[For an intro to this series, click here]

“Let me alone two months, that I may go to the mountains and weep” (Judges 11:37, NASB).  What is it about the mountains that makes them so enticing?  Is it the change of scenery?  The challenge of the climb?  The view from the top?  Some people devote their whole lives to mountain climbing and exploration; Jephthah’s daughter simply asked for two months.

There must be something special, maybe even supernatural, about the mountains for her to choose that location above all the others to be her refuge during her period of mourning.  But what had such a pull on her that she went to the mountains rather than spend those two precious months in the comforts of her home?  It probably wasn’t a craving for fresh air, considering the pre-pollution time in which she lived.  And it probably wasn’t the desire to “rough it” seeing as how everyday conditions were pretty rough already.

But there was something.  Something about the mountains drew her in.  And perhaps by exploring the specifics of her sixty-day radical sabbatical, we’ll be drawn to the mountains as well.

Mountaintop Experiences

The concept of retreating to the mountains is not an experience reserved for JD alone. The Bible is full of instances in which people escape to the mountains for one reason or another. Abraham worships in the mountains.  Moses receives the Ten Commandments on a mountain. David mentions the mountains repeatedly in his poetic psalms. And even Jesus himself is noted for retreating to the mountains many times during his ministry. For these men, the mountains were more than an escape. They were a place to pray, a place to praise, and a place to meet with God.

When JD’s life was crumbling around her as the news of her father’s tragic vow sunk in, the something that drew her to the sanctuary of the mountains was more than just the need to escape.  She went to the mountains because she wanted to meet with her God.

One of the greatest things we can learn from our wonderful feminine mentor is the intrinsic value of meeting with God.  The mountains are where God dwells, and running to the mountains is like running to the arms of our Father.  Of course, there’s no need to dust off our hiking boots and canteens in order to have our own experience in the mountains.  We need only to open our eyes to the One who draws us there.  To the One who made the mountains.

Q: Think back to a time when you were at the top of something – a mountain, a rollercoaster, a skyscraper, or anything else.  What was your motivation for getting to the top, and what did you experience once you got there?  Describe the view from the top as well.