We know that Mount Sinai was called the “mountain of God” in Exo 3.12 and Jabal-AL-Lawz fits the biblical description. It is east of the Gulf of Aqaba, south of Edom, and in Midian. Evidence presented in books is not evidence, however, because no investigation of the site has really been done and you can’t prove it anyway, but it is possible that it is Mount Sinai.
Moses doesn’t know how the people will believe when he is told that he will go to Egypt and bring the people out of Egypt in Exo 4.1. God turns his staff into a serpent, and it will be this rod that will be used in the miracles that will follow. In Num 17.1-6 we learn about Aaron’s rod and how it came back to life and sprouted almonds. This alludes to Yeshua who was a dead branch (a term for the Messiah, and lived in Nazareth meaning “branch”) and how he came back to life. The almond is called the “resurrection tree” in Israel, and the KJV calls it the “hastening tree” in Jer 1.12-13. It is the first to bring forth fruit in the spring, the time Yeshua resurrected. Jabal-al-Lawz means “almond mountain.”
Israel stays at Mount Sinai for eleven months and it is believed that Moses went up the second time on Elul 1 and came back down on Tishri 10, a forty-day period. Yeshua was immersed on ELul 1 and went into the wilderness for 40 days, coming back down on Tishri 10. That means he came back down on Yom Kippur and is a picture of Yeshua coming to Jerusalem on Yom Kippur based on Matt 24.29-31. The “great trumpet” is an idiom for Yom Kippur. We also know that the Mishkan was built at Sinai, so this mountain has had a tremendous impact on our lives, and it will have a role in the coming of the Messiah as we have already alluded to. There are verses we will see later that will establish that Yeshua will return to Mount Sinai and march towards Jerusalem, arriving on Yom Kippur.
So we know that the people arrive at Sinai on Sivan 3 and stay eleven months. Then they start their short trek to the north, but disobedience caused a 38-year stay at a place called Kadesh Barnea (holy desert of wandering). Then they left and traveled to Mount Hor near Petra where Aaron died. That means Kadesh Barnea is south of Mount Hor. Then they trek through the Zered Valley, the Arnon Valley to Heshbon and Mount Nebo. Then down the Heshbon Valley and cross the Jordan to Jericho.
Now, Sinai means “thorny” and Horeb means “glowing heat” and seems to be a reference to the sun. It may be that it is related to “Sin” and an Egyptian deity meaning “sun” or in Assyrian meaning “moon.” Personally, we believe it is “sun” meaning “mountain of the sun.” The “sun” alludes to the Messiah in Mal 4.2, Gen 32.31; Psa 19.4-6, 27.4-5; Isa 30.26. The sun gives light for life, and so does the Messiah. The moon is a lesser light and is a picture of the believers, who reflect the light of the sun. The new moon festival was given at Sinai and it is called “Rosh Chodesh.” It is called the festival of the “born again.” If Sinai is called the “mountain of the sun” (alluding to the Torah and the Messiah) and they received the Torah there, and then they go to Kadesh Barnea where all the scholars say it is, where are all the dead-bodied of that whole generation that died there? That would be millions of people. But no bodies have ever been found in the traditional sites of Kadesh Barnea because they are looking in the wrong place and at the wrong time.
Kadesh Barnea (holy desert of wandering) is a place known today as Wadi Rum. Many Hollywood movies have been filmed there like “Lawrence of Arabia” and “The Martian” for instance. Wadi Rum means “valley of the moon.” So if Sinai means “mount of the sun” and they stayed at Kadesh Barnea at Wadi Rum which means “valley of the moon” we have a picture. You have all sorts of concepts speaking to us about light, the new moon, marriage, covenant, wedding, and much more wrapped up in all this.
God gives the Ten Commandments at Sinai, but that was not the only reason God brought the people there. They will receive instructions about the Mishkan and Moses will be in a supernatural existence there for forty days and nights, without food or water. He had “food we know not of.” But at the Golden Calf incident, he breaks the tablets because Israel broke the wedding covenant, and he goes back up the mountain a second time on Elul1 and returns back on Tishri 10 (Yom Kippur) according to Jewish thought. So this is a “tavnit” or a “blueprint” of what Yeshua will do. God also commands them to build a sanctuary in Exo 25.8.
So they build the Mishkan and give special ceremonies that will teach the redemption. He teaches them about the concept of Kedusha. In fact, the Mishkan, and later the Temple, will be called the “Beit Mikdash” or House of Kedusha. The Kivod (glory) and the Shekinah (presence) and the Ruach (power) of God comes, the priests are set apart and we have festivals given, a government is set up and we will have judicial courts. The fullness of the Torah was given and there are commandments for everyone who follows the God of Abraham Nobody keeps all the commandments, just the ones that apply to you. So the mountain is called the “mountain of God’ because tells them to come to this mountain to worship and serve him.
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