The deserts Sinai and Paran in the Narrative of the Jewish people and  Why it took the Isrealites 40 years to cross the desert of Sinai? 

Table of Contents

The Sinai Desert and Paran Desert

The Sinai Desert: 

A triangular-shaped peninsula bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Negev to the northeast, the Gulf of Eilat and the Red Sea to the southeast, the Gulf of Suez, and the Red Sea to the west. The desert area is 61,000 square kilometers – 3 times the area of the State of Israel. The Sinai Desert is located between Egypt and Israel.

Origin of the name: From the name of the Akkadian moon god – China. This god is of central importance to the desert peoples whose center of life was at night.

The Paran Desert:

 Considered the northern part of the Sinai Desert. Meaning, Paran is part of Sinai. To the west of the Paran Desert is the Arava and to the west – the northwestern part of the Sinai Peninsula. The Paran Desert is mentioned seven times in the Bible.

Some of the most important events in the history of the people of Israel and the relationship between God and his people, the chosen people – the people of Israel, took place in the Sinai Desert and the Paran Desert.

In the time of our ancestor Jacob, his sons came down from Egypt. From the 12 sons, the 12 tribes of Israel were formed. The Bible tells us that for 430 years the children of Israel lived in Egypt, as slaves in unbearably difficult living conditions.

Exodus 4: 22 “22 Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son”. The people of Israel are the chosen people and in those days were considered the firstborn of God.

Exodus 3:10-12:  “10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you[b] will worship God on this mountain.”

That is, the role of Moses is divided into two: the first part – to bring the people of Israel out of Egypt, and the second part – to bring the people of Israel to Mount Sinai. Not to bring them to the land of Canaan. God is the one who will bring the people of Israel, his son, to the Promised Land.

The first part, God explains to Moses, will not be easy at all: Pharaoh will refuse and therefore be punished.

Exodus 3:19-20: “19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go”.

Only after Pharaoh is punished will Moses be able to bring the people out of Egypt.

Indeed, in chapters 7-11 we learn about the 10 miracles, the punishments (plagues) that God brings upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians. Immediately after the plague of the killing of the firstborn sons, after 430 years that the children of Israel were slaves in Egypt, Pharaoh expelled Israel from his land, the land of Egypt.

Exodus 12: 29-42: “29 At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. 30 Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.

31 During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested. 32 Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me.”

33 The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. “For otherwise,” they said, “we will all die!” 34 So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs wrapped in clothing. 35 The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. 36 The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians.

37 The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Sukkoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. 38 Many other people went up with them, and also large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds. 39 With the dough the Israelites had brought from Egypt, they baked loaves of unleavened bread. The dough was without yeast because they had been driven out of Egypt and did not have time to prepare food for themselves.

40 Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt[b] was 430 years. 41 At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the Lord’s divisions left Egypt. 42 Because the Lord kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honor the Lord for the generations to come”.

This is where the first part of the role that God assigned to Moses ends, and the second part begins: Moses has to lead the people of Israel from Egypt into the Sinai desert to Mount Sinai – to God.

The second part of Moses’ role is not easy. After a short time Pharaoh changes his mind, goes out with his army to pursue Israel, but thanks to God who protects his people and saves them from Pharaoh – Pharaoh and his army drown in the sea.

The miracle of crossing the Red Sea is described in Exodus 14: 5-31: “When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!” So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him. He took six hundred of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out boldly. The Egyptians—all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, horsemen[a] and troops—pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi Hahiroth, opposite Baal Zephon.

10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. 11 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”

13 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. 16 Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. 17 I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. 18 The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.”

19 Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, 20 coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.

21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, 22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

23 The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. 24 During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. 25 He jammed[b] the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.”

26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” 27 Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward[c] it, and the Lord swept them into the sea. 28 The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.

29 But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. 30 That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. 31 And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.”

Indeed, within 3 months of the Exodus from Egypt, Moses brings the children of Israel to the foot of Mount Sinai – to God.

Exodus 19:1-2: “On the first day of the third month after the Israelites left Egypt—on that very day—they came to the Desert of Sinai. After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain”.

Here Moshe actually ends his role, and from now on is supposed to become a secondary character.

From now on God is supposed to communicate and speak directly with the people of Israel, lead them in the Sinai desert and bring them to the Promised Land – to the land which God swore to their fathers.

Exodus 20: 1-17: “And God spoke all these words:

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

“You shall have no other gods before[a] me.

“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

13 “You shall not murder.

14 “You shall not commit adultery.

15 “You shall not steal.

16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.””

Until now, when God wanted to speak and communicate with His Son – the chosen people, God did so through Moses, the mediator.

Here – in Exodus 20, this is the first time that God speaks directly to His people, without intermediaries, and not only that, but God gives His people the most important and precious thing of all: the Ten Commandments. It is known that shortly before Mount Sinai there was a sound of subtle silence. Birds did not fly, animals made no noise, the people did not speak and out of the subtle silence came the divine revelation of God to his people.

