Cursed: The Treasure of Mount Sinai

By GM Matheny

                                                                                                               RECURRING NIGHTMARE                                                                  

          When I was five years old something happened one day that caused me to have my only recurring nightmare. There is not much I remember before I was five, but I remember several things that happened that day.
                                                                                                 THERE WAS A TREASURE AT MOUNT SINAI    
"But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians." (Exodus 3:22, Genesis 15:13-14) Six hundred thousand men, plus women and children with ornaments (at least two million), would easily make it the world's largest treasure. "[T]herefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee. And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb. (Exodus 33:5-7)

• Language: English
• Publisher: GM Matheny
• Release date: Mar 22, 2024
• ISBN: 9781709632433

Book preview

Author Garry and wife, Nancy

GM Matheny was a navy diver on the nuclear submarine USS Halibut SSN 587 and received the Legion of Merit for a special operation. He graduated from Pacific Coast Baptist Bible College in 1979 and has authored seven books. He and his wife, Nancy, were called to the mission field, and they’ve served as missionaries in Romania since 1991.

All Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV). Non-Biblical quotations will be in italics.

There was a treasure at Mount Sinai.

[T]herefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee. And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb. And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation.

(Exodus 33:5-7)

This treasure was buried at the Tabernacle.

And now put thy accustomed ornaments from thee, that it may be manifest before Me what I may do to thee. And the sons of Israel were deprived of their usual adornments, on which was written and set forth the great Name; and which had been given them, a gift from Mount Horeb. And Mosheh took and hid them in his tabernacle of instruction.

(Targum Pseudo-Jonathan – Pentateuch, Exodus 33, 1892

translation by J. W. Etheridge)  

It was the largest treasure in the world!

And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children. (Exodus 12:37)

But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.

(Exodus 3:22, both the women and the men did this, Exodus 11:2) 

Six hundred thousand men, plus women and children with ornaments (at least two million), would easily make it the world’s largest treasure.

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Recurring Nightmare

Chapter Two

Transitions

Chapter Three

Out on the Desert

Chapter Four

I Was Not Free

Chapter Five

A Sign

Chapter Six

The Valley of the Kings

Chapter Seven

Suspicious

Chapter Eight

The cat is out of the bag

Chapter Nine

Meeting My Nightmare.

Chapter Ten

Jesus Delivered Ann

Chapter Eleven

Everyone Gets Introduced

Chapter Twelve

God is Great!

Chapter One

Recurring Nightmare

When I was five years old something happened one day that caused me to have my only recurring nightmare. There is not much I remember before I was five, but I remember several things that happened that day. My friend and his mom, plus about six other boys and girls and their moms, went on a field trip to the state capital. We were going to see Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, followed by a side trip to the State Museum.

I enjoyed going places, and with the other children all excited as I was about our trip, it seemed like it would be a perfect day. We first went to this old-style movie theater, which to me, as a five-year-old, seemed huge. It had two staircases going up to the balconies, and under each was a concession stand. I was captivated by the architecture. Some of the other children were running around, and some were waiting in line to spend their coins at the snack bar. But I was standing almost in the middle of the entry hall, trying to remember its detail. I had never seen anything like it and I loved it.

After the film, we crammed into the three cars we had come in and set off for the State Museum. Everyone, except maybe the moms, seemed excited, but I did not even know what a museum was. I didn’t talk to anyone in the car but kept going over in my mind about Snow White and her seven dwarfs and the architecture of the theater.

When we arrived at the museum, there were many things to see—things that I had never even heard the names of before. A number of times, my friend’s mom hollered at me, Bret, keep up with the rest of the group. I was trying to take it all in, but it was just not possible. So, I decided to just look and hoped someday I could come back and take the time to examine everything till my curiosity was satisfied.

There were four things that stood out to me that afternoon at the museum. The first was an ant case on a landing of the stairs that went up to the second floor. This case sat on the windowsill and was about an inch thick, with glass on both sides so you could look into the ants’ world with their tunnels and miniature caverns. It seems odd now, but the thing that was the most interesting to me in the museum, which was filled with foreign artifacts and artwork, was the ant case, which was all by itself on the landing of the stairs between the first and second floors. I became separated from the rest of the group because I was spending too much time watching the ants. But I could hear the other children making a lot of noise at the top of the stairs. I thought I would catch up, and see what all the excitement was about.

The other boys and girls were all holding hands in a circle, jumping up and down and screaming, especially the girls. There were also some other children there I did not recognize. One of them said I should try it. Try what? I asked Hold hands in our circle, someone said. I did, and the next thing I knew I was shocked! There was this electric crank on the wall that produced low voltages of electricity with two wires hanging off it. We formed a circle, with those on the two ends each holding one of the wires, while another cranked. Everyone thought it was fun, but I could not stand it. I was the first to let go. They were upset that I did not hang on longer, so they could get a bigger shock.

I was determined to try one more time, especially because I did not like the thought of them being able to resist the shock longer than I could. So again, I held their hands and again I was the first to let go. (I do not know if it is true, but I have been told that the one who is in the middle, where I was standing, will get the biggest shock.) I did not like it at all and could not understand how they could all be laughing about it.

I left them there and began to walk down the halls of the museum by myself, which was a mistake. I didn’t know where the moms were, perhaps having a coffee break. But I decided to explore. A few minutes later, I found myself in the middle of a hall with masks of different countries on both sides. Looking back now, it seems these masks must have been from Africa. They all had scary faces, and I thought they were all staring at me. I could no longer hear the boys and girls giving out screams from the electrical shock and I felt all alone with those scary masks.

I did my best to look straight ahead, staying in the middle of the hall and walking fast so I could get out of there. This hall with the masks was the third thing I remember about the museum, and I liked it less than getting the electrical shock. But the fourth thing that stands out to me about that museum was the next thing I saw, and it was unexpected.

I had hurried down that hall passed the masks to an opening in