Richland beacon., 1874-03-14
Mount Sinai.

The exact location of this ,aemora-
bic spot. sacred in the minds of all
Christian people As the place whrre
jehovah appeared 10 man in fire;
where the Ten Commandments We're
written blythe tiiger of the Lord up
on TWO tables of stone aud delivered Ia
Mn,es-has always been unsettled.
But Gale telegram announces that
all doubts is now removed. DR..
Bcke, The celebrated scholar aud trav-
eiler, gives a the result Of his rec nj
expedition the discovery of Sinai and
the finding Of verifying Inscriptions.
of which he has made copies. Th
cable despatch says that the eypcdi-
ton places the holy mountain at "A
days journey norl beast of the village
of Akaba, Arabia, at an altitude of
five thousand ieet above the level Of
the sea.
DR.. Bcke has long maintained thai
Sinai was an extinct " lcano. aud the
correctDrss of hat opinion is now said
to be fuzzy confirmed by his personal
explorations. Indeed, the Biblical ac-
count Of the mauifcsi atlons, which
to, k place at Sinai in the presence Of
the tribes Of Israel. Corresponds IN
several respects To the descriptions
gwen in these modern times of the
volcano eruplions of Nesuvius, In
the nineteenth chapter OF Exodus the
following graphic narrative is present
ed: 4
And it came to pass on the third
dav in the morning that there were
thunder, and lightnings. and thick
cloud upon the mount. and the voice
of The trumpet exceeding loud sothal
all The people thai Was in the camp
trembled.
Aud Moses brought forth the peo-
pie out of The camp to meet with God /;
and they Stood On the neither part Of
The mount
And Mount Sinai was altogether
IN a smoke because the Lord descend
ed upon IL in fire; aud the SIN Ike
thereof assembled As the smoke "t a
furnace, and the whole noun quaked
greatly"
Moses then went up the mount, and
the Ten Cu,nral dncnls were pro-
claimed the inspired narrator adds
"Aud all the people saw the thun-
behring's, and the noise of the trumpet.
and the mountain smoking and when
the people saw ii, they removed and
stood utar of"
Subsequently, it will he remember
ed, The lsraeliles forgot their VOWS
| and went back 10 heat henish practi-
ces of idol making. and set up a me-
talIic calf. Moses. on coming down
from the mount, had the tables of
stone in his two hands; and when he
saw the molten calf. he threw down
the tables and broke item 10 pieces.
Then he broke up The Idol. pounded
| it into 6ne dust, which h. scattered in
brook that cane down fron the
mount. The inspired narrative then
! tells Us how, by prayer. The Lord was
appeased, and lie commanded Moses
t" hew out another pair of tables, and
take them up the mount, which he
did. Whereupon the Lord again
wrote out the same ten command
ments as at first. and gave the two
new tables to Moses. WIN brought
! them down from Sinai and put theu
in an ark which he had made Of shit
/ tim wood, "aEd there they be- Deut.
Y. ).
1t would be interesting to know
what kind of stones are conveniently
found at Sinai. out of which MoscS
might have bewn the tables. From
/ their light weight, Indicated by his
carrying one in each hand, going up
aud down the monn'an, 1t w"ulu
~eetn as though they might have been
composed of slate or other lanlnated
furmation. We presume that DR..
Brk"'s report vi | give full particulars
of the geology of the neighh rhood,
and perhaps tell Us something new
abont the Mosaic stones