The Delectable Mountains

Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind. 1 PETER 5:2

Out of Doubting Castle, bruised and shaken, Christian and Hopeful come to the Delectable Mountains. They had seen them long before, far off, from the roof of the Palace Beautiful. Now they walk among their gardens, orchards, vineyards and fountains, drink and wash and eat freely. And on the tops of the mountains, by the highway side, shepherds are feeding their flocks.

Emmanuel’s land

The pilgrims, leaning on their staffs as weary travellers do, ask whose mountains these are and whose sheep. The shepherds answer: These mountains are Emmanuel’s land, and they are within sight of His city; and the sheep also are His, and He laid down His life for them.

I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. JOHN 10:11

Then the pilgrims ask their questions, and the answers are some of the most compressed wisdom in the book. Is this the way to the Celestial City? You are just in your way. How far is it? Too far for any but those who shall get thither indeed. Is the way safe or dangerous? Safe for those for whom it is to be safe, but transgressors shall fall therein.

These answers are not evasive. They are exactly true. The way is long, and only those who persevere reach the end. It is perfectly safe for those who walk in it, and deadly for those who leave it. Bunyan, a Calvinist, believed firmly that God keeps His own to the end. But he never let that belief make pilgrims careless. The shepherds say both things in the same breath.

Shepherds with names

The shepherds’ names are Knowledge, Experience, Watchful and Sincere. It is Bunyan’s second portrait of the faithful minister, after the picture in the Interpreter’s house, and this time there are four of them — a reminder that the care of souls is shared work. Between them they have the marks of a good pastor: knowledge of the truth, experience of its power, watchfulness over the flock, and sincerity of heart.

Before welcoming the pilgrims they ask them how they came into the way and by what means they have persevered, for, they say, few who begin ever show their faces on these mountains. Then they look very lovingly on them and say, Welcome to the Delectable Mountains. They take them to their tents, feed them, and ask them to stay a while.

And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. JEREMIAH 3:15

Things shown from the hilltops

The next morning the shepherds take the pilgrims walking and show them some wonders — and most of them are warnings.

From the top of a hill called Error they look down and see men dashed to pieces at the bottom. These are those who erred concerning the resurrection, following the false teachers Hymenaeus and Philetus, and they lie unburied as an example to others to take heed how they clamber too high or come too near the brink of that mountain. Bunyan is warning against doctrinal error, and especially the kind that comes from clever speculation beyond Scripture.

Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some. 2 TIMOTHY 2:18

From the top of a mountain called Caution they see blind men stumbling among tombs. These, the shepherds explain, came on pilgrimage as far as the stile into By-path Meadow, were taken by Giant Despair, and had their eyes put out and were left to wander. Christian and Hopeful look at one another with tears running down their cheeks, and say nothing. They know how close they came.

Then the shepherds open a door in the side of a hill, and inside is darkness, smoke, a rumbling as of fire and the smell of brimstone. This, they say, is a by-way to hell, a way that hypocrites go in at: those who sell their birthright with Esau, sell their Master with Judas, blaspheme the gospel with Alexander, and lie and dissemble with Ananias and Sapphira. Hopeful asks whether these all had a show of pilgrimage, as they have. Yes, say the shepherds, and held it a long time, too. And the pilgrims say to one another, We had need to cry to the Strong for strength. Aye, say the shepherds, and you will have need to use it when you have it, too.

Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 1 CORINTHIANS 10:12

A word of care belongs here. It is striking that Bunyan, who for years was tormented by the fear that he was Esau and had sold his birthright, puts Esau at the door of this by-way. He does not say that everyone who fears he is Esau is Esau. On the contrary, Grace Abounding shows at length that such fear was itself a mark that he was not. The shepherds’ warning is for the careless hypocrite, not the trembling believer. If you fear that door, your fear is a sign that you are crying to the Strong for strength, and that is exactly what the shepherds commended.

The perspective glass

Last of all, the shepherds take them to a high hill called Clear and let them look through a perspective glass towards the gates of the Celestial City. But the memory of the by-way to hell makes their hands shake, and they cannot hold the glass steady. Yet they think they see something like the gate and some of the glory of the place.

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. 1 CORINTHIANS 13:12

A note of the way

As the pilgrims leave, one shepherd gives them a note of the way. Another bids them beware of the Flatterer. A third bids them take heed not to sleep on the Enchanted Ground. The fourth bids them Godspeed.

Almost at once they forget two of the four. They meet a man in a white robe who offers to lead them to the city, follow him, and find themselves caught in a net — he was the Flatterer. A Shining One frees them, asks why they did not read their note, and chastises them with a whip of small cords, to teach them the good way. And later, on the Enchanted Ground, where the air makes pilgrims drowsy, Hopeful wants to sleep, and Christian reminds him of the shepherds’ warning. They keep each other awake by talking of how God first dealt with their souls.

As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. REVELATION 3:19

FOR REFLECTION AND ACTION

1. Thank God for the pastors and older believers who have been Knowledge, Experience, Watchful and Sincere to you. Pray for one of them by name.

2. If you are weary after a hard season, let others care for you. Accept the welcome of the Delectable Mountains before you hurry on.

3. Which warning do you most need: Error, Caution, or the by-way to hell? Take it seriously without letting it become despair.

4. Spend time this week looking through the perspective glass: read Revelation 21–22 slowly and ask to see something of the glory.

5. Is there counsel a pastor or friend gave you that you have neglected? Go back to your note of the way.

A PRAYER

Lord Jesus, Chief Shepherd, these mountains are Your land, and the sheep are Yours, for You laid down Your life for them.

Thank You for the shepherds You have given me. Make me teachable, and give them knowledge, experience, watchfulness and sincerity.

When I see the warnings, let me cry to the Strong for strength; when I see the glory, however dimly, let me long for it.

Keep me from the Flatterer and from drowsiness, and correct me in love when I forget Your word. Amen.