The stages of the desert

Thursday May 27, 2021

The stages of the desert

Moses wrote down their journey step by step, according to the command of the Lord. Numbers 33: 2

Chapter 33 of Numbers seems, on reading, of little interest. He lists 41 camp raises without giving much details. In fact, this list is alive in the memory of the people. These past stages evoke specific memories, collective or personal, for each person. It is made at the request of God himself. It therefore makes sense.

The forty or so steps recalled here are divided into 3 phases. The first year has 14 stages : it was necessary, from the Red Sea, to approach the promised land. The last year has 8 stages : it was necessary to advance from the desert towards Canaan, the promised land. The second phase therefore involves around twenty trips and lasts 38 years. This is to say how much God has arranged the sanction that he had foreseen: Your sons will be nomads for forty years in the desert They will bear the consequences of your infidelities (Numbers 14:33, King James Version) Thus the desert was not a continuation incessant camp raisings. God has protected his people in the great and terrible wilderness, a wilderness of scorching serpents and scorpions, a barren land where there is no water (Deuteronomy 8:15).

These steps written by Moses are so many names that resonate in the memories of the people. He can remember God's continual care, each time renewed, his discipline, and the lessons he had learned so hard. They will also be a concrete testimony for future generations who would tend to see a legend in these forty years of desert. So many names inscribed are proof of a very real journey, marking both the goodness of God and the steadfastness of his words. It is as if God was saying to everyone : you remember here and there, and there again... For the Jews, the names of places recall very concrete situations.

It is the same for us. We have, in our lives, landmarks, events, dates, places that mark out our spiritual walk. They remind us of all the interventions of God and we can see all his mercy towards us. These memories then come to fill us with gratitude and encourage us to continue the stages of our earthly walk, assured of God's interest for each of his children.

Source (Pleasing the Lord)