INTRODUCTION

The people of Israel up till date are referred as to be the people after Gods own heart;
they are Gods own nation. God made a covenant with them down the generations, starting from
their fore-fathers Abraham, Isaac, and acob. The covenant has a basis on circumcision, each part
involved in the covenant, both God and the Israelites as entitled or obliged to !eep to their own
part of the covenant.
God on his part fulfilled his obligations with regards to the covenant; he brought the
people out of "gypt and provided their needs, but the people !ept on failing on their own part,
but God as a #ust and merciful $upreme %eing !ept on forgiving them, but to a point they
murmured against God, and out of divine anger the &ord too! an oath in his anger and it affected
the people of Israel.
A #ourney that too! them a couple of days to "gypt in the boo! of Genesis, when oseph
was the governor in "gypt, too! them forty years to return bac! in the boo! of 'euteronomy and
none of the people who started the ourney ended it because the &ord too! an oath in his anger
that never shall they enter his rest. 'uring the forty years of the #ourney, the people of Israel
wandered around the desert.
(ith this as an introduction, I have brought to the fore the concern of this paper) the
wandering in the desert. The &ord*s anger burned against Israel and he made them wander in the
wilderness for forty years, until the whole generation of those who had done evil in his sight was
gone. The &ord swore an oath that their children will be shepherds in the wilderness for forty
years, suffering for their unfaithfulness, until the last of their bodies lies dead in the wilderness.
THE WANDERING IN THE DESERT
The &ord led the Israelites out of "gypt through the hands of +oses and Aaron; he
accompanied them on their #ourney with a pillar of cloud during the day and abeam of fire during
the night. The people passed through deserts, they moved through the desert of $inai and the
desert of ,aran. 'uring the #ourney, the people lived in camps in the desert. Throughout their
wandering in the desert, +oses served as a mediator between the people and God. The people of
Israel left "gypt to reach the promise land and not to wander around in the desert for forty years.
The formal plan of the Israelites was to go directly from "gypt to -anaan, but all the
people grumbled against the &ord. As a conse.uence, the &ord said that all the people counted in
the census will die in the desert e/cept -aleb and oshua. $o the people wandered in the desert
for 01 years.
In the desert, after a while the Israelites forget Gods goodness to them and complained
bitterly against having only manna for their food. God sends them .uail, but even this does not
stop their grumbling. They started longing for the food they had in "gypt as slaves. The people
complained to the hearing of the &ord, when the &ord heard their complaint, his wrath flared up,
and the fire of the &ord burned among them and consumed the outs!irt of their camp. The people
cried out to +oses, he prayed to the &ord and the fire died. The people called the place Taberah,
because that is where the fire of the &ord burned among them.
The people went against the covenant that their ancestor made with God, and the &ord
said to +oses, 2how long will this people spurn me3 4ow long will they refuse to believe in me,
despite all the signs I have performed among them3 I will stri!e them with pestilence and wipe
them out. Then I will ma!e of you a nation greater and mightier than they.
THE ROLE OF MOSES IN THE DESERT
+oses was more of a leader and a human intercessor for the people to God, during their
murmurs, he prayed to God and God provided for them. 'uring the war against the Amale!ites,
+oses re.uests that oshua should lead the men to fight while he stood on a hill with the rod of
God in his hand. The Israelites dominated the fight as long as +oses held the rod up, but if he
lets his hand down the Israelites lose the favour of the battle. %ecause +oses was getting tired,
Aaron and 4ur had +oses sat on a roc! and both of them held up his arm, and the Israelites
routed the Amale!ites.
(hen the Israelites came to $inai, they pitched their camp near the mountain. +oses
commanded the people not to touch the mountain. +oses received the Ten -ommandments
orally 5not yet in tablet form6 and other moral laws. 4e then went up with Aaron, 7adab, Abihu,
and seventy of the elders to see the God of Israel. %efore +oses went up the mountain to receive
the tablets, he told the elders to direct any .uestions that arose to Aaron or 4ur. (hile +oses
receives instruction on the laws on the mountain, the Israelites went to Aaron and as!ed him to
ma!e them a god. Aaron collected the golden #ewelries of the people and made them a golden
calf as their god.
After leaving $inai, the Israelites camped in 8adesh. After more complaints from the
Israelites, +oses struc! the roc! twice, and water gushed forth. 4owever, because +oses and
Aaron had not shown the &ord*s holiness, they were not permitted to enter the land to be given to
the Israelites; they too! the glory of the &ord thereby telling the people that they are the ones that
provide them with water. This was the second occasion +oses struc! a roc! to bring forth water;
however, it appears that both sites were named +eribah after these two incidents.
(hen the Israelites were preparing to enter -anaan, they decided not to attac! the
-anaanites head-on in 4ebron, a city south of -anaan, because the spies had informed them that
the -anaanites were too strong. They flan!ed 4ebron and went 9ar "ast, around the 'ead $ea.
They passed through "dom, +oab and Ammon, which are considered to be descendants of &ot,
therefore they were not attac!ed. 4owever, these people are rivals; they denied the Israelite
passage through their territory. +oses led the people through the eastern boarder of "dom. After
many of the people had been bitten by serpents and died, +oses made the brass serpent and
mounted it on a pole, and if those who were bitten loo!ed at it, they were healed and did not die.
After the forty years wandering in the desert, +oses was told that he will not lead the
Israelites to the ,romised &and because of his trespass at the waters of +eribah, but he is going
to die on its eastern shores. +oses therefore gathered the people of Israel and gave then a parting
address. This is ta!en to ma!e up the biblical boo! of 'euteronomy.