Mount Moriah
Mount Moriah was the location of two events in the Old Testament. First, it was the mountain on which God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac as a burnt offering (Gen. 22). From Abraham’s home in Beersheba to Mount Moriah was a three-day journey, and Abraham took the journey with Isaac and two servants in obedience to God’s shocking command to kill his own son. Isaac was the child God had promised to Abraham as part of his covenant promise, the child for whom Abraham had waited so many years. This sacrifice was no small thing for Abraham, but he was trusting that God would fulfill his promises even when all human hope was lost. He even expressed the belief that perhaps God would raise Isaac from the dead, even though no similar event had ever taken place. Hebrews 11:19 explains, “Abraham believed that God could bring Isaac back from the dead. Abraham did receive Isaac back from the dead in a figurative sense.”
A Place of Faith
Abraham got as far as tying up Isaac, placing him on the altar, and raising his arm to kill his only son before an angel stopped him and God said, “Do not lay a hand on the boy. . . . Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you did not refuse to give me your son, your only son” (Gen. 22:12). God then provided a ram to be the sacrifice, and “Abraham named that place The LORD Will Provide. It is still said today, ‘On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided’ ” (Gen. 22:14). The Hebrew word ra’ah means “to see, provide, or appear,” and the ending -iah is a shortened form of the name of the Lord (also yah). God had seen Abraham’s obedience and his need, and he provided the sacrifice himself. He also renewed and expanded his covenant promise to Abraham on the mountain.
Today the Dome of the Rock marks the place where the second temple stood.
A Place of Worship
Mount Moriah later became the location of Solomon’s temple. The site had been the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite (1 Chron. 21; named Araunah the Jebusite in 2 Sam. 24:18). God appeared to David on the mountain, and then David purchased the threshing floor from Ornan and built an altar there. His son Solomon later built the temple on the site. Most scholars place this at the same location as Abraham’s sacrifice, while others think they are two different places. The link between the temple and Abraham’s sacrifice makes the location of the temple all the more significant because it was the place where God provided the sacrifice, just as he would later do through Christ. The temple’s location foreshadowed the ultimate, once-for-all sacrifice that God would provide.
Abraham was willing to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice on Mount Moriah, proving his faith in God.
Mount Moriah was the place where God met his people. First he met Abraham there, and later he met David there—both fathers of the Jewish faith. For this reason, the mountain became a symbol for the relationship between God and his people. God asked his people for complete obedience, and in return he provided for their salvation and made a way for them to be in relationship with him. On the mountain, God saw his people and met their needs abundantly through his sacrifice and covenant promises.
Key Verse
Abraham named that place The LORD Will Provide. It is still said today, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.” (Gen. 22:14)