The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1874-04-04
MOUNT SINAI.

The exact location of this memorable
spot, sacred in the minds of all Christian
people as the place where Jehovah APP
pcared to man in fire; where the Ten Com
mandments were written by the finger of
the Lord upon two tables of stone and
delivered to Moses-has always been unset
tied. But a Gale telegram announces that
all doubt is now removed. Dr. Beke, the
celebrated scholar and traveller gives as
the result of his recent expedition the dis
covery of Sinai and the finding of verify
ing inscriptions, of which he has made
copies. The cable despatch says that the
expedition places the holy mountain at "a
days journey northeast of tie village OF
Akaba, Arabia, at an altitude of five thou
sand feet above the level of the sea-"
DR.. Beke has long maintained that Sinai
was an extinct volcano, and the correctness
of that opinion is now said to be fully con-
firmed by his personal explorations. In
deed, the Biblical account of the NANTES
tations, which took place at Sinai in the
presence of the tribes of Israel, cores
ponds in several respects to the descrip.
tons given in these modern times of the
volcanic eruptions of Vesuvius. In the
nineteenth chapter of Exodus the follow
ing graphic narrative is presented:
"And it came to pass on the third day
in the morning that there were thunders
L., al Al
mount, and the voice of the trumpet ex-
ceedng loud; SO that all the people that
was in the camp trembled.
And Moses brought forth the people out
Of the camp to meet with God; and they
stood on the neither part of the mount.
And Mount Sinai was altogether on a
smoke, because the Lord descended upon
it in fire: and the smoke thereof assembled
as the smoke Of furnace, and the whole
mount quaied greatly
Moses then went up the mount, and the
Ten Commandments were proclaimed; the
inspired narrator adds:
And all the people saw the thunder
ings, and the noise Of the trumpet, and
the mountain smoking; and when the PEG
pie saw ii, they removed and stood afar
off,
Subsequently, it will be remembered, the
lsraelites forgot their vows and went back
to heathensh practices of idol making, and
set up metallic calf. Moses, on coming
down from the mount, had the tables of
stone i'll his two hands; and when he sew
the molten calf, he threw down the tables
and broke them in pieces. Then he broke
up the idol, pounded it into fine dust, which
he scattered i'll brook that came from the
mount. The inspired narrative then tells
us how, By prayer, the Lord was appeased,
and He commanded Moses to hew out
anothea pair of tables, and take them up
the mount, which he did. Whereupon the
Lord again wrote out the same ten COM
mandments as at first, and gave the two
new tables to Moses, who brought them
down from Sinai and put them in an ark
which he had made of shittim wood, " and
there they be- Deut. y, ).
1t would be interesting to know what
kind of stones are conveniently found at
Sinai, out of which Moses might have
hewn the tables. From their weight, indi-
Gated by his carrying one in each hand,
going up and down the mountain, it would
seem as though they might have been COM
posed of slate or other laminated forma-
ton. We Presume that DIR. Beke's report
will fun particulars of the geology of the
neighborhood, and perhaps tell us some
thing new about the Mosaic stones.
THE FARMERS MUTUAL. OF YORK, PA,
is acknowledged to be one of the safest
Mutual Fire Insurance Companies in oper-
alton. Its Agents do 4 large business in
this county. Risks on farm property taken
at low rates. L. L. EWING,
Agent at Elkton.