LIFE IN THE WILDERNESS

Deeply etched upon Israelite tradition is the memory that the people of Israel had their origin
in the wilderness. Those who followed Moses in the flight from Egypt were, as we have seen a
variegated company, “mixed multitude” as we are told specifically [Ex. 12:38], who were held
together primarily by their common desire to be free from slavery. Clearly, they lacked the
consciousness of identity, the commitment to a common way of life, and the shared history which
constitute a people- that is, a historical community. In the wilderness of the Sinaitic peninsula,
however, this motley band began to be “the people of Yahweh”, to use the expression which
frequently recurs in the Old Testament [e.g., Judg. 5:11, 13] and which influenced the later conception
of the church and synagogue. Prophets harked back to the time when Yahweh “found Israel” like
“grapes in the wilderness” [Hos. 9:10], when Israel “followed” Yahweh in the wilderness with all the
devotion of her youth [Jer. 2:2-3]. And by the same token, they declared that in the time of Israel’s
new beginning Yahweh would lead Israel back to the wilderness and there, away from the allurements
of city culture, would “speak to her heart” [Hos. 2:14-15]. The Torah tradition also testifies that it
was in the wilderness that God spoke to Moses and that the people, submitting to the demand and
promise of that voice, became Yahweh’s special people.

Guidance in the Wilderness

As we have seen earlier, when the Hebrews turned their backs on the land of Egypt, they took
the road leading into the wilderness. According to the narratives found in Exodus 15:22-19
;2, they set out for the Wilderness of Sinai, for Moses had been sent to bring the people to the
mountain rendezvous so that they might find their freedom in serving [worshipping] God there [see
Ex. 3:12]. It was a difficult journey, fraught with many hardships and uncertainties. Freedom in the
desert, in the judgment of many pilgrims, was a poor substitute for slavery in Egypt, and on many an
occasion they longed for the “fleshpots of Egypt” [16:3]. Food and water were scarce. And, as
though the inhospitable natural environment were not enough, there were hostile desert tribes who
roamed the area and resented the intrusion of the fugitives. It is a tribute to the realism of the
narrators that they present life as it surely must have been under such precarious circumstances. In
these story the wilderness is not portrayed according to some “nomadic ideal”. To be sure, Israel
experienced grace in the wilderness, but it was also a time of grumbling, revolutionary discontent,
internal strife, rebellion against Moses, and above all, lack of faith. Despite all that had happened,
including the marvelous crossing of the Reed Sea, the people complained, “Is Yahweh among us or
not?” [17:7].

Signs of Yahweh’s Aid

In various ways the narratives emphasize the positive theme of Yahweh’s guidance and
gracious aid in the wilderness in response to the people’s petitions in times of need or emergency.
First of all, daily sustenance- the elemental necessities of food and water- was provided. Here, again
we encounter the issue of miracle- that is, the signs of God’s presence in ordinary or extra-ordinary
events. Two illustrations are the stories about the manna and the quail [see Ex. 16:1-36]. Both are
familiar phenomena of the Sinaitic wilderness. Manna is a sweet, sticky substance produced by a
number of insects that such the tender twigs of tamarisk bushes in the desert region. This “honeydew
excretion” falls to the ground where , in the hot desert air, the drops quickly evaporate, leaving a solid
residue. During the day the sweet grains are carried off by ants, but overnight they accumulate and
early risers can gather the substance for food. The Hebrews were evidently unfamiliar with this desert
food. Thus, the word is explained on the basis of this question, manhu, which in Hebrew means
“What is it?” [Ex. 16:15], a question that receives from Moses the answer: It is “the bread which
Yahweh has given you to eat” [cf. John 6:31]. In the Arabic world man is still the name for this plant
insects, and their honeydew which is regarded as a great delicacy, is called manessimma or “manna
for heaven”. As for the quails [16:13; compare Num. 11:31-34], flocks of them migrate over this
region in the spring, and, when exhausted, are easily caught. Some modern readers might say that
these occurrences showed how “lucky” the Hebrews were. In Israel’s faith, however, these were signs
of Yahweh’s daily guidance, although they were never proofs that removed the possibility of doubt.

