Leon's Message Board

Todd Bolen wrote me yesterday with helpful information regarding Mt. Nebo, and my photo in our previous post (Nov. 28).

Todd suggests that Mt. Nebo is further north than depicted in Monday’s photo (i.e., to your left). I value his scholarship and input, and wanted to pass that along to my readers. Look now at this photo:

Mt. Nebo. Looking from west to east. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

Look to the upper right of photo. See the long shadow? Look to the left edge and then up to the top of the ridge.  Todd suggests the peak of Nebo is located a little behind (east of) the ridge and a bit to the left of the north side of that shadow. (Click on image for larger view).

Here is a photo Todd send me showing what his present research has determined to be the location of Mt. Nebo, from a different angle:

Mt. Nebo from northwest. Photo by Todd Bolen. Used by permission.

In his photo, Todd identifies Mt. Nebo as the peak at slightly left of center (with some trees at right).

Research in biblical history and geography (as well as other disciplines) is not static; it requires much ongoing research and sometimes course correction. I value such help as that which Todd provided re: Mt. Nebo, and am glad to pass along this info and photos to you.

Ferrell Jenkins has a good article w/photos dealing with various methods by which biblical sites are identified, using Lystra for an example; see here.

The Lord’s faithful servant Moses was not permitted to cross over with Israel to the Promised Land of Canaan.

Deuteronomy 34 tells of the end of the Moses’ earthly life. He was permitted to ascend Mt. Nebo and view the land promised to the Patriarchs, and then he died.

Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is across from Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land of Gilead as far as Dan, 2 all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, 3 the South, and the plain of the Valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. 4 Then the LORD said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there.” 5 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. 6 And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor; but no one knows his grave to this day. 7 Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor diminished (Deut. 34:1-7).

Mt. Nebo is situated in what was at that time the land of Moab. Our photo shows Mt. Nebo from the western side of the Dead Sea, looking east, i.e., the opposite of Moses’ view in our text.

Mt. Nebo from west side of Dead Sea. Photo by Leon Mauldin, Sept. 2011.

Top center of photo is Mt. Nebo, in the setting of the mountains of Moab.

Click image for larger view.