Four Mountains: Encountering God in the Bible from Eden to Zion

by Michael Niebauer

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.

"Open my eyes that I may see

the wondrous things of your law."

―Psalm 119:18 (New Coverdale Psalter)

Genres: Theology

376 pages, Paperback

Published June 11, 2025

Reviews

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Joel Wentz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the focus on responsible symbolic/allegorical reading of scripture, and especially the heavy use of the patristics. I had a very mixed reaction overall, though, finding much of it too introductory/devotional for my reading tastes, and the New Testament material was generally less compelling/interesting than the OT.

Video review here: https://youtu.be/IPA_P8iPBdQ