Moses Sees the Promised Land from Mount Nebo

Above photo: the view looking west toward the Promised Land from Mount Nebo. This is the view Moses would have seen with his mortal eyes of the promised land.

“And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against [away from] Jericho. And the Lord shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan, And all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea [Mediterranean], And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar. And the Lord said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither. So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And he [God] buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.” Deuteronomy 34:1-6.

Don’t let the names throw you, basically Moses saw all of the land from the southern Negev Desert to Mount Hermon (the tri-border of modern Israel, Syria, and Lebanon) in the far north. And from the east where he stood to the the shores of the Mediterranean Ocean in the west. The mountains of Jordan are higher than the mountains of Israel so he could naturally see a lot. However, as described in these verses he would have only been able to see all of it in a vision from God.

The highest peak of Mount Nebo is 800 meters (2,634 feet) above sea level. By comparison the elevation of Jerusalem is 785 meters (2,575 feet) above sea level, and the Dead Sea is 440 meters (1,444 feet) below sea level.

The Bible states that Moses died on Mount Nebo, however, nobody witnessed his death and a body was never found. All the authors knew for sure was that Moses did not return to the Camp of Israel and nobody ever saw him thereafter. Perhaps he died and was buried by the hand of God or perhaps like Elijah, Moses was taken from the earth?

On Mount Nebo at the scenic overlook point are the excavated ruins of a Byzantine Basilica dedicated to Moses. On the floor of the basilica are beautiful mosaics that were laid in 530 AD.

According to the Apocryphal writings in 2 Maccabees, Jeremiah hid the Ark of the Covenant and incense altar from Solomon’s Temple in a cave on Mount Nebo and sealed the cave to hide it:

“It was also in the same document that the prophet, having received an oracle, ordered that the tent and the ark should follow with him, and that he went out to the mountain where Moses had gone up and had seen the inheritance of God. Jeremiah came and found a cave-dwelling, and he brought there the tent and the ark and the altar of incense; then he sealed up the entrance. Some of those who followed him came up intending to mark the way, but could not find it. When Jeremiah learned of it, he rebuked them and declared: ‘The place shall remain unknown until God gathers his people together again and shows his mercy.” 2 Maccabees 2:4-7 (NRSV). The 2nd Book of Maccabees was possibly written about 160-124 BC (about 800 years after Jeremiah).

If you ever visit Jordan, Mount Nebo is worth the stop.