remember the journey

The journey of the Israelite nation continues. This forty-year trek led them through many areas that were dangerous and treacherous. However, this journey was also a test of their faith. Moses wants the Israelites to remember the journey they’ve been on for so long to see how God has provided for them.

Wilderness Camping

The Israelites camped in many places as they journeyed from Egypt to Canaan, their promised land. Several are mentioned in Exodus and Numbers as God led them toward Canaan. 

• On the edge of the wilderness at Etham
• The wilderness of Sin
• The wilderness of Sinai
• The wilderness of Zin

As we read Numbers 33, Moses has written down a short review of the places the Israelites have camped on their journey to the promised land. There are 42 locations where the nation of Israel stopped to camp. Several times we read that the wilderness is the site of their encampment.

Consider the wilderness of the Israelites: it was a desert area, it was parched land, and it was a hard place to live. Even the places they camped not described as wilderness still lacked most of what they would need as sustenance for their journey. God promised His people He would provide for them. They ate manna every day on their journey. He made water come from the rock to give them at Meribah even when they did not believe in God.

Moses recorded these places on purpose to possibly help remember the journey but the importance of these campsites has been lost throughout the centuries. 

Wilderness Provision

What we see in the lesson for the Israelites still holds for us today. Even now, God has not changed. He is our light through our wilderness. He provides for all of our needs. We wonder how the Israelites could have not believed in God’s provision from reading the Scriptures, but we aren’t that much different. Just as the Jewish people became complacent and disinterested in God’s care, we, too, have become accustomed to the way things are instead of relying on God. There are times we don’t believe God can touch our lives in a providential way, but He still does. 

God’s physical manifestation to the wandering nation of Israel in the cloud by day and the fire by night should have been enough to help their unbelief. Yet, their unwillingness to let go of what they can see to trust in something can’t see was their downfall. In the end, this is why Joshua and Caleb were the only ones from that generation to make it into the promised land. They believed in the Lord to get them to the promised land. Here’s where we can learn from the Israelites’ failure to believe God has everything under control.

Remember the places where you've been
To see how God has put you where you are right now 
To help others in their journey 
So that we can all reach the promised land together