Outline Studies in the Old Testament for Bible Teachers

by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut

III. On our map we indicate the Journeys of the Is´ra-el-ites, and at the same time note the principal events of the wandering.

1. From Ram´e-ses to the Red Sea (Exod. 12. 37; 14. 9). With this note: 1.) The crossing of the Red Sea.

2. From the Red Sea to Mount Si´nai. Events: 2.) The waters of Ma´rah (Exod. 15. 23-26). 3.) The repulse of the Am´a-lek-ites (Exod. 17. 8-16). 4.) The giving of the law at Mount Si´nai. Here the camp was kept for a year, and the organization of the people was effected.

3. From Mount Si´nai to Ka´desh-bar´ne-a. At the latter place occurred: 5.) The sending out of the spies and their return (Num. 13. 1-26). 6.) The defeat at Hor´mah, north of Ka´desh-bar´ne-a (Num. 14. 40-45). It was the purpose of Mo´ses to lead the people at once from Ka´desh up to Ca´naan. But their fear of the Ca´naan-ite and Am´or-ite inhabitants made them weak; they were defeated and driven back into the Desert of Pa´ran, where they wandered thirty-eight years, until the generation of slavish souls should die off, and a new Is´ra-el, the young people, trained in the spirit of Mo´ses and Josh´u-a and fitted for conquest, should arise in their places.

4. From Ka´desh-bar´ne-a through the Desert of Pa´ran and Return. This was the long wandering of thirty-eight years. We trace the route from Ka´desh, around the Desert of Pa´ran, to Mount Hor, to E´zi-on-ge´ber at the head of the Gulf of Ak´a-ba, and at last to Ka´desh once more (Num. 20. 1). There occurred: 7.) The water from the rock at Ka´desh and Mo´ses's disobedience (Num. 20. 10-12). 8.) The repulse by A´rad (Num. 21. 1). It would seem that the Is´ra-el-ites made a second attempt to enter Ca´naan on the south, and were again defeated, though not so severely as before.

5. From Ka´desh-bar´ne-a around E´dom to the River Jor´dan. After this second defeat Mo´ses desired to lead the people through the land of the E´dom-ites, and to enter Ca´naan by crossing the Jor´dan (Num. 20. 14). But the E´dom-ites refused to permit such an army to pass through their land (Num. 20. 18-21). Hence the Is´ra-el-ites were compelled to go down the Desert of Zin, past E´dom, as far as the Red Sea, then east of E´dom—a very long and toilsome journey (Num. 21. 4). Note with this journey: 9.) The brazen serpent (Num. 21. 6-9; John 3. 14, 15). 10.) The victory over the Am´or-ites (Num. 21. 23,24). This victory gave to the Is´ra-el-ites control of the country from Ar´non to Jab´bok, and was the first campaign of the conquest. The long journey was now ended in the encampment of the Is´ra-el-ites at the foot of Mount Ne´bo, on the eastern bank of the Jor´dan, near the head of the Dead Sea. 11.) The last event of the period was the death of Mo´ses, B. C. 1451 (Deut. 34. 5-8).

IV. The Results of the Wandering. These forty years of wilderness life made a deep impress upon the Is´ra-el-ite people, and wrought great changes in their character.

1. It gave them certain Institutions. From the wilderness they brought their tabernacle and all its rites and services, out of which grew the magnificent ritual of the temple. The Feast of Passover commemorated the exodus, the Feast of Pentecost the giving of the law, the Feast of Tabernacles (during which for a week the people lived in huts and booths) the outdoor life in the desert.

2. Another result was National Unity. When the Is´ra-el-ites left E´gypt they were twelve unorganized tribes, without a distinct national life. Forty years in the wilderness, meeting adversities together, fighting enemies, marching as one host, made them a nation. They emerged from the wilderness a distinct people, with one hope and aim, with patriotic self-respect, ready to take their place among the nations of the earth.

3. Individual Liberty. They had just been set free from the tyranny of the most complete governmental machine on the face of the earth. In E´gypt the man was nothing; the state was everything. The Is´ra-el-ite system was an absolute contrast to the E-gyp´tian. For centuries after the exodus the Is´ra-el-ites lived with almost no government, each man doing what was right in his own eyes. They were the freest people on earth, far more so than the Greeks or the Ro´mans during their republican epochs. Mo´ses trained them not to look to the government for their care, but to be a self-reliant people, able to take care of themselves. If they had passed this initial stage of their history surrounded by kingdoms they would have become a kingdom. But they learned their first lessons of national life in the wilderness, untrammeled by environment and under a wise leader, who sought to train up a nation of kings instead of a kingdom.