Numbers 33: 1 – 56
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33 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. 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. 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. 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.’ ”
Have you ever taken a training course, read a business book, learned a new skill, or have difficulty understanding your Bibles? You might have spent some significant time and attention to reading but then you forgot almost everything about what you read within a few weeks?
When you don't have the chance to apply new knowledge, it's easy to forget what you have learned. This is why it's so important not only to take notes, but also to review what you have learned regularly, so that you can remember it for the long-term.
When we learn new information, we remember it best immediately after we have learned it. We then forget details as time passes. Even after a few days, we may be able to recall only a little of what we initially learned.
To remember what we've learned over the long-term, we need to move information from short-term memory (what we're currently thinking about or aware of) into long-term memory.
To do this, we need to review what we've learned, and we need to do this often. It takes time to commit information to long-term memory, and reviewing information helps us do this.
Begin by spending a few minutes reviewing material immediately after you've learned it. This helps you confirm that you understand the information, and reduces the time needed to "relearn" it when you review it again in the future
As you re-read material, use effective reading strategies to make sure that you're reading efficiently and intelligently. That is that you are focused on what you are reading without any distractions.
Rewriting and reorganizing your notes is another great way to review information. If you have highlighted any of the text stop and think about why you made a point to do this.
This might seem like a waste of time at first however, rewriting can be a very effective method for reinforcing what you've learned. Research shows that the act of rewriting notes helps us clarify our understanding.
One way to do this is to put the information you have learned into Mind Maps . These are especially good for rewriting notes, because they force you to make connections between concepts and themes.
You can also simply jot down key points in bullet form, or tidy up any original notes.
Remember – it takes repeated effort to move information into your long-term memory. So, it's important to review information frequently.
It's best to carry out a review after a day, after a week, and after a month; and then to review your notes every few months thereafter.
Make sure that you schedule time for your reviews; otherwise they will get pushed aside when urgent issues come up. Also, put these reviews into your To-Do List , or into your Action Program
Again, you'll also find it useful to write notes during these regular reviews. Try jotting down what you can remember about the subject, and then compare these notes with your original ones. This will show you what you've forgotten and will help you refresh your memory
As we go through our bibles we have to notice how our Precious Holy Spirit keeps reviewing facts that have been previously revealed. Today He Is going to go over with us the previous situations that have occurred so we can get these facts down pat in our minds.
This final section of the book is full of hope, the kind of hope that was in the hearts of Israel when they first mobilized at Sinai. It reiterates the successful journey from Egypt to the plains of Moab, lays out details of how they were to divide the land that they would soon inherit, as the Gadites, Reubenites and half tribe of Manasseh had already done, describes that land in realistic terms as a goal to aim at, appoints the very leaders who will have responsibility for that task, tells them of the necessity to provide cities for the Levites and cities of refuge for the maintenance of the holiness of the land, and brings the whole to a conclusion with the glorious example of the daughters of Zelophehad, demonstrating how their struggle for fair treatment ended in success because of their faithfulness and trust in Yahweh and their final obedience to His commands. This last human interest story, which also carried within it other valuable lessons concerning the guaranteeing of the land to those to whom it would be allotted, would act like a spur to all the people as they sought to copy the trustfulness and obedience of these courageous daughters of Zelophehad. The inspiration that it was comes out in the constant references to it. It had seized the imagination of Israel and was thus seen as a suitable ending for the book by our Precious Holy Spirit.
It is quite clear that the book itself sees each of these passages as an encouragement ready for the crossing over into the land. Each of them is a confirmation to them that the conquest will in essence be completed within their lifetime and the lifetime of their leaders. The setting of it in between the journeying to the plain of Moab, and their actually being there stresses the context of the whole. It promises that they will possess a land to divide up after removing those who defile it, describes that land and who will divide it up, guarantees that they will possess sufficient cities to be able to give forty eight to the Levites, and that they will be able to set up Cities of Refuge for the purpose of keeping the land free from defilement, and finally affirms the necessity for each part of the land to remain with the tribe to whom it was allotted, and encourages all by describing how the five women of faith and loyalty, the daughters of Zelophehad, of whom all had now heard, brought their story to a happy ending by fully obeying Yahweh.
