“And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice. Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.” (Exodus 19:17-20, Macarthur, 1997) In the Sinai wilderness, there lies a holy, sacred mountain, Mount Sinai (Jebel Musa), “the mountain of Moses.” This sacred mountain, once made the Israelites tremble with fear at the site of thick smoke and the loud sound of trumpets at the descending of the Lord. The Lord spoke with Moses at the top of Mount Sinai while this thick smoke created by the hand of the Lord covered the mountain, prevailing the Israelites from gazing upon the holiness of the Lord and anyone who touched the base of the mountain would die. Apart from the graveness of what would happen to the Israelites if they were to disobey the Lord, Mount Sinai became this “sacred” place, a holy ground, where Moses (who was the son of a Hebrew slave, born in Egypt and called by the name of the Lord to deliver the Israelites out of exile to the promised land) was once in the presence of the Almighty, Jealous, Holy and All-Powerful Yahweh. Standing in the presence of the Lord, Moses received the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments were two stone tablets, breathed to life by the spoken word of the Lord, a symbolic covenant to the Israelites from the Lord. From a biblical, theological perspective, Mo...
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This image, and the detail that goes into it in the Torah’s description, loom large in the Jewish imagination, and our conceptualization of our community. As the Israelites move forward into the desert, surely they can rally behind this glorious homage to God’s greatness – surely they will be proud to march to the Promised Land behind this banner for holiness, the ultimate reminder of God’s presence. And within the Ark, the tablets themselves, perhaps the broken first set alongside the second set that Moses carved himself. What could be more powerful?
The first distinguishing factor of a pilgrimage lies in how a pilgrimage searches for truth. While spiritual tourism may involve an individual merely quickly glancing at the surface of spirituality, a spiritual pilgrimage seeks to fully understand the character of God. Chase Falson proves this to be true in the way that his old convictions begin to fall apart. His Laodicean
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In the poem “Ozymandias” the speaker mentions encountering traveler who tells a story of an old, shattered stature of a king in the middle of the desert. Although the stature is severely damaged, its sneering face is still visible and there is an inscription that encourages those who pass by to admire his mighty works. Ironically, there are no mighty works around to admire, only a boundless, bare desert remains.
The first mention of Mt. Sinai in the Bible is in Exodus chapter 19, where the Israelites camped at the foot of the mountain. God tells Moses to inform the people of what to do in preparation for when the Lord would descend onto the mountain. When the time came, Mt. Sinai was covered in smoke, for God had descended wrapped in flames. When Moses went to the top of the mountain to meet with God, he was given the Ten Commandments, the laws of what would become the laws of Israel. Moses was also informed of other laws outside of the commandments. Laws such as treatment of servants, injuries, protection of property, justice, mercy, and the sabbath.
Rank, Otto. 1968. International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Retrieved February 16, 2014 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3045001038.html