Date of message: 03 August 2003 Issue
105
Subject: The Mountain Of The LORD

Shalom, Boker-tov (good morning),
Thank you for the interesting questions raised by some of you after reading the message from last week. Certainly we need to be more discerning in what we pick up and read. Do not believe everything you read in the newspapers because it is very easy to doctor pictures these days with the help of all the latest software available.
I find it extremely hard to believe some of the pictures myself especially those which showed a group of 'explorers' who stood in front of what they claimed was the remains of Noah's ark. Imagine a big ship that had been securely embedded into the side of a steep mountain more than 5000 years ago and these pictures give one the impression that the explorers had managed to dig the relics out of the ice and snow, backpacked the pieces down the precarious slopes of Mount Ararat and then on the plains 'assembled' the ship to its original shape and then take a photograph of the "ship". Sorry I find that ludicrous.
How can anyone who is an explorer dig something that is so 'precious' as Noah's ark (I am assuming that it can be dug out easily in the first instance), exposed it to the elements and yet be able to say that they are preserving the relic in its natural environment. I recall there was a big debate about two years back when they found the sunken hull of Titanic, whether they should raise the ocean liner and give the corpses a proper burial and then put the liner to permanent rest. There were much hue and cry over that suggestion and it was finally decided that it was best left on the ocean floor where it went down about 70 years ago.
I recall also how some fishermen found the bow of a fishing boat buried in mud on the shores of the Sea of Galilee about 17 years ago. That year Israel experienced a very dry spell and the water level of the lake had dropped to a new low. The shoreline was pushed far out and to get to their fishing boats, the fishermen had to slush through the mud and one of them happened to knock his foot against the hull of one of the sunken boats sitting in the mud.
When the museum officials, who were called in, examined the boat and declared the boat could very well had been buried there for close to 2000 years, everyone got excited and so a very laborious expedition to extract the boat from the mud began. When the boat was finally freed from the mud, the experts, not wanting to expose the boat to the elements, decided that the best way to preserve the condition of the boat was to encase the ancient boat in transparent wax.
After 14 long years of good soaking, the relic was placed in a special museum built by the lake and visitors could view the exhibit and read all about the composition of the material that went into making that boat. The experts did more research and found that the boat was indeed close to 2000 years old and had wood from trees that grew in the Sea of Galilee area during the time of Jesus.
When we were in Israel in February 2002, we were told that the exhibit was only made available to the public in the autumn of 2001 (around October 2001). How privileged we were to be able to view it. So for a boat that is close to 2000 years and they went to great lengths to preserve the relic, I could not understand how these 'explorers' could claim they had Noah's ark and the audacity to exhibit it without taking the necessary preservative actions.
On the subject of ancient discoveries, I was reading this book "In Search Of The Mountain of God" by Bobert Cornuke and David Halbrook in which they explained their expedition to Saudi Arabia to locate the mountain where God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. They did manage to find the mountain which they believed to be the real Mount Sinai, along with other interesting discoveries. They only had the Bible as their source reference and throughout their search they concentrated especially on the Book of Exodus.
They discovered that the mountain Jabal Al Lawz in Saudi Arabia (near the Gulf of Eilat) best fit the descriptions in the Bible of Mount Sinai or Mount Horeb as it is also called in the other portions of the Bible. Its top was blackened out as if an extremely hot fire descended on the peak and burnt everything up. There were also caves large enough for Moses to rest for forty days and forty nights and also for him to hide his face when the glory of the LORD passed by him (read Exodus 33: 19 -23) and for Elijah to hide when he ran away from the evil Queen Jezebel who sought his life (read 1 Kings 19: 1- 10).