The purpose of its placing here was as evidence of how Yahweh had brought them thus far and provided for them in the way, and as confirmation of the certainty that now Yahweh would successfully bring to completion what He had so successfully brought to this point.
33 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:
We are informed here what the list of place names is all about. They describe the journey of the children of Israel who left Egypt in their hosts, under the hand of Moses and Aaron travelling from Egypt to the plains of Moab, and they were written down by Moses. ‘Their goings out’ signifies where they broke camp. Each place was to be seen as a temporary stopping point where the Tabernacle was set up and from which they then set out on their journey towards the land promised to their forefathers.
As Christians we must never settle down comfortably anywhere. This world is not our home. We are just passing through. Each stage in our lives, especially those of our spiritual blessings, is a place from which we are to set out for the next thing that God has for us. That does not mean that we should be restless, but rather simply ready to be obedient, fulfilling His will at each place, but always ready to move on when commanded to further and further blessings.
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.
The commencement of the journey is precisely dated, tying in with Exodus 12. It started on the fifteenth day of the first month, the first day of Unleavened Bread after the Passover night, when the children of Israel went out in triumph in the sight of the Egyptians. It began in triumph. The Egyptians did nothing to stop them. It was a reminder that now as they approached Canaan they could also go ‘with a high hand’, that is, confidently and courageously.
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.
In the book of Exodus little is actually said about the gods of Egypt, but here it is emphasized so that Israel might recognize that the Canaanite gods would also be able to do nothing against them and that Yahweh would smite them too. It was also to bring out that against Yahweh even the most powerful of gods, the gods of Egypt, could do little. They were as putty in His hands.
5 Then the children of Israel moved from Rameses and camped at Succoth.
Then the children of Israel had journeyed from Rameses, where they had been toiling on the rebuilding of the city, to Succoth (Exodus 12.37), with all their herds and flocks. They had arrived in a hurry and not fully prepared for travel, for they had been thrust out (Exodus 12.39). They had rejoiced in that they were on their way to freedom.
6 They departed from Succoth and camped at Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness.
And from Succoth they had travelled to Etham on the edge of the wilderness (Exodus 13.20), where they camped. By this time the pillar of cloud led them by day and the pillar of fire watched over them by night.
7 They moved from Etham and turned back to Pi Hahiroth, which is east of Baal Zephon; and they camped near Migdol.
From Etham they did a detour to Pi-hahiroth which was by Baalzephon and encamped before Migdol (tower). See Exodus 14.2. Note the name of Baalzephon which confirms the worship of Baal in that area. Migdol would be a border post and was ‘by the sea’ (Exodus 14.2), which is near to an inner waterway which helped to form the borders of Egypt.
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.
From there they went to Hahiroth (Pi-hahiroth - Exodus 14.9). It was there that Pharaoh thought that he had them cornered, and where they panicked as they realized that the Egyptians were hard on their tail. And that was where the miracle happened and they passed through the sea, into the wilderness where they could disappear from view, leaving a destroyed Egyptian army behind them.
From there they travelled on a ‘three days journey’ through the Wilderness of Shur to Marah where they found no water (Exodus 15.22-23). This caused their first ‘murmuring’ in the wilderness, until Moses was guided by Yahweh to a tree which could turn the bitter waters sweet. And there he formulated basic ‘statutes and ordinances’ which would guide their lives as they moved on. His law-giving had begun. With a mixed multitude among them from many nations (Exodus 12.38) it was necessary, with Egypt behind them, for some basic rules to be laid down.
9 They moved from Marah and came to Elim. At Elim were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees; so they camped there.
From Marah they came to Elim (Exodus 15.27) where there were ‘twelve springs of water, and seventy palm-trees’. And there too they encamped.
10 They moved from Elim and camped by the Red Sea.
The seventh encampment was by the Red Sea. This would be on the Gulf of Suez. Up to this point, then, we have a general idea of the route that they were taking. It was avoiding the routes where they might meet up with those who would betray them to the Egyptians, and moving towards the territory in which Moses had spent many years during his time among the Midianites.
