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6 The Mount of Olives in YEHOVAH God’s Plan

And Gad came that day to David and said to him, “Go up, erect an altar to YEHOVAH on
THE THRESHING FLOOR OF ARAUNAH the Jebusite” (Verse 18).

Then Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” And David said, “To
buy the threshing floor from you, to build an altar to YEHOVAH, that the plague may be
withdrawn from the people” (Verse 21).

Then the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I
offer burnt offerings to YEHOVAH my God with that which costs me nothing.” So David
bought the threshing floor and the oxen FOR FIFTY SHEKELS OF SILVER (Verse 24).

And David BUILT THERE AN ALTAR to YEHOVAH, and offered burnt offerings and
peace offerings. So YEHOVAH heeded the prayers for the land, and the plague was with-
drawn from Israel (Verse 25).

It is clearly evident from these verses that the threshing floor of ARAUNAH (purchased for
50 shekels of silver) is separate and distinct from the threshing floor of ORNAN, purchased for 600
shekels of gold. The threshing floor of Araunah was located on the Mount of Olives; and the altar
built by David was built on the same site where Abraham had offered his son Isaac.

This threshing floor on the Mount of Olives also became the site of the RED HEIFER
SACRIFICE and the place where all sin sacrifices were burnt. Once again, there is a symbolic
meaning to be found in the purchase price -- with regard to the Tabernacle, silver symbolized re-
demption. This was to become the site of the future redemption of all mankind in the sacrifice of the
Messiah.

The Covenant with Abraham

It is evident that Abraham returned to this altar on the Mount of Olives at the time
YEHOVAH God made a covenant with him in Genesis 15. Notes Peter Michas: “This covenant
(promise) was sealed by the blood sacrifice of animals and was symbolic of the greater covenant to
come -- the covenant sealed by the blood sacrifice of Yeshua the Messiah that is available to all who
put their trust in him. In making His covenant with Abraham, God [YEHOVAH] revealed signifi-
cant details of His redemptive plan for humankind, including the PLACE where the ultimate sacri-
fice would take place” (The Rod of an Almond Tree in God’s Master Plan, p. 83).

YEHOVAH God promised Abram that he would have a multitude of descendants and re-
named him “Abraham” (”father of multitudes”) to reflect this promise. To his elderly parents, Isaac
was born in fulfillment of that promise. Years later, when Isaac was a young man, YEHOVAH
called upon Abraham to return with Isaac to the place where He had made a covenant with Abra-
ham. We read about this in Genesis 22:

And he [YEHOVAH] said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and
go to THE LAND OF MORIAH, and offer him [Isaac] there as a burnt offering on one of
the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

The Berean Voice March-April 2003