Jensens survey of the old testament adam 74

The other spies’ conclusion was that a
conquest of the land was impossible. In
unbelief, all the people went along with the
pessimistic report and rebelled against the
Lord and His promises of deliverance. They
cried out, “Let us appoint a leader and
return to Egypt” (14:4).
Judgment by God was inevitable: death
and disinheritance (14:11-12). Everyone
who murmured against Jehovah would die
in the wilderness in the course of forty
years. Only Caleb and Joshua, along with
the children of the murmuring Israelites,
would enter Canaan at the end of the forty
years.
(15:1—19:22)
The next thirty-seven years or more were
transitional years in the history of the nation
of Israel. (When the commencement and
closing days of the wilderness experiences
D. DESERT WANDERINGS


are included, the total time period was forty
years.) Read 15:1—19:22.
The history of Numbers records very few
events of these transitional years, for in a
real sense they were years of void; one
generation of Israel’s sacred history was
quickly dying o , and its rising youth as yet
had no history at all. But though the period

lacked in events, it did not lack in its
significance as a transitional period.
Geographically.
The
people
neither
advanced nor retreated geographically;
rather, they wandered aimlessly about the
wilderness and desert areas, between Kadesh
and the Red Sea (14:25), consuming the
years of God’s calendar of judgment. Some
of the names of the camping places are
listed in 33:19-36. When the judgment years
came to a close, the nation returned to
Kadesh (20:1), ready then to advance


toward Canaan.
Population.
The
thirty-seven
years
produced the major population change. The
600,000 warriors met their appointed death
over the space of the years, some by violent
causes (16:49), and were buried in the
wilderness—daily reminders of God’s great
judgment. Children and youth under twenty
years of age grew up, were married, and
reared children; and by the end of the

wandering years, a new generation of the
seed of Abraham had appeared.
Spiritually. In a spiritual sense, new seeds
of hope were sown, the original covenant
and promise rea rmed, and preparation for
entering God’s land renewed. For this
spiritual ministry among the people, God
still had His servants, Moses, Aaron, Aaron’s
sons, the Levites, Joshua, and Caleb. The
next chapters of Numbers put into focus the


major spiritual issues of these transitional
years.
(22:2—36:13)
The Israelites had now arrived at the gate
to the promised land, Geographically, that
gate is located in 22:1 as by “the plains of
Moab beyond the Jordan opposite Jericho.”
For the Israelites, God would keep the gate
closed until the day of entrance arrived. The
delay was for the accomplishment of God’s
sovereign business at this crucial junction in
the history of the Israelites. In the midst of
new problems, the people would experience
God’s hand of vindication and judgment
(22:2—25:18). For preparation for life in the
new land, a new census must be taken, a
new leader identi ed to succeed Moses, and
the Law of God nalized (chaps. 26-30).

(Actually, Deuteronomy contains the bulk of
legislation given to the people at this time).
E. AT THE GATE TO THE LAND