11 They moved from the Red Sea and camped in the Wilderness of Sin.
From there they made their way into the wilderness of Sin, ‘which is between Elim and Sinai’ (Exodus 16.1). This was on the fifteenth day of the second month. They had now been journeying for roughly four weeks. It was around this time that the manna began.
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.
Travelling through the wilderness of Sin they came to Dophkah. Dophkah may mean ‘smeltery’ and indicate the presence of copper mining. From there they moved to Alush and then to Rephidim. Please notice that these are the names of where they encamped. The aim would always be to find water, but at Rephidim there was no water. It was there that water was brought from a rock when Moses smote it, and that they had their first encounter with the Amalekites. The Amalekites probably saw them as trespassing on their grazing lands and rallied in order to oppose them.
Moses saw the whole period from this point on as a ‘dry period’. Yahweh had intended plenty for them (verse 9), but because of their faithlessness and unbelief it was to be a period of spiritual dryness.
15 They departed from Rephidim and camped in the Wilderness of Sinai.
Their twelfth listed encampment was in the wilderness of Sinai. They arrived at this in the third month (Exodus 19.1).
Their time spent there is covered from Exodus 19 onwards. There they received the covenant, and made and erected God’s new Tabernacle. They arrived as a mob of mixed people; they left it as a covenant nation.
16 They moved from the Wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth Hattaavah.
Kibroth-hattaavah was where they buried those whose desires for fresh meat got the better of them (12.34).
17 They departed from Kibroth Hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth.
Hazeroth was the last stop before Kadesh. At Hazeroth Miriam and Aaron confronted Moses on the question of status and were confronted by Yahweh (12.1-16).
Thus Hazeroth is made the fourteenth stop (twice seven) on the journey. This was the journey as Yahweh had meant it to be, the divinely perfect one. What followed was outside what God had purposed, although He did not desert His people (Deuteronomy 2.7).
18 They departed from Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah.
How long Israel remained at Rithman after their failure to enter the land we do not know (some would see them as remaining there for a good part of the thirty eight years). In Deuteronomy we learn that they remained there ‘many days’ (1.46). It is a reminder that it was a long and weary period of wandering.
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.
This list of unknown names speaks volumes to us. Most of the first part of the list of names from Rameses to Hazeroth was well recorded in the history in Exodus, and in 11.35. Some of the final names will be recorded in the history. But the middle section is totally unmentioned. This is confirmation that the middle period was deliberately blanked out as far as the history was concerned. Moses had a record of the names of the places visited, where the Tabernacle had been set up. He knew what had happened at each of them. But all that was to be ignored. Indeed as far as the rest of Numbers was concerned, apart from the incidents of Korah and the rod that budded which illustrate the rebellion at Kadesh, the whole period between the first leaving of Hazeroth and the second arrival at Kadesh, is as though it had not been. It was a blot on the name of Israel.
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.
This can be compared with Deuteronomy 10.6-7 where we read, ‘And the children of Israel journeyed from Beeroth (the wells of) Bene-jaakan to Moserah (chastisement). There Aaron died, and there he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered in the priest’s office in his stead. From there they journeyed to Hor Hagidgad to Jotbathah, a land of brooks of water.
From Deuteronomy we gather that both Bene-jaaken and Jotbathah were selected out the second time precisely because they were sources of abundant water. During the wilderness wandering they would necessarily seek out abundant water supplies, and stay at such places as long as possible (they were not going anywhere).
34 They moved from Jotbathah and camped at Abronah. 35 They departed from Abronah and camped at Ezion Geber. 36 They moved from Ezion Geber and camped in the Wilderness of Zin, which is Kadesh.
Note that the journey from Jotbathah to Eziongeber took place with only one encampment mentioned, and then from Ezion-geber to Kadesh in one long march. The intervening land was clearly very inhospitable so that they did not tarry anywhere but made their way as quickly as possible.
37 They moved from Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, on the boundary of the land of Edom.
The forty years being over Moses brought Israel back to Kadesh. This, as it were, re-established the journey from Egypt and discounted all that had gone between this and the last visit to Kadesh. The journey now began towards the eastern border of Canaan. This would take them round the Dead Sea and up its eastern side. Thus they set off from Kadesh and reached Mount Hor, which was near Moserah, on the border 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.
