Will the real Mount Sinai please stand up?

Moses was tending the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, who was also the priest of Midian. Moses led the flock to the back of the desert, coming to Horeb, the mountain of God, also known as Sinai (Exodus 3:1). Controversy has long surrounded the actual location of Horeb or Sinai. Midian, where Moses fled after killing the Egyptian 40 years later, was located entirely in modern-day Saudi Arabia. This was ideal for Moses because it was outside of the control and influence of Egypt. However, Moses' decision to hide in Midian may have been influenced by the presence of the Egyptian military in the Sinai Peninsula. Pharaoh's soldiers were supervising the construction and operation of copper and turquoise mines throughout southern Sinai. Inscriptions on their walls and the surrounding ruins of ancient temples still provide visual evidence of Egypt's presence there during the years of Moses' exile. It is doubtful that, as a fugitive, Moses would have lived or traveled anywhere in the south Sinai with an army committed to his capture close at hand. The prospects of sanctuary in Midian, however, were far more significant (The Exodus Revealed).

Map of Moses moving to Midian--Headwaters Christian Resources

After 40 years, Moses wandered to the base of Mount Sinai. There, the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame from a burning bush. Moses looked and saw that the bush was burning with fire even though it did not consume it. So, naturally, Moses did what anyone would do, right? He said (paraphrasing), "Gee, there's a bush burning over there, but nothing is happening to it. That doesn't happen every day. Let me go get a closer look and check that out." When God saw that Moses was looking, he called to him. The first thing he had Moses do was take off his sandals because the ground he was standing on was holy. Then God informed Moses that, even though it had been hundreds of years, God heard the cries and sorrows of the Israelites because of their taskmasters. So he was finally going to deliver them from Egyptian bondage and bring them to the land he promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Genesis. Furthermore, God let Moses know that he had been selected to go to Pharaoh to demand their release and lead them out (Exodus 3:2-10).

"Moses and the burning bush" by vlastas on Video Hive

At this point, we should probably identify who this Angel of the Lord is in verse 2. The Hebrew word translated as "Angel" is "Malak," which means "messenger." Therefore, this particular messenger is not just an angel but the "Angel of the Lord." The messenger of the Lord—or in Hebrew, "Malak" Lord—is the only messenger who bears the name of the Lord. Later, God makes an interesting statement when he says of the Angel of the Lord, "My name is in him" (Exodus 23:21). If you continue to explore the Bible, you see that sometimes the Angel of the Lord speaks as if he is a messenger of the Lord. Other times, he seems to indicate that he actually is the Lord.

The story of Hagar illustrates the complex way that the Angel of the Lord is portrayed in Scripture. In Genesis 16, we encounter a slave woman who has become pregnant by her master. Then she is abused by her master's wife until she ends up fleeing to the desert to meet her likely death. The Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness. (Genesis 16:7). The Angel of the Lord speaks to her, but then something strange happens. The Angel of the Lord says to her, "I will give you and your family many children. There will be more of them than anyone can count. You are now pregnant and will have a son. You will name him Ishmael because the Lord has heard about your suffering. He will be like a wild donkey because he will use his power against everyone. Everyone will also be against him. He will not get along with any of his family. She gave a name to the Lord who spoke to her. She called him, "You are the God who sees me." That's because she said, "I have now seen the One who sees me." That's why the well was named Beer Lahai Roi (The well of him that lives) (Genesis 16:10-14). The Lord is the one who typically issues this kind of blessing.

Hagar and Ishmael in the wilderness

So the Bible portrays the Angel of the Lord as both God and yet distinct from God. Is this sounding familiar yet? Can you think of anyone else in the Bible described as separate from God and yet as God himself? Jesus said, "The Father and I are one" (John 10:30). This ancient and creative way of portraying the Lord as a complex unity helps readers understand that he is a diverse yet unified community of love. This is foundational for understanding that perfect community of love—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—that we have come to call the Trinity. The Lord interacts personally with humans while also maintaining his identity as God above all, yet entirely other. This God takes on an embodied form to relate with humanity, ultimately taking on human flesh to restore humanity to the right relationship as partners with him. This complex portrait of the Angel of the Lord uniquely communicates truths about the character and identity of Yahweh—that he is a complex unity, one who is both unified and diverse, near, and above all. What we see in the Angel of the Lord is brought to a culmination in the person of Jesus. Jesus draws near to humanity to draw us near God ("Who is the Angel of the Lord?").

