It must be recognised that Jordan is mainly a Muslim Country, yet the significance of Jordan is important when looking at the travels of the Israelites when they left Egypt and entered into the Promised land.
Mt Nebo is an elevated ridge in Jordan, approximately 817 metres above sea level. When looking over the valley of the Jordan River which is well below sea level, the view can be outstanding.
This is the place where Moses was granted a view of the Promised Land that he would never enter. The view from the summit provides a panorama of the Holy Land and, to the north, a more limited one of the valley of the River Jordan. The West Bank city of Jericho is usually visible from the summit, as is Jerusalem on a very clear day.
The day that we were there was very hazy and did not make for good photography.
Deuteronomy 32 :48-52 tells how God instructed Moses that he will be able to see the promised land, but not enter the promised land.
The LORD spoke to Moses that very same day, saying, “Go up to this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab opposite Jericho, and look at the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the sons ofIsrael for a possession. “Then die on the mountain where you ascend, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, because you broke faith with Me in the midst of the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, because you did not treat Me as holy in the midst of the sons of Israel. “For you shall see the land at a distance , but you shall not go there, into the land which I am giving the sons of Israel.”
Deuteronomy 34:1-6 goes on to say
Now Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, and all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, and the Negev and the plain in the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. Then the LORD said to him, “This is the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants ‘; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.” So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.And He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor ; but no man knows his burial place to this day.
For more information about Mt Nebo
- 2014-03-29 – Amman to the Dead Sea
- Mt Nebo – Moses and the Promised Land
- Mt Nebo – Panoramic View
- Mt Nebo – View into Israel