BOOK V.
FROM THE DEPARTURE FROM SINAI TO THE DEATH OF MOSES.
CHAPTER I.
KADESH-BARNEA AND THE MISSION OF THE SPIES.
Numb. x.–xiv. B.C. 1490.
THE period of the encampment of the Israelites at Sinai had now occupied upwards of a year. The Covenant had been concluded, the Law had been given, the Tabernacle had been erected, the priests had been consecrated, and Jehovah dwelt in the midst of His chosen people. It was now time to think of marching onwards towards Canaan. As, however, the occupation of that country must of necessity be preceded by its conquest, an organization of the Israelitish forces was the first duty. Accordingly, a census was taken of all who were fit for war, or about twenty years old, and the result gave a total of 603,550 fighting men (Num. i. 46), to whom if we add the Levites, the women, and the children, we may conclude that the host numbered altogether between two and three millions. The first anniversary of the Passover was then duly celebrated, and on the twentieth day of the second month in the second year, the Pillar of Cloud moved from off the Tabernacle,and this signal for departure having been given, the order of the march was marshalled.
First, borne by the Kohathites, went the Ark of the Covenant, the lid of which was the throne of Jehovah, and was overspread by the Cloudy Pillar (Num. x. 33). Then followed the tribe of Judah, the most numerous and the strongest of all the tribes, supported by Issachar and Zebulun, under the standard of a “Lion,” the ensign of Judah. Then followed the sons of Gershon and Merari, bearing the external portions of the Tabernacle, the coverings and hangings, the boards, the pillars, and the sockets. They were succeeded by the tribe of Reuben, flanked by Gad and Simeon, marching under the common standard of Reuben, a “Man’s Head.” Next came the rest of the Kohathites, bearing the sacred vessels of the Sanctuary. Then the tribe of Ephraim, flanked by Benjamin and Manasseh, under the standard of Ephraim, the figure of an “Ox;” and the long procession closed with the tribe of Dan, between Naphtali and Asher, with the standard of Dan, an “Eagle with a Serpent in its talons.”
These arrangements having been made, the Silver Trumpets sounded, the silence of the desert was broken by the shout, Rise up, Lord, and let Thine enemies be scattered, and let them that hate Thee flee before Thee (Num. x. 35; comp. Ps. lxviii. 1, 2), and the march began. At this time there was present in the camp Hobab, by some supposed to have been the father-in-law, by others the brother-in-law of Moses. The Israelitish leader knew how invaluable would be the experience of one so well acquainted with every track and pass in the terrible wilderness they were now about to traverse, and he earnestly entreated him to continue with them, and share the goodness which the Lord would show to Israel (Num. x. 29). There seems little doubt that Hobab consented to accompany the people, and to be to them instead of eyes amidst the dangers of the inhospitable desert[109].
In the course of three days the host entered on the sandy plain which parts the mountain-mass of Sinai from the table-land of the Tîh[110]. Having for more than a year enjoyed the pleasant encampment before the Mount of God, they no sooner entered on this arid tract, than they gave vent to their feelings of discontent. During the journey from the Red Sea to Sinai God had borne with similar manifestations of their weakness. But now that they had been brought into nearer and more visible relations with Him, having the Sanctuary in their midst, the Ark preceding them, and the Manna dropping upon them from day to day, their murmurings could not be thus passed over, but brought down instant rebuke and punishment. On this occasion the Divine displeasure was marked by the outbreak of a fire on the extreme outskirts of the encampment, which inflicted considerable damage, and was only removed by the intercession of Moses, who called the spot Taberah, or the burning (Num. xi. 1–3).
But this judgment had scarcely been removed when the same spirit of discontent broke out afresh. The mixed multitude, which had accompanied them from Egypt, and soon afterwards the Israelites themselves, began to complain of the Manna, this light food, as they called it, and lamented the loss of the fish, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, and other vegetables, they had enjoyed in the fertile valley of the Nile. So loud and general were their complainings, that Moses despaired of accomplishing the purport of his mission, and poured out his soul in prayer to God, begging for somerelief from the burden of daily anxiety which weighed him down. In mercy towards His despairing servant, the Lord bade him select seventy elders, and bring them to the door of the Tabernacle, and promised to take of the spirit that was upon him and bestow a portion on them, that they might share with him the weight of responsibility. He also promised that on the morrow flesh, such as the people had pined after, should be given them, and that not for one day only but for a whole month, until it became even more loathsome to them than the celestial food they had so lately despised. In obedience to this command, the seventy elders were brought before the Tabernacle, and the Lord bestowed upon them a portion of the spirit that was upon the Israelitish leader, and they prophesied, and did not cease. Two of their number, Eldad and Medad, though selected for this high office, either from accident or some other cause, did not accompany the rest to the appointed place, and though they remained in the camp, and at a distance from the Cloudy Pillar, became inspired with the same spirit. This striking incident was announced to Moses by Joshua, who, jealous for his master’s honour, thought that such prophesying ought to be prohibited. But Moses thought otherwise. Enviest thou for my sake? he replied; would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them (Num. xi. 24–30. Comp. Mk. ix. 38; Lk. ix. 49).
Shortly afterwards the second promise of the Lord was also fulfilled. A strong wind brought up a prodigious number of quails from the sea in the proximity of the Gulf of Akaba, which covered the ground to the extent of a day’s journey on either side of the camp. For two days and a night the people were busily occupied in collecting, and spreading the birds abroad, probably for the purpose of drying them. So they did eat andwere filled; for God gave them of their own desire, they were not estranged from their lust (Ps. lxxviii. 29, 30). But while the meat was still between their teeth, His wrath fell upon them, and He smote them with a severe plague, and slew the mightiest of them, even the chosen ones of Israel (Ps. lxxviii. 31), and the spot where they were buried was named Kibroth Hattaavah, the graves of lust.
From this ill-omened encampment the host proceeded in a north-easterly direction to Hazeroth, which is thought to have been the modern Ain-el-Huderah, and to have consisted of the unenclosed semi-permanent villages, in which the Bedouins are found to congregate[111]. Here a still severer trial awaited Moses. There arrived in the camp a Cushite or Ethiopian woman (Num. xii. 1) whom he had married, and who is identified by some with Zipporah, while others believe her to have been an Egyptian whom he had espoused previous to his flight from that country. Hitherto the position of Miriam had been one of great influence in the camp, and second only to that of Moses and Aaron (Comp. Micah vi. 4). To her the arrival of the stranger was most unwelcome, and she feared she would now be deposed from her high position as a “mother in Israel.” Having, therefore, induced Aaron to share her views, she openly turned against Moses and maintained that he was not the sole expositor of Jehovah’s will, that she and Aaron were of equal authority with him (Num. xii. 1–4).