Body: | Arguments against Al-Lawz as Mt. Sinai, refuted!
False argument: "Mt. al-Lawz was not Jethro's own county, although only 18
Km away. This proves Moses was near the traditional Mt. Sinai at Mt. Musa."
Two verses are used to support the idea that Moses must have been at Mt.
Musa: 1. Exodus 18:27 "Then Moses bade his father-in-law farewell, and he
went his way into his own land." 2. Numbers 10:29-31 "Then Moses said to
Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, "We are setting
out to the place of which the Lord said, 'I will give it to you'; come with
us and we will do you good, for the Lord has promised good concerning
Israel." But he said to him, "I will not come, but rather will go to my own
land and relatives." Then he said, "Please do not leave us, inasmuch as you
know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you will be as eyes for
us."
There is a desert of 18 km between Midian and Mt. al-Lawz, which
represented a days journey. But in fact, the burning bush was on the
eastern slope of Lawz which is 75 km away from Midian. Midian was on the
western side of Lawz and the burning bush was on the eastern side.
When Moses saw the burning bush, it says that he wandered in the
rear wilderness. The fact that no other reference is given means that the
only logical conclusion is that it was the rear wilderness of Midian. The
Bible says that Moses went to the "behind side [Hebrew: "achar"] of the
wilderness" Literally: achar "the hind or following part" (NASB Hebrew
dictionary). So the east side of the Lawz would most certainly be described
at the "behind wilderness". It is kind of like saying that Moses went to
"the back forty". This is sufficient to understand why this was not part of
the area of Midian proper that Jethro controlled.
The LXX speaks of the "city (polis) of Madiam" in Num 22:4,7. Al-Bad
is the city of Madian where Jethro lived, which was within the larger
region known as the "Land of Midian". Just like New York, NEW YORK.
Num 10:29-31 proves Mt. Sinai was in the land of Midian because
Moses needed "Reuel the Midianite" as an expert local scout familiar with
the land around Mt. Sinai. The only way Reuel could be familiar with the
Mt. Sinai region, is if he regularly travelled in the area. It is very
unlikely that Reuel would have regularly visited the area of Mt. Musa which
is 180 miles from Midian. However Reuel would regularly travel the land
between Mt. al-Lawz and Ezion Geber, north to Edom.
Sometimes the expression "land of" denotes a large country area like
Egypt as opposed to Midian, both of which include thousands of square
miles: Ex 2:15; Hab 3:7; Acts 2:7. The term, "land of Midian" is used only
three times in the Bible and each time it denotes a larger geographic
region contrasted against. Moses left left the land of Egypt and entered
the the Land of Midian. The Queen of Sheba contrasted Ethiopia in Africa to
Israel: "It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words
and your wisdom. " 1 Kings 10:6. See also 2 Ki 19:7 where Sennacherib
contrasts "his own land" of Assyria to Israel. Today we would say: "He left
the land of USA and lived in the land of Canada".
Quite often in the Bible the expression "land of" denotes local
towns within the same country: The "land of Goshen" and "land of Egypt" are
both within the Country of Egypt and under Pharaoh's control: Gen 50:7-8;
Ex 9:25-26, Num 32:1. In these three verses "land of" denotes local "states
or provinces" within the country of Egypt. Today we would say, "He left the
land of Tennessee to live in the land of New York". Popular songs abound
with stories of people leaving their home to make it big in California or
New York, only to fail then move back to their own home again, all the
while in the same country. When Jim Croce wrote his song, "New York's not
my home" we understood he never left the USA.
In the same way we notice that the land of Goshen was a city suburb
within the country of Egypt. The Hebrews and Egyptians were living in two
distinct city areas yet both were called "lands". The Land (local district)
of Goshen was within the Land (Country) of Egypt. But the term "land of
Egypt" also denotes the local city suburbs where the Hebrews did not live,
as opposed to the land of Goshen. So the terms here are used to designate
local tribal type boundaries not distinct countries.
