Five Periods of the Wilderness Journey and the Major Events of the First Period
Notes
Transcript
Scripture reading: Psalm 78:13-16
Scripture reading: Psalm 78:13-16
Psalm 78:13–16 (ESV)
He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap. In the daytime he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a fiery light. He split rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep. He made streams come out of the rock and caused waters to flow down like rivers.
Introduction
This evening, we are doing a brief overview of the wilderness journey and we’re going to look at the first three campsites in detail.
This study is based on the 8th book of the History of Redemption series, entitled “The fulfillment of the covenant of the Torch: The ten plagues, the exodus, and the entry into Canaan.”
So we have left Egypt. We have witnessed the ten signs and wonders. The Passover Lamb has been killed, and now we’re going into the wilderness. And if Egypt is the place of spiritual slavery, then the wilderness is the place of spiritual discovery. It’s a place to discover the benefits of being in covenant with God.
I’m not sure about you, but I admit that sometimes I find that my life as a Christian doesn't seem as exciting as it should be. It’s almost as if I’ve gotten used to God. I know that He’s this amazing God who loves me a lot. But I’m not actually sure if my Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday is actually walking in the greatness of God.
So I pray that tonight, as we study the wilderness journey, God’s Word will speak to us and we will take a step forward in faith and walk in the goodness of God. Amen?
Five periods of the wilderness journey
Five periods of the wilderness journey
So first, how long did the wilderness journey take?
When we study chronology, we always need an anchor for our timeline. And in this case, our timeline anchor is Moses’ age.
The wilderness journey lasted from the exodus until the Israelites entered Canaan. The Bible tells us that Moses was 80 years old when the exodus happened, and that he was 120 years old at the plains of Moab, right before the Israelites entered Canaan. So the wilderness journey took 40 years.
Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.
Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated.
So here are the five periods of the wilderness journey, according to the 8th book of the history of redemption series.
Egypt to Sinai
Sinai
Sinai to Rithmah/Kadesh
Rithmah to Kadesh
Kadesh to the Plains of Moab
And in those 40 years, the Israelites camped at 42 campsites. Most of them are recorded in Num. 33, where God commands Moses to record them down.
Moses wrote down their starting places, stage by stage, by command of the Lord, and these are their stages according to their starting places.
Why did God care so much about the campsites being recorded?
I believe it’s because He knew that we would be sitting here studying His Word.
And what Rev. Abraham Park saw as he studied the Bible is that the Israelites went through five different stages of spiritual discovery, marked by the key events and important lessons about who God is. The Bible doesn’t explicitly state that there are five periods, but the structure helps us to understand and remember what happened.
And by the way, book 8 of the History of redemption series organizes the five periods in a slightly different way than book 2. The emphasis is different.
The first period: Egypt to Sinai
The first period: Egypt to Sinai
Start: 15/1/1446 BC.
End: 1/3/1446 BC.
Duration: ~45 days.
The first period starts on the 15th day of the 1st month, immediately after the Passover.
They set out from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month. On the day after the Passover, the people of Israel went out triumphantly in the sight of all the Egyptians,
And in this first period, the Israelites journey from Egypt to Sinai. The Bible records that they arrive at Sinai on the third new moon since the exodus.
On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai.
The word for “new moon” here is ha-hodesh. So hodesh means month, and “ha” is the definitive article. And when these two come together, it means the head of the month. The first day of the month.
So this verse is telling us that the Israelites arrived at Sinai on the 1st day of the third month. When did they leave Egypt? The 15th day of the first month. So from Egypt to Sinai, they took about 45 days.
The second period: Wilderness of Sinai
The second period: Wilderness of Sinai
Start: 1/3/1446 BC.
End: 20/2/1445 BC.
Duration: 11 months & 20 days.
The second period begins from when the Israelites arrive at Sinai, on the 1st day of the 3rd month. And the Bible tells us in Num. 10:11-12 that they stayed there until the 20th day of the 2nd month of the 2nd year of the wilderness journey.
In the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony, and the people of Israel set out by stages from the wilderness of Sinai. And the cloud settled down in the wilderness of Paran.
So in total, they would have stayed at Sinai for 11 months and 20 days.
The third period: Wilderness of Sinai to Rithmah
The third period: Wilderness of Sinai to Rithmah
Start: 20/2/1445 BC.
End: 5/1445 BC.
Rithmah, otherwise known as Kadesh-Barnea, was close to the southern border of Canaan.
And the Bible tells us that the journey from Sinai to Rithmah would usually take 11 days.
It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea.
But the Israelites took much longer than that because of several events.
First, Miriam spoke out against Moses, so God afflicted her with leprosy. And so she had to remain outside the camp for 7 days (Num. 12:1-15).
Next, the sent 12 spies to spy out the land of Canaan for 40 days (Num. 13:25).
After spying out the land, the ten spies who gave a bad report were executed (Num. 14:36-38).
So in total, the Israelites probably took about 3 months to travel from the wilderness of Sinai until Kadesh-Barnea.
The fourth period: Rithmah to Kadesh-Barnea
The fourth period: Rithmah to Kadesh-Barnea
Duration: ~38 years.
The fourth period is a period of judgement. The Israelites were being judged for their disobedience toward God’s Word. When God told them to enter into the land of Canaan, they sent spies instead of going in confidently. And when the ten spies gave a bad report, they grumbled and even wanted to stone Moses to death.
And so God judged them to wander in the wilderness until they died. So from the 14th campsite at Rithmah, they wandered in circles until they arrived back at the same place, 38 years later
According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.’
And the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh. And Miriam died there and was buried there.
So the lesson learned here is that disobedience always results in marching in place.
