BEN F. VICK, JR.
The theme of the 2023 lectures at Stop 11 Road Church of Christ in Indianapolis was Mountains and Valleys. It was an excellent lectureship. One of my subjects was Mount Horeb/Sinai. I am taking excerpts from that lecture. There may still be some lectureship books available if any of our readers are interested. They may contact the Stop 11 Road church (317-784-9480).
The Sinai Peninsula includes Mount Sinai at the southern end. Sinai was the central mass of mountains including the particular peak from which the law was given. So, the name “Sinai” is most often used from Exodus 19:11 to Numbers 3.1, where Israel is described as at or about the scene of the giving of the law. But in Deuteronomy where Israel appears no longer in that region, the name “Horeb” is used. Sinai means “sharp pointed,” “toothed,” (Knobel), the point. Hurlburt says:
The names Horeb and Sinai seem to have been used interchangeably, though some consider the former name of the group, and Sinai a single peak. There has been much discussion as to which is the “Mountain of the Law,” from which the Ten Commandments were given to Moses. Three peaks have been prominently presented by different explorers: Jebel Musa, “the Mountain of Moses,” which is supported by local tradition, and by the authority of Ritter, Kurtz, Keil, and Kalisch; Jebel Serbal, claimed by Lepsius; and Ras es Sufsafeh, supported by Robinson, Dean Stanley, and most of the recent travelers. This is a granite cliff standing above the plain so boldly that one may walk up and lay a hand upon its wall, which rises 1,500 feet above the plain, and 6,500 feet above the sea….
Several momentous events in history transpired at Mount Sinai. Various are Biblical events, and one is outside the Bible but relevant to that region.
The law of Moses was given at Mount Sinai. Moses records, Moses records, “In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai. For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount. And Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel” (Ex. 19:1-3). The site was frightening. Moses brought forth the people out of the camp and they stood at the lower part of the mountain. Neither man nor beast was to touch the mountain. Moses describes the scene: “And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled” (Ex. 19:16). The writer of Hebrews also alludes to this fearful scene (Heb. 12:18-21).
While Moses delayed in coming down from Mount Sinai, Israel grew impatient. They went to Aaron and told him, “Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot [know] not what is become of him” (Ex. 32:1). So, Aaron called upon the people to break off their golden earrings. When he received them, he fashioned with a graving tool a golden calf. When Israel saw it, they said, “These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” Stephen’s speech to the Sanhedrin says Israel thrust Moses from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt (Acts 7:39). Israel considered the calf along with the Lord brought them out of Egypt (Ex 32:5). Aaron also made an altar, and proclaimed, “Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord” (Ex. 32:5-6). The next morning, the people rose early, offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. The text says, “and the people sat down to eat and to drink and rose up to play.” The original words in Hebrew and Greek for “play” refer to immoral actions, to “indulge in pagan revelry.”
When Moses came down from the mount, he threw down the tablets of stone, burned the golden calf, ground it into powder, strewed it on the water, and made the children of Israel drink it. Moses was filled with righteous indignation, yet he had pleaded with God not to destroy his people. Not all anger is wrong.
Another event that transpired at Mount Sinai was the erection of the tabernacle, the tent of worship. God told Moses to make all things according to the pattern. He was very specific about the tent and all the furnishings. These things, along with the Levitical priesthood, were a shadow of good things to come (Heb. 8-10). We too must do all things according to the New Testament pattern.
The numbering of the men twenty years and above was also significant (Num. 1:1-4). The total number of men able to go to war was 603,550. Note that not all the people were numbered; none of the women, children nor old men unable to fight, nor the Levites. Moses did do a census of all the males from a month old and upward of the tribe of Levi. There were 22,300 of this number. The number then of the fighting men twenty years and upward and of the males from a month old and upward of the Levites, the total number is 625,850. If conservatively we multiply that number by three, that equals 1,877,550 people. It has been estimated that there may have been as many as three million who left the land of Egypt and gathered at Mount Sinai. Because of unbelief, all of the men counted in this first census, 603,550, died in the wilderness except Joshua and Caleb.
After wandering in the wilderness for forty years, Israel stood east of the Jordan River and the Lord commanded Moses and Eleazar, Aaron’s son, to number again the fighting men from twenty years and upward, all those who able to go to war. The sum was 601,730. The second census was 1,820 fewer men than the first. Yes, Divine discipline thinned the ranks. But God’s will was done. The Lord’s church at times must withdraw from the disorderly (1 Cor 5; 2 Thess. 3:6,14). Such may thin our numbers, but God’s will must be done.
When Elijah was fleeing from Jezebel, he went to Mount Horeb. He lodged in a cave. God asked him, “What doest thou here, Elijah?” The prophet said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away” (1 Kings 19:10). God commissions him to anoint three men: Hazael, Jehu, and Elisha. When one is depressed, go to God in prayer, rest, eat, and then get busy for the Lord.
The last event I want to mention, I shall save for another time.