Jabal Mousa

Christians, Jews and Muslims all believe that God delivered His Ten Commandments to Moses at the summit of Mount Sinai. Mount Sinai is also known as Mount Moses or Jabal Mousa in Arabic. Mt. Sinai is called Mt. Horeb in the Book of Deuteronomy. "Sinai" and "Horeb" are generally considered by biblical scholars to refer to the same place.

Mt. Sinai rises behind the storied, 4th century St. Catherine's Monastery, the oldest continuously operating Christian monastery in existence. As most of the Sinai Peninsula, it is a desolate place with lots of brown tones and sparse vegetation.

Although there is debate as to whether the summit of Moses’ Mountain is the actual historical site where Moses received the Ten Commandments, this is certainly the traditional, recognized location. The fact is that many people (including me) have had a spiritual experience while ascending the mountain or when reaching the summit.

Nearly all hikers take one of the two well-defined routes up to the summit: the Camel Trail or the Steps of Repentance Trail. Both trails meet about 300 meters below the summit at a plateau known as Elijah’s Basin. To continue to the summit, you must take a steep series of 750 rocky and uneven steps. There is a small chapel and a mosque at the top.

The Steps of Repentance trail consists of 3000 roughly hewn rock steps that are steep and crudely formed. The steps were laid by a monk and others as a form of penance.

Cheryl and I had the opportunity to climb Mt. Sinai when we lived in Cairo. Our colleagues, Madelyn and Mike Edens had lived in Cairo for over 20 years, so they were experienced Mt. Sinai climbers. The Edens took us on our Mt. Sinai adventure, and they advised us to take both trails—the Camel Trail on the way up and the Steps of Repentance Trail on the way down. There was good rationale for that order—the Camel Trail is more gradual than the steep repentance steps. However, the descent on the uneven stones was grueling on the knees.

There were little coffee and tea stands on the Camel Trail where the weary pilgrim could sit on a rock and sip a hot beverage. Mike and I left Madelyn and Cheryl at one of these respites, and the girls said that they would come along in a bit.

Well, we waited at the top for a while, but our wives did not show up. We descended the mountain and went to the car for some refreshments, and we were surprised to find Cheryl and Madelyn at the car. We asked how we missed them at the summit, and they said that they turned around at the coffee stand and walked back down. I told Cheryl that she missed the full experience by not going to the top. Her reply: “Who says that Moses went all the way to the top of the mountain?”

That was funny at the time, but later we read this passage of scripture: “Then the LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.” Exodus 19:20

How many times do we settle for a mountain-side experience when with more effort we can have a mountain-top experience? Colossians 3:23-24 states: “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.