So who died as a result of this disobedience?
your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me,
This is referring to the census taken at Mt. Sinai. So all of the first generation Israelites who were at Sinai died in the wilderness.
And by the way, notice that the first generation were the Israelites born in Egypt. And the second generation were born in the wilderness. The wilderness journey for us is a journey where our old self, the worldly self dies, and we put on the new self, born again in Christ. And at the end of this journey, I pray that all of us will confess, it was not I, but Christ in me.
Whatever is disobedient to God belongs to our old self. And whatever it is within us that loves to obey God’s Word, that’s the Holy Spirit. That’s Christ in me.
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
The fifth period: Kadesh-Barnea to the plains of Moab
The fifth period: Kadesh-Barnea to the plains of Moab
Start: 1/1407 BC
Duration: ~11 months
This period is covered from Num. 20 - Deut. 34. After wandering in the wilderness for 38 years, the Israelites return to the same place. And now, from Kadesh-Barnea, the Israelites make their way to the promised land again.
And this time it takes about 11 months because the neighboring country Edom refuses them from passing through their territory. And in the end, at the plains of Moab, Moses reiterates the law for the second generation of Israelites. And then, Moses climbs Mt. Nebo and dies there.
Major events of the first period
Major events of the first period
Let’s now examine the major events which happened in the first period of the wilderness journey. If you recall, the first period begins from the exodus until Sinai. And the first campsite they make in the wilderness is called Succoth.
Campsite 1: Succoth
Campsite 1: Succoth
Succoth is about 52km southeast of Ramses. This means that it would have probably taken two days for the two million Israelites to travel there. So since the exodus happened on the morning of the 15th day, they would have arrived on the evening of the 16th day.
Campsite 2: Etham
Campsite 2: Etham
Etham is about 32km away from Succoth, a little more than a day’s journey.
So they arrive at Succoth at night on the 16th. They camp there overnight. And they leave Succoth and make their way to Etham on the 17th. And they arrive on the 18th day.
At Etham, God sends the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire to be with the Israelites.
And they moved on from Succoth and encamped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.
And in the book of Revelation, Jesus is described as one whose body is cloud and fire.
Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire.
So we can imagine the pillars of cloud and fire as the legs of God, leading the way, and walking alongside His people in the wilderness. I believe that He’s walking alongside us as well amen?
Campsite 3: Before Migdol
Campsite 3: Before Migdol
Migdol is a town about 75km away from Etham, and it’s located in the northern part of the Red Sea. This means that the Israelites would have had to journey another three days to get there. So they arrived on the 20th day of the 1st month.
And it seems that after they arrive at Etham, God makes them do a U-turn. And He leads them to Migdol, where the Red sea is on the right-hand side. And all this time, the Egyptian army is leaving behind a dust storm as they charge toward the Israelites. So the Israelites have the Egyptian army on the to the left, and the Red Sea on the right. And they are sandwiched between the two.
“Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea.
But as the Egyptian army got closer and closer, the Israelites start to panic. And they grumble at Moses. And look at what Moses says to them.
And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
Can we take this as God speaking to us today? For those of us who may feel they’re backed into a corner. Or perhaps we might feel like there’s no way forward, the future’s too bleak, my dreams are never coming true. Can we take these words to heart? Fear not. Stand firm. And see the salvation of the Lord. The Lord will fight for you. You have only to be silent.
Sometimes God leads us into a corner so that we would stand on the cornerstone.
And when we cling on to God by faith, when we trust in Him, we discover that oceans will part at His command. We discover that mountains leap and dance if He says the word. And best of all, we discover that this almighty God is for us, and not against us. It is better to be an Israelite trapped at the Red Sea, than to be the King of Egypt.
I’d now like to conclude.
Conclusion: We can walk the wilderness journey only through the pure Word of God
Conclusion: We can walk the wilderness journey only through the pure Word of God
God commanded the Israelites to observe the feast of unleavened bread since the day after the Passover (Exod. 13:5-7). So for seven days, from the 15th to the 21st day, they were to eat unleavened bread.
And when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you shall keep this service in this month. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the Lord. Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen with you, and no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory.
The unleavened bread represents the process of getting the leaven out of us. Leaven makes the bread dough become fluffy and nice to eat. Matt. 16:12 says that leaven represents the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Why? Because they taught the ways of Egypt. You are saved by what you do.
The feast of unleavened bread says that you are saved by what you trust. We eat the unleavened bread of God’s Word because we trust that it’s what our souls need. It may not taste as good as the fluffy bread of the world, but we trust that it’s the true food for our souls.
As Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matt. 4:4).
On the first and last day of the feast of unleavened bread, God commanded them to have a holy assembly.
On the first day you shall hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work shall be done on those days. But what everyone needs to eat, that alone may be prepared by you.
The feast of unleavened bread began on the 15th day of the 1st month, so this holy assembly happens on the 21st day.
Their journey from Egypt to Succoth took two days. Succoth to Etham took them one day. From Etham to Migdol was three days. So that’s six days total. And according to Jewish tradition, they crossed the Red Sea on the night of the 6th day until morning.
So the second holy assembly happens after they cross the Red Sea.
So what about us? If we eat the unleavened bread, the pure Word of God, the result is that we cross the Red Sea and enter into the true holy assembly on the true 7th day, described in Rev. 21-22.
As the people of God, we have two shoes that we need to put on in the wilderness journey. The first shoe is faith. To trust in God when things don’t go our way. The second shoe is obedience. To obey whether we like it or not. And with these two shoes, let us walk in the goodness of God.
So I pray that all of us here will continue to eat the pure Word of God, and walk in the goodness of God through faith and obedience. And I pray that by God’s grace, we will see each other at the holy assembly in the New Jerusalem.