It was on Mount Hor that Aaron was to die ‘at the commandment of Yahweh’, the Lord of life and death. This was almost exactly forty years since they had left Egypt, and was on the first day of the fifth month (they had left Egypt on the fifteenth day of the first month). He died at the age of one hundred and twenty three being older than Moses who would shortly die at ‘one hundred and twenty’ (Deuteronomy 34.7)
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.
At this same time had come the Canaanite king of Arad who, living in ‘the South’ (the Canaanite part of the Negeb, compare Genesis 12.9), had ‘heard of the coming of the children of Israel’ and hoped to drive them away (21.1-3). There is, in the way that this is put, the indication that the arrival of Israel was news which put fear in the hearts of the Canaanites.
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.
From there they journeyed, and encamped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness, which comes out of the border of the Amorites -- and from the wilderness they journeyed to Mattanah, and from Mattanah to Nahaliel; and from Nahaliel to Bamoth; and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the field of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looks towards Jeshimon (or ‘down on the desert’).’
49 They camped by the Jordan, from Beth Jesimoth as far as the Abel Acacia Grove in the plains of Moab.
And finally they arrived in the plains of Moab and encamped between Beth-jeshimoth (House of the Deserts, near the north-east shore of the Dead Sea) and Abel-shittim (meadow or brook of Shittim). ‘Between the desert and the meadow/brook’ may be intended by the writer also to emphasize both from where they came (the wilderness), and where they now were (in a pleasant watered land). The journey was now over.
Having arrived at the plains of Moab with the land visible over the Jordan, a preliminary indication of what would be expected of them, and what they might expect to receive, was now provided for them. This will be followed in chapter 34 by a brief description of the land and the names of those who will divide it out between them. The picture is being dangled in front of their eyes of the prize that lies before them.
There were two prongs to the requirements. One was that they were to receive the land by lot. It was theirs for the taking, and Yahweh Himself would dispose of it among them. And the second was that they must remember His word about driving out the Canaanites in their totality. The land must be purified from all the sin and idolatry that had been committed in it.
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;
Their solemn duty on possessing the land is again stressed. They must drive out all the inhabitants of the land, and must destroy all tokens of idolatry and places for their worship. The land had to be cleansed by the driving out or destruction of all that offended Yahweh, for the iniquity of these nations had now reached overflowing (compare Genesis 15.16).
53 you shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land and dwell in it, for I have given you the land to possess.
And on the positive side they themselves were to possess it and dwell in it, to live in its cities and farm its fields. For Yahweh was giving it to them for this purpose. This was the dream for which they would fight.
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.
And when they did inherit the land it was to be by lot, which would indicate Yahweh’s will in its disposal, and they were to do it by and in accordance with their clans. The many would receive much, the fewer less. This was their inheritance from Yahweh. All was to be by lot and not by man’s devising. Each man would receive what the lot indicated. And all would receive within their tribes, and dependent on their size.
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.
But if they failed to drive out the inhabitants of the land, those inhabitants would remain, ever to be to them a sore in their eyes, thorns in their sides, a vexation. It would permanently mar the enjoyment of their dwelling in the land.
Please take note of the vivid picture. They would be well aware from their days of wandering of the prickly bushes that could tear at the eyes, and the thorns that could pierce their sides. This was not something that they would want to find in the new land.
56 Moreover it shall be that I will do to you as I thought to do to them.’
Even more, if they neglect to purify the land from idolatry Yahweh Himself will do to Israel what He had thought to do to those nations. They would come to be in such a state that He would drive them out, and destroy their places of worship. And they would have brought it all on themselves.
There is a reminder here for us that as we too go forward with God we must remove from our lives all that could hinder our forward march, so that we might please Him Who has chosen us to be soldiers (2 Timothy 2.4-5). We too must set aside every weight and the sin which does so easily beset us (Hebrews 12.1). We too must avoid what attacks the eye (Matthew 5.29; 6.23; 18.9) and the thorns that seek to tear at us (1 Timothy 6.9)
