(DAVE 5/2) Ralph: I don't know - the question is a good one. I would
think it is where the "base" of the mountain is at the same level as the
surrounding terrain. Where DOES a mountain begin, Ralph? You must know
this as you obviously know where Mount Hor and Moserath were, and that
Moserath WAS NOT at the base of Mount Hor - they were separate places,
correct Ralph? (Oh, I forgot, you and Farrell don't like to answer these
direct questions)
TILL
For the umpteenth time, I will ask Dave to explain how that 2.5 to 3 million
people, who, if they marched 200 abreast with only 3 feet between each line,
would have formed a column 9 miles long (even if no allowances were made for
their flocks, herds, and "very much cattle'), could have left Moseroth and
traveled to and camped at Benejaakan (Num. 33:31), and then left Benejaakan
and traveled to and camped at Hor-haggidgad (v:32), and then left
Hor-haggidgad and traveled to and camped at Jotbathan (v:33), and then left
Jotbathan and traveled to and camped at Abronah (v:34), and then left
Abronah and traveled to and camped at Ezion-geber (v:35), and then left
Ezion-geber and traveled to and camped at Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin
(v:36) and still have been at the base of Mt. Hor (in the edge of the land
of Edom), where Aaron died (vs:37-38). Of course, I forgot that Dave
doesn't like to answer direct questions like this.
Of these seven different camp sites, the location of two of them (Kadesh
and Ezion-geber are known). I wonder if Dave sees any significance to the
fact that Kadesh was about 70 miles northwest of Ezion-geber? Even the
southern edge of the Wilderness of Zin in which Kadesh was located farther
to the northwest was about 50 miles from Ezion-geber. Would he see this as
any indication that the writer of Numbers meant for his readers to
understand that the Israelites were actually covering ground in their
wanderings and not just jogging in place at the base of Mt. Hor?
By the way, since we are also talking about absurdities, has anyone ever
thought about how absurd it is to think that the creator of the universe
decided to reveal his "word" to mankind, but of all the practical things he
could have told us, he chose not to mention them so that instead he could
tell us such marvelous truths as "the children of Israel journeyed from
Migdol and camped at Marah, and they journeyed from Marah and camped at
Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and
they journed from Elim and camped by the Red Sea, etc., etc., etc., etc.,
etc., etc."? (See my signature below.)
DAVE'S SIGNATURE:
"If Joseph Smith composed this book, the act was clearly a miracle. Keeping
awake while he did it was, at any rate."
- Mark Twain on the Book of Mormon
TILL'S SIGNATURE:
"If Moses composed the Pentateuch, the act was clearly a miracle. Keeping
awake while he did it was, at any rate."
- Farrell Till on the Pentateuch
Farrell Till
Skepticism, Inc.
jftill@midwest.net