God sovereignly sent Paul into Arabia — to Mount Sinai — so that for three years he would receive the doctrines of grace by direct revelation, rather than from the apostles in Jerusalem.
Paul's own words in Galatians 1 record that he did not confer with flesh and blood or go up to Jerusalem to the earlier apostles, but went into Arabia. Les Feldick identifies that Arabia as the region of Mount Sinai, the same mountain where God gave the Law to Moses, and teaches that Paul spent three years there alone with the risen Lord in a 'private seminary,' being filled with the doctrines of grace that he would take to the Gentiles.
Galatians 1:16-17 — Paul's direct account of why he went into Arabia instead of going up to Jerusalem to the earlier apostles.
Galatians 4:25 — Paul geographically identifies the Arabia of his narrative with Mount Sinai.
The apostle Paul's own account in Galatians 1 is the primary biblical record. After God 'called me by his grace' and revealed His Son in him 'that I might preach him among the heathen,' Paul writes: 'immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus' (Galatians 1:15-17). He then notes, 'Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days' (Galatians 1:18). In Galatians 4:25 Paul ties the same geographical region to the mountain of the Law: 'For this Hagar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.' Later he adds, 'Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also. And I went up by revelation' (Galatians 2:1-2). The Scripture itself states what Paul did not do — confer with flesh and blood or visit the earlier apostles — and where he went ('Arabia'), but it does not spell out the positive purpose of the Arabian stay. The details of what happened there are drawn from Paul's later revelations.
Les Feldick teaches that Paul's trip into Arabia was the sovereign direction of God, not a personal decision. Rather than letting Paul receive his gospel from Jerusalem, God supernaturally moved him out of Damascus — using a real threat to his life so that Paul had to escape over the wall in a basket — and took him down to the Sinai Peninsula. Les says he is sure it was Mount Sinai in Arabia, based on Galatians 4:25 (clips 3, 5, 6). Les's central point is that God revealed the doctrines of grace to Paul at the very same mountain where He had given the Law to Moses. Paul spent three years there alone with the ascended Lord in what Les calls a 'private seminary,' with no contact with the twelve or Jerusalem's leadership and no teacher except the risen Christ (clips 1, 2, 4, 5). Everything Paul later wrote was by revelation — not from Peter, James, and John (clip 4). Then, Les says, as Moses carried the Law down the mountain to Israel, Paul carried the doctrines of grace down from Sinai and out to the Gentiles (clip 7).
The Scripture only says Paul 'went into Arabia' (Galatians 1:17) and later ties the region to 'mount Sinai in Arabia' (Galatians 4:25). Les Feldick takes that geography literally: from Damascus Paul made his way south to the Sinai Peninsula — 'I'm sure it was Mount Sinai in Arabia' (clip 3). He notes that Galatians 4:25 gives 'just plain simple geography,' connecting Arabia with Sinai (clips 1, 3, 5, 6).
Paul himself is explicit: 'immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia' (Galatians 1:16-17). Les emphasizes that Paul had no contact with the twelve or the leadership in Jerusalem (clip 3). He says God took him into Arabia instead of a Jerusalem seminary so that everything Paul received came 'by revelation' — not from Peter, James, and John (clips 2, 4).
Les teaches that Paul spent three years at Sinai completely alone with the ascended Lord. He calls it a 'private seminary' — 'no one but himself and the Lord so far as we know' (clip 1) — a 'private, personal seminary experience' (clip 7). During that time God poured out on Saul 'all of these doctrines now that are going to go out to the Gentile,' and Paul would later refer to what he received as 'the Revelation of the Mysteries' (clips 5, 6).
Les makes a repeated point: God revealed the doctrines of grace at the same mountain where He revealed the Law to Moses (clips 1, 2, 4, 6). Just as Moses received the Law and brought it down to Israel, Paul received the grace truths at Sinai and took them out to the Gentiles (clip 7). Les calls the three years there God's private seminary for the apostle to the Gentiles (clips 1, 7).
