Wandering in the Wilderness Numbers 13-14; Deuteronomy 2

“‘So the LORD’S anger burned against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the entire generation of those who had done evil in the sight of the LORD was destroyed’” (Num. 32:13, NASB).

Last week we begin a series of four articles in celebration of Black History Month. In this series we are reviewing the journey of ancient Israel from bondage in Egypt to their conquest of the Promised Land; the land of Canaan. The African slaves and their descendants have experienced similar experiences in the United States of America. Also, Christians experience similar experiences in their journey from bondage to sin to resurrection to eternal life with God and Jesus in the New Jerusalem. Today, we continue our series. We discuss wandering in the wilderness after having crossed the Red Sea.

The sons of Israel cross the Red Sea under the leadership of Moses. The Lord delivers them from the hand of Pharaoh, but they are not yet ready to take possession of Promised Land. Let us look at two passages of scripture that allows us to see that the people are happy to be free, but, at the same time, they are not ready to take full advantage of their new found freedom. First, we take notice of the response of the sons of Israel when they first realize that Pharaoh no longer has control over them. Moses records these words. “Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. When Israel saw the great power which the LORD had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in His servant Moses” (Exod. 14:30-31, NASB).

The sons of Israel led by Moses celebrate their freedom with song. Then Moses leads them from the Red Sea into the wilderness of Shur. They travel three days without water. They find bitter water at Marah. The people grumbled at Moses. Moses uses a tree that the Lord shows him to throw into the waters, and the waters are made sweet (Exod. 15:22-25). Moses continues to lead the people on their journey. The people are without food, so again they complain against Moses and Aaron. “The sons of Israel said to them, ‘Would that we had died in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into the wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger’” (Exod. 16:3). It is not wrong that the people are concerned about food for life. The people do not yet know that the God that saves them from the Egyptians is also able to provide water and food.

Moses leads the people to Mount Sinai. God gives Moses the Ten Commandments and gives the people laws and statues to live by when they come into the Promised Land. According to Numbers 13-14, after two years at Mount Sinai the Lord leads the people to Kadesh-barnea. Moses sends twelve spies to spy out the land. Ten of the spies return with an unfavorable report. The land is a good land, but the people are too large for them to defeat. On the other hand, Joshua and Caleb, the other two spies, bring a favorable report based not on what they see but based on their faith in the Lord. The people take sides with the ten spies and rebel against Moses. They refuse to go forward. As a result the Lord makes them to wander in the wilderness for forty years until all the men twenty years old and older (Num. 14:28-35. The people are not ready, but God will keep the promises that He made to the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Let us look at the journey of the African slaves and their descendants and notice the similarities of their experiences to that of the Israelites. However, before we continue, let us look at the word “wander.”

The word “wander” is seen in two passages in the book of Numbers as it relates to the journey of the Israelites. We will note that the word “wander” is found in the King James Version in both passages, but the word “wander” is translated from two different Hebrew words.

In the King James Version Numbers 14:33 reads: “And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness.” The Hebrew word for wander is “raah.” It refers to pasturing sheep, and the New American Standard Bible translates the verse more accurately. “‘Your sons shall be shepherds for forty years in the wilderness, and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness, until your corpses lie in the wilderness” (NASB). Now we will look at the second passage.

In Numbers 32:13 the King James Version reads: “The LORD’S anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the LORD, was consumed.” In this passage the word “wander” is translated from the Hebrew word “nua.” It means to be a fugitive; to go up and down; scatter; stagger to and fro. The New American Standard Bible reads: “‘So the LORD’S anger burned against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the entire generation of those who had done evil in the sight of the LORD was destroyed.’”

This is the point. The Israelites are free from their bondage to the Egyptians. God leads them to Mount Sinai. There the Lord makes a covenant with the people (Exod. 20:1-17). The Lord defeats Pharaoh and his gods. The Lord is now their God and they are expected to obey His commands. So, when the people refuse to go to the Promised Land it is an act of rebellion against the Lord. It is evil in the sight of the Lord. The people that rebel will not enter into the Promised Land. For forty years their children will suffer with them until they are all dead. Now, we will compare the Israelite’s experiences with that of the freed slaves in America.

After the exiled slaves arrive in America they live in bondage to the white man. It is not that every white man owns a slave. Rather, it I that white people live in a society in which the majority of Black Africans are slaves. The United States has a legal system that gives white people the legal right to own slaves. It is a system that allows for Black people to be treated as less than human, and they are bought and sold like animals.

The Civil War is fought between the North and the South over slavery and other issues. Slavery is the central issues because slavery is the basis of the southern economic and social system of the southern society. The north under the leadership of General Ulysses S. Grant wins the military victory over General Robert E. Lee and the southern armies. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation that declares that all slaves are free. As a result of the north’s victory the slaves are free in America. The XIII, XIV, and XV amendments to the constitution serve as a sort of covenant with the former slaves. These amendments guarantee freedom to the former slaves and gives to them rights as citizens of the United States of America. However, the former slaves are not allowed to realize their freedoms as full citizens because of both state laws and their own lack of taking advantage of the freedoms given to them. Like the Hebrew people that cross the Red Sea, many are afraid to move forward. Instead they return to their former slave masters and become a sharecropper which is another form of slavery. These slaves are no different than the Israelites that were afraid of facing the difficult challenges that they faced in the land of Canaan. These former slaves are afraid of facing the responsibility of taking charge of their own lives. They lack the faith necessary to move forward in spite of the difficulties that they see. Their children suffer with them until the Lord brings them into the Promised Land.

From the end of the Civil War in 1865 until the passing of the Civil Rights Bill in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act in 1965 the descendants of African slaves in America wander in the wilderness. However, wandering in the wilderness does not mean a total loss. The wandering in the wilderness does not mean that God has abandoned His people. Rather, the Lord uses the wilderness experience to prepare a people to take possession of the Promised Land.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was familiar with the journeys of the Israelites and the Black people in America. A lot of people have heard his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. How many people that know the lines so well know that the basis of his speech is Israel’s wandering in the wilderness and God taking Moses to the top of Mount Nebo to view all of the Promised Land? “Then the LORD said to him, ‘This is the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants’; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there’” (Deut. 34:4, NASB).

When the Lord makes the people to wander in the wilderness, He uses the wilderness as a classroom. For over 400 years the Hebrew people live under the hand of the Pharaohs and their multitude of gods. In the wilderness they must learn about their God. Who is this God? What is this God like? What can God do for us? Is God more powerful than the gods of Egypt? Will God provide for our basic needs of water and food? What does God require of us? How will this God give to us the land of Canaan with its armies of trained giants armed with iron weapons and chariots and its fortified cities? These and many other questions arise as the people wander in the wilderness.

After 1865 the Black man in America begins to learn what their new found freedom means to them. The same questions that the Israelites asked are asked by the former slaves in America. It takes time for the former slaves and their descendants to realize that freedom requires that they take responsibility for their own lives. Like the Israelites they have to learn that God is indeed leading them to the Promised Land.

What is true for the Israelites and the Black people in America is true also for the one that is set free from sin by the blood of Jesus shed on the cross.