Instead of being grateful – a terrible tragedy! Exodus 19, 16-18: “On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. 17 Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain[b] trembled violently.”

Exodus 20: 18-19: “18 When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance 19 and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.””

What is the terrible tragedy? The son is afraid of the father: the people of Israel are afraid of their God. The people do not want to talk to God, because they are afraid of Him and they hide behind Moses! The people call to Moses. All this why? Because: “18When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet”.

Because of their eyes. They saw – and their eyes deceive them. 

Fear forces the people to hide from the source of love. This is a tremendous tragedy because God cannot speak directly to His chosen and beloved people.

But, God is always faithful to His people, and for Him to communicate with them, He again takes Moses as a mediator. Moses’ role is not over yet. From now until further notice, he should be the mediator between God and the people of Israel – delivering to the people the words of God:

Exodus 20: 21-22 “ The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.

22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites this: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven.”

In the next chapters, God gives His people the Torah, the law, and explains to them what they need to do. The people of Israel show signs that they are good and obedient, they accept what God tells them, and prepare themselves for His mission in the world. Exodus 24:7: “Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.”

Until the book of number 10:11 God speaks to His people all the time, through Moses the mediator, and Moses delivers to the people. All the laws and commandments are repeated twice, while on the way – the story of the golden calf.

Numbers 10:11-12: “11 On the twentieth day of the second month of the second year, the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle of the covenant law. 12 Then the Israelites set out from the Desert of Sinai and traveled from place to place until the cloud came to rest in the Desert of Paran”. 

That is, the people sit at the foot of Mount Sinai for two years, two months, and 22 days. After this period, the people of Israel continue to move as far as the Paran Desert. From the foot of Mount Sinai to the Paran Desert, it takes the people of Israel 11 walking days.

Numbers 13 tells us about the 12 guides, “The Lord said to Moses, “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.”

So at the Lord’s command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites. These are their names:

from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zakkur;

from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori;

from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh;

from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph;

from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun;

from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu;

10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi;

11 from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph), Gaddi son of Susi;

12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli;

13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael;

14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi;

15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Maki.

16 These are the names of the men Moses sent to explore the land. (Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua.)

17 When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, “Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. 18 See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. 19 What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? 20 How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees in it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)

21 So they went up and explored the land from the Desert of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo Hamath. 22 They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, lived. (Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23 When they reached the Valley of Eshkol,[a] they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates and figs. 24 That place was called the Valley of Eshkol because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there. 25 At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land.

26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”

30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. 33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

It should be noted and remembered that this is not about spies as most people mistakenly think, since the verb for ”spying” is not mentioned here even once. On the other hand the verb “explore” is mentioned here. The verb explore is mentioned here seven times. As we know, in the Bible, the number seven symbolizes maximum perfection. To summarize, We are not talking here about spies sent on an espionage mission, but about 12 guides/explorers sent to tour the country (to learn about access roads and how they practically can lead the people on the country roads). This is the first time guides are mentioned in the Bible!!

God explicitly instructs Moses to send 12 guides for an exploring mission, but Moses changes the spirit of instruction given to him, and suggests completely different ideas in their minds: “he said, “Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. 18 See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. 19 What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? 20 How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees in it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)” This, of course, is a great sin.

As the Bible teaches: 10 out of 12 guides were afraid and did not like what they saw. But on the other hand, Joshua son of Nun, and Caleb son of Jephunneh were the only two who really liked what they saw. To prove to the people waiting in the desert Paran that the Promised Land is a wonderful land of ” milk and honey”, and “when they reached the Valley of Eshkol cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates and figs”.

The above journey took 40 days. The number 40 is also a very important symbolic number in the Bible. And after 40 days, when they returned to the Paran Desert, the 10 made a false report about the Promised Land:” hey gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us… 28But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan….32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. 33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

On the other hand “30Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

Sadly the people and Moses chose to believe the false report of the 10 and not the true and correct report of Caleb and Joshua.

What caused the false and misleading report? Again, because of their eyes. They saw – and their eyes deceive them. “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. 33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

Again a terrible tragedy. If God is with me, who can be against me ?! They forgot all the miracles and wonders that God had done for them. How  He saved them from Pharaoh, gave them the Ten Commandments and the Torah, and took care of all their needs in the wilderness – all because their eyes again misled them.

Therefore, after the above story, God wants to kill his people, the people of Israel, the chosen people who again failed, but Moses begged God in number 14:13-19: “13 Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear about it! By your power, you brought these people up from among them. 14 And they will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heard that you, Lord, are with these people and that you, Lord, have been seen face to face, that your cloud stays over them, and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. 15 If you put all these people to death, leaving none alive, the nations who have heard this report about you will say, 16 ‘The Lord was not able to bring these people into the land he promised them on oath, so he slaughtered them in the wilderness.’