Why Paul Went to Arabia: The Revelation of Grace
put them to death. Well, now, he couldn't have voted if he hadn't been in the Sanhedrin. That also tells me that I think Paul was married at one time and probably had children. Now, we don't know what happened to them, but I certainly don't think that Paul was celibate in no stretch of the imagination, because again, if I know Jewish law at all, in order for them to be a member of the Sanhedrin, t…
Sinai in Arabia — Where Grace Was Revealed
Les shows from Galatians 4:25 that the 'Arabia' Paul went to is Mount Sinai, the very place where God gave the Law to Moses — and he explains that God took Saul there to reveal the doctrines of grace over a three-year private seminary.
No Conference With Flesh and Blood
Les quotes Paul's words — 'I conferred not with flesh and blood, neither went I up to Jerusalem' — and points out that the Arabia Paul went to was Sinai, the same mountain where God revealed the law to Moses, now revealing the doctrines of grace.
From Damascus Down to Mount Sinai
Les maps the geography: Paul made his way from Damascus down to Mount Sinai in Arabia, and he emphasizes that Paul had no contact with the twelve or the leadership in Jerusalem.
Revelation at Sinai, Not a Jerusalem Seminary
Les says Paul went to Arabia, into Mount Sinai, to receive his revelations — just as God took Moses there to reveal the Law — and that Paul was not taught by Peter, James, and John in a Jerusalem seminary.
Three Years Alone With the Ascended Lord
After God supernaturally removed Saul from Damascus via the basket escape, Les says Paul went down to Mount Sinai in Arabia, where for three years the risen Lord poured out on him the doctrines that would go to the Gentiles.
The Same Mountain: Law for Moses, Grace for Paul
Les stresses the parallel of the mountain: at the same place where God gave the Law to Moses, God gave Paul the whole doctrines of grace — which Paul referred to as the revelation of the mysteries.
Private Seminary, Then Grace to the Gentiles
Les summarizes Paul's three years at Sinai as a private, personal seminary where the Lord revealed the doctrines of grace — and then, like Moses with the Law, Paul took those truths down from the mountain and out to the Gentiles.
Galatians 1:16-17: To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.
Paul's direct explanation of his post-conversion movements — he deliberately went into Arabia rather than to the Jerusalem apostles.
Galatians 1:18: Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days.
Gives the length of time between Paul's conversion and his eventual visit to Jerusalem — the interval Les says was spent at Sinai.
Galatians 4:25: For this Hagar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
Identifies the Arabia of Paul's narrative with Mount Sinai, the location Les says Paul went to receive the doctrines of grace.
Galatians 2:1-2: Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also. And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain.
Shows that Paul's later trip to Jerusalem was made by revelation — not from any human appointment — years after his Arabian stay.
Exodus 19:20: And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.
Shows Sinai as the mountain where God met Moses under the Law — the same mountain Les says was the site of Paul's grace revelations.
The Bible identifies the region with 'mount Sinai in Arabia' (Galatians 4:25). Les Feldick teaches that Paul went from Damascus down to the Sinai Peninsula — he says, 'I'm sure it was Mount Sinai in Arabia' — so that his three-year stay was at Sinai itself.
Les explains that God used supernatural means: a real threat to Paul's life. His friends had to lower him down in a basket at night through the city wall so that he could escape (clips 5, 6). From there, God took him down to Mount Sinai in Arabia.
No. Les emphasizes from Galatians 1 that Paul did not confer with flesh and blood nor go up to Jerusalem to the earlier apostles. Instead, God took him to Arabia where, for three years, he received the doctrines of grace by direct revelation — not from Peter, James, and John in a Jerusalem seminary.
Les calls the three years a 'private seminary' — time alone with the Lord, with 'no one but himself and the Lord so far as we know.' In those three years God poured out on Paul the doctrines of grace that would go out to the Gentiles (clips 1, 5, 7).
Watch the Teaching: Why Paul Went to Arabia: The Revelation of Grace