The Three-Hundred-Sixth (Transition from Wilderness)
- Rob
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
We’ve looked at the wilderness and wilderness experiences a few times, but haven’t really focused on what a transition out of wilderness looks like. This week we’re going to cover the transition, or attempted transition, of Israel from the wilderness to the promised land, which is a pattern for our transition from bondage to sin to freedom and blessing in Yeshua. On a micro-scale though, it’s also a pattern for different seasons in our lives and the transitions we go through between them.
As a refresher, in scripture the wilderness represents testing, trial, and tribulation. The two most recognizable wilderness experiences were the aforementioned Israelite travel through the wilderness following their deliverance from Egypt, and Yeshua’s temptation in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-13). For the Israelites, the wilderness was a test of whether or not they would obey YHWH (Deuteronomy 8:2). For Yeshua, it was a test of the same thing.
Yeshua was tempted by Satan to put Himself above YHWH’s commandments. He was tempted to satisfy His hunger, prove His status as YHWH’s Son, and exalt Himself by worshipping Satan. Each time, He used scripture to combat what Satan was trying to do.
The other thing to refresh on is the tying together of the number forty with this idea of trial and testing. Yeshua was in the wilderness being tempted for forty days. Nineveh was given forty days to repent before being destroyed (Jonah 3:4). It rained on the wicked for forty days and forty nights during the flood (Genesis 7:12).
We also tend to focus on the forty years Israel was in the wilderness, but if you recall, this time was given to them as a judgment from YHWH for their lack of faith in Him (Numbers 14:34). They rebelled against His command to enter the promised land, but this judgment was actually a compromise by YHWH. Originally, their judgment was going to be death (Numbers 14:12).
Instead of immediate death though, everyone from age twenty and up were allowed to wander through the wilderness as their children grew up and were able to eventually enter the promised land. The forty years were actually related to the cause of why they didn’t want to enter into the promised land. Their forty days of scouting out the promised land is what equated to the forty years, with a year for every day of scouting.
In other words, we can look at the forty days of scouting as the time of testing, trial, and tribulation. Not only did the majority of the congregation have to show patience in those forty days as the twelve spies did their thing, the spies themselves were being tested as to whether or not they would trust YHWH’s promise to give them that land despite the stature and strength of the people that lived there. Their report, and how they presented it, would be what convinced the congregation that everything would be ok if they just followed YHWH’s command (Numbers 13:25-33).
Unfortunately, ten out of the twelve spies were united in giving a dismal report. The Hebrew word used to characterize it actually means slander (dibbah Strong’s H1681). However, looking at other uses of this word in scripture, it’s not typically what we could call slander today.
Today, our minds would jump to lying when someone says slander, but that’s not generally how it’s used in scripture. The first time this word is used, it’s with Joseph bringing a bad report about his brothers to his father Jacob (Genesis 37:2). He was out tending the flock with them and something happened that he reported to his dad. In other words, he was being what we would call a tattletale!
It's not necessarily that Joseph was making up a lie to make his brothers look bad. It’s that he saw something that made them look bad and then he brought it to Jacob. It’s the same for the spies in the promised land. The way they presented the information they had gathered is that they would never be able to conquer the people in the land based on their stature and strength.
Here’s the interesting part about this whole situation. Why did the Israelites send out spies in the first place? Did they come up with that idea on their own because they wanted to know what they were walking into?
As it turns out, YHWH told them to send out spies (Numbers 13:1-2). Why do you think He did that? He already knew the people living in that land and what they were like. He already knew the land and what it was like. Those were the things that Moses sent the spies to check out (Numbers 13:17-20).
The only ones who didn’t know those things were the Israelites themselves, but if YHWH was going to help them take over that land and drive out the current inhabitants, why does it matter if the Israelites knew beforehand what those people were like? Maybe He didn’t want Israel to be surprised the first time they encountered them and drove them out. Maybe He wanted Israel to see what He was going to do for them before He did it.
I think He was giving them another test. They had made it out of Egypt, through the sea, and through the wilderness, each major event showing the Israelites’ inability to fully trust in YHWH’s ability to provide for them along the way and their inability to follow His commands. This was one last attempt, after Him giving them mercy after mercy, for them to show finally that they could listen to Him and obey His commands despite what they see and feel physically.
If you’ve ever been in a situation where you don’t know what’s coming you know it’s pretty nerve-wracking. Fear of the unknown is stressful. However, knowing what’s coming and it being something you think you have no possible way of enduring is an entirely different feeling.
The Israelites didn’t know what they didn’t know about the promised land. They probably assumed it would be much like the other areas they had lived in or traveled through, with people similar in stature and strength to them. I believe sending the spies was YHWH showing them what they were going to encounter and seeing whether or not they would trust Him and still go through with it.
We already know how that story ends, but what about in our lives? In getting there, the Israelites, to their credit, left Egypt without being able to see what was to come. We will certainly have those types of situations in our lives, but sometimes, like with the Israelites, our current situation is so bad that it’s an easy decision to take that leap of faith.
What about when we know what’s coming? Do we still trust YHWH to bring us through it? Or do we heed that old adage that “the grass is always greener…” and decide to just stick with where we’re at? I mean, it wasn’t really that YHWH was leading us somewhere else, was it? It was just our own desire to have something better, right?
It should have been way easier for the Israelites, based on the circumstances. As Moses pointed out when recounting the situation (Deuteronomy 1:19-31), they had the benefit of knowing for sure that YHWH was leading them every step of the way. He was there in pillars of fire and clouds telling them when to travel and when to stay put, when to go this way and when to go that way (Deuteronomy 1:32-33).
Yet they still faltered. They still trusted their eyes and their hearts, what they knew physically, over YHWH’s promises. If you recall also, there was judgment imposed on those spies for presenting their report in such a bad way. They all were killed by a plague from YHWH (Numbers 14:36-38).
The rest of the Israelites knew they messed up at that point. They tried to make it right by going into the promised land anyway, but it was too late (Numbers 14:39-45). They had already done what they had done, and their judgment had already been decreed by YHWH.
That’s certainly a lesson for us today, because YHWH does not change (Malachi 3:6, Numbers 23:19, James 1:17). While we have much room for mercy and forgiveness from Him, if you read through the whole account of the Israelites He had that same relationship with them. We don’t want to end up with the same judgments as them due to a lack of faith in Him.
Repentance and requesting that forgiveness is certainly an option, but let’s not even get there, right? Let’s have that faith in His ability to take care of us through the challenges He has us undertake, and even help us be victorious in them. The only way we know if it’s Him leading us there though, is if we’ve already got a day-to-day obedience to Him. That is what gives us the ability to know for sure that it’s not us that’s going in a certain direction, but Him telling us to go that way.
Have a great week! Shabbat shalom and YHWH bless you!
-Rob and Sara Gene
The Gospel
We are born sinful as a result of Adam and Eve's sin (Genesis 2:17, 3:6, 1 John 1:8)
The consequence of sin, which is unavoidable through our own works, is death (Romans 6:23)
Yeshua, the Son of YHWH, lived sinless and was put to death (Hebrews 4:15)
His death, therefore, cleanses us of sin that would have required our death
He rose on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:4)
Because of His resurrection, we are confident in our future resurrection and eternal life
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