Reference: Wilderness of the Wanderings
Fausets
(On Israel's route from Rameses to Sinai. (See EXODUS; EGYPT.) Kadesh or Kadesh Burned ("son of wandering" (Bedouin), or "land of earthquake," as Ps 29:8, "the Lord shaketh the wilderness of Cades") was the encampment from which the spies were sent and to which they returned (Nu 13:26; 32:8), on the W. of the wilderness of Zin, which was N.E. of the wilderness of Paran; S. of the wilderness of Paran was the wilderness of Sinai between the gulfs of Akabah and Suez. Comparing Nu 12:16 with Nu 33:18, and Nu 13:3,21-26, we see that the Kadesh of Numbers 13 is the Rithmah of Numbers 33. The stages catalogued in this last chapter are those visited during the years of penal wandering.
Rithmah (from retem the "broom" abounding there) designates the encampment during the first march toward Canaan (Nu 33:18); Kadesh the second encampment, in the same district though not on the same spot, in the 40th year (Nu 33:36-38); N. of Mount Her where Aaron died, and to which Israel marched as the first stage in their journey when denied a passage through Mount Seir (Nu 20:21-22). From the low ground of Kadesh the spies "went up" to search the land, which is called the mountain (Nu 13:17,21-22). The early encampment at Rithmah (Nu 33:18-19) took place in midsummer in the second year after the Exodus (for Israel left Sinai the 20th day of the second month, Nu 10:11, i.e. the middle of May; next the month at Kibroth Hattaavah would bring them to July); the later at Kadesh the first month of the 40th year (Nu 20:1).
At the first encampment they were at Kadesh for at least the 40 days of the spies' search (Nu 13:25); here Moses and the tabernacle remained (Nu 14:44) when the people presumptuously tried to occupy the land in spite of Jehovah's sentence dooming all above 20 to die in the wilderness (the name Kadesh, "holy," may be due to the long continuance of the holy tabernacle there). After their repulse they lingered for long ("many days," De 1:45-46) hoping for a reversal of their punishment. At last they broke up their prolonged encampment at Kadesh and compassed Mount Seir many days (De 2:1), i.e. wandered in the wilderness of Paran until the whole generation of murmurers had died. The wilderness is called Et Tih, i.e. "of wandering," or "Paran," being surrounded W. and S. by the Paran mountains (Nu 13:26; the limestone of the pyramids is thought to have been brought from Et Tih).
To this period belong the 17 stages of Nu 33:19-36. Early in the 40th year (Nu 20:1) Israel reassembled at Kadesh and stayed for three or four months (compare Nu 20:1 with Nu 20:22-28; 33:38). Miriam died here. Soon the people gathered here in full number, exhausted the water supply, and were given water miraculously from the rock. Thence proceeding, they were at Mount Hor refused a passage through Edom; then by the marches of Nu 33:41-49 they went round Edom's borders to Moab's plains. At Mount Hor Arad attacked them and brought destruction on his cities (Nu 21:3). In Nu 20:1 the words "Israel even the whole congregation" mark the reassembling of the people at the close of the 40 years, as the same words in Nu 13:26; 14:1, mark the commencement of the penal wandering.
The 38 intervening years are a blank, during which the covenant was in abeyance and the "congregation" broken up. The tabernacle and its attendant Levites, priests, and chiefs, formed the rallying point, moving from time to time to the different stations specified up and down the country as the people's head quarters. Qehelathah and Makhelot ("assembling," "assemblies") were probably places of extraordinary gatherings. At other times the Israelites were scattered over the wilderness of Paran as nomads feeding their flocks wherever they found pasture. This dispersion for foraging meets the objections raised on the ground of subsistence for such a multitude for so long. The plain er Rahah, W. of Sinai, now bare, is described by a traveler in the 16th century as a "vast green plain." The forests then existing tended to produce a greater rainfall and therefore better pasture than at present, when scarcely any wood is left (the Bedouins burning the acacias for charcoal).
Various events and enactments belonging to the 38 years' wandering (the law of the meat offering, the stoning of the Sabbath breaker, etc., Numbers 15; Korah's rebellion, etc., Numbers 16; Aaron's rod budding, Numbers 17; the Levites' and priests' charge and portion, Numbers 18; the red heifer water of separation, Numbers 19) are recorded in Nu 15-19. The last year in the wilderness, the 40th, is referred to in Nu 20-36. During the 38 years Israel trafficked in provisions with surrounding tribes (De 2:26-29). The desert of wandering was the highway of caravans between Egypt and the East. Fish was obtainable from the Red Sea. They were encamped close to it at Ezion Geber (Nu 33:35). Traces of a population and resources are found in parts of the wilderness where now there are neither.
