The book of Numbers is known in Hebrew as BaMidbar, which means “in the wilderness.” In fact, most of the biblical narrative within the Torah—the Pentateuch—takes place in the wilderness.
From the moment the people of Israel came out of Egypt, the journey began. The Almighty desired to call His people into the wilderness. It was only a few days’ journey to reach the “Mountain of God.” There is a narrative in a Midrash that says the Creator desired to give the Torah in the wilderness because it is a place that does not belong to the defined territory of any nation, so that no one could say, “The Torah belongs to this country,” or “The Torah belongs to that country.”
The original plan was not for Israel to remain forty years in the wilderness. This was a punishment assigned to the entire people of Israel after they believed the negative report of the spies sent into Canaan and after their continual complaints from the beginning.
Once it was decreed that “that whole generation must die,” with the exception of Joshua and Caleb, the journey was transformed from what could have been only a few weeks of walking into forty years of challenges and obstacles before reaching the land they were meant to conquer.
The entire book of Numbers details not only the stories that took place during that period, but also the names of each place where they camped and the length of their stay, which are detailed in the table at the end of this article.
What is interesting is that the total number of places where they stopped is forty-two. Have we heard this number somewhere else?
And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
Revelation 13:5
Forty-two months equals three and a half years, and this is the period understood in biblical prophecy as the duration of “the Great Tribulation.”
Another equivalent is the 1,260 days during which the two witnesses will testify, and the time during which the woman escapes and remains in the wilderness in Revelation 11 and 12.
The journey in the wilderness as a kind of tribulation
The experiences of the people of Israel in the wilderness represent a period that separates the time when they were slaves in Egypt and later delivered, from the time when they arrive at full redemption, represented by the occupation of the Promised Land—a kind of “Kingdom of God on earth.”
Interestingly, this period was characterized by great trials, and not all those who were initially delivered would become part of that great redemption and the fulfillment of the ancient promises.
Similarly, when we read about the Great Tribulation and the deceptions that will take place in the last days, we realize that even “the elect,” those who have already “been saved,” will be subject to the same challenges and obstacles before that final redemption at the arrival of the Messianic Age.
Like Joshua and Caleb, we must be persistent and remain firm in faith, especially in times of uncertainty and challenge. Walking through this life as believers and followers of the Most High does not mean that we will avoid difficulties. On the contrary, they will refine our faith. As Yeshua said:
“He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”