At the base of this mountain, the plains were large enough to house more than two million people living in tents and with their large flocks of sheep and large herds of cattle. Also they found a rock that evidently split into two so that water flowed out of the rock and there was a deep depression as of a stream flowing away from the rock. There were also stone-hewn altars used for worship at the foot of the mountain and these were closely linked to Jewish worship as described in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
What was also amazing was that they found two distinct oases near Jabal Al Lawz and which were mentioned in Exodus 15: 22 - 27. The waters of Marah were so bitter that the children of Israel could not drink for many had developed stomach disorders and were dying as a result of the minerals (thought to be potassium) in the water. The LORD addressed the situation and healed the waters. Nearby a few days journey away, the two explorers found the Oasis of Elim where it was mentioned that there were seventy palm trees and twelve wells of water (exactly as described in Exodus 15: 27).
Jabal Al Lawz was fenced off by the Saudi government and turned into a military missile site and visits to the mountain were not permitted because of the sensitivity of the installation. However it is common knowledge to the Bedouins living in that region of Saudi Arabian that Jabal Al Lawz and the Mountain of Moses were one and the same. In Exodus 3: 1-3 we read of Moses tending the sheep of his father-in-law Jethro in Midian of Arabia and he encountered the spectre of the burning bush on Mount Horeb and later the apostle Paul wrote of Mount Sinai in Arabia (Galatians 4: 25). Jabal Al Lawz is located in Midian of Arabia.
In the scriptures, it should be noted that Mount Sinai has always been used to symbolize the Law and hence we can appreciate that the mountain is never in Israel since the land of Israel symbolizes the land of resting in the Lord. Once I asked the Lord why till today nobody could definitively pinpoint the exact location of Mount Sinai, whether it is indeed in the Sinai Peninsular as shown on the maps found in our bibles or in Saudi Arabia as these two explorers had recently discovered. And his response was, "I do not live on the mountain but in the hearts of those who believe in Me."
What a wonderful assurance! Jesus is not to be found on Mount Sinai, whether it is in the Sinai Peninsular or Jabal Al Lawz but He wants to live inside of us in our spirits. If you believe in Him and invite Him into your hearts, Jesus will be faithful and He will definitely come and reside in you. Choose Life and put your faith in our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus and He will make us sons and daughters in His Family, special positions reserved only for those whom He loves dearly (John 1:12).
The Lord cannot lie. For Him, whatever He speaks come to pass and He had promised us in the Bible that those who have put their trust in Him will not be condemned but have passed from death into life (Romans 8:1).
Pray this simple prayer and invite Him into your heart and immediately you will experience the peace of Jesus coming your way.
Our heavenly Father, our Daddy God, thank you that You love us so much that You send us Your Beloved Son Jesus to die for all our sins so that we can enjoy all Your blessings.
Lord Jesus, thank you that because of Your death, the judicial righteousness of the Father had been satisfied. And now, because You rose from the dead, we who believe in You as our Lord and Savior will no longer have to die but we receive Your eternal life. Thank you for coming into my heart and making my heart Your home.
Thank you that I am now a child of God the Father and as His child, I am now eternally forgiven of all my sin, greatly blessed among all men, highly favored children of God, deeply loved by the Father and completely protected in the Lord and in the most precious name of Jesus Christ, Yeshua Ha' Mashiah, I pray. Amen.
If you have prayed this prayer for the first time, welcome to the Family of the Father (and it is a very large universal family). It is important that you are not alone facing your personal challenges but that you can obtain good help wherever you are. Why not take the time to find your own local Christian family (local church) and worship the Father together? You will be greatly encouraged when you meet together to worship the Father, for fellowship and for the study of the Word of Christ.
Start receiving the blessings of the Father as you walk with Him in faith. It is your inheritance in Christ and He wants you to start enjoying these blessings right now. You do not need to wait until you reach heaven and there is more from where they come from.
The Lord blesses you and keeps you,
The Lord makes His face shine upon you and be gracious to you and all your loved ones,
The Lord lifts up His countenance upon you and gives you His shalom peace. Numbers 6: 24 -26

Have a blessed week ahead, Shavrou-tov
Shalom,
Andrew L W Lee

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