The hardships alluded to (De 1:19; 2:3; 8:15) refer to the 4Oth year marches through the Arabah, which seemed the worse by contrast with the fertile plains of Moab which they next reached. Nu 21:4, "the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way." Down the Arabah between the limestone cliffs of the Tih on the W. and the granite of Mount Seir on the E. they were for some days in a mountain plain of loose sand, gravel, and granite detritus, with little food or water, and exposed to sandstorms from the shore of the gulf. This continued until a few hours N. of Akaba (Ezion Geber), where the wady Ithm opened to their left a passage in the mountains northward to fertile Moab. The mauna, the quails, and the water, are but samples of God's continuous care (De 8:4 ff, De 29:5).
The non waxing old of their raiment means God so supplied their wants, partly by ordinary and occasionally by miraculous means, that they never lacked new and untattered garments and shoes to prevent the foot swelling. Sheep, oxen, and traffic with tribes of the desert, ordinarily (under God's providence) supplied their need (Isa 63:11-14; Ne 9:21; Am 2:10). God often besides at Rephidim and Kadesh (Ex 17:1, etc., Numbers 20) interposed to supply water (Jg 5:4; Ps 68:7, etc.; Isa 35:1, etc., Isa 41:17; 49:9-10; Ho 2:14), and the Israelites from their stay in Egypt knew how to turn to best account all such supplies.
It was a period of apostasy (compare Eze 20:15 ff; Am 5:25, etc.; Ho 9:10). The Israelites probably made somewhat comfortable booths (as the booths erected in commemoration at the feast of tabernacles prove) and dwellings for themselves in their 38 years' stay (compare Ps 107:4,35-36). According to some they were the writers of the Sinaitic inscriptions in the wady Mokatteb, deciphered by Forster as recording events in their history at that time. Their stays in the several stations varied according to the guidance of the divine cloud from two days to a month or a year (Nu 9:22). The date palm (generally dwarf but abounding in sustenance), acacia, and tamarisk are often found in the desert. From the acacia (Mimosa Nilotica) came the shittim wood of the tabernacle and gum arabic.
The retem (KJV "juniper") or broom yields excellent charcoal, which is the staple of the desert. Ras Sufsafeh, the scene of the giving of the law, means willow head, willows abounding there, also hollyhocks and hawthorns, hyssop and thyme. The ghurkud is thought to be the tree cast by Moses into the Marah bitter waters; growing in hot and salt regions, and bearing a red juicy acidulous berry, but the fruit ripens in June, later than Israel's arrival at Marah. Mount Serbal may be named from its abounding in myrrh (ser). Spiritually, Rameses (dissolution of evil), Israel's starting point, answers to the penitent soul's first conviction of sin, haste to flee from wrath, and renunciation of evil. Israel's course first was straight for Canaan; so the believer's, under first impressions, is direct toward heaven. Succoth next, the place of booths, answers to the believer's pilgrim spirit (Heb 11:13-16).
Next Etham, their strength, the believer's confidence of never being moved (Ps 30:6-7). At Pihahiroth Israel, shut in between the wil
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And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar unto Gaza, as thou goest, unto Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboim, even unto Lasha.
And Abraham journeyed from there toward the land of the Negev and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur and sojourned in Gerar.
And Moses replied, We must go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our sheep and with our cows we must go; for we have a solemn feast unto the LORD.
And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD showed him a tree, which when he had cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There he gave them statutes and rights, and there he proved them
And all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and set up camp in Rephidim; and there was no water for the people to drink.
Then Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim.
Or if it was two days or a month or a year that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the sons of Israel camped and did not journey; but when it was taken up, they journeyed.
And it came to pass on the twentieth day of the second month, in the second year, that the cloud was taken up from off the tabernacle of the testimony.
And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, before it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague. And he called the name of that place Kibrothhattaavah because there they buried the people that lusted. read more. From Kibrothhattaavah he moved the people unto Hazeroth, and they abode at Hazeroth.
And afterward he moved the people from Hazeroth, and they pitched camp in the wilderness of Paran.
And Moses by the commandment of the LORD sent them from the wilderness of Paran; all those men were princes of the sons of Israel.
And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said unto them, Go up this way towards the Negev and go up into the mountain
And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said unto them, Go up this way towards the Negev and go up into the mountain
So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath.
