Portland Mount Tabor

Mount Tabor

The Portland Mount Tabor was named after Israel’s Mount Tabor, which is approximately 1750 feet above sea level. It is located six miles east of Nazareth, and ten miles south of the Sea of Galilee. In one entry, the Portland Mount Tabor was called an “extinct” volcano, and in another, it was called a “dormant” volcano. Now there is a difference in normal language, but in volcano language, because dormant can also mean inactive, they may mean the same thing. Extinct means no longer active. Dormant means a suspension of activity, inactive, or asleep. I favor dormant as a more apt spiritual description. According to one Internet entry, it is one of two dormant volcanoes in the Continental US; the other one is in Bend.

I cannot seem to locate an entry that clearly gives the elevation of the Portland Mount Tabor. There is one site that talks about certain kinds of volcanic rocks that are found at 1700 feet. Mount Tabor is listed as one of those places. If that is so, then it is very close to the altitude of the Mount Tabor in Israel. The cone shape of the mountain is also very similar. One entry said that the “bulk of the mountain is made up of Mio-Pliocene Troutdale gravels…” That is an interesting connection.

In the Word of God, the majority of the scriptures that refer to Mount Tabor are in the story of Deborah and Barak. That may be a story to seriously study in order to understand God’s battle plan for Portland.

Elements of the story to consider:

· The combined leadership of Deborah and Barak.

Barak would not go into battle without Deborah, because he knew that she heard the LORD. Although some have made him appear foolish or weak because of his choice, which tells us a great deal about how most folks view the value of women, he is listed in the hall of faith in Hebrews 11:30, with Gideon and Samuel and Samson and David …men who “subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouth of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to fight the armies of aliens.”

· The song that Deborah and Barak sang together…“When the leaders lead in Israel, when the people willingly offer themselves…Bless the LORD!” “Awake Deborah, and utter a song. Arise Barak and lead your captives away.” “They fought from the heavens…” And more.

· The meaning of their names…”honeybee” and” lightening.”

· The fact that the troops were first deployed or gathered on Mount Tabor, and then went down to fight the battle on the plain between Mount Tabor and the Kishon River.

· In I Chronicles 12:32, it is said of the sons of Issachar that they had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do.” In Deborah and Barak’s song, the tribe of Issachar is highlighted…“and the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; as Issachar, so was Barak.” This implies a kind of wisdom and understanding that is essential in order to know what the LORD is saying about this work.

· The third woman involved, who delivers the actual deathblow to Sisera, is actually a defector…a hidden traitor in the enemy’s camp.

Joshua 19:22…the fourth lot of land was given to the tribe of Issachar “and its border reached to Tabor.” Mt Tabor is situated on the Northern border of the land of Issachar. Its eastern border is the Jordan River, and its western border is the Kishon River.

Judges 4:6…Deborah sent for Barak and told him that the LORD had said, “Go and deploy troops at Mount Tabor and take with you ten thousand men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun, and against you I will deploy Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army…and I will deliver him into your hand.” Note who is deploying in both cases!

Judges 4:12…it is reported to Sisera that Barak had gone up to Mt Tabor. It is certain that the forces of darkness know that we went up to Mt Tabor.

Judges 4:14…”Then Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day in which the LORD has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has the LORD not gone out before you? So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him.” Deborah knows the voice and the plan of God, but Barak leads the way, and the troops follow.

Psalm 89:11-18…”The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours. The world and all its fullness, You have founded them. The north and the south, You have created them. Tabor and Hermon rejoice in Your Name. You have a mighty arm; strong is Your hand, and high is Your right hand. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne. Mercy and truth go before Your Face. Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! They walk, O LORD, in the light of Your countenance. In Your Name they rejoice all day long. And in Your righteousness they are exalted. For You are the glory of their strength, and in Your favor our horn is exalted. For our shield belongs in the LORD, and our king to the Holy One of Israel.”

Of all the mountains that the psalmist could have chosen, why did he choose Mt Tabor and Mt Hermon? Mt Hermon is the highest mountain in Israel, and the only one that is majestically covered with snow. In the natural, it is an obvious choice. Mount Tabor is not such an obvious choice, unless one considers its prophetic link to the transfiguration of Jesus.

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Because honey has been such a prominent and confirmed theme in regards to the announcement on Mount Tabor, I think it is very serious that Deborah’s name means honeybee. There are 21 references in the Word that call the Promised Land “a land flowing with milk and honey.” Following are some scriptures that may be relevant:

Exodus 16:31…”And the house of Israel called its name Manna. And it was like white coriander seed, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.”

Leviticus 2:11…“No grain offering which you bring to the LORD shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey in any offering to the LORD made by fire.”

Deuteronomy 32:13…”As an eagle stirs up it nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, taking them up, carrying them on its wings, so The LORD alone led him (Israel), and there was no foreign god with him. He made him ride in the heights of the earth, that he might eat the produce of the fields; He made him draw honey from the rock, and oil from the flinty rock.”

Judges 4…the story of Samson and the honey in the lion carcass. Rather an enigma for me…a Nazirite vow, a lion carcass, an unfaithful woman, a nest of bees, honeycomb that Samson eats and shares with his potential in-laws, a riddle that I do not understand. I can honestly say I don’t get how this fits.

Psalm 81:16…“He would have fed them also with the finest of wheat; and with honey from the rock I would have satisfied you.”

Isaiah 7:15… “Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good.” In this context, curds may very well mean curdled milk as in foul tasting, and not curdled milk as in yogurt.

Matthew 3:3… “Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.”