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"Mount Nebo"

Madaba, Near The Northern End of The Dead Sea,

Jordan

Friday, ‎December ‎27, ‎2013

Seventh Day of my Holy Land Trip, Mount Zion, Jerusalem

My Holy Land Trip

"Mount Nebo"

Madaba, Jordan

Near to Mount Nebo, located ten km NW of Madaba, near the northern end of the Dead Sea, Jordan:

God commanded Moses to go to Egypt and deliver his fellow Hebrews from bondage. On the way, Moses was nearly killed by God because his son was not circumcised. He was met on the way by his elder brother, Aaron, and gained a hearing with his oppressed kindred after they returned to Egypt, who believed Moses and Aaron after they saw the signs that were performed in the midst of the Israelite assembly.

Mount Nebo, located ten km NW of Madaba, near the northern end of the Dead Sea, Jordan:

Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him that the Lord God of Israel wanted Pharaoh to permit the Israelites to celebrate a feast in the wilderness. Moses had difficulties with speech, and because of this, his brother would often do the talking for him. 

Moses holding up his arms during the Battle of Rephidim, assisted by Hur and Aaron, in John Everett Millais' Victory O Lord:

The Israelites had come from the wilderness of Sin. At Rephidim, the Israelites found no water to drink, and in their distress they blamed Moses for their troubles, to the point where Moses feared that they would stone him (Exodus 17:4). God commanded Moses to speak to a certain "rock in Horeb," which would cause a stream to flow from it, thus providing ample water for all of the people and animals (Numbers 20:8). Moses spoke to the people with whom he had become angry, "Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?" (Numbers 20:10) Moses spoke to the people instead of the rock, which would have sanctified God. God had also instructed Moses to strike the rock (Exodus 17:6) Because of his failure to sanctify God, and for striking the rock twice, God punished Moses by not letting him enter into the promised land (Numbers 20:12)

Stone stela, Laid by Pope John Paul II at His visit, as Moses memorial at the entrance of the site in Mount Nebo, Madaba, Jordan:

Pharaoh replied that he did not know their God and would not permit them to go. They gained a second hearing with Pharaoh and changed Moses' rod into a serpent, but Pharaoh's magicians did the same with their rods. Moses and Aaron met Pharaoh at the Nile riverbank, and Moses had Aaron turn the river to blood, but Pharaoh's magicians could do the same.

Guide explaining to the believers at the Stone stela, Laid by Pope John Paul II at His visit in 2000, as Moses memorial at the entrance of the site in Mount Nebo, Madaba, Jordan:

Moses obtained a fourth meeting, and had Aaron bring frogs from the Nile to overrun Egypt, but Pharaoh's magicians were able to do the same thing. Pharaoh asked Moses to remove the frogs and promised to let the Israelites go observe their feast in the wilderness in return. Pharaoh decided against letting the Israelites leave to observe the feast.

Guide explaining to the believers at the Stone stela, Laid by Pope John Paul II at His visit in 2000, as Moses memorial at the entrance of the site in Mount Nebo, Madaba, Jordan:

Eventually Pharaoh let the Hebrews depart after Moses' God sent ten plagues upon the Egyptians. The third and fourth were the plague of gnats and flies. The fifth was diseases on the Egyptians' cattle, oxen, goats, sheep, camels, and horses. The sixth was boils on the skins of Egyptians. Seventh, fiery hail and thunder. The eighth plague was locusts. The ninth plague was total darkness. 

Stone stela, Laid by Pope John Paul II at His visit, as Moses memorial at the entrance of the site in Mount Nebo, Madaba, Jordan:

The tenth plague was the slaying of the Egyptian male first-born children, whereupon such terror seized the Egyptians that they ordered the Hebrews to leave. The events are commemorated as Passover, referring to how the plague "passed over" the houses of the Israelites while smiting the Egyptians.

View from Mount Nebo Siyagha (mountain summits), Mount Nebo, Madaba, near the northern end of the Dead Sea, Jordan:

The crossing of the Red Sea: Moses then led his people eastward, beginning the long journey to Canaan. The procession moved slowly, and found it necessary to encamp three times before passing the Egyptian frontier — some believe at the Great Bitter Lake, while others propose sites as far south as the northern tip of the Red Sea. Meanwhile, Pharaoh had a change of heart, and was in pursuit of them with a large army.