So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath. And they ascended by the Negev and came unto Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the sons of Anak, were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
And they ascended by the Negev and came unto Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the sons of Anak, were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
And they ascended by the Negev and came unto Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the sons of Anak, were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and from there they cut down a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bore it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates and of the figs. read more. The place was called the brook Eshcol because of the cluster of grapes which the sons of Israel cut down from there. And they returned from searching of the land after forty days.
And they returned from searching of the land after forty days. And they went and came to Moses and to Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran to Kadesh and brought back word unto them and unto all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land.
And they went and came to Moses and to Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran to Kadesh and brought back word unto them and unto all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land.
And they went and came to Moses and to Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran to Kadesh and brought back word unto them and unto all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land.
And they went and came to Moses and to Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran to Kadesh and brought back word unto them and unto all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land.
Then all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried, and the people wept that night.
But they presumed to go up unto the hill top; nevertheless, the ark of the covenant of the LORD and Moses, did not depart out of the camp.
Then came the sons of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month; and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there and was buried there.
Then came the sons of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month; and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there and was buried there.
Then came the sons of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month; and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there and was buried there.
Then came the sons of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month; and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there and was buried there.
Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border; and thus Israel turned away from him. And the sons of Israel, even the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh, and came unto Mount Hor.
And the sons of Israel, even the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh, and came unto Mount Hor. And the LORD spoke unto Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor, on the borders of the land of Edom, saying, read more. Aaron shall be gathered unto his peoples; for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the sons of Israel because ye were rebels to my word at the water of Meribah. Take Aaron and Eleazar, his son, and bring them up unto Mount Hor and cause Aaron to be stripped of his garments and put them upon Eleazar, his son; for Aaron shall be gathered unto his people and shall die there. And Moses did as the LORD commanded him; and they went up into Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. And Moses caused Aaron to be stripped of his garments and put them upon Eleazar, his son; and Aaron died there in the top of the mount; and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount.
And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanite; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities, and he called the name of the place Hormah. And they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to go around the land of Edom, and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.
And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to fornicate with the daughters of Moab,
And they departed from Hazeroth and pitched in Rithmah. And they departed from Rithmah and pitched at Rimmonparez.
And they departed from Rithmah and pitched at Rimmonparez. And they departed from Rimmonparez and pitched in Libnah. read more. And they removed from Libnah and pitched at Rissah. And they journeyed from Rissah and pitched in Kehelathah. And they went from Kehelathah and pitched in Mount Shapher. And they removed from Mount Shapher and encamped in Haradah. And they removed from Haradah and pitched in Makheloth. And they removed from Makheloth and encamped at Tahath. And they departed from Tahath and pitched at Tarah. And they removed from Tarah and pitched in Mithcah. And they went from Mithcah and pitched in Hashmonah. And they departed from Hashmonah and encamped at Moseroth. And they departed from Moseroth and pitched in Benejaakan. And they removed from Benejaakan and encamped at Horhagidgad. And they went from Horhagidgad and pitched in Jotbathah. And they removed from Jotbathah and encamped at Ebronah. And they departed from Ebronah and encamped at Eziongaber.
And they departed from Ebronah and encamped at Eziongaber. And they removed from Eziongaber and pitched in the wilderness of Zin, which is Kadesh.
And they removed from Eziongaber and pitched in the wilderness of Zin, which is Kadesh. And they removed from Kadesh and pitched in Mount Hor, in the edge of the land of Edom. read more. And Aaron, the priest, went up into Mount Hor at the commandment of the LORD and died there in the fortieth year, after the sons of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the first day of the fifth month.
And Aaron, the priest, went up into Mount Hor at the commandment of the LORD and died there in the fortieth year, after the sons of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the first day of the fifth month.
And they departed from Mount Hor and pitched in Zalmonah. And they departed from Zalmonah and pitched in Punon. read more. And they departed from Punon and pitched in Oboth. And they departed from Oboth and pitched in Ijeabarim, in the border of Moab. And they departed from Iim and pitched in Dibongad. And they removed from Dibongad and encamped in Almondiblathaim. And they removed from Almondiblathaim and pitched in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo. And they departed from the mountains of Abarim and pitched in the plains of Moab by Jordan of Jericho. Finally they pitched by the Jordan, from Bethjesimoth even unto Abelshittim in the plains of Moab.
And when we departed from Horeb, we went through all that great and terrible wilderness, which ye saw by the way of the mountain of the Amorite, as the LORD our God commanded us; and we came to Kadeshbarnea.
And ye returned and wept before the LORD, but the LORD would not hearken to your voice, nor give ear unto you.
And ye returned and wept before the LORD, but the LORD would not hearken to your voice, nor give ear unto you. So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the days that ye abode there.
