Isaiah 2:2a
©️2020 Gloria M. Chang
Vision of Paradise Amidst Destruction
“Your country is waste, your cities burnt with fire,” the prophet Isaiah rails in the opening chapter of his scroll (1:7a). Judah and Jerusalem are riddled with injustice, hypocrisy, murder, thievery, rebellion, and every sort of corruption. Yet the Lord does not abandon his people.
In days to come,
Isaiah 2:2
The mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain
and raised above the hills.
With piercing vision beyond the smoke of destruction, the prophet beholds Mount Zion, the mountain of the Lord, rising above the rubble.
The Mountain of the Lord
The theme of the mountain of the Lord spans the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation. Blossoming at the summit, the Garden of Eden is the source of a single stream of water that divides into four rivers flowing over the entire earth (Genesis 2:6-14). The prophet Ezekiel also envisions the creation of adam (humankind) in Eden, on the mountain of the Lord (Ezekiel 28:13-14).
St. Ephrem the Syrian, a fourth-century patristic poet familiar with the sources of Judaism, composed his Hymns on Paradise according to the image of a mystic mountain.
With the eye of my mind
St. Ephrem the Syrian, Hymns on Paradise I.4 (trans. Sebastian Brock)
I gazed upon Paradise;
the summit of every mountain
is lower than its summit…
Revelation on a Mountain
In the book of Revelation, a vision of the new Jerusalem, the bride and wife of the Lamb, is given to John by an angel atop a mountain:
He took me in spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. It gleamed with the splendor of God. Its radiance was like that of a precious stone, like jasper, clear as crystal.
Revelation 21:10-11
The House of the Lord
The “mountain” of the Lord is equally the “house” of the Lord, another oft-recurring symbol throughout Scripture. Both images draw us into the dwelling and presence of God.
One thing have I asked of the Lord,
Psalm 27:4 (RSV)
that will I seek after;
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the Lord,
and to inquire in his temple.
“Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord!”
Responsorial Psalm 122 in the Lectionary for Mass
Traditional Chinese Translation
《主耶和華的山，第 1 天》
末後的日子，耶和華殿的
必堅立，超乎諸山，高舉過於萬嶺。
Dear GMC, your garden reflections bring to life the joy and peace I feel while waiting and watching for the birth of our Lord. Thank you!
Dear GMC, Thank you for a beautiful reflection that restores the joy of our salvation. Dear Jesus, we ask for you to fill our souls with light, making us lanterns of faith, love, and peace this Advent season and beyond.
I have climbed many mountains in the Catskills, NH White range, the Vermont Green, the Austrian. Switzerland, French and German Alps. I’ve rejoiced in the beautiful vistas granted me when reaching the tops. Thinking that the mountain of God will afford me a vision most beautiful of all the earth. For a turbulent time of transition in my life I was guided by a humble Jesuit, Willam Mountian, S.J. who helped me through the valleys up to the mountains. May my vision remain clear to see the big Picture. Too often I’m trapped in myopic sight. Thank you for these meaningful reflections.
You’ve had wonderful experiences. May the mountain of the Lord continually draw you.