Numbers 33 lists 42 stages in Israel's exodus journey, as recorded by Moses at God's direction. The children of Israel had experienced much during the 40 years in the wilderness, and the names of the places they camped would have reminded them of the lessons they learned at each stage.
Some of the place names in Exodus 33 are familiar from previous accounts in Exodus and Numbers. Others are first mentioned here. For example, Dophkah and Alush in verse 13, from the initial pre-Sinai part of the journey, are not mentioned back in Exodus 15-17.
Many of the names of their camps are mentioned only in Numbers 33 (e.g., stages 15-26). Some of these names may be ones that the Israelites came up with themselves to refer to things that happened at those stages of their travels. All we have now are the names.
Commentaries on Numbers often contain translations of the names in the list. Here are some interesting ones from the list given by commentator Dale Brueggemann:
- Rithmah (stage 15) "sage city"
- Rimmon-perez (stage 16) "pomegranate gap"
- Libnah (stage 17) "white place"
- Mount Shepher (stage 20) "mount of beauty"
- Haradah (stage 21) "frightening" or "trembling"
- Makheloth (stage 22) "place of assembly"
- Mithcah (stage 25) "sweet place"
- Moseroth (stage 27) "reins, bonds straps"
- Jotbathah (stage 30) "pleasantness"
- Zalmonah (stage 35) "black place" (Brueggemann suggests "Gloomsville")
By stage 42, they are at the plains of Moab, across the Jordan from Jericho. Their next task will be to "depaganize" the land of Canaan (vv 50-56). If they fail, Canaan will paganize them and they could suffer the fate of the Canaanites.
Throughout the 42 stages, one thing has been constant: God has been with them throughout the journey. Rob Wilson stressed this in a sermon on Num 33-34 at Church of the Messiah on January 21, 2023.
No comments:
Post a Comment