In short
God appears to Moses on Mount Horeb and Mount Sinai. In a very different, and yet very similar way, Mount Zion is where God is, also. I’ll do my best to sort this out.
Why it is important
If we can call this a single idea, this is where men can be near God on Earth.
Mount Horeb
“Now Moses… came to Horeb, the mountain of God,” Ex 3:1
At Mount Horeb,
- God appears to Moses in the burning bush and tells Moses His name, YHWH, or the LORD (Exodus 3)
- Water from the rock of Meribah (Ex 17:6-7) [“For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ,” 1Co 10:4.]
- The law on tablets of stone given to Moses (Deut 5:2-22)
At Mount Sinai,
- The law on tablets of stone given to Moses (Ex 31:18)
- For a second time, law on two stones (Ex 34:1,4)
We typically conclude from #3 and #4 (or maybe 3 and 5) that Horeb and Sinai are the same mountain*.
Mount Zion
Mount Zion is NOT the same physical place as Horeb. Horeb is in the wilderness (Lev 7:38; Ex 3:1) Zion is “the City of David” (2Sa 5:7), and I understand that to be Jerusalem, with Mount Zion in that area also (cf. 2Ki 19:31).
Zion comes up a LOT in the Psalms and Isaiah, more than I have time for today.
Theology and doctrine
Zion is the church.
“And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls.”
Joel 2:32, ESV
This is quoted in the New Testament, at Pentecost, as Peter proclaims that Jesus is the Christ.
And I firmly believe Hebrews 12 is tying it all together. Notice the imagery of the mountain of God that Moses saw (he is mentioned by name!) and how we come to “mount Zion” now.
“For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given, ‘If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.’ Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, ‘I tremble with fear.’ But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant,.”
Heb 12:18-24, ESV
And if you really want to go deeper, consider Galatians 4:21-26.
Footnote
* The golden calf incident also is detailed at Sinai AND Horeb (Ex 32:7-8; cf Deut 9:8-12; Ps 106:19)
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