Map Exodus - Grumbling at "Pushy Complainers" Spring
Extended boundary of Promised Land
Map 12 tribes of Israel in Canaan
Map 12 tribes of Israel in Canaan
Canaan ahead
Goodbye Egypt
Crossing the Red Sea
After crossing the sea
Grumbling in the desert
St. Catherine’s Monastery
Mt. Sinai
Mt. Sinai
Map Camped at Mount Sinai
Map Mt. Sinai
Map Mt. Sinai
Map Mt. Sinai
Legendary
Mount Sinai is the mountain where the Bible says God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, and that was a game-changer in the history of religions.Geography of the hill
The mountain, also known as Jebel Musa, is located in the southern part of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. It's a rugged, iconic peak standing at approximately 7,497 feet (2,285 meters) above sea level. The mountain is characterized by its barren, rocky terrain, with steep and winding paths leading to its summit. Surrounding it, you'll find a stark desert landscape, which adds to the mystique of this historically significant mountain. We'll find the story in the second book in the Bible, the book of Exodus. In Exodus 19, God told Moses to bring the Israelites to Mount Sinai.When God scared the people
The scene was dramatic. The mountain became shrouded in smoke and lightning, with God's voice booming like thunder. That's how he decided to introduce himself to the people. It made an impression. The people asked Moses to deal with God in the future. They didn't want to go through that again. When Moses climbed the mountain, he received God's instructions. It's captured there in Exodus 20:2-17. God said, "I am your God. You don't need any other gods or idols. Keep the Sabbath holy. Respect your parents. Don't lie or steal. And definitely don't murder." Those Ten Commandments became the blueprint for a just and moral society.Israel makes a golden calf idol
Let's not forget the famous incident of the golden calf in Exodus 32. While Moses was on Sinai talking with the Almighty, the Israelites got restless and built themselves a shiny new idol. Not a good move. When Moses came down, he was so upset that he smashed those stone tablets. God had him make the second copy himself.Elijah goes to Sinai
In 1 Kings 19, Elijah headed to Mount Horeb, another name for Sinai. There, he had a chat with God in a cave. No fireworks this time, just a still, small voice reminding Elijah that he wasn't alone in his mission. So, Mount Sinai has become a symbol of divine revelation and a reminder of the moral code that's guided countless folks for millennia. It's like the spiritual heart of the Bible, where God's wisdom was etched in stone and passed down for all of us regular folks to follow.For more about Mount Sinai and other places and people in the Bible: Who's Who & Where's Where in the Bible, by Stephen M. Miller
Promised Land
Promised Land
Promised Land
Land covered in milk and honey
Boundary descriptions vary
Boundary in Numbers
South
West
North
For your northern border, draw a line from the Mediterranean Sea to Mount Hor of the northland. Stretch that line from Mount Hor to Lebo-hamath to Zedad. Keep the line going to Ziphron and all the way to Hazarenan. That’s your northern border.East
Now for your eastern border. Start your line at Hazar-enan. Run it south to Shepham. 11Take the line down to Riblah along Ain’s east side. Run it down into the hills east of the Sea of Galilee. Then take that line straight down the Jordan River, all the way to the Dead Sea. There you have it, the borders of your land on all four sides" (Numbers 32:3-12).
Ezekiel's boundaries
Tent worship center
Map of Exodus Leaving Egypt
Map of Exodus Leaving Egypt
Exodus Map
Exodus map of Moses and Hebrews leaving Egypt. The map shows a possible route Moses took when he led the Hebrews to freedom. Many Bibles say Moses and the Hebrews crossed the “Red Sea.” But the Hebrew words are yam suph, “sea reeds.” Later in the story, Moses and the Hebrew refugees will escape through a path God makes in this body of water. Scholars usually track Moses and the Hebrews escaping Egypt by walking southeast, out of the Nile Delta fields. That's toward the Red Sea and the Sinai Peninsula. They would have passed through lake regions along what is now the Suez Canal. This connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. These lakes and ponds reportedly had reeds growing along the banks, like the ones the Bible says grew along the Nile River and helped anchor Baby Moses in a basket (Exodus 2:3). Compare with other Bible versions at Bible Gateway.Mount Sinai
Horeb is a Hebrew word that can mean “dry,” “desolate,” or “desert.” But here, it reads more like a name. Most Bible scholars say it’s an alternate name for Mount Sinai—much like “Zion” is another name for “Jerusalem.” Some say the mountain is in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. Others say it’s in what is now Saudi Arabia, where the people of Midian lived.Sinai, Land of God
Two Egyptian hieroglyphic inscriptions from about the 1400s BC, around the time some scholars say Moses lived, said the mountainous territory of the Sinai was the “land of the Shasu of Yahweh.” “Shasu” was what Egyptians called the nomads and herders from what is now the areas of Israel, Palestinian Territories, Syria, and Jordan. Yahweh, translated “LORD” in all capital letters, was God’s name (3:14). The inscription might mean the Sinai was the land of nomads who worshipped God or who were known by the name of God—perhaps as “the people of God.” These inscriptions are the two oldest references outside the Bible to anyone worshiping Yahweh, the God of the Israelites, who were ancestors of today’s Jewish people.Exodus out of Egypt
Map of Goshen
Map of Goshen
Map Moses on the run to Midian
Map burning bush
Map burning bush
Moses returns to Egypt
Map Nile River
3D Map Mount Sinai-Mount Zion
3D Map Mount Sinai-Mount Zion
3D Map Mount Sinai to Mount Zion
Two-week walk in 40 years
It was 240 miles, 380 km, from Mount Sinai to Jerusalem, also known as Mount Zion. That's about a two-week walk through a lot of wasteland.
But it took Moses and the Israelite ancestors of today's Jewish people, 40 years.
They weren't that slow. They were that stubborn and stuck in their own heads. They had a habit of doing what they wanted instead of doing what God said.
Scouting report
Men scouting the Promised Land came back with a mixed report.
27Here’s the report they gave: “We went where you told us to go. This is certainly a land where milk and honey flow like rivers. We picked this fruit there. 28The people who live there have strong defenses and large cities protected behind walls. We saw some descendants of the giant Anak. 29Amalekite people live in the Negev. Further north, Jebusites and Amorites live in the central hill country. Along the seacoast is where some Canaanites live. Others live alongside the Jordan River"...
31Other scouts who had gone with him pushed back, “We can’t beat these people. They’re too strong for us.” 32These men gave a terrible report about what they saw. They told the Israelites, “The land we just explored is too big for us. If we tried to conquer all the people there, they would put us in the ground. These are huge people we’re talking about. 33That’s not all. We saw the giant Nephilim, ancestors of the giant Anak. Looking up at them, we felt like grasshoppers. And looking down at us, they felt we looked like grasshoppers, too." Numbers 13
Too frightened to obey God
Terrified, the people refused to go any further, God or no God.
So, God put them in timeout for a generation, 40 years. One year for every day the scouts had been gone.
The only adults from that generation who would get to step on the Promised Land where the only two scouts who advised going into the land and taking it from the people, Joshua and Caleb:
29"You’re going to die in the badlands. All the men in your armies—everyone age 20 and older who complained about me—dead. 30There’s no way I’m going to let you go into the land I promised you. The only exceptions are Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, the son of Nun. 31I’ll bring your children there—the ones you said I’d let your enemies take for themselves. Your children will see the land you turned down. 32But you? You’re going to die in the desert badlands. "
To compare Bible versions, see Bible Gateway.