{"id":911,"date":"2018-02-27T06:22:22","date_gmt":"2018-02-27T11:22:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/?p=911"},"modified":"2018-02-26T23:14:22","modified_gmt":"2018-02-27T04:14:22","slug":"the-delectable-mountains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/2018\/02\/the-delectable-mountains\/","title":{"rendered":"The Delectable Mountains"},"content":{"rendered":"

They went then till they came to the Delectable Mountains, which mountains belong to the Lord of that hill of which we have spoken before; so they went up to the mountains, to behold the gardens and orchards, the vineyards and fountains of water; where also they drank and washed themselves, and did freely eat of the vineyards. Now there were on the tops of these mountains Shepherds feeding their flocks, and they stood by the highway side. The Pilgrims therefore went to them, and leaning upon their staves, (as is common with weary pilgrims when they stand to talk with any by the way), they asked, Whose Delectable Mountains are these? And whose be the sheep that feed upon them?<\/p>\n

Shepherds: These mountains are Immanuel’s Land, and they are within sight of his city; and the sheep also are his, and he laid down his life for them.<\/p>\n

Mountains delectable they now ascend,
\nWhere Shepherds be, which to them do commend
\nAlluring things, and things that cautious are,
\nPilgrims are steady kept by faith and fear.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"Shepherds<\/a><\/p>\n

After Christian and Hopeful escape from Doubting Castle<\/a>, they continue their journey, ascending into the Delectable Mountains. These are the mountains of the Lord.<\/p>\n

His foundation is in the holy mountains.
\nThe Lord loves the gates of Zion
\nMore than all the dwellings of Jacob.
\nGlorious things are spoken of you,
\nO city of God!
\nSelah
\n(Psalm 87:1\u20133)<\/p>\n

They are beautiful and bountiful\u2014a place filled with gardens, orchards, vineyards, and fountains. Here is refreshment and delight. Here shepherds keep watch and feed their flocks.<\/p>\n

The Delectable Mountains represent the church from the vantage point of a more mature Christian. Atop these mountains the pilgrims have a wider view and can see with more clarity. Their understanding of God\u2019s Word is greater. Heaven is in view. The world is less alluring. Earlier in the allegory, Christian had a glimpse of these mountains<\/a> from an observation point on the roof of House Beautiful. There he could only see the mountains far off in the distance. House Beautiful depicted the church through the eyes of a young believer. Christian loved the truth but had yet to ascend its heights.\u00a0 Now Christian and Hopeful are nearer to the journey\u2019s end. Their faith has grown. Their repentance has deepened. And their love for Christ has strengthened. They have walked the pathway longer.<\/p>\n

The shepherds affirm what Christian learned at House Beautiful. The mountains are Immanuel\u2019s Land and they are within sight of His city\u2014the Celestial City to which the pilgrims are journeying. The joy of Immanuel\u2019s Land is Christ. He is the King whose name is Immanuel, \u201cGod with Us\u201d (Isaiah 7:17; Matthew 1:23). He is the promised Savior. In the Old Testament Ezekiel looked forward to the coming of the King and Shepherd from the linage of David who would save His people and cause them to dwell in safety. He concluded in chapter 29:<\/p>\n

\u201cI will raise up for them a garden of renown, and they shall no longer be consumed with hunger in the land, nor bear the shame of the Gentiles anymore. Thus they shall know that I, the Lord their God, am with them, and they, the house of Israel, are My people,\u201d says the Lord God. \u201cYou are My flock, the flock of My pasture; you are men, and I am your God,\u201d says the Lord God (Ezekiel 34:29\u201331).<\/p>\n

Jesus is the Good Shepherd who knows His sheep and laid down His life for the sheep.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep\u201d (John 10:11).<\/p>\n

\u201cI am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep\u201d (John 10:14\u201315).<\/p>\n

\u201cMy sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one\u201d (John 10:27\u201330).<\/p>\n

The shepherds gladly speak of Immanuel, the Good Shepherd. They stand by the Way, ready to welcome and point pilgrims to Him. In the next several posts, we will focus on the shepherds and their instructions to the pilgrims. As Christian received valuable teaching for his journey at the House of the Interpreter<\/a> and House Beautiful<\/a>, the pilgrims receive valuable insights here\u2014insights that will be crucial for their reaching the journey\u2019s end.<\/p>\n

A Guide to John Bunyan’s\u00a0The Pilgrim’s Progress<\/em>
\nSee TOC<\/a>\u00a0for more posts from this commentary<\/p>\n

The text for\u00a0The Pilgrim’s Progress\u00a0<\/em>and images used are public domain
\nNotes and Commentary \u00a92018 Ken Puls
\nUnless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from\u00a0the New King James Version (NKJV) \u00a91982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

They went then till they came to the Delectable Mountains, which mountains belong to the Lord of that hill of which we have spoken before; so they went up to the mountains, to behold the gardens and orchards, the vineyards and fountains of water; where also they drank and washed themselves, and did freely eat […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5,10],"tags":[47,61,68,12,48,11,26],"class_list":["post-911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary","category-the-pilgrims-progress","tag-church","tag-delight-in-christ","tag-immanuel","tag-john-bunyan","tag-pastor","tag-pilgrims-progress","tag-word-of-god"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4lLgO-eH","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=911"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/911\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":914,"href":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/911\/revisions\/914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kenpulsmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}