Moses on Mount Nebo: The Whole Land

Stand for Israel  |  January 20, 2021

“Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo… There the LORD showed him the whole land… Then the LORD said to him, ‘This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, “I will give it to your descendants.”‘” (Deuteronomy 34: 1-4)

As we begin Holy Land Digs, our look at sacred spots straight from the pages of Scripture, we’ll start with the very view Moses saw as God spoke to him. Mount Nebo lies across Israel’s border, in Jordan. So while Moses, in his last days, took in the Promised Land, God told him, “I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it” (v. 4).

But what sights Moses saw! From Mount Nebo, one can see the Dead Sea, and even the biblical city of Jericho. And on a clear, cloudless day, the Holy City of Jerusalem might be spotted.

While the Bible doesn’t specify Moses’ burial place, tradition places his grave on Mount Nebo. In the 4th century, early Christians built a church atop the mountain to commemorate this important figure of both Judaism and Christianity. As seen above, people still visit this spot, to see the history unearthed there (like the mosaics and ruins below), to see the sights Moses saw in the Bible, and to pay homage to this forefather of our faith.