Mountains and Streams by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Sep 20, 1899

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 25, No. 38.

Mountains and Streams.

By Editor

There is nothing of earth in nature which brings to the mind of the thoughtful and reflective, such sublimity, and grandeur, and elevation of thought, as the great mountains and flowing streams of pure, sparkling water. They are emblematic of the great and the good. They speak of God and His power; and, for this reason, we have no apology to make for our first-page illustration, from the beautiful Yosemite.

Mountains are suggestive of strength, endurance, majesty, exaltation. Their mighty, rugged base seems as tho they could never be moved. Ages come and go, kingdoms rise and fall, cities are built and decay, men and races live and die; but the strong, mighty mountain endures, the very personification of stability and strength. What a symbol of true exaltation is the high mountain, with its snow and cloud-crowned crest! The eagle soars above it; the balloon ascends higher than its loftiest peak; but these are so unstable, so without foundation, that they inspire no sublime, exalted feeling. But the height of the mountain speaks of solid exaltation; a lifting up toward God, with a solid foundation underneath. It suggests a purer atmosphere, high above the fetid air of pestilential swamps and festering lagoons and noisome cities. The mountain means a larger, more comprehensive view, wherein the little local affairs of our own little vale mean less and do not hide from our view other matters equally great or infinitely worthier. The mountains lift to a "purer air and grander view."

God has usually chosen to commune with His servants in the mountains. It was in Mount Moriah where God met with Abraham, and where the old patriarch received his crowning blessing. Here also was built the temple of the Lord. It was to Horeb, "the mountain of God," that the Lord called His people. Upon one of its peaks, Sinai, He condescended to manifest His glory and presence. Up into this mount He twice called Moses, and communed with this "man of God" forty days and nights. To this mountain Elijah fled from the wicked Ahab, and spent twice twoscore days and nights with his God. Then there are the mountains connected with our blessed Lord—the Mount of Temptation, the Mount of Blessing, the Mounts of Prayer, the Mount of Transfiguration, the Mount of Calvary, where Jesus shed His blood, and Olivet, whence He ascended to heaven, and Zion above to which He returned, and where His throne is established. O the mountains of God, made blessed by associations with the Divine. Thus has Inspiration spoken of Mount Zion, the eternal mountain of God, in type and antitype:—

"Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, In the city of our God, in His holy mountain. Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, Is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, The city of the great King."

"Let Mount Zion be glad, Let the daughters of Judah rejoice, Because of Thy judgments. Walk about Zion, and go round about her; Tell the towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, Consider her palaces; That ye may tell it to the generation following. For this God is our God forever and ever; He will be our Guide even forevermore."

And Streams.

Mountains are suggestive of streams. The dead, level countries know no gushing springs, no swift, purling brooks, no clear, beautiful rivers. The plain is often parched and bare, when from the mountainside flow fountains of life and fertility. Water is typical not only of both of these, but of cleansing and peace. What makes sweeter music than the patter of the rain upon the roof, the babbling of the purling brook over the pebbles and stones and rocks? what grander than the rush of mighty waters over the stupendous cliff, the roar of Niagara, "the sound of many waters," like the voice of God?

The Spirit of God is symbolized by water. "I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and streams upon the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine offspring; and they shall spring up among the grass, as willows by the watercourses." "He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believed on Him were to receive."

Those that believe on Christ are thus like the mountains. The mountain top catches the clouds, the dew, the outpourings of rain, the snow. It becomes saturated, filled with the moisture, a reservoir of refreshing, life-giving liquid. Far down the mountainside, perhaps at its very foot, or far away in the valley, gushes out a great spring of pure, clear water, the source of a cool, clear stream that flows on and on, an emblem of cleansing and life, a picture of ever-increasing usefulness and peace.

These imperfect notes are but weakly suggestive of a wealth of scripture and reference in the Word of God to these great works of nature. God would have us learn the blessed lessons of strength and power, of life and blessing and peace. He would have us look beyond the mountains of earth, which will be broken and removed, to the great mountain of God's righteousness and strength. When He speaks out of Zion, all of earth will be shaken; all of sin will be removed forever. But he who puts his trust in God will be unmoved, like Mount Zion above, the eternal throne of the Most High. For "they that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which can not be removed, but abideth forever." Live in the high mountain with God. Drink of the cool, pure waters of Life's Lebanon.