Numbers 33-34    Listen

Where y'all been for the last 40 years? (Numbers 33:1-49)

Israel leaves Egypt (see table below).

1 These are the journeys of the children of Israel, who went out of the land of Egypt by their armies under the hand of Moses and Aaron.
2 Now Moses wrote down the starting points of their journeys at the command of the LORD. And these are their journeys according to their starting points:
3 ¶ They departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the day after the Passover the children of Israel went out with boldness in the sight of all the Egyptians.
4 For the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom the LORD had killed among them. Also on their gods the LORD had executed judgments.
5 ¶ Then the children of Israel moved from Rameses and camped at Succoth.
6 They departed from Succoth and camped at Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness.
7 They moved from Etham and turned back to Pi Hahiroth, which is east of Baal Zephon; and they camped near Migdol.
8 They departed from before Hahiroth and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, went three days’ journey in the Wilderness of Etham, and camped at Marah.
9 They moved from Marah and came to Elim. At Elim were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees; so they camped there.
10 ¶ They moved from Elim and camped by the Red Sea.
11 They moved from the Red Sea and camped in the Wilderness of Sin.
12 They journeyed from the Wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah.
13 They departed from Dophkah and camped at Alush.
14 They moved from Alush and camped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.
15 ¶ They departed from Rephidim and camped in the Wilderness of Sinai.
16 They moved from the Wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth Hattaavah.
17 They departed from Kibroth Hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth.
18 They departed from Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah.

The 38+ years of wilderness wandering for which there is no detailed account begin here (see table below).

19 They departed from Rithmah and camped at Rimmon Perez.
20 They departed from Rimmon Perez and camped at Libnah.
21 They moved from Libnah and camped at Rissah.
22 They journeyed from Rissah and camped at Kehelathah.
23 They went from Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher.
24 They moved from Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah.
25 They moved from Haradah and camped at Makheloth.
26 They moved from Makheloth and camped at Tahath.
27 They departed from Tahath and camped at Terah.
28 They moved from Terah and camped at Mithkah.
29 They went from Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah.
30 They departed from Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth.
31 They departed from Moseroth and camped at Bene Jaakan.
32 They moved from Bene Jaakan and camped at Hor Hagidgad.
33 They went from Hor Hagidgad and camped at Jotbathah.
34 They moved from Jotbathah and camped at Abronah.
35 They departed from Abronah and camped at Ezion Geber.

The recorded events of Israel's wanderings resume here (see table below).

36 They moved from Ezion Geber and camped in the Wilderness of Zin, which is Kadesh.
37 They moved from Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, on the boundary of the land of Edom.
38 ¶ Then Aaron the priest went up to Mount Hor at the command of the LORD, and died there in the fortieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month.
39 Aaron was one hundred and twenty-three years old when he died on Mount Hor.
40 ¶ Now the king of Arad, the Canaanite, who dwelt in the South in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the children of Israel.
41 ¶ So they departed from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah.
42 They departed from Zalmonah and camped at Punon.
43 They departed from Punon and camped at Oboth.
44 They departed from Oboth and camped at Ije Abarim, at the border of Moab.
45 They departed from Ijim and camped at Dibon Gad.
46 They moved from Dibon Gad and camped at Almon Diblathaim.
47 They moved from Almon Diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo.
48 They departed from the mountains of Abarim and camped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho.
49 They camped by the Jordan, from Beth Jesimoth as far as the Abel Acacia Grove in the plains of Moab.

Okay, so maybe this chapter is not the most interesting reading, but there is some very helpful information here. For instance, just from reading the incidents of Exodus through Numbers 32, it may seem that Israel did not often break camp and move on during their 40 years in the wilderness. However, there is a gap of 38+ years of recorded activity that begins somewhere between the return of the spies in Numbers 14 (see notes) and the beginning of Numbers 20 (see notes). It cannot be known with absolute certainty when exactly the events of chapters 15-19 took place; but Numbers 16 (see notes) reads like the events of that chapter took place at the beginning of the 38+ years. Also, the instructions of Numbers 17-19 appear to be given in the aftermath of the tragic events of Numbers 16. For that reason, I'm relatively certain that the 38+ year gap takes place between Numbers 19 and 20 (see notes). This record bridges that gap by giving the route which Israel took during this time in verses 19-36. This is the only place in scripture where we get a complete overview (although without details) of their wilderness journey.

The 17 camp sites mentioned in verses 19-36 between Rithmah and Kadesh, are the places at which Israel set up in the desert, from their return from Kadesh into the “wilderness by the Way of the Red Sea” (Numbers 14:25, see notes), till the reassembling of the whole congregation in the wilderness of Zin at Kadesh (Numbers 20:1, see notes). You may be asking, "Why are the maps of Israel's journey so vague?" The reason is that most of the place names where the Hebrews traveled were camp sites - not cities, and thus cannot be identified with certainty today. Centers of activity come and go. For example, if I asked 100 people in my community where Kenwood, Georgia is located, I seriously doubt that ten people could tell me. Fifty years from now, it is likely that no one will remember. It's no longer found on most maps and remains as just a memory for our county's old timers who used to gather around the country store at the train depot there. It even had it's own post office. That's the way it is with regard to the mapping of Israel's journeys in the wilderness; we simply have no accurate record regarding the exact location of most of these camp sites.

