A Place Called Moriah       

   Earlier this week we noted that buildings, ceremonies, persons and places are no substitute for worship of the One and only, the sacrificial Lamb of God. 

   However, God had a certain place in mind as he began unfolding his plan for redemption. To Abraham, he said:

   Take your son to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice a burnt offering there. Sacrifice him there.

   Where is the lamb? Isaac asked. God will provide, his father promised. 

Genesis 22:1-18

   King David had disobeyed God. He saw a terrifying angel wielding a sword. An angel sent word to David to build an altar on the threshing floor of Araunah, on Moriah.  

   David approached Araunah. Let me have the site ... and he offered to pay full price. He sacrificed burnt offerings, and fire fell from heaven. 

   The angel stood down. David declared, The house of the Lord God will be here, and he made preparations for the temple.

1 Chronicles 21: 14-30

   David's son Solomon began to build the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father, David. It was on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, the place provided by David. 

2 Chronicles 3:1-2

   Eventually, Babylonians destroyed Solomon's temple, and Romans destroyed its replacement. Today, Moriah is a Muslim holy place. God's story is not finished. Can you find the "holy mountain" in Isaiah 66?