“These are the stages in the journey of the people of Israel as they left the land of Egypt divided into groups under the leadership of Moshe and Aharon. Moshe recorded each of the stages of their journey by order of Adonai; here are the starting-points of each stage: They began their journey from Ram’ses in the first month. On the fifteenth day of the first month, the morning after the Pesach, the people of Isra’el left proudly in view of all the Egyptians;“-Numbers 33:1-3
The starting point of the Wilderness Journey travelogue in Numbers 33 really starts at the very beginning with the mention of Ram’ses in the land of Goshen, Egypt.
Per my last two posts, we now know that the Israelites left Egypt on the 1st of day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread which is the 15th day of the 1st month of the Hebrew ritual calendar year called NISAN.
Notice I said specifically said the “Hebrew ritual calendar“.
It’s important to be aware the Hebrews used several different calendars each for different purposes.
Interestingly, in this travelogue, besides the date that Israel left Egypt, we’re only given one other date.
We’re told that Aaron the High Priest, passed away on the 1st day of the 5th month of the 40th year in the Wilderness.
We’re told the location of his death was Mount Hor.
This informs us that Aaron’s death, Israel marching up to Moab, the whole Balaam incident, and the Midian War were all events that occurred in very rapid succession, probably all within a span of only three or four months.
Now some of you may be thinking…why in the world was Moses commanded to pen this itinerary since the Torah was already recording everything along their journey?
We’re not really given a reason.
However, if we were to go back and check on all the names of the places the Israelites camped at up until this point in the Torah, we would find that a lot (and I mean A LOT) of the names do NOT match.
We’ll even find the names of some places completely missing and others added.
Don’t let your faith be shaken because of this.
I’ve already given you the reasons why this can occur.
A place name could be changed by being conquered by a new nation or it could even be the same name but just being rendered in a different language.
Another point of curiosity that arises is when we count up all the name places mentioned here we come to a total of 42 stops.
Some people wonder if there’s any significance to the number 42?
I think people come up with this idea because the number 42 appears in other places in the Bible.
For instance, the genealogy of Yeshua in the book of Matthew is comprised of a total of 42 generations and the 7-year period said to occur during the end-times tribulation is also divided into a period of 42 months.
Is there some kind of theological significance of the number 42 that connects all of these events together?
Personally, I don’t see anything.
Of course, with HASHEM there is no such thing as a coincidence.
But I can’t think of anything specific at this time.
At the least, what can be said with confidence is that each of the stopping points mentioned here represents an area where something of fairly great significance occurred.
At each of these stations, HASHEM either taught the people and provided for them in a miraculous way or on the other hand punished them and in some instances destroyed some of them (while the righteous remained).
When we read all of the place names mentioned here, to us they’re just a bunch of foreign names that don’t trigger any emotions in us.
However, when those Israelites heard those place names, it instantly brought to mind whatever awesome thing happened at that spot along with a flurry of intense accompanying emotions connected to that event.
This travelogue would forever serve as a reminder to Israel of all they had to go through in order to escape Egypt’s grip of bondage and inherit the Promised Land.
Remember, if there is any event that has been seared into heart, mind, and soul of every Jew, it is their Exodus from Egypt.
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