Faith that moves mountains and trees.

Need answers said:

Perhaps the mountain represents our sin? What mountain becomes a plain?

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Even the righteous kings of Judah were said to allow worship of YHVH to continue "at the high places".
Jesus concludes the Sermon on the Mount with:
Matthew 7:
24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
What I see is even people who desire to know God, have built a mountain of religion to worship on, "a high place", instead of on the sure foundation of Christ.
Amos 6:1. Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!
Micah 1:6. Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof.

Need answers said:

What mountain becomes a plain?

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A plain?

A mountain is a barrier that divides one group from another. Since the Lord is making all one the dividing walls must be brought down.

"And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. 6And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you." Lk 17:5

I think the way to properly understand this is the disciples thought they had a certain need of which they were sadly lacking.....but Jesus pointed out to them they weren't really when it came to faith....THEY HAD FAITH. Again they asked Jesus to increase it. Jesus comes back with a question not really asked as a question....but do YOU have ANY faith at all??? Their response would be, "Of course we do! We have a little but we want you to increase it" So I'd ask readers here....do you have ANY faith at all? I'm sure if you're a Christian you'd say YES, but it's many times small too.

And that's the point. The thing Jesus pointed out isn't how much you have BUT.....understanding how to put the faith you've got in motion. So Jesus was meaning....even you would be saying you've got small faith and want more (as in Lord increase our faith) What you really need to have is an understanding of how to release the faith you've got! You've got little....or so even you claim....well then USE IT. When you use even the little bit of faith that even you would assume you have then I'm telling you it will go great and mighty things.

And Jesus was saying if you're claiming to have any faith at all....even though it be small.....then you'll release that faith in the way that I've said....by YOU taking authority over things In My Name.....the process is simply believe in your heart which you already do for you know of my kind gracious character but also say with your mouth....for with the heart man believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Yes confession and words are involved even though many it seems like to make light of that message today. It is however what Jesus said. And the mountain, or tree....it's merely a metaphor for whatever problem you may be facing.

I'd like to add another thought about this. When the disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith....that wasn't necessary a request that please Jesus. Oh he know that they meant well and didn't quite understand but consider this. You have a friend. Maybe a loved one. You say to them certain things. You say I'm going to be at your house at 3 pm and take you out shopping. They respond by saying....Well look I know that you said you'll come and do this....but I have such little faith that you'll do it! Increase my faith in you that you'll keep your word. Sorry but I don't have much."

How would you feel if a friend said that? Wasn't your word good enough? If they said they don't have much faith in you....oh they have some...but not much....wouldn't you feel insulted? So Jesus was saying if you have even a small amount of faith in my credibility (even a mustard seed size) you'll find that it pays off.....having faith in my creditably will accomplish great things. Like move mountains. And consider this....there's a difference between true humility and that which is false. If I said I have great faith in God one might say I'm being arrogant.

Nope. That's true humility. When one says I have such small faith in God that's the opposite of humility. That's doubting his integrity. The Bible says we're to walk in the footsteps of faithful Abraham and he told us what great faith is.....it's merely hearing what God says and giving glory to God with thanksgiving regardless of what the natural mind says. Rom 4

Bobber said:

And consider this....there's a difference between true humility and that which is false

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James 4:10. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
You will only know that you have shown True humility when the Lord as lifted you up 'in due time'.
1 Peter 5:6. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.

Need answers said:

Why do the the gospels of Matthew and Mark use the word mountain instead of tree like Luke does? (Matthew 17:20, Matthew 21:21 and Mark 11:23)

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Because they recount different events.

Also, and this is my main question, what does a tree and a mountain represent in the bible? Its hard for me to believe God would actually give us faith that could move mountains. I suspect that maybe the Lord was using symbolism here. But i'm really not sure.

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While Saint Simon the Tanner did literally move a mountain, the symbolical mountain (in this instance*) that we are called to move through our faith in Jesus Christ, is the will of the flesh. Just like a mountain (a heap of earth) makes difficult the journey from one side to the other, the sinful lusts of our body (made of dust from the earth) obstruct our way to heaven.

As a side note, the mulberry (sycamore) tree produces a kind of fig that although edible, it is hard and tasteless. Such was the bodily observance of the Jewish Law, which through our faith in Jesus Christ, we can relocate (or baptize) in the sea of the Gospel, the more perfect knowledge of God.

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* Objects generally have more than one property and function, so their symbolic meaning can vary: context is important.

Minister Monardo said:

James 4:10. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
You will only know that you have shown True humility when the Lord as lifted you up 'in due time'.
1 Peter 5:6. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.

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There's many ways to answer how one can show humility BUT in the context of what we're talking about true humility is taking the word of God and just boldly asserting one believes it and that they'll act upon it. Israel in the OT grieved God continually for they were slow to believe and act on his word.

Need answers said:

Why do the the gospels of Matthew and Mark use the word mountain instead of tree like Luke does? (Matthew 17:20, Matthew 21:21 and Mark 11:23)

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Maybe it is because Jesus told similar story several times and Luke wrote about that case when Jesus said what Luke tells.

Need answers said:

Also, and this is my main question, what does a tree and a mountain represent in the bible? Its hard for me to believe God would actually give us faith that could move mountains. I suspect that maybe the Lord was using symbolism here. But i'm really not sure.

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I believe, if you can do it to a tree, you can do it also to a mountain.

Here's one tree that is puzzling. Is it God or nature?



"The sight of a "Jesus Christ" figure on a tree trunk has led to dozens of locals breaking the coronavirus lockdown to see it just days before the Easter period.

Footage taken in the town of Magangue in Bolivar, Colombia, shows a large group gathering around the tree.

They can be seen taking photos of it as cameraman and journalist Rafael Rodriguez says: “Dozens of people are gathered here.

“They are here to see the figure of what they say or believe is the figure of Christ, they have forgotten about coronavirus and are currently here looking at this figure.”

What appears to be a figure like Jesus can be seen on the tree trunk. The branch formation even gives the impression the figure is hanging on the cross."

I didn't want to start a thread on it, but thought it was interesting. Found it when discussing God and nature. I saw a Better Call Saul season 5 episode with a Christ sighting, but it was a fake done by Saul. This one is natural I think.

'Figure of Jesus' appears in tree days before Easter as crowds snub lockdown

Need answers said:

Why do the the gospels of Matthew and Mark use the word mountain instead of tree like Luke does? (Matthew 17:20, Matthew 21:21 and Mark 11:23)

Also, and this is my main question, what does a tree and a mountain represent in the bible? Its hard for me to believe God would actually give us faith that could move mountains. I suspect that maybe the Lord was using symbolism here. But i'm really not sure.

Click to expand...

In this instantance (though this is everywhere in scripture) the mountain is what Paul referred to as answering to Jerusalem which now is ... the tree symbolically goes back to Genesis, to a fig tree whoses leaves they covered themselves with. But as I said this stuff is everywhere, and is relational to the process happening in us.