The Sun Came Up Looking, Like The Eye Of God.

5/18/98: We were wakened at 3:00AM to the sound of camels huffing and puffing as they trudged by on the path, carrying tourists to the summit of Mount Sinai…

5/18/23: Deep slumber had eluded us as we shivered under the borrowed blanket next to the Bedouin’s stone hut. So the shuffling of tourists and camels lumbering by roused us, and we joined the throng seeking the summit of Mount Sinai for the sunrise. The stars had been spectacular, but the full moon had just then risen high enough over the mountain that its bright reflective rays lit up the deep valley well enough to see the trail quite clearly without headlamps. More significantly, Ruth woke up with no back pain at all! We had forgotten her pain medication, so we had prayed just before going to sleep that the LORD would sustain her for the hike to the summit. That morning we had no doubt that He answered that prayer. That is a story I will save for a separate post.

We made the summit by about 5am, along with 80-100 other visitors. And we were all packed shoulder-to-shoulder on a flat space that was dominated by a small chapel that I assume was part of Saint Catherine’s Monastery down in the valley. The atmosphere was thick and humid, so there was a purple haze all around the mountain tops. Then the sun came up looking, like the eye of God.

Moses heard the LORD speak through a burning bush, and the sunrise on Mount Sinai that morning reminded me that He is still speaking, and looking for those who will listen. Every morning the Light shines again in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. The sun still comes up, looking…

“The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” —John 1:9-13

After the hike back down the mountain, we drove back to Cairo, without getting even a little bit lost! We took a long nap back at Nick’s, then we took him and Nile out to dinner as a way of saying “thank you” for their hospitality. We got to the airport by midnight on our way to country number four on our trip.