesus was taken outside the city, the Jewish leaders thought they were cleansing the city of blasphemous impurity. But the reality was just the opposite. As Jesus was taken out of the city to be crucified, He was taking their impurity on Himself, and so deflecting God’s judgment away from God’s people and on to Himself.
So think about it: In reality, not only among these mountains of Israel, but even among the mountains of all the world, the highest mountain on Earth, in spiritual significance, is Mount Calvary. It was here that the highest Prophet prophesied: John 12:32-33- “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself. But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die.” NASU Jesus fulfilled hundreds of prophecies about His life and about His sacrificial death…His undeserved sacrificial death, for His death was for the atonement of the sins of those made in the image of God, but who were deserving of judgment for their trespasses and sins against God.
It was here, on Mount Calvary, that the Highest Priest, provided the lamb sacrifice for our sins, and then became the sacrificial Lamb of God. As John the Baptist declared: John 1:29- “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! NASU As we have pointed out before, that was the first time that this was said of a sin sacrifice, for the ceremonial sacrifices could never take away sins…they could only temporarily cover them. But Jesus’ sacrifice took our sins away, in removing the penalty of our sins and providing for forgiveness of our sins.
And it was here on Mount Calvary that the Highest King humbled Himself: Phil 2:5-8- “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” NASU
On Calvary’s Mountain, our Creator sacrificed His life so that we could be spared an eternal spiritual death and be given eternal spiritual life. ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Hosanna in the highest, indeed!