View from Mount Nebo Siyagha (mountain summits), Mount Nebo, Madaba, near the northern end of the Dead Sea, Jordan:

Moses then led his people eastward, beginning the long journey to Canaan. The procession moved slowly, and found it necessary to encamp three times before passing the Egyptian frontier — some believe at the Great Bitter Lake, while others propose sites as far south as the northern tip of the Red Sea. Meanwhile, Pharaoh had a change of heart, and was in pursuit of them with a large army.

View from Mount Nebo Siyagha (mountain summits), Mount Nebo, Madaba, near the northern end of the Dead Sea, Jordan:

Shut in between this army and the sea, the Israelites despaired, but Exodus records that God divided the waters so that they passed safely across on dry ground. There is some contention about this passage, since an earlier incorrect translation of Yam Suph to Red Sea was later found to have meant Reed Sea. When the Egyptian army attempted to follow, God permitted the waters to return upon them and drown them.

New Cathedral construction on Mount Nebo, Madaba, near the northern end of the Dead Sea, Jordan:

The people then continued to Marsa marching for three days along the wilderness of the Shur without finding water. Then they came to Elim where twelve water springs and 70 Palm trees greeted them. From Elim they set out again and after 45 days they reached the wilderness of Sin between Elim and Sinai.

From there they reached the plain of Rephidim, completing the crossing of the Red Sea.

Old Cathedral, on Mount Nebo, Madaba, near the northern end of the Dead Sea, Jordan:

Mount Sinai and the Ten Commandments

According to the Bible, after crossing the Red Sea and leading the Israelites towards the desert, Moses was summoned by God to Mount Sinai, also referred to as Mount Horeb, the same place where Moses had first talked to the Burning Bush, tended the flocks of Jethro his father-in-law, and later produced water by striking the rock with his staff and directed the battle with the Amalekites.

Moses stayed on the mountain for 40 days and nights, a period in which he received the Ten Commandments directly from God. 

The serpentine cross sculpture, the Brazen Serpent Monument, atop Mount Nebo was created by Italian artist Giovanni Fantoni, Mt Nebo, Jordan:

Moses then descended from the mountain with intent to deliver the commandments to the people, but upon his arrival he saw that the people were involved in the sin of the Golden Calf. In terrible anger, Moses broke the commandment tablets and ordered his own tribe (the Levites) to go through the camp and kill everyone, including family and friends, upon which the Levites killed about 3,000 people, some of whom were children. 

The serpentine cross sculpture, the Brazen Serpent Monument, atop Mount Nebo was created by Italian artist Giovanni Fantoni, Mt Nebo, Jordan:

God later commanded Moses to inscribe two other tablets, to replace the ones Moses smashed, so Moses went to the mountain again, for another period of 40 days and nights, and when he returned, the commandments were finally given.

In Jewish tradition, Moses is referred to as "The Lawgiver" for this singular achievement of delivering the Ten Commandments.

A GUIDE LINE to the Promised Land from Mount Nebo which is God shown to Moses, Mt Nebo, Jordan:

The years in the wilderness

When the people arrived at Marah, the water was bitter, causing the people to murmur against Moses. Moses cast a tree into the water, and the water became sweet. Later in the journey the people began running low on supplies and again murmured against Moses and Aaron and said they would have preferred to die in Egypt, but God's provision of manna from the sky in the morning and quail in the evening took care of the situation.

A view to the Promise Land from Mount Nebo which is God shown to Moses, Mt Nebo, Jordan:

When the people camped in Rephidim, there was no water, so the people complained again and said, "Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?" Moses struck a rock with his staff, and water came forth.

Amalekites arrived and attacked the Israelites. In response, Moses bade Joshua lead the men to fight while he stood on a hill with the rod of God in his hand. As long as Moses held the rod up, Israel dominated the fighting, but if Moses let down his hands, the tide of the battle turned in favor of the Amalekites. Because Moses was getting tired, Aaron and Hur had Moses sit on a rock. Aaron held up one arm, Hur held up the other arm, and the Israelites routed the Amalekites.

A view to the Promise Land from Mount Nebo which is God shown to Moses, Mt Nebo, Jordan:

Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came to see Moses and brought Moses' wife and two sons with him. After Moses had told Jethro how the Israelites had escaped Egypt, Jethro went to offer sacrifices to the Lord, and then ate bread with the elders. The next day Jethro observed how Moses sat from morning to night giving judgment for the people. Jethro suggested that Moses appoint judges for lesser matters, a suggestion Moses heeded.

Moses, sculpture - Michelangelo: