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
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon (as you come to Gerar) to Gaza, as you go in towards Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboim, even to Lasha.
And Abraham moved from there toward the south country, and lived between Kadesh and Shur, and stayed in Gerar.
And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters. We will go with our flocks and with our herds. For we must hold a feast to Jehovah.
And he cried to Jehovah. And Jehovah showed him a tree. And when he had cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a decree and a law for them, and there He tested them.
And all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the command of the Lord, and pitched in Rephidim. And there was no water for the people to drink.
Then Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim.
Whether it was two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud stayed upon the tabernacle, remaining on it, the sons of Israel stayed in their tents and did not journey. But when it was taken up, they pulled up stakes.
And on the twentieth of the second month, in the second year, the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle of the testimony.
And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, before it was chewed, the wrath of Jehovah was kindled against the people, and Jehovah struck the people with a very great plague. And he called the name of that place Graves of Lust, because there they buried the people that lusted. read more. And the people pulled up stakes from the Graves of Lust to Hazeroth, and stayed at Hazeroth.
And afterward the people moved from Hazeroth, and pitched in the wilderness of Paran.
And Moses by the command of Jehovah sent them from the wilderness of Paran. All those men were heads of the sons of Israel.
And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, Go up this way, southward, and go up into the mountain.
And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, Go up this way, southward, and go up into the mountain.
So they went up and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, as men come to Hamath.
So they went up and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, as men come to Hamath. And they went up by the south and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the sons of Anak were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
And they went up by the south and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the sons of Anak were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
And they went up by the south and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the sons of Anak were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) And they came to the valley of Eshcol and cut from there a branch with one cluster of grapes. And they carried it between two men upon a staff, and some of the pomegranates and of the figs. read more. The place was called the valley of Eshcol because of the cluster of grapes which the sons of Israel cut down from there. And they returned from spying out the land after forty days.
And they returned from spying out the land after forty days. And they left and came to Moses and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, to the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh. And they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.
And they left and came to Moses and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, to the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh. And they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.
And they left and came to Moses and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, to the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh. And they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.
And they left and came to Moses and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, to the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh. And they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.
And all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried. And the people wept that night.
But they presumed to go up to the hill top. But the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and Moses, did not leave the camp.
Then the sons of Israel came, the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month. And the people stayed in Kadesh. And Miriam died there and was buried there.
Then the sons of Israel came, the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month. And the people stayed in Kadesh. And Miriam died there and was buried there.
Then the sons of Israel came, the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month. And the people stayed in Kadesh. And Miriam died there and was buried there.
Then the sons of Israel came, the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month. And the people stayed in Kadesh. And Miriam died there and was buried there.
So Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border. Therefore Israel turned away from him. And the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, pulled up stakes from Kadesh and came to Mount Hor.
And the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, pulled up stakes from Kadesh and came to Mount Hor. And Jehovah spoke to Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor, by the border of the land of Edom, saying, read more. Aaron shall be gathered to his people. For he shall not enter into the land which I have given to the sons of Israel, because you rebelled against My word at the Waters of Strife. Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up to Mount Hor. And strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son. And Aaron shall be gathered to his people, and shall die there. And Moses did as Jehovah commanded. And they went up into Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. And Moses stripped Aaron 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 mountain.
And Jehovah listened to the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites. And they completely destroyed them and their cities. And he called the name of the place Hormah. And they pulled up stakes from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the soul of the people was very discouraged because of the way.
And Israel lived in Shittim, and the people began to fornicate with the daughters of Moab.
And they pulled up stakes from Hazeroth and pitched in Rithmah. And they pulled up stakes from Rithmah and pitched at Rimmon-parez.
And they pulled up stakes from Rithmah and pitched at Rimmon-parez. And they pulled up stakes from Rimmon-parez and pitched in Libnah. read more. And they pulled up stakes from Libnah and pitched at Rissah. And they pulled up stakes from Rissah and pitched in the Meeting Place. And they pulled up stakes from The Meeting Place and pitched in Mount Shapher. And they pulled up stakes from Mount Shapher and pitched in Haradah. And they pulled up stakes from Haradah and pitched in Makheloth And they pulled up stakes from Makheloth and pitched at Tahath. And they pulled up stakes from Tahath and pitched at Tarah. And they pulled up stakes from Tarah and pitched in Mithcah. And they pulled up stakes from Mithcah and pitched in Hashmonah. And they pulled up stakes from Hashmonah and pitched at Moseroth. And they pulled up stakes from Moseroth and pitched in Bene-jaakan. And they pulled up stakes from Bene-jaakan and pitched at the Hole of the Cleft. And they pulled up stakes from the Hole of the Cleft and pitched in Jotbathah. And they pulled up stakes from Jotbathah and pitched at Ebronah. And they pulled up stakes from Ebronah and pitched at Ezion-geber.
And they pulled up stakes from Ebronah and pitched at Ezion-geber. And they pulled up stakes from Ezion-geber and pitched in the wilderness of Zin, which is Kadesh.
And they pulled up stakes from Ezion-geber and pitched in the wilderness of Zin, which is Kadesh. And they pulled up stakes from Kadesh and pitched in Mount Hor, in the edge of the land of Edom. read more. And Aaron the priest went up to Mount Hor at the command of Jehovah and died there, in the fortieth year after the sons of Israel had come up out of the land of Egypt, in the first of the fifth month.
And Aaron the priest went up to Mount Hor at the command of Jehovah and died there, in the fortieth year after the sons of Israel had come up out of the land of Egypt, in the first of the fifth month.
And they pulled up stakes from Mount Hor and pitched in Zalmonah. And they pulled up stakes from Zalmonah and pitched in Punon. read more. And they pulled up stakes from Punon and pitched in Oboth. And they pulled up stakes from Oboth and pitched in Ije-abarim, in the border of Moab. And they pulled up stakes from Iim and pitched in Dibon-gad. And they pulled up stakes from Dibon-gad and pitched in Almon-diblathaim. And they pulled up stakes from Almon-diblathaim and pitched in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo. And they pulled up stakes from the mountains of Abarim and pitched in the plains of Moab by Jordan at Jericho. And they pitched by Jordan, from The House of Deserts to The Meadow of Acacias in the plains of Moab.
And when we pulled up stakes from Horeb, we went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw by the way of the mountain of the Amorites, as Jehovah our God commanded us. And we came to Kadesh-barnea.
And you returned and wept before Jehovah. But Jehovah would not listen to your voice, nor give ear to you.
And you returned and wept before Jehovah. But Jehovah would not listen to your voice, nor give ear to you. So you stayed in Kadesh many days, according to the days that you remained.
Then we turned and took our journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea, as Jehovah spoke to me. And we went around Mount Seir many days.
You have gone around this mountain long enough. Turn northward.
And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying, Let me pass through your land. I will go along by the highway. I will neither turn to the right hand nor to the left. read more. You shall sell me food for silver, so that I may eat, and give me water for silver so that I may drink. Only I will pass through on my feet, as the sons of Esau who live in Seir, and the Moabites who live in Ar, did to me, until I shall cross over Jordan into the land which Jehovah our God gives us.
Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell, these forty years.
He led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground, where there was no water, who brought you forth water out of the rock of flint,
how he met you by the way and struck those of you who were behind, all the feeble behind you, when you were faint and weary. And he did not fear God.
And I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not become old on you, and your shoe has not become old on your foot.
Jehovah, when You went out of Seir, when You marched out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water.
And she said to them, Do not call me Naomi, call me Mara. For the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
And forty years You sustained them in the wilderness. They lacked nothing; their clothes did not become old, and their feet did not swell.
The voice of Jehovah shakes the wilderness; Jehovah shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
And in my blessedness I said, I shall never be moved. O Jehovah, by Your favor You have made my mountain to stand strong; You hid Your face, and I was troubled.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. I waited patiently for Jehovah; and He bowed down to me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet on a rock, and gave sureness to my steps. read more. And He has put a new song in my mouth, praise to our God; many shall see it and fear, and shall trust in Jehovah.
O God, when You marched before Your people, when You walked through the wilderness; Selah.
And they joined themselves to Baal-peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead,
They wandered in the wilderness, in a desert by the way; they found no city to dwell in.
He turns the wilderness into water-ponds, and dry ground into water-springs. And He makes the hungry dwell there, so that they may prepare a city to live in;
And in that day you shall say, O Jehovah, I will praise You; though You were angry with me, turn away Your anger, and You shall comfort me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; He also has become my salvation. read more. And with joy you shall draw water out of the wells of salvation.
And it shall be, in that day Jehovah shall thresh from the stream of the river Euphrates to the torrent of Egypt, and you shall be gathered one by one, O sons of Israel.
The wilderness and the desert shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the crocus.
The poor and needy seek water, and there is none; their tongue fails for thirst, I Jehovah will hear them, I the God of Israel will not leave them.
that You may say to the prisoners, Go out! To those who are in darkness, Show yourselves! They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places. They shall not hunger nor thirst; nor shall the heat nor sun strike them; for He who has mercy on them shall lead them; even by the springs of water He shall guide them.
Then He remembered the days of old, Moses and His people, saying, Where is He who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of His flock? Where is He who put His Holy Spirit within him; who led them by the right hand of Moses with His glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make Himself an everlasting name? read more. He led them through the deep, like a horse in the wilderness, so that they would not stumble. As a beast goes down into the valley, the Spirit of Jehovah caused him to rest. So You led Your people, to make Yourself a glorious name.
And also I lifted up My hand to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey; it is the glory of all lands;
Therefore, behold, I will lure her and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably to her.
I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness. I saw your fathers as the first-fruit in the fig tree at her first time. But they went to Baal-peor and set themselves apart to a shameful thing; and they became abominable like that which they loved.
Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt and led you forty years through the wilderness to possess the land of the Amorite.
Have you offered sacrifices and offerings to Me forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
but whoever 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 well of water springing up into everlasting life.
And in the last day of the great feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes on Me, as the Scripture has said, "Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." read more. (But He spoke this about the Spirit, which they who believed on Him should receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.)
Jesus answered and said to him, If a man loves Me, he will keep My Word. And My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.
He will glorify Me, for He will receive of Mine and will announce it to you.
Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father; even so we also should walk in newness of life. read more. For if we have been joined together in the likeness of His death, we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection; knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be destroyed, that from now on we should not serve sin. For he who died has been justified from sin.
And all were baptized to Moses in the cloud and in the sea,
You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men, it having been made plain that you are the epistle of Christ, ministered by us, not having been written with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not on tablets of stone, but in fleshly tablets of the heart. read more. And we have such trust through Christ toward 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 covenant; not of the letter, but of the spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit makes alive. But if the ministry of death, having been engraved in letters in stone was with glory (so that the sons of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses because of the glory of his face), which was being done away;
in whom also you, hearing the Word of Truth, the gospel of our salvation, in whom also believing, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the earnest of our inheritance, to the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
Therefore, brothers, having boldness to enter into the Holy of Holies 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 by way of faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off. And they were persuaded of them and embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they who say such things declare plainly that they seek a fatherland. read more. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from which they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they stretch forth to a better fatherland, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.
Be sensible and vigilant, because your adversary the Devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking someone he may devour;
For everything that has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith.
And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty, just and true are Your ways, O King of saints.
In the midst of its street, and of the river, from here and from there, was the Tree of Life, which bore twelve fruits, each yielding its fruit according to one month. And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.