17 “Now may the Lord’s strength be displayed, just as you have declared: 18 ‘The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.’ 19 In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now.”

God is merciful and gracious and therefore finally agrees to forgive, but Number 14:20-38 “20 The Lord replied, “I have forgiven them, as you asked. 21 Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, 22 not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times— 23 not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. 24 But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. 25 Since the Amalekites and the Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea.[a]

26 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 27 “How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites. 28 So tell them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very thing I heard you say: 29 In this wilderness your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. 30 Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 31 As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected. 32 But as for you, your bodies will fall in this wilderness. 33 Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the wilderness. 34 For forty years—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land—you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.’ 35 I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this whole wicked community, which has banded together against me. They will meet their end in this wilderness; here they will die.”

36 So the men Moses had sent to explore the land, who returned and made the whole community grumble against him by spreading a bad report about it— 37 these men who were responsible for spreading the bad report about the land were struck down and died of a plague before the Lord. 38 Of the men who went to explore the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh survived.”

That is, those over the age of 20 will die in the desert and will not be eligible to enter the Promised Land, and only those younger than the age of 20 will eventually be eligible to enter the Promised Land.

That is why the children of Israel wandered for another 38 years! Until all the adults over the age of 20 died and only after 38 years did the rest get to enter the Promised Land.

That is, if they unquestionably believed in God and did not let their eyes deceive them, the children of Israel could enter the Promised Land in a very short time. From the Paran Desert to the Promised Land: A week of walking at most.

That is, from the exodus to Mount Sinai it took three months. At the foot of Mount Sinai -two years and two months and 22 days. Mount Sinai to the Paran Desert took 11 days. From the Paran Desert to the Promised Land – 7 days.

To summarize: if they unquestionably believed in God and did not let their eyes be deceived, the Israelites could enter the Promised Land in a little over two and a half years (or rather: two years five months, and another 40 days), but because they behaved as they did, they had to wander in the desert for 40 years!

To sum up this part, In the Sinai desert, after rescuing them from their persecutors and performing miracles and wonders for them, God tries to speak directly to His people and even gives them the most precious of all: the Ten Commandments and the Torah. But because their eyes deceive them, the children of Israel fear God, their protector, savior, and source of love, and hide behind Moses.

The children of Israel then complain to Moses about the difficulties in the desert (water and food) – a difficult life, and God takes care of all their needs.

In the wilderness of Paran – the story of the guides – the people again fail because of their eyes that deceive them.

Therefore they were finally forced to wander for another 38 years until they were allowed to enter the Promised Land.

We learn again about the Sinai Desert during the time of Elijah the prophet in the 9th century BC: In 1 Kings, after Elijah kills the prophets in Carmel, he is very afraid of Jezebel and flees to Beersheba in the Negev and from there to Mount Sinai.

He walks 40 days and 40 nights to Mount Horeb. He goes to a private, personal Mount Sinai encounter. He wanted to die, but thanks to the broom bush he lived and went to Mount Sinai.

1 Kings 19: 8-16 ”  So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night.

And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

10 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

11 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

14 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

15 The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. 16 Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet.”

God speaks to Elijah the prophet at Mount Sinai. Elijah is the most zealous prophet. He laments before God about the people of Israel “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too”. He feels that because he is zealous for God, he is alone and lonely in the world “the Israelites have rejected your covenant”.

So today, to show him that he was not 100% right in this matter, in every circumcision (the covenant between the male baby born and the God of Israel) we circumcise the baby on the throne of Elijah the prophet. A

After the wind then, the wind noise (earthquake), and after the noise fire and after the fire is a sound of subtle silence, God Himself is revealed to Elijah and again he repeats the same complaint. In other words: even after God is revealed to him, he does not have a single good word to say about one person from Israel. Everyone can’t be 100% sinners and bad. Therefore, finally, God is fed up with Elijah, he “dismisses” him and commands him “and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet”.

Here, again, we are witnessing an amazing thing: only in the Sinai Desert can we reach the highest and deepest level of silence – the sound of a gentle whisper. This is a sound that can only be heard in the Sinai desert. Out of that silence came the divine revelation.

God is revealed and speaks to His people and Elijah the prophet only in the Sinai desert when the revelation always comes from silence.

That is why the prophets of Israel and the people of Israel have always seen the Sinai Desert and Paran as holy, and pure places; a place where they make a fresh start: cleanse themselves from all evil and start anew. The Sinai Desert and Paran are, therefore, perceived as a bridal love between God and His people Israel and not as it was during the wanderings in the desert. As a place where the love and good relationship between the people of Israel and his God should be renewed.

Ladies and Gentlemen: if you have any more questions – this is the time and this is the place

Yours: sincerely Isaac Karasenti – Tour Guide, Bible expert, and expert in Christianity