Here we are; what do we do now? (Numbers 33:50-56)

50 ¶ Now the LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho, saying,
51 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you have crossed the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
52 then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their engraved stones, destroy all their molded images, and demolish all their high places;
53 you shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land and dwell in it, for I have given you the land to possess.
54 And you shall divide the land by lot as an inheritance among your families; to the larger you shall give a larger inheritance, and to the smaller you shall give a smaller inheritance; there everyone’s inheritance shall be whatever falls to him by lot. You shall inherit according to the tribes of your fathers.
55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall be that those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell.
56 Moreover it shall be that I will do to you as I thought to do to them.’ ”

At this point, Israel is set up east of the Jordan River across from Jericho. That's just east of the north side of the Dead Sea. They are ready to go into Canaan. But first, some instructions about what to do when they get there are in order. Verse 52 says it well, "then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their engraved stones, destroy all their molded images, and demolish all their high places." Paganism, polytheism and the people who are involved - all must go. Verse 53 says that Israel is to evict these folks. Later we see in Deuteronomy 9:4 (see notes), "Do not think in your heart, after the LORD your God has cast them out before you, saying, 'Because of my righteousness the LORD has brought me in to possess this land'; but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is driving them out from before you." A similar statement is made concerning the banishment of these people from Canaan in Leviticus 18:27-28 (see notes). Verse 54 explains the process whereby Israel shall determine which tribe moves where after crossing the Jordan River into Canaan - the lottery. Casting lots was the supernatural way Israel made decisions. (For more information on casting lots, click here.)

So, what if Israel chooses not to drive out the current inhabitants of Canaan? There's your answer in verse 55, "...those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell." After a seven-year campaign of Israel inhabiting Canaan, they did not manage to drive all of the previous citizens out of the land. And, just as verse 55 says, those previous residents turned out to be a problem...a huge problem.

Moses goes over the survey of the new land (Numbers 34:1-15)

1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2 “Command the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land of Canaan, this is the land that shall fall to you as an inheritance—the land of Canaan to its boundaries.
3 Your southern border shall be from the Wilderness of Zin along the border of Edom; then your southern border shall extend eastward to the end of the Salt Sea;
4 your border shall turn from the southern side of the Ascent of Akrabbim, continue to Zin, and be on the south of Kadesh Barnea; then it shall go on to Hazar Addar, and continue to Azmon;
5 the border shall turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt, and it shall end at the Sea.
6 ¶ “As for the western border, you shall have the Great Sea for a border; this shall be your western border.
7 ¶ “And this shall be your northern border: From the Great Sea you shall mark out your border line to Mount Hor;
8 from Mount Hor you shall mark out your border to the entrance of Hamath; then the direction of the border shall be toward Zedad;
9 the border shall proceed to Ziphron, and it shall end at Hazar Enan. This shall be your northern border.
10 ¶ “You shall mark out your eastern border from Hazar Enan to Shepham;
11 the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain; the border shall go down and reach to the eastern side of the Sea of Chinnereth;
12 the border shall go down along the Jordan, and it shall end at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land with its surrounding boundaries.’ ”
13 ¶ Then Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying: “This is the land which you shall inherit by lot, which the LORD has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half-tribe.
14 For the tribe of the children of Reuben according to the house of their fathers, and the tribe of the children of Gad according to the house of their fathers, have received their inheritance; and the half-tribe of Manasseh has received its inheritance.
15 The two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance on this side of the Jordan, across from Jericho eastward, toward the sunrise.”

So, they haven't crossed over Jordan yet, but Moses is very specific about what property is to be Israel's for a possession. Some of these names are no longer locatable on a map, because they simply ceased to be called by that name after that. The place names for the eastern, western and southern borders are relatively easy to find on a map. The names given in this account for the northern border, extending into today's Lebanon and Syria, mention names that are no longer used. We do have a general idea of the location of that Northern border. Verse 14-15 make reference to the fact that Gad, Reuben and half of Manasseh stayed on the east side of the Jordan River.

A point of clarification is in order here. Take note of Genesis 15:18 (see notes), "On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: 'To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates.'" That's from the Nile to the Euphrates. That passage has caused some confusion because the tribes of Israel did not inhabit all of that land when they arrived in the Book of Joshua, nor is that large of a land survey specified in this passage. However, later on King David did, in fact, control the territory all the way over to the Euphrates. We see this in II Samuel 8:3 (see notes) "David also defeated Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to recover his territory at the River Euphrates." So, while the Israelites did not choose to live that far away, nonetheless David's kingdom and control extended to that point, thus fulfilling the promise God made to Abraham in Genesis 15:18 (see notes). So...to put it more succinctly, Israel's living area was smaller than the actual kingdom area would be when the covenant with Abraham would be fulfilled under King David.

Organizing the lottery (Numbers 34:16-29)

16 ¶ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
17 “These are the names of the men who shall divide the land among you as an inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun.
18 And you shall take one leader of every tribe to divide the land for the inheritance.
19 These are the names of the men: from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh;
20 from the tribe of the children of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud;
21 from the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon;
22 a leader from the tribe of the children of Dan, Bukki the son of Jogli;
23 from the sons of Joseph: a leader from the tribe of the children of Manasseh, Hanniel the son of Ephod,
24 and a leader from the tribe of the children of Ephraim, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan;
25 a leader from the tribe of the children of Zebulun, Elizaphan the son of Parnach;
26 a leader from the tribe of the children of Issachar, Paltiel the son of Azzan;
27 a leader from the tribe of the children of Asher, Ahihud the son of Shelomi;
28 and a leader from the tribe of the children of Naphtali, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.”
29 ¶ These are the ones the LORD commanded to divide the inheritance among the children of Israel in the land of Canaan.

Well, let's appoint a man from each tribe to be responsible for dividing the land. Here's the list; Eleazar (Aaron's son and high priest) and Joshua (Moses' successor) are placed in charge of overseeing the whole process. If you would like to see the notes on the actual lottery in Joshua 19, click here. A map of the tribe allotments can be found there as well.