Four Mountains: Encountering God in the Bible from Eden to Zion
Encounter Jesus on every page of the Bible
How can war stories, farming proverbs, and strange visions draw you closer to Jesus? In Four Mountains: Encountering God in the Bible from Eden to Zion, Michael Niebauer shows how to see the Bible’s big story and meet with God in his word.
Four mountain-top encounters with God (Eden, Sinai, Tabor, and Zion) unify the Bible’s grand story. The earliest Christians read Scripture with attentiveness to symbols and images like mountains and trees. Learning this method of reading helps us connect seemingly disparate stories and encounter God in his word. Gospel-rich, and Scripture-saturated, Four Mountains reveals how we can see Jesus on every page.
Praise for Four Mountains
There is a desperate need in today’s church to move beyond the kind of Bible reading born from post-Enlightenment higher critical methodologies, where the text remains flat and only tied to a ‘literal’ interpretation. Michael Niebauer shows us a different way—a rich way that opens up the text in a manner that allows it to be read spiritually and figuratively as the canon of holy Scripture. This book reveals the riches of a truly christological reading of the text that aids the reader’s ascent on his return to Mount Zion—to the presence of God.
—Greg Peters, professor of medieval and spiritual theology, Biola University
Niebauer conveys the unity of the witness of the Bible across its texts while also drawing us up to the higher realities that are its true end. From the bracing mountaintop vantage point to which this book guides its readers, a vast scriptural terrain unfolds in its splendor and beauty.
—Alastair Roberts, senior fellow, Theopolis Institute
This book invites modern readers into an ancient way of reading Scripture, helping them encounter God on every page. This book will transform the way you read the Bible and how you understand your life in its light. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to deepen and enrich their understanding of Scripture.
—Gayle Doornbos, associate professor of theology, Dordt University
Study along with this free guide for individuals and groups looking to encounter God in his word. Download for free.
- Story and Symbol
- Part 1: The Story of Mount Eden
- God Creates
- Mount Eden
- The Fall from Mount Eden
- The False Mountain of Babel
- Part 2: The Story of Mount Sinai
- Abraham
- Out of Slavery and into the Wilderness
- Life and Law on Mount Sinai
- The Tabernacle
- The Prophets Prepare
- Part 3: The Story of Mount Tabor
- Jesus Descends
- Jesus Ascends
- The Crucifixion
- The Resurrection
- Part 4: The Story of Mount Zion
- The Ascension
- Pentecost
- Mount Zion
- Climbing the Spiritual Mountain
- Climbing the Physical Mountain
- The Bible and Our Climb
- Our Final Climb up Mount Nebo
- Title: Four Mountains: Encountering God in the Bible from Eden to Zion
- Author: Michael Niebauer
- Publisher: Lexham Press
- Publication Date: 2025
- Pages: 376
- Format: Logos Digital, Paperback
- Trim Size: 5.5x8.5
- ISBN: 9781683597629
Michael Niebauer is an Anglican pastor and author of Virtuous Persuasion: A Theology of Christian Mission.
Reviews
1 rating
Aaron Lee
7/23/2025
In Four Mountains, Michael Niebauer helps you encounter God in the Bible from Eden to Zion. Using the mountains of Eden, Sinai, Tabor, and Zion, this book shows how to read the Bible by studying its symbols. Niebauer explains how mountains symbolize our home with God, water symbolizes death, and trees symbolize life. This book opened my eyes to see that there are truly so many symbols in the Bible — and studying them helps us see a bigger picture painted by Scripture. Challenging I was most challenged by the chapter on the false mountain of Babel, and how we need to be reminded of the illusion of the greatness of our own works. We all want to stand out, for God to recognize us, but our works are like rubble and will collapse like the memories of our accomplishments. Inspiring I was most inspired to read about how Jesus fulfills all of the symbols. As Moses led the Israelites through the waters of the Red Sea, Jesus begins his ministry by passing through the spiritual waters of baptism. As Moses and the Israelites struggled with earthly temptation in the wilderness, Jesus resists spiritual temptation in the wilderness. As Moses banned the Israelites from ascending Sinai because of their impurity, Jesus descends the mountain to cleanse and heal the people of their impurity. Jesus came to heal both physically and spiritually. He fulfills and satisfies all of our deepest desires. Amazing Four Mountains is an impressive and amazing masterpiece of a book. This is a paradigm-shifting work that will change the way you read (and want to read) the Bible — looking for symbols and how they point to our Savior. Niebauer writes in a way that brings the stories, symbols, and biblical theology to life. Even more, he brings you into the life of the book. Fascinating and wonderful, this book will cause you to marvel at Jesus Christ and the heart of God — what He means and what He makes true for His children. I received a media copy of Four Mountains and this is my honest review.