Apparently there’s a heated debate within the Biblical archaeology community about the location of Mount Sinai—where the Israelites camped after fleeing Egypt, and where Moses received the Ten Commandments and instructions for the tabernacle. Some say it’s on the Sinai peninsula, others argue it’s actually in Saudi Arabia. The available data includes centuries of research, expeditions, papers, books, documentaries, debates, and podcasts. The passionate assertions and refutations are exhaustive.
It left me wondering if it’s just another topic that scholarly types obsessive over, distracting us from the things that truly matter, such as drawing people to Jesus. I decided to find out
First, a little geography
There are currently 14 peaks being proposed as the true Mt. Sinai. Jebel Musa on the southern Sinai Peninsula is traditionally the most cited, due to the Christian pilgrim Egeria’s account in Itinerarium Egeriae penned around the year 384. More contemporary researchers offer Jabal al-Lawz (or Jabal Maqla, depending on who’s talking) in Saudi Arabia as a much more viable candidate.
Still others claim Jebel Sin Bishar or Har Karkom in the upper Sinai peninsula as contenders along with the rest. Here are just a few of them:
At this point you may be wondering: So where was the Red Sea parted, then?
Well, that too is up for debate, and it gets deep in the weeds over Hebrew and Greek translations of terms like “red” and “reed.” But on any map you choose, the Red Sea is pretty vast:
Therefore several options exist for the route the Israelites may have taken while fleeing the Egyptians, and where they may have crossed:
Some of these locations fit the geographical Bible accounts better than others. Some of them provide better archaeological evidence than others. I read a lot of it, and always came back to asking God whether figuring this out really matters.
I wondered if there was some reference in End Times prophecy that made it relevant. I considered whether it being in Saudi Arabia—a country much in the news, and a linchpin in strategic global diplomacy—might be worth noting as we view international events. I considered asking a few pastors what they thought about the matter or if they knew of the controversy.
But then I thought: Christians already have enough divisions to navigate:
Complimentarianism vs. Egalitarianism
Dispensationalism vs. Covenant theology
Which day and month we should celebrate Jesus’ birth
I figured the last thing we need to harp on was which mountain God laid the smack down on few thousand years ago.
Does it even matter?
Clearly it matters to the scientists desperate to maintain their research grants, and the tourism industries of the adjacent countries, and the monetized content creators…but does it matter to us, or to God?
I could hear Bill Murray’s impassioned chant from Meatballs:
It just doesn’t matter! It just doesn’t matter! It just doesn’t matter!
Right?
Water From The Rock
“Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink.”
— Exodus 17:1 NKJV
You probably remember the miracle that followed.
Moses inquires of the Lord what to do, and the Lord tells him to strike a rock. Moses does and water gushes out. But have you ever thought much about the scope of what that entailed?
Whenever I’d read that story, I always imagined a frustrated Moses shoving his staff into a slate of rock he was already standing by. A nice gushing plume of water appears, sort of like one of those park fountains where water pours continually from a bronze fish’s gullet.
But does that sound like the kind of miracle God would’ve performed in the immediate aftermath of parting the Red Sea? He’d just turned the entire Nile River into blood, darkened the sun, and mustered billions of insects into an army of torment. In every respect Yahweh was the very epitome of grandiose. He was going big so that His people could go home and He wanted everyone to know it every step of the way.
With that in mind, consider then how much water the Israelites needed.
There may have been as many as three million people who just fled Pharaoh, as well as all of their livestock. This wasn’t a meandering line of patient people taking a few sips and filling a jar or two as Moses stood by smiling. No, these people needed water to bathe and cook and do all of the things a few million people must when setting up an encampment. They needed a river of water, and God wanted them to know forever that it was He who provided it.
“Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.”
— Exodus 17:6
This was in the shadow of Mt. Sinai, and God did something monumental there that every person in the vicinity was about to see. They would tremble because of it, and marvel at it, not just that day but every day after.
This is known by the Saudis who’ve lived there for centuries — and by a growing number of researchers — as the Rock of Horeb in Saudi Arabia. It stands impressively in the shadow of Jabal al-Lawz/Maqla. Can you imagine the sound it generated when it cracked in two? Around the base of it, the ground shows signs of erosion from flooding.
I was impressed, perhaps convinced that it was indeed the location of this miracle, but I still wondered: Does it matter today?
Is arguing about which rock gushed water once upon a time going to lead people to Jesus today?
I went to church that Sunday still asking myself that question. And then we started worshiping, and the lyrics we sang to Him seemed to carry a new weight as I pondered the miracles past with renewed appreciation:
Your promise still stands
Great is Your faithfulness, faithfulness
I’m still in Your hands
This is my confidence
You’ve never failed me yet
The image of the Rock of Horeb in Saudi Arabia came into my mind’s eye.
I’ve seen You move, You move the mountains
And I believe I’ll see You do it again1
And just like that I had my answer—not from a learned theologian with multiple PhDs, not from archaeologists with dusty fingernails and decades of research to stand on, and not from sharp documentaries and 4K drone footage—but from the Holy Spirit Himself.
I knew it mattered because the stones cry out, because the heavens and the Earth declare the glory of God and He wants us to behold His creation. He also likes to wow us with what He’s done with it, and how He uses it to make even the most hardened tough guys gaze in wonder and say, Oh my God.
From Part 4 of Discovered Media’s YouTube series
“And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.”
But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”
— Luke 19:39-40 NKJV
God’s miracles mattered then and they matter now. Our testimonies matter. Our stories matter. The personal testimonies of His work in our lives matter just as much as the discolored stones and massive split rocks in the desert. The intricate details of microscopic organisms matter. He works miracles all around us and they all—big and small—matter.
They tell us about what He has done. They remind us about what He’s capable of, and they reaffirm that He’s willing to provide for all who call on Him. And most importantly they assure us that He can and does do it again, and again, and again.
Short of Jesus returning, pointing, and saying, “Yep, this is where it was,” I doubt the matter will ever be satisfactorily solved. People dismiss conclusive evidence all the time when it doesn’t fit their prejudice. I mean, what does God have to do in order to convince the skeptics? Cast out demons? Heal marriages? Regrow limbs? Raise the dead?
People can dismiss them and argue about them, but we’ll continue to testify about those things because they too matter, and because you never know which memorial stone will break through to those desperate people whose hearts yearn for a sign that He’s done it before, and He can do it again.
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If you’d like to explore the case for Mt. Sinai in Saudi Arabia you might enjoy this episode of Blurry Creatures: Unearthing Mt. Sinai’s True Location
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Footnotes:
1: Lyrics from Do It Again by Matt Brock and Travis Cottrell