In the Christian walk we often refer to “entering the valley” and “having mountaintop experiences.” The valleys are the low points in our life, and those times in which we experience hardship and trials. King David said in Psalm 23:4, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.”
The mountaintops, which rise far above the low valleys and overlook them, are the high points in our life – those times in which things are going great and we feel as though we can soar. David declared in Psalm 72:3, “The mountains shall bring peace to the people,” and in Habakkuk 3:19 the prophet said, “The Lord God is my strength; he will make my feet like deer’s feet, and he will make me walk on my high hills [or mountains].”
Too many times it seems as though we find ourselves stuck in the middle of a valley staring up at the mountain. The mountain represents an obstacle that stands in our way; one that prohibits us from experiencing victory. This morning we are going to look at “Conquering our Mountains,” and gaining the victory over the things that can pull us down into the valley of hardship and defeat below. Our first passage of Scripture will be Deuteronomy 1:6-8.
You Have Been Here Long Enough (Deuteronomy 1:6-8)
6 “The LORD our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying: ‘You have dwelt long enough at this mountain. 7 Turn and take your journey, and go to the mountains of the Amorites, to all the neighboring places in the plain, in the mountains and in the lowland, in the South and on the seacoast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the River Euphrates. 8 See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to your fathers – to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – to give to them and their descendants after them’.”
The Lord told Israel, “You have dwelt long enough at this mountain.” The mountain in reference is Horeb. Horeb means “mountain of the dried-up ground.” “It is a general name for the whole mountain range of which [Mt.] Sinai was one of the summits . . . It is a huge mountain block, about two miles long by about one [mile] in breadth, with a very spacious plain at its north-east end, called the Er Rahah, in which the Israelites encamped for nearly a whole year.”(1) This “mountain of the dried up ground” represented an obstacle that stood in the way of the Israelites possessing the Promised Land of Canaan.
They had actually encountered this mountain numerous times throughout the years, as they were forced to wander in the wilderness for nearly forty years as punishment for fleeing a previous attempt to claim the Promised Land. Their journey should have been merely eleven days long; but because of their lack of faith, God made them wander there forty years.(2) When the Lord told them they had dwelled long enough on that mountain, he also said, “Turn and take your journey . . . go in and possess the land” (vv. 7-8). He was saying, “The time has now come for you to conquer your mountain!”
For some reason or another, there are those of us here today that just keep wandering around the same old mountain. We have an obstacle – a fear, an addition, an illness, an anger issue, or something else – standing in the path to our spiritual victory. And like the Israelites, it could be an obstacle that could be quickly hurdled and overcome if we would just face our fears, push on ahead in faith, and trust God to see us through. And the Lord is looking at some of us today and saying the same thing: “You have dwelt long enough at this mountain.” Or, as he stated in Deuteronomy 2:3, “You have skirted this mountain long enough.” It is time to move on!
Do you feel as though you are living in the shadow of “the mountain of the dried up ground?” Do you feel as if you are spiritually dried up and withering away? If so, then you must get up today and move on to greener pasture in the Promised Land. You have been where you are long enough! Go conquer your mountain! “So, how do we do this,” you might be asking? Well, pay close attention as we look at some other passages, and we’re going to find out.
Claim Victory over the Mountain (Joshua 14:9-12a)
9 So Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land where your foot has trodden shall be your inheritance and your children’s forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.’ 10 And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years, ever since the LORD spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now, here I am this day, eighty-five years old. 11 As yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in. 12 Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the LORD spoke in that day.
Right here we find Caleb speaking. Let me remind us of something. Back when Israel refused to possess the Promised Land for fear of the inhabitants, Caleb – along with Joshua – stood up and encouraged the people, and said in reference to Canaan, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it” (Numbers 13:30). But the people still refused to believe that the land could be taken, and in their lack of faith, they asked to return to Egypt (Numbers 14:1-4). That’s when the Lord sentenced them to wander in the wilderness forty years (Numbers 14: 29-34). And even though Caleb had faith and trusted in the Lord, he too had to journey with them through those long years.
Right here, we find Caleb once again standing at the border of Canaan, now more eager than ever to take what was rightfully his according to God’s promise (Exodus 3:8). He knew that he had a right to whatever God had promised, because the Lord never makes shallow promises, but He always follows though. Amen? Caleb is seen as an old man here, eighty-five years old, and yet he is prepared to fight to possess his spiritual victory. He was not ready to give up and think, “Oh well, I have lived with this obstacle for so long, that I might as well not bother.” No, he said, “Give me this mountain of which the LORD spoke in that day!” It’s mine and nothing is going to stop me from getting it!
Caleb claimed victory over his mountain. You have probably before heard someone speak about “claiming” God’s Word. To “claim” means, “to call for; to ask or seek to obtain, by virtue of authority,” or “a demand of right.”(3) Whenever we claim God’s Word over a situation, we are evoking God’s authority and demonstrating faith in God’s promise.
Whatever the promise God makes to us in His holy Word, we can lay claim to it, and utilize the Lord’s power and authority. If God makes a promise, you had better believe He can keep it, and the Lord makes many promises of spiritual victory in His Word. What we need to do is search God’s Word and find those promises that pertain to our own spiritual obstacle, or mountain, and we just need to claim our mountain as Caleb did. We need to be determined like Caleb, and speak to our own obstacle and declare, “Give me this mountain!” If God has promised us a victory, it will come to pass through our faith and action. So, I want to encourage you to reach out and claim that mountain!
