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“Mountaintop Moments”
Categories: Midweek FR articles“Mountains, especially Mt. Horeb, or Sinai as it is also known in the Old Testament, figure largely in the spiritual history of Moses. Horeb makes its first appearance in the story here [in Exodus 3] as the mountain of new beginnings, and in chapters 19 to 34 it is the mountain of revelation… Beyond Horeb lies Mt. Pisgah, which could be called Moses’ mountain of disappointment, as it was there that he viewed the land he had been forbidden to enter (Deut. 34:1). Then, in the distant future, there is the place of Jesus’ transfiguration, Moses’ mountain of homecoming (Mt. 17:1-3).” [Alec Motyer, Commentary on Exodus, p. 34]
Mountains figure prominently in the grand narrative of the Bible, for Moses and for us. For Moses, three mountains trace the beginning, end, and even eternal continuation of his life. For us, the Bible’s significant mountains are Sinai—the mountain from which God established his law for Israel, Jerusalem—the mountain from on which our salvation was provided by Jesus, and the heavenly Zion—the new Jerusalem in which God dwells directly with his people (Rev. 21-22).
These mountains remind us of a powerful truth: That even though Moses knew God in a way no one else has (cf. Ex. 33:1), Moses was among those who longed for the relationship with God that we can have—the perfected relationship of salvation through Jesus. And some day, because Jesus laid down his life for us, we will stand side by side with Moses, face to face with our Father for all eternity.
- Dan Lankford, minister