From a strictly language point of view, they were already out of
Egypt while sleeping in Goshen before they left (Gen 50:7-8; Ex 9:25-26).
They were already "out of Egypt" the first night they slept, 25 miles from
Goshen. (Ex 12:51; 13:3; Deut 16:6) We understand that this means they were
in their own land, or local territory with Egypt. Like many modern
metropolises where one town has grown into the next, so the land of Goshen
was adjacent to land where the Egyptians slept at night.
The term "land", therefore, designates the local town where they
slept at night in their own houses: Gen 50:7-8 "So Joseph went up to bury
his father, and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of
his household and all the elders of the land of Egypt, and all the
household of Joseph and his brothers and his father's household; they left
only their little ones and their flocks and their herds in the land of
Goshen. " ; Exodus 9:25-26 "The hail struck all that was in the field
through all the land of Egypt, both man and beast; the hail also struck
every plant of the field and shattered every tree of the field. Only in the
land of Goshen, where the sons of Israel were, there was no hail."
So Jethro and Hobab knew that Mt. al-Lawz was within the "Country of
Midian" (Ex 2:15; Hab 3:7; Acts 2:7) which included all of modern north
Saudi Arabia, but it is not their local home town where they slept and
raised their families.
The "promised land" is spoken of in two ways: The "one promised
land" and the "twelve distinct lands" of the each tribe: "Joseph's own
land" Deut 33:13; "the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of
Judah" Deuteronomy 34:2; "land of Galilee." 1 Kings 9:11; "land of
Naphtali." 1 Kings 15:20; "land of Benjamin" 1 Samuel 9:16; "land of
Zebulun and land of Naphtali" Isaiah 9:1; After the divided kingdom, the
Assyrian Captivity in 722 BC was warned against the land of Israel, in
distinction to the land of Judah: "thus says the Lord God to the land of
Israel, 'An end! The end is coming on the four corners of the land. "
Ezekiel 7:2. So in dividing up the tribes, each of the twelve tribes is
called a local tribal land: "Then Joshua dismissed the people, each to his
inheritance." (Joshua 24:28) "When Joshua had dismissed the people, the
sons of Israel went each to his inheritance to possess the land. " (Judges
2:6).
Another interesting use is in Numbers 32:1 "Now the sons of Reuben
and the sons of Gad had an exceedingly large number of livestock. So when
they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, that it was indeed a
place suitable for livestock, " Numbers 32:1. Here the lands denote
strictly tribal areas within a larger land that was all given to the tribe
of Reuben. Then in Joshua 22:9 it contrasts the lands of Canaan and Gilead:
"The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh
returned home and departed from the sons of Israel at Shiloh which is in
the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, to the land of their
possession which they had possessed, according to the command of the Lord
through Moses." (Josh 22:9). Here the land of Gilead included both the land
of Jazer and Jazer, but was distinct from the land of Canaan, although both
of which were "lands of inheritance".
1 Kings 22:36 proves a very localized tribal use of "his own land"
which likely means each man went to his own house: "Every man to his own
city (even within the same tribe) and every man to his own land (within the
same tribe)." 1 Kings 22:36
Isaiah forewarned the 10 tribes of Israel about the Assyrian
Captivity in 722 BC that each man will flee to his own house, but they will
be captured with their wives and children: "And it will be that like a
hunted gazelle, ... They will each turn to his own people, And each one
flee to his own land. " Isaiah 13:14
Often the expression "his own land" refers to a single city, or a
collection of cities in a very small geographic area. In many cases it
refers to localized, tribal areas, even the very tract of land under a
single person's control within a larger "country": Ai, for example, was one
of many cities of the Amorites: Josh 8:1; see also: Exodus 18:27; Numbers
21:24,26,34-35; Deuteronomy 2:24,31; 3:2; 4:47; Deut 33:13; 1 Kings 22:36;
By Steve Rudd: Contact the author for comments, input or corrections.
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