Murmurings in the Wilderness

Along with this positive theme of Yahweh’s gracious answer to the people’s petition in times
of need is a negative theme: the wilderness sojourn was the time when the people persistently
murmured against Yahweh and against the servant of Yahweh, Moses. If the period of the wilderness
was, according to the interpretation given in an important passage in Deut., a time when the people
were “tested” if they lived in complete and daily dependence upon Yahweh’s providing mercy [Deut.
8:3], it was also a time when the people put Yahweh to the test, demanding proof that Yahweh was
really present. Not even the manna was satisfactory to the “rabble”, for they remembered the better
diet they had in Egypt [Num. 11:4-6]. In the stories dealing with the wilderness, Israel’s grumbling
happens time after time and even seems to increase in intensity.

It is probable that this murmuring theme has been accentuated in some circle as the story was
handed down from generation to generation. Nevertheless, the tradition undoubtedly preserves the
memory of real struggles that took place in the wilderness. Even though things happened which
Moses interpreted as “signs” of divine guidance and aid, it was difficult for the people to believe in
Yahweh as they moved from the relative security of life in Egypt to the awesome uncertainty of life in
the wilderness. When you stop to think of it, it is striking that Israel’s story-tellers have been so
candid about the waivering faith, or even the complete lack of faith, which characterized the people at
the beginning of their historical pilgrimage. Moreover, even Moses came under his judgment,
according to Israelite interpreters, with result that he was not permitted to enter the Promised Land.
Where else in the ancient world- or in the modern world, for that matter- has a people had the courage
to say that that its origin was characterized by weakness if not failure? This is another reminder that
Israel tells its history from the standpoint of human achievement, but in the consciousness of God’s
searching judgment.

Forty Years of Wandering

According to the tradition, Israel spent forty years wandering in the wilderness south of Beer-
sheba. We must not take this figure as being mathematically exact. The number forty is often a
stylized expression for a full generation and sometimes it means only “a long time”, as in the
statement that Ilijah journeyed into the wilderness forty days and forty nights [1 Kings 19:8] , or the
tradition that Jesus fasted in the wilderness for the same period of time [Mk. 1:13] . Nevertheless, here
the statement is probably right. We are told that none of the adults who left Egypt were permitted to
enter Canaan; all of them died during the sojourn in the wilderness [Num. 14:26-35; 26:63-65]. It was
a new generation, under the leadership of Joshua, that was privileged to set eyes on Canaan.

There is sufficient reason to believe that the Hebrews who fled from Egypt followed a
southern route which took them first to Sinai and then to Kadesh-barnea. When they arrived at the
oasis. They must have come into contact with other Hebrews, perhaps some who had come down
from Palestine earlier or who had departed from Egypt under other circumstances.

In Numbers 11-20 we find a renewal of the theme that, in spite of the providence of Yahweh,
the people continued to murmur and, on occasion, to rebel against the leadership of Moses. The
desert fare of manna was not good enough for them, for they remembered too well their highly
seasoned diet in Egypt [Num. 11:4-6]. Dissension broke out in Moses own tribe, the tribe of Levi
over his leadership. The revolt was instigated by his own brother and sister, Aaron and Miriam [Num.
12]. It was renewed on a larger scale by a certain Korah, who stirred up factional strife among the
Levites, and also by Dathan and Abiram, who aroused other tribesmen against Moses [Num. 16]. Not
too much is known about the years of Israel’s sojourn at Kadesh-barnea and its vicinity, but the
tradition affords vivid glimpse of how the people forged together into greater unity and solidarity
through bitter struggle and suffering.
 It is apparent, then, that the “rabble” [Num. 11:4] under Moses leadership did not become a
stable, unified community overnight. A powerful centripetal force, the redemptive action of Yahweh,
had pulled them toward the center of a common covenant allegiance. But there were also powerful
centrifugal forces that pulled away from that center: human factors such as tribal rivalry, power
struggle for leadership, hunger and thirst, and the human incapacity for faith. At the oasis of Kadesh-
barnea these two forces came into sharp conflict. Humanly speaking, there is every reason to expect
that the covenant bond would have dissolved in the disruptive tensions of the wilderness. But as
Israel look back in the desert experience in the perspective of the covenant faith it becaome clear-
much clearer, no doubt, that in the wilderness days- that through these trials Yahweh was uniting and
disciplining His people for the historical task that lay ahead of them. A later discourse [Duet. 8:2-3]
forcefully affirms this truth .