The Bible does not explicitly state the exact number of times Moses ascended Mount Sinai, but through a careful examination of the biblical text, we can determine the approximate number of his ascents. The key passages that provide details about Moses’ trips up the mountain are Exodus 19-34, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. By analyzing these accounts, it becomes evident that Moses made at least four documented ascents of Mount Sinai, with the possibility of a fifth unconfirmed ascent.
The First Ascent
Moses’ first trip up Mount Sinai is recorded in Exodus 19. After the Israelites arrived at the wilderness of Sinai following their exodus from Egypt, Moses was summoned up the mountain by God. Exodus 19:3 states, “There the LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, ‘Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel…'” This marked the first of Moses’ ascents, as God beckoned him up the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments and the covenant that God wished to make with the Israelites.
Exodus 19 details how Moses ascended and descended the mountain multiple times to deliver messages from God to the people and back again. It says in verses 7-8, “So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him. All the people answered together and said, ‘All that the LORD has spoken we will do.’ And Moses reported the words of the people to the LORD.” This initial trip up and down foreshadowed the more significant ascent in which Moses would spend forty days and nights on the mountain receiving the law from God.
The Second Ascent
After Moses’ preliminary ascent in Exodus 19 to confer with God and prepare the people, he made a second formal climb up Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments written on stone tablets. This key ascent is recorded in Exodus 24:12-18. God summoned Moses to come up the mountain to receive the stone tablets. Verses 15-16 describe this, saying, “Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the LORD dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud.”
Moses remained on the mountain with God for forty days and forty nights, a significant period of time (Exodus 24:18). During this second ascent, God gave him the Ten Commandments and laws to deliver to the Israelites.
The Third Ascent
After coming down the mountain from his second forty-day ascent, Moses went up Mount Sinai a third time. This trip is recorded in Exodus 34. During Moses’ time on the mountain receiving the Ten Commandments, the Israelites fell into idolatry with the golden calf. As a result of their sin, Moses shattered the stone tablets in righteous anger (Exodus 32:19).
After dealing with the golden calf incident, God commanded Moses to carve new stone tablets and once again ascend the mountain. Exodus 34:1-2 states, “The LORD said to Moses, ‘Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain.’”
Moses obeyed and made a third recorded trip up Mount Sinai with the new tablets. He spent another forty days and nights communing with God, during which God revealed His glory and rewrote the Ten Commandments on the replacement tablets (Exodus 34:28-29).
The Fourth Ascent
Following the golden calf incident, Moses had made a fourth ascent up Mount Sinai to plead with God for forgiveness on behalf of the Israelites. This intercessory trip is referenced in Deuteronomy 9-10.
After reiterating the account of what transpired with the golden calf, Moses reflects on his prayer for Israel’s restoration. Deuteronomy 9:18-19 recounts, “Then I lay prostrate before the LORD as before, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all the sin that you had committed, in doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD to provoke him to anger. For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure that the LORD bore against you, so that he was ready to destroy you.”
Though not detailed in Exodus, Moses clearly made another 40-day intercessory trip pleading for Israel’s forgiveness. God listened to Moses and showed mercy to the people, requiring Moses to make new tablets recording the covenant (Deuteronomy 10:1-5).
The Possibility of a Fifth Ascent
Though there is no definitive passage recording a fifth ascent of Mount Sinai, some speculate that Moses may have gone up an additional time based on certain clues in Exodus and Deuteronomy.
In Exodus 32:30, after the golden calf incident, Moses tells the people, “You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” Then in Deuteronomy 10:10, Moses notes, “I stayed on the mountain, as at the first time, forty days and forty nights, and the LORD listened to me that time also. The LORD was unwilling to destroy you.”
These verses hint at the possibility of an extra ascent during which Moses fasted, prayed, and pleaded for forgiveness following the golden calf, before going up to get the second set of tablets. However, since the Bible does not explicitly describe this potential fifth climb, it remains speculative.
Summary of Moses’ Ascents
In summary, through carefully analyzing the Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy accounts, we can confirm the following ascents of Mount Sinai by Moses:
- The first initial ascent in Exodus 19 to confer with God and prepare the people.
- The second key ascent in Exodus 24 when Moses spent 40 days receiving the original Ten Commandments and covenant laws.
- The third recorded ascent in Exodus 34 after the golden calf incident to get the new tablets and spend 40 more days with God.
- The fourth referenced ascent in Deuteronomy 9-10 when Moses interceded and fasted for 40 days praying for Israel’s restoration.
- A potential fifth climb hinted at in Exodus 32 and Deuteronomy 10 in which Moses may have ascended to pray for forgiveness following the golden calf debacle before his final trip recorded in Exodus 34.
So in summary, Moses made at least four documented trips up Mount Sinai, with the possibility of a fifth extra ascent that is unconfirmed. His meetings with God on the mountain were pivotal in establishing the Law and covenant relationship between Yahweh and the Israelite nation.