Then we turned and took our journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea, as the LORD had said unto me; and we went around Mount Seir many days
Ye have gone around this mountain long enough; return unto the Aquilon.
And I sent ambassadors out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon, king of Heshbon, with words of peace, saying, Let me pass through thy land; I will go along by the high way; I will neither turn unto the right hand nor to the left. read more. Thou shalt sell me food for money, that I may eat, and give me water for money, that I may drink; I will only pass through on my feet (as the sons of Esau, who dwell in Seir, and the Moabites, who dwell in Ar, did unto me) until I shall pass the Jordan into the land which the LORD our God gives us.
Thy raiment never waxed old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.
who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness of burning serpents and scorpions and drought, where there was no water, who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint,
how he met thee by the way and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary and he did not fear God.
And I have brought you forty years through the wilderness; your clothes are not waxed old upon you, and neither has thy shoe waxed old upon thy foot.
LORD, when thou didst go out of Seir, when thou didst march out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped; the clouds also dropped water.
And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara; for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness so that they lacked nothing; their clothes did not wax old, and their feet did not swell.
The voice of the LORD that shall shake the wilderness; the LORD shall shake the wilderness of Kadesh.
And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved. LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong; thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.
I waited patiently for the LORD, and he inclined unto me and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of the pit of hopelessness, out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock and straightened my steps. read more. And he has put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God; many shall see it and fear and shall wait on the LORD.
O God, when thou didst go forth before thy people, when thou didst march through the wilderness; Selah:
They also joined themselves unto Baalpeor and ate the sacrifices for the dead.
They wandered lost in the wilderness, alone and out of the way; they found no city to dwell in.
He turns the wilderness into reservoirs of water and dry ground into watersprings. And there he makes the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation
And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will sing unto thee; though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou hast comforted me. Behold, O God my saving health, I will trust and not be afraid for JAH, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he also is become saving health unto me. read more. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of saving health.
And it shall come to pass in that day that the LORD shall smite from the channel of the river Euphrates unto the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye sons of Israel.
The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the lily.
The poor and needy seek the waters that are not; their tongue fails for thirst; I the LORD will hear them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
that thou may say to the prisoners, Go forth; and unto those that are in darkness, Show yourselves. Upon the ways shall they be fed, and upon all the high places shall be their pastures. They shall never hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that has mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water he shall feed them.
Then he remembered the days of old, of Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? Where is he that put his Holy Spirit within him? He that led them by the right hand of Moses with the arm of his glory, he who divided the water before them, thus making himself an everlasting name. read more. He that led them through the deep, as a horse in the wilderness, they never stumbled. The Spirit of the LORD pastored them as a beast that goes down into the valley; so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name.
Yet I also lifted up my hand unto them in the wilderness, with an oath that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the most beautiful of all lands,
Therefore, behold, I will induce her and bring her into the wilderness and speak unto her heart.
I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the early fruit of the fig tree in her beginning; but they went in unto Baalpeor and separated themselves unto shame and made themselves as abominable as that which they loved.
Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt and led you forty years through the wilderness that you might possess the land of the Amorite.
Did you perchance offer me any sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness in forty years, O house of Israel?
but whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life.
In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If any man thirsts, let him come unto me and drink. He that believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. read more. (But this he spoke concerning the Spirit, which those that believe on him should receive, for the Holy Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified.)
Jesus answered and said unto him, He who loves me will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and dwell with him.
He shall clarify me, for he shall take of that which is mine and shall cause you to know it.
Know ye not that all of us that are baptized into Jesus the Christ are baptized into his death? For we are buried with him by baptism into death, that just as the Christ was raised up from the dead to the glory of the Father, likewise we also walk in newness of life. read more. For if we have been planted together in him in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing this: that our old man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed that we should not serve sin any longer. For he that is dead is justified from sin.
and were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea
Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. read more. And such trust we have through the Christ towards God: Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God, who also has made us able ministers of the new testament, not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. But if the ministry of death in the letter engraved in stones was glorious, so that the sons of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance which glory was to fade away,
In whom ye also trusted, hearing the word of truth, the gospel of your saving health; in whom also after ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of the promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance unto the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he has consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but seeing them afar off and believing them and embracing them and confessing that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those that say such things declare plainly that they seek their native country. read more. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from which they came out, they might have had time to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one; therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
Be temperate and vigilant because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour,
For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.
And they sing the song of Moses, the slave of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.
In the midst of her plaza and on either side of the river was the tree of life, which brings forth twelve manner of fruits, yielding her fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the Gentiles.