Our Victory Comes through Faith (Mark 11:22-24)
22 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. 23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”
Many of us fail to overcome our mountains, or spiritual obstacles, simply because we lack the faith to do so. Bruce Wilkinson, who is author of The Prayer of Jabez, once led a conference with fifty leaders who oversee thousands of Christian workers around the world. He grouped them around seven tables and then asked them to brainstorm the three biggest reasons why we do not see God’s power released in our lives. The answer that was number one on the list was “unbelief” or “a lack of faith.”(4)
In Matthew 13:58, when Jesus came to minister in His own country, we read, “Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief,” and in Matthew 17:20 we read that the disciples could not cast out a demon because of their unbelief. If we want to see our mountains move and be cast into the sea, then we must believe it will be accomplished; and I know that’s easier said than done, but it is not going to happen until we have the faith to believe that it can. There is a song in our hymnals entitled “Faith Is the Victory.”(5) The Bible reference comes from 1 John 5:4, which says this: “And this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith.” The victory that has overcome our mountains is faith; faith in what God can and will do for us.
Our Victory Comes by the Spirit (Zechariah 4:6-7)
6 So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts. 7 ‘Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’ ”
Our victory not only comes through our faith, but by God’s Spirit. Right here, we see the mention of Zerubbabel, some kind of mountain or obstacle, and a capstone. Zerubbabel had just returned from the Babylonian exile of 587 B.C., and he found that the temple at Jerusalem lay in ruins; therefore, he felt compelled to take the responsibility of rebuilding the temple. It was a slow process, and he received much opposition to his work, ranging from mockers and a lack of resources, to orders from Babylon to cease with the project. Zerubbabel likely felt discouraged, and so he was sent a word from the Lord through the prophet Zechariah.
He was informed that the final capstone of the temple would be put in place and completed, meaning that the task of rebuilding the temple would be a success. So, how was this obstacle overcome? Not by might nor by power – not by human strength or ingenuity – but by God’s Spirit. When we step out in faith to overcome our spiritual obstacle then we receive power from the Holy Spirit. Jesus said to His disciples, and to us as well, in Acts 1:8, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” When we know and realize that we are empowered by the Holy Spirit, we can be as Zerubbabel and confidently declare, “Who are you, O great mountain? You shall become [as level as] a plain.”
Our Victory Comes through Jesus (Isaiah 40:3-4)
3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth.”
Right here we find a prophecy that refers to both John the Baptist, who prepares the way for the Messiah, and to the Messiah Himself, Jesus Christ. Jesus was the coming Messiah who had the power to create the mountains or to level them out. We should never forget that the ultimate victory over our mountains, or our spiritual obstacles, comes through Jesus Christ.
So, let me remind us that before we can obtain victory we must take a step of faith, and once we have taken that huge step then the Holy Spirit comes in to help. However, none of that is possible apart from Jesus. In John 16:33, Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Jesus has overcome the world; and for this reason we – through His power – can overcome our spiritual obstacles.
Another song that is found in our hymnal, which is very well known, is “Victory in Jesus.”(6) 1 Corinthians 15:57 declares, “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” So, let us never forget that we have victory over all of our mountains through Jesus Christ.
Time of Reflection
So, here’s the bottom line on how to overcome our mountains, or obstacles. First of all, we have to come to a point where we say, “I have dwelled long enough at this mountain! I’m tired of living in defeat, and something has got to change!” Secondly, we have to realize that God has promised us victory in His Word, and we must be determined to lay hold of that victory, and say, “Give me this mountain!” Thirdly, we have to have faith to step out on the road to the Promised Land of victory. Fourthly, we must realize that overcoming our mountains is not accomplished through our own effort, but by help from above. We normally won’t step out in faith, though, until we arrive at this conclusion. And finally, the help that comes from above comes from the Holy Spirit and from Jesus Himself, and we receive power from on high only when we decide to be obedient and follow God in faith, trusting that He will help us overcome our mountains.
For some of us here today we have a huge mountain, or obstacle, to overcome known as sin. The Bible tells us that sin is a barrier between us and God, or between us and heaven (Isaiah 59:2). Sin separates us from a close relationship with a holy God, and it prevents us from calling on the Lord when we get into trouble. Sin is also what sends us to hell and spiritual death (Romans 6:23). It is a huge mountain that we cannot overcome by ourselves. We need help, and that is why Jesus died for us.
Jesus took all of our sins on Himself when He died on the cross, and He paid the penalty for our sins, which is death. He died for us so that we don’t have to die a spiritual death in that horrible place called hell. The Bible says that He died for all those who believe in Him with all of their heart, and that if we will believe in what He did for us, and confess Him as Savior and Lord, then we will have our sins forgiven and inherit receive life (Romans 10:9-10).
NOTES
(1) M. G. Easton, Easton’s Bible Dictionary (Oak Harbor, WA: 1996) taken from Logos 2.1E on CD-ROM.
(2) Joyce Meyer, Battlefield of the Mind (Tulsa: Harrison House, 1995), p. 173.
(3) Noah Webster, 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language (San Francisco: Foundation for American Christian Education, 2002).
(4) Bruce Wilkinson, Beyond Jabez (Sisters, OR: Multnomah, 2005), pp. 127-128.
(5) John H. Yates, “Faith Is The Victory,” The Baptist Hymnal, ed. Wesley L. Forbis (Nashville: Convention Press, 1991), hymn # 413.
(6) E. M. Bartlett, “Victory in Jesus,” The Baptist Hymnal, ed. Wesley L. Forbis (Nashville: Convention Press, 1991), hymn # 426.
