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14 The Mount of Olives in YEHOVAH God’s Plan

The “Footstool of YEHOVAH”

The Jewish authorities came to believe that the area on the Mount of Olives, where
YEHOVAH’s Shekinah Glory moved just prior to the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., was “the foot-
stool of YEHOVAH God” because it stated in Zechariah 14 that YEHOVAH God would certainly
stand on the Mount of Olives. A rock outcropping was even shown on the summit area that was sup-
posed to represent this “footstool of YEHOVAH.” The Jews came to believe that this was “the foot-
stool of YEHOVAH” mentioned in Isaiah 60:13 and 66:1. Notice –

The glory of Lebanon shall come to you, the cypress, the pine, and the box tree together, to
beautify the place of My sanctuary; and I will make the place of My feet glorious.

Thus says the LORD: “Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. Where is the house
that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest?

Then, in Acts 7:49, we read:

“Heaven is My throne,” says Adonai, “and the earth is My footstool. What kind of house
could you build for Me? What kind of place could you devise for My rest?”

This indicates that the Mount of Olives was the spot where YEHOVAH God would teach
His people His laws and His ways. But it meant more than that -- it also meant YEHOVAH God’s
“Temple.” Writes Ernest L. Martin –

The symbol of the “footstool” for God’s feet meant nothing less than this spot was where
God figuratively dwelt on earth and where God’s people were to gather to worship him. In
other words, the phrase “footstool” represented God’s holy residence on earth (his Taberna-
cle and later his Temple). It meant the official place to worship God (An ASK Research Up-
date #3, p. 6).

Notice what Psalm 132:7 says: “We will go into his tabernacle [the Holy Place and the Holy
of Holies]: we will worship at his footstool.”

Then, in Psalm 99:5: “Exalt ye the Lord our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is
holy.”

Also, Lamentations 2:1: “How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in
his anger, and cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel, and remembered not his
footstool [His Temple] in the day of his anger.” It was called “the place of my sanctuary; and I will
make the place of my feet glorious” (Isaiah 60:13).

As we can see, these passages from the Bible clearly indicate that “the footstool of God”
was considered to be the holiest place on earth, and the place where people were officially required
to worship YEHOVAH God. Therefore, it is no accident that the Jewish authorities of the early Is-
lamic period returned to Jerusalem and went DIRECTLY TO THE MOUNT OF OLIVES. They
consistently called that mount “God’s footstool.” They seemed to understand that YEHOVAH God

The Berean Voice March-April 2003