Deuteronomy, (Ch. 32, 34)
On that very day the LORD said to Moses,
"Go up on Mount Nebo, here in the Abarim Mountains (it is in the land of Moab facing Jericho), and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites as their possession.
You may indeed view the land at a distance, but you shall not enter that land which I am giving to the Israelites."
Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, the headland of Pisgah which faces Jericho, and the LORD showed him all the land-Gilead, and as far as Dan,
all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea,
the Negeb, the circuit of the Jordan with the lowlands at Jericho, city of palms, and as far as Zoar.
The LORD then said to him, "This is the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that I would give to their descendants. I have let you feast your eyes upon it, but you shall not cross over."
So there, in the land of Moab, Moses, the servant of the LORD, died as the LORD had said.
On that very day the LORD said to Moses,
"Go up on Mount Nebo, here in the Abarim Mountains (it is in the land of Moab facing Jericho), and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites as their possession.
You may indeed view the land at a distance, but you shall not enter that land which I am giving to the Israelites."
Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, the headland of Pisgah which faces Jericho, and the LORD showed him all the land-Gilead, and as far as Dan,
all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea,
the Negeb, the circuit of the Jordan with the lowlands at Jericho, city of palms, and as far as Zoar.
The LORD then said to him, "This is the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that I would give to their descendants. I have let you feast your eyes upon it, but you shall not cross over."
So there, in the land of Moab, Moses, the servant of the LORD, died as the LORD had said.
I saw the same Promsied Land as Moses, had the same view as he had, as I spent the late afternoon at the top of Mt. Nebo. It is high, high up on a range just east of Israel and the Jordan River.
It was incredibly spectacular.
It was a strange sensation, standing on top of a relatively high mountain with a strong wind constantly blowing, looking down and across the Jordan Valley, and seeing Israel exactly as described in the verses above in the Old Testament. The Promised Land, from the Dead Sea to the South to the Samarian hills to the north, and all the way toward the mountains of Jerusalem far to the west. While haziness didn't provide the same long-range vista Moses may have had, it was still quite an incredible view, exactly as described, and very moving. Thinking about what that must have been like from this very same spot thousands of years ago. (This mountain peak hasn't moved, so this is one location that is exactly accurate if you acceept the Old Testament story.) It was about as real as having something "come alive and become real" as you can get.
Even the photos here don't do it justice and don't give the clearest view of what I was able to see. As to what I felt, I can't even begin to do that with words and photos.
It was incredibly spectacular.
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