Wandering in the Wilderness

The children of Israel expected to march from Egypt to the promised land in a few months or years. In the end it took them 40 years. In this section we'll look at why the long timescale came about, and what God was teaching them through their journey.

The Law

While the Jews were in the wilderness, God spoke to Moses and gave him much to tell the people. As well as the 10 commandments, there were many other laws the Jews had to keep, such as eating the right food, having healthy relationships and so on. There was also a lot of instruction for religious observances, with details on what to do, when to do it and what it signified. All these laws and observances can be found in Leviticus, and much of it is repeated again in Deuteronomy. Here we will look at the sacrifices and the feasts that he people were to observe.

Sacrifices (Leviticus 1-7)

There were five types of sacrifices, or offerings, the people could make to God. Three of these were voluntary and two were required of them. These were:

Burnt offering - this was a voluntary offering of an animal made when someone wanted to say sorry for a sin they had committed.
Meat offering - (or meal offering) was a voluntary offering of an amount of grain. This was brought to the priests and offered to God to show honour and respect towards Him.
Peace offering - was a voluntary offering of an animal which was made when someone wanted to show gratitude to God.
Sin offering - this was a required offering for the people, and covered unintentional sins which were minor. They could bring an animal, or some flour if they were poor, to give to the Lord to say sorry for the sin.
Trespass offering - was for more serious sins. For these the person had to bring a ram to be sacrificed, and also pay reparation for the sin to the victim.

Feasts (Leviticus 16)

The Jews were given times when they were to stop working and dedicate the day to God. One of these occasions was the Sabbath, our Saturday. This day each week was to be set aside for time with God, and no work was to be done. There were another 7 feasts throughout the year when this was the case as well:

The Passover - 14th day of 1st month - this special feast was to remember the time when the plagues were upon the land of Egypt. The Jews were spared the last plague, death of the firstborn, by putting blood of a lamb on their doorposts and lintel. At the Passover celebrations, parents were to teach their children about what God had done for them.
Unleavened Bread - the 7 days after the passover were also a feast, remembering the time when God helped them escape from Egypt. At the time they didn't have time to make normal bread so had to make unleavened bread for their journey.
Firstfruits - when the harvest came in each year, the people were to take the first of the crop to the priests, to be offered to God as a thanksgiving. The day after the Sabbath after the first harvest was the feast of the Firstfruits.
Feast of Weeks - another thanksgiving celebration was to be held 50 days after the Firstfruits sabbath, to thank God for the bountiful harvest.
Trumpets - On the first day of the 7th month, the people were to hold the Feast of Trumpets. Trumpets were to be blown, and the people celebrate with joy and thanksgiving.
Day of Atonement - this was a special day, on the 10th day of the 7th month. On this day there was a special format to be observed, culminating in the high priest entering the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle to pour the blood of the sacrifice onto the mercy seat, symbolising the forgiveness of sin for the nation of Israel.
Tabernacles - from the 15th day of the 7th month, for 7 days, the people celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles, remembering how the Lord guided them through the wilderness when they dwelt in tents.

Events in the Wilderness

Some the events in the wilderness have already been recorded in the Exodus section, but there are some more important things which happened, recorded in the book of Numbers.

The 12 Spies (Numbers 13-14)

God had led the people using a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. He led them to a place called Kadesh, and told Moses to send 12 spies into the land of Canaan, to see what the land was like. A man was chosen from each tribe to be one of the spies.

The spies spent 40 days in Canaan. In one place they found great bunches of grapes, and brought some of these back with some other fruit. When they returned they reported that the land was very fruitful, but the people there were strong, and there were giants in the land. 10 of the spies advised against going into Canaan, but Joshua and Caleb said that God would give them the victory.

The people sided with the 10 spies, and murmurred against Moses. God spoke to Moses and said He would destroy the nation and begin again with Moses, but Moses persuaded the Lord to forgive the people. However, God said that none of the current adults would enter the promised land, except for Joshua and Caleb. The other 10 spies died of a plague.

When the Israelites realised their mistake, they decided to go and try to enter the land after all. Moses tried to dissuade them, as God wasn't with them, but they went anyway. They were defeated and sent packing. After this the children of Israel wandered in the desert for 40 years.

Moses' Mistake (Numbers 20 v 1-13)

37 years after the spies went out, the people once again came to Kadesh. There was no water for them there and they began to grumble and complain against Moses and Aaron. The Lord spoke to Moses and told him to speak to a rock which was before the people, and water would come out. Moses was annoyed at the people though, and hit the rock twice with his staff. Water did pour out of the rock, but God was angry with Moses, and told him that neither he nor Aaron would lead the people into the promised land.

The Brazen Serpent (Numbers 21 v 5-9)

As they travelled on, the people again complained about their lot, and about Moses' leadership. This time, to punish them, God sent poisonous snakes into the camp. Many were bitten by the snakes and died. This brought the people to their senses and they came to Moses to apologise and ask forgiveness. God told Moses to make a bronze statue of a snake and put it up in the middle of the camp. Anyone who was bitten should look up at the bronze serpent, and they would be healed.

Balaam's Donkey (Numbers 22-24)

The Israelites were now camped in the plains of Moab, and Balak, the king of Moab, was very worried. He had heard about the victories the Israelites had won, and was afraid they would overtake his land. He sent for a famous sorcerer named Balaam. Balaam seems to have been well known for effectively blessing and cursing people, and also seems to have known something about the true God.

Balaam refused to go to Balak at first, but Balak sent more people to fetch him, and God told him to go with them, but only say what God told him to. The next morning Balaam got up and went with Balak's men. He must have had the wrong atitude or motives though because God was angry with him. God sent the angel of the Lord to block Balaam's way. Balaam didn't see the angel, but his donkey did, and three times shied away, earning itself a beating. After the third time the donkey turned to Balaam and spoke in complaint. Balaam's eyes were opened and he saw the angel. The angel told him to go on to Balak but to only pass on the word of God.

Balaam made it to Balak, who showed him the Israelites from three different vantage points, asking him to curse them. But each time, Balaam pronounced a blessing on them. Balak was obviously angry about this but Balaam told him his country would be defeated along with other neighbours, by the Israelites. He then went off home.

This all seems to paint a good picture of Balaam, but we learn later on that he led the Israelites away from God, and towards the practises of worshipping other Gods.