The View From Mt. Nebo




Margaret Bolte

 
© Copyright 2024 by Margaret Bolte



 Photo by Vyacheslav Argenberg at Wikimedia Commons.
Photo by Vyacheslav Argenberg at Wikimedia Commons.

Standing on a solid rock of this mountain, the view is spectacular. My eyes had to adjust to the landscape that seemed so far in the ongoing distance; this is a boundness view in front of me. Hard limestone hills with clumps of trees that look like large dots on a painting spread on a barren land background. This is Mt. Nebo and now part of the country of Jordan. In the Old Testament Moses repeatedly spoke the word of God to Pharaoh, “Let my people go, so that they may worship God.” (Exodus 8:1) Moses was finally freed and he took the Israelites to seek God’s Promised Land.

Moses, the prophet, searched thousands of years ago, and yet never completed his life mission to reach the Promised Land. There is a monument on this sacred site that honors Moses. The mosaic exhibit at Mt Nebo is in the basilica, memorial church, that houses some of the best mosaics in Jordan dating from around year 530. Moses lived to 120 years old. Arachnologists do not know where Moses is buried to this day.

On this panoramic site, this clear June afternoon, the views from Mt. Nebo display the Dead Sea, the Jordan River valley, Jericho, Bethlehem, and the distant hills of Jerusalem. Moses would never enter the promised land. Moses the prophet would wander all his life in search of the promised land. “For you shall see the land before you, but you shall not go there, into the land that I am giving to the people of Israel” Deuteronomy 32:52.

For the many blessings that Moses received from God, Moses’ ego denied him the greatest blessing. Moses took credit for striking a rock to become a spring of water. Moses was to give credit to God (in prayer) for the miracle of the water; instead, Moses spoke and commanded the rock to turn to water to show his power. The failure of trust in God, left Moses, and the people of Israel to wander in the promised land for years. Moses accepted and endured his failing and lived his entire life as God commanded him – wandering.

My visit to the Holy Land and to Mt. Nebo took place less than three months before the attacks on Israel occurred. On a fall day, October 7th, my heart broke. Terrorist group attacks were destroying Israel.

For ten days I was on a pilgrim journey. My feet stood on the sacred ground of Mt. Nebo. And I visited the holy sites of Old Jerusalem and walked on the consecrated ground of Via Dolorosa, the route through the Old City of Jerusalem believed to be the path Jesus walked to his crucifixion. My hands and feet touched the grotto where Mary gave birth to baby Jesus in the city of Bethlehem. The holy spirit lifted me, and my life changed. Compassion and empathy overflowed me and made me ready to share the Lord’s faithfulness to others.

Now, the trip of my lifetime, is suffused with sorrow. The most holy and sacred land in the world is being annihilated and its people are being persecuted. Israel is crying tears and shedding blood.

Today people of Israel are seeking to stay alive and to fight for their promised land once again. As Moses search for God, may the people of Israel be bold and steadfast to seek and keep God’s promised land again.

For the sake of all humanity, pray.

The view of Mt. Nebo is now dark, and sunlight is absent.

Our view of the promised land for our world is threaten and is disappearing.

Pray for Israel. Pray for all of us.


I am a new writer since retiring from U.S. Public Health Service as a Commissioned Corps Officer serving as a Safety Health Officer for twenty years. I participate as an active member of the Belle Fourche Writers group located where I reside in Belle Fourche, South Dakota.

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