"Jesus" from season 1 of "The Chosen"

Given the biblical record, some believe that Mount Sinai must be in Midian. Several Jewish documents, some written hundreds of years before Christian traditions, locate the mountain of God in the Midianite territory. In 250 BC, a council of 70 scholars translated the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek for the first time. This Greek translation is called the Septuagint. Their translation of the Exodus account presupposed that Mount Sinai stood in the Arabian Peninsula. Three centuries later, the Jewish philosopher Philo placed the mountain east of the Sinai Peninsula and south of Israel. At the same time, the Apostle Paul also located Mount Sinai in Arabia (Galatians 4:25). Perhaps the most specific description of Sinai's location can be traced to the first century AD historian Josephus. He wrote that Mount Sinai was the highest of mountains near the city of Madian. Shortly after this account, Madian was identified in the Arabian Peninsula by the Greek geographer Ptolemy. The ruins of Madian lay just outside the modern-day town of Alba, near Saudi Arabia's northwest coast. Thus, the best modern-day candidate for this mountain is called Jabal al-Lawz (Mountain of Almonds).

Jabal al-Lawz (possible location of the biblical Mount Sinai

There is a tradition among the locals there that Jabal-al-Lawz ["Mountain of Moses"]. Specific features of the mountain resemble the biblical description. Most prominent is a jagged peak more than 8,000 feet in elevation and blackened as if scorched by fire. Exodus 19:18 says smoke covered Mount Sinai because the Lord came down on it in fire. The smoke rose up from it like smoke from a furnace. The whole mountain trembled and shook.

Possible evidence of God descending on the mountain in a fire

At its base, an enormous pile of boulders at least 15 feet high and 60 feet across from where Aaron built an altar in front of the golden calf (Exodus 32:5). The flattened top of this structure has the appearance of being manmade.

Etched into its rock faces were petroglyphs of bovine creatures: cattle and bulls. The distinctive horns in some of the inscriptions resemble those found on pictures of sacred Egyptian Apis bulls.

Satellite photos of the area have revealed another geographical feature that parallels the biblical account. There is a sprawling plain of more than 10,000 acres. Flat, surrounded by mountains, and adjacent to the dried bed of an ancient river, it could have provided an ideal place for the Israelite encampment. After they started out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai. They camped there in the desert in front of the mountain (Exodus 19:2). Just west of the mountain stands another possible link to the Exodus account. A towering rock 60 feet high is split from top to bottom. Evidence of water erosion is etched into its base (The Exodus Revealed). The Lord broke open a rock, and streams of water poured out. They flowed like a river in the desert (Psalm 105:41).

Open rock from which water gushed out (Psalm 105:41)

As interesting as all this information is because it provides geographical evidence for the accuracy of the Bible, let's not lose sight of what is going on with the Israelites because God didn't. The Israelites groaned and cried out for help because they were slaves. God heard their groans, which took him back to the covenant he made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites with concern for them (Exodus 2:23-24). Reflect on their situation and try to imagine what it would be like to live under those conditions. The whip of the cruel taskmaster was a daily reminder of their slavery. Maybe people are enslaved today by invisible taskmasters not seen by the naked eye, but that is just as real as the Egyptian taskmasters (Precept Upon Precept: Exodus). Perhaps your taskmaster is alcoholism, drugs, pornography, pride, people-pleasing, hatred, bitterness, anger, self-pity, or any number of things too numerous to list. The worst slavemaster of all are not these things, though, but the one who uses them to enslave people. Satan, the god of this age (2 Corinthians 4:4), is the real enemy that seeks to use whatever he can to keep you in bondage all the way to Hell.

Israelite bondage

On one occasion, Jesus was speaking to some Jews who had believed in him. He told them they were only really his disciples if they obeyed his teaching. The Jews, quite bafflingly, bragged that they were children of Abraham and had never been slaves of anyone. As such, they didn't see what they needed to be set free from. How could they make such a statement given the number of times in the past they had been captives in a foreign land? How could they say that when they were facing Roman occupation at the very time they said they were slaves to no one? Jesus replied that everyone who sins is a slave to sin. A slave has no lasting place in the family, but a son belongs to the family forever. Only when Jesus sets you free from sin are you really free (John 8:31-36).

"Gospel of John" movie

Maybe, like those Jews, you believe there is a God. Perhaps you acknowledge Jesus Christ, but are you really his disciple, learner, and follower? Are you enslaved in bondage, afflicted by persistent unrelenting sin, or have you been set free? Think about what Jesus taught in John 8:31-36 and parallel it with the picture of the Egyptians. Do you need to call out to God because of your bondage and torment? If so, don't wait. Do it now (Precept Upon Precept: Exodus).

Images of stones described in ancient Hebrew from Daily Star

The earliest known inscription of a Menorah from Daily Star