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Here the Lord intervened and gave the people the "Manna". From the wilderness of
Sin, the people moved on to Rephidim, where Amalek met them and where Moses prayed
while Joshua gave battle (Exod. 17:).
Urquhart, in his "New Biblical Guide" asks and answers several pertinent questions
that deal with the presence of Amalek and the site of Rephidim.
(1)
Was there a population big enough to offer resistance to Israel? Proofs are
given from inscriptions and from the remains of buildings that a large
population inhabited the vicinity of Sinai in the days of Moses.
(2)
Was there any reason why a conflict should take place at that time--April or
May? The answer is found in the intense heat and the extreme value of
every drop of water.
(3)
Was there any spot along this route, where trained men of war would
instinctively seize and hold? There is. If the reader will consult a map he
will find where the road dips down somewhat toward the base of Serbal,
Hesy el Khattalin. Beyond that point the fertile track begins; while here, at
Hesy el Khattalin, it is a dry and thirsty land where no water is.
"In the Wady Feirain moreover is a rock which Arab tradition regards as the site of the
miracle" (Prof. Palmer).
There is also at hand a hill Jebel Tahu (Windmill Hill), about 700 feet high, exactly
suited for the place where Moses lifted up his hands in prevailing prayer.
Now as to Sinai:
"In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of
Egypt, the same day came they unto the wilderness of Sinai . . . . . and Israel camped
before the mount . . . . . go ye not up unto the mount nor touch the border of it . . . . . they
stood at the nether part of the mount" (Exod. 19: 1, 2, 12, 17).
Speaking of the journey from Rephidim to Sinai, Dean Stanley said:
"I cannot imagine that any human being could pass by that plain and not feel that he
was entering a place above all others suited for the most august sights on earth."
Mount Sinai is a huge mass about two miles in length. The narrative demands a
mountain with a camping space before it capable of accommodating 3,000,000 people,
with still further room for them to move forward at command, to a mountain that "might
be touched". All the conditions are met by Jebel Musa, "the mountain of Moses".
In front of that part of the mountain known as Ras Sufsufeh, there stretches a plain
which by actual measurements has been shown capable of affording one square yard for
every one in the host of Israel, with two Wadies for them to withdraw into in their fear.
"Ras sufsufeh rises up from the plain, inviting, one might say, a closer approach, and
presenting no obstacle whatever, had the people been incited by a common impulse of
curiosity" (Urquhart).