The Evangelical Universalist Forum

Mount Sinai vs. Mount Horeb

Many Bible interpreters believe that Mount Sinai and Mount Horeb are one and the same mountain. I don’t believe this is the case. In fact, when Jesus says to Peter “on this rock I will build my church.” I think He may be referring to Mount Horeb. It is also quite possible that the mountain Jesus speaks of moving in Matthew 17:20 is Mount Sinai.

Peter had just confessed, “You are the Anointed One.” (the meaning of χριστος or “christos”).
Jesus then said that His Father had revealed this to Peter.

Then Jesus made this amazing statement, “I tell you, you are πετρος (petros) and upon this πετρα (petra) I will build my Church.”

“Petros” was Peter’s name. The word means “a small rock or a stone.” But upon this “petra” ( word that means “a huge rock or cliff”) Christ would build his Church. The petra was the rock of Peter’s confession. Peter himself was but a stone. Yet his confession that Jesus was the Anointed One of God was a huge rock. Jesus indicated that He would build His Church on the truth that He was the Anointed One of God! And even the gates of the grave would not prevail against Christ’s Church. For death will not prevail. It would hold His people only until Jesus raises them again on the last day. (John 6:39,40,44,54)

I see no evidence that anyone knows the mountain to which Jesus was referring in Matt 17:20. None of the commentators I have read even speculate on the matter.

On another thread,Davo and I have been discussing the difference between the two covenants that Galatians 4:21-31 speaks of, one of the flesh(man-made) and one of the promise( spiritual-from God) However, I thought this deserved it’s own thread. As I have mentioned before, I don’t believe that the Jewish law of animal sacrifices, rituals, ceremonies, traditions etc. came from God. To me, such things were clearly pagan practices of the ancient world that Israel had joined herself to, and the reason why the temple was destroyed; hence Mt. Sinai vs. Mt. Horeb.

Exodus 3:12 says this: “So He said, 'I will certainly be with you and this shall be a sign that I have sent you; When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain(Horeb).”
Deut. 5:2 “The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb.”

The covenant God made at Horeb was the same covenant He made with the fathers, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob etc.(one of promise/ the same covenant as that of Jesus). However, some rejected it. They turned and worshipped other gods, creating for themselves a covenant of law,bondage and death as Psalm 106:9 says “They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molded image.” Some versions of the Bible say Sinai as if the two are one and the same. I would say that they made a calf at Sinai.
Exodus 17:6 says “Behold I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb.”
Whereas Jeremiah 21:13 says, “Behold I am against you, o inhabitant of the valley and rock of the plain.”
According to 1Kings 19:8, Elijah goes to Horeb “He kept going until he arrived at Horeb. It was the mountain of God.”
And 2 Peter 1:18 states “And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.”

Many today consider the spiritual teachings of Jesus to be the “New” Testament and “new” covenant. On the contrary, what I am suggesting in this thread, and what I believe to be the truth is that these things were from of old; that they were the very first. In other words, Christianity was the root. It did not grow out of the Jewish law and all of their 600 plus commandments, but the Jewish law was a break off of Christianity. The way I see it, Christianity was the teaching of the earliest of the Hebrew people, starting with Adam and Eve as far as we know.

First of all, here are a couple of links regarding archeological discoveries that support the idea that Sinai and Horeb are the same, or at least in the same geographic neighborhood:

ronwyatt.com/mount_sinia.html

truediscoveries.org/mount-sinai

(I obviously think amateur archeologist Ron Wyatt was “the real deal.” As 1 Cor. 1:27 says, “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty.”)

Second, I think I’m basically on the same page as LLC that God’s desire for man from the beginning was a covenant of grace, not of works. And we know the promise of the coming Savior was given by God right there at the Fall of Man in Gen. 3:

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he [Jesus] will crush your head, and you [Satan] will strike his heel.”

Coincidentally LLC, I just wrote a friend last week about this very topic. Please allow me to quote (at length) from my email to him:

Blessings.

LLC said:

Yes I think you are right though there were some that did not know it! :wink:

Here’s an article I read today supporting your assertion:

Bible Symbolism In Genesis, Regarding The First And Second Covenants, at

wordservice.org/Symbolisms%20in%20Genesis/bs1000.htm

The punctuation is a little rough. (I suspect the author is not a native English speaker.) But still well worth considering.

Blessings.

Hermano, Paidion, MM, Thanks for your input. :slight_smile:

Hermano, I have a few points of disagreement.

Yes, I believe the blessings were dependent on their obedience and faithfulness. The covenant is stated in Genesis 1:27-28 “So God created man in his own image; in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them. Then God blessed them , and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air and over ever living thing that moves on the earth.”

You have to be like God in spirit (in His image) in order to receive the blessings of the covenant.This only makes sense because, if we hate, murder, steal, cheat, lie, etc. etc. we’re not being fruitful. How can we have dominion over anything when our ways are destructive?

The problem was not the Ten Commandments which were given well before Mt.Sinai. Genesis 26:5 says 'because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments , My statutes and My law." Yes, there was Law before Moses came along, just not the Jewish law. There was death before Mt. Sinai as well. Noah was saved because of his righteousness. However, the wicked were destroyed. Lot was also saved from Sodom and Gomorrah.etc. etc.