We find mention made of this mountain by the name of El-paran. (Genesis 14:6.) And it was here that Moses, when rehearsing the mercies of God to Israel, delivered those blessed sermons which are recorded in the book of Deuteronomy. (See Deuteronomy 1:1.) The prophet Habakkuk also, in that beautiful chapter of his, begins his relation of the glories of the Lord from this place. "God (saith he) came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran." Habakkuk 3:3.)
This mount formed a part of the desert of Arabia Petrsea, and lay south of the land of promise. The name is derived from the Hebrew word pear, signifying beauty. The place is rendered memorable from events which are recorded concerning it in the several providences of God. Here it was that Hagar, the handmaid of Sarah, fled from her mistress, and here the angel of the Lord visited her. (Genesis 21:14-21.) Here Israel, after leaving mount Sinai, arrived and encamped, being so directed by the resting of the cloud. (See Numbers 10:12.) Here David found a refuge, in after-ages from the persecution of Saul. (1 Samuel 25:1.) So that Paran hath proved an asylum to the distressed on many occasions, as recorded in the Scriptures; and in how many more that are not recorded in public memorials , who shall say! It is blessed when souls under exercise find the Lord in the wilderness dispensations, who have missed such discoveries in the peopled city. Hagar and David, and thousands besides, have experienced a Paran when and where they least expected it; and wilderness straits have sometimes brought forth such freedoms, as to make the wilderness blossom as the rose. Wheresoever Jesus is, as he was to Hagar, and as he was to David, when he speaks, and when he opens the eyes to see his grace, we find near to us the well of water "springing up to everlasting life." So may my soul find many a Paran in the present wilderness, and Jesus will sweeten and soften all straits by the gracious enlargements of his love.