The 40 years

Following the exodus is 40 years “wandering in the wilderness”. On the surface, this period is easily interpreted as a punishment.

Psalm 95:7-11 (The Message)

Drop everything and listen, listen as he speaks: “Don’t turn a deaf ear as in the Bitter Uprising, As on the day of the Wilderness Test, when your ancestors turned and put me to the test. For forty years they watched me at work among them, as over and over they tried my patience. And I was provoked—oh, was I provoked! ‘Can’t they keep their minds on God for five minutes? Do they simply refuse to walk down my road?’ Exasperated, I exploded, ‘They’ll never get where they’re headed, never be able to sit down and rest.’”

This paraphrase version I think accurately captures how frustrated God is with the generation that walked out of Egypt. They resisted the life God wanted for them. He wanted to lead and wanted them to follow him. But they had been ruined by Egypt. They had no knowledge of how well the nomadic life had served the patriarchs and no access to their skills.

If we consider that God wanted his people to be fluent in the skills of the nomadic life the 40 years can be interpreted as a “boot camp” to re-accustom the people to the lifestyle God intended for them to continue. “Wilderness” does not mean desert, it refers to land that is arid, ideal for nomadic pastoralism. During this time God’s presence was visibly leading his nation, prescribing every movement on the route. Nomads, as we learned earlier don’t wander, even if their movements seem random to us they are strategically planned movements. The fact that Israel's history records this as "wandering" reveals how much it was God doing the leading. They were so unaccustomed to the nomadic patterns that they couldn't see even as they were being taught. It’s as if God was giving them the pattern, leading them by hand, showing them where to stop and when to move on, a skill that is essential for such a large community and large herds to prosper in such arid land. This era could be viewed as a 40 year long word picture that, to this day, reveals to us the relationship of dependance and obedience that God wishes to have with his people.

The call to us is the same. If we stubbornly stick to our own self-preservation we will never be able to enter into his rest, not because he doesn't want us to - but the only way to find it is to surrender and live dependant on God.

Matthew 6:31-33 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’  These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

This era could be viewed as a 40 year long word picture that, to this day, reveals to us the relationship of dependance and obedience that God wishes to have with his people.

The temptation of urbanism is depending on our own resources and on what we have accumulated.

The blessing of nomadism is depending on God's resources and on what we have learned.