Footprints of the Journey: Walking Forward in Faith

These were the marches of the Israelites who started out from the land of Egypt, troop by troop, in the charge of Moses and Aaron. Moses recorded the starting points of their various marches as directed by GOD. Their marches, by starting points, were as follows: They set out from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month. It was on the morrow of the passover offering that the Israelites started out defiantly, in plain view of all the Egyptians. The Egyptians meanwhile were burying those among them whom GOD had struck down, every [male] first-born—whereby GOD executed judgment on their gods. The Israelites set out from Rameses and encamped at Succoth. They set out from Succoth and encamped at Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness. They set out from Etham and turned about toward Pi-hahiroth, which faces Baal-zephon, and they encamped before Migdol. They set out from Pene-hahiroth and passed through the sea into the wilderness; and they made a three-days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham and encamped at Marah. They set out from Marah and came to Elim. There were twelve springs in Elim and seventy palm trees, so they encamped there. They set out from Elim and encamped by the Sea of Reeds. They set out from the Sea of Reeds and encamped in the wilderness of Sin. They set out from the wilderness of Sin and encamped at Dophkah. They set out from Dophkah and encamped at Alush. They set out from Alush and encamped at Rephidim; it was there that the people had no water to drink. They set out from Rephidim and encamped in the wilderness of Sinai. They set out from the wilderness of Sinai and encamped at Kibroth-hattaavah. They set out from Kibroth-hattaavah and encamped at Hazeroth. They set out from Hazeroth and encamped at Rithmah. They set out from Rithmah and encamped at Rimmon-perez. They set out from Rimmon-perez and encamped at Libnah. They set out from Libnah and encamped at Rissah. They set out from Rissah and encamped at Kehelath. They set out from Kehelath and encamped at Mount Shepher. They set out from Mount Shepher and encamped at Haradah. They set out from Haradah and encamped at Makheloth. They set out from Makheloth and encamped at Tahath. They set out from Tahath and encamped at Terah. They set out from Terah and encamped at Mithkah. They set out from Mithkah and encamped at Hashmonah. They set out from Hashmonah and encamped at Moseroth. They set out from Moseroth and encamped at Bene-jaakan. They set out from Bene-jaakan and encamped at Hor-haggidgad. They set out from Hor-haggidgad and encamped at Jotbath. They set out from Jotbath and encamped at Abronah. They set out from Abronah and encamped at Ezion-geber. They set out from Ezion-geber and encamped in the wilderness of Zin, that is, Kadesh. They set out from Kadesh and encamped at Mount Hor, on the edge of the land of Edom. Aaron the priest ascended Mount Hor at GOD’s command and died there, in the fortieth year after the Israelites had left the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month. Aaron was a hundred and twenty-three years old when he died on Mount Hor. And the Canaanite, king of Arad, who dwelt in the Negeb, in the land of Canaan, learned of the coming of the Israelites. They set out from Mount Hor and encamped at Zalmonah. They set out from Zalmonah and encamped at Punon. They set out from Punon and encamped at Oboth. They set out from Oboth and encamped at Iye-abarim, in the territory of Moab. They set out from Iyim and encamped at Dibon-gad. They set out from Dibon-gad and encamped at Almon-diblathaim. They set out from Almon-diblathaim and encamped in the hills of Abarim, before Nebo. They set out from the hills of Abarim and encamped in the steppes of Moab, at the Jordan near Jericho; they encamped by the Jordan from Beth-jeshimoth as far as Abel-shittim, in the steppes of Moab. In the steppes of Moab, at the Jordan near Jericho, GOD spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, you shall dispossess all the inhabitants of the land; you shall destroy all their figured uncertain; cf. Lev. 26.1. objects; you shall destroy all their molten images, and you shall demolish all their cult places. And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have assigned the land to you to possess. You shall apportion the land among yourselves by lot, clan by clan: with larger groups increase the share, with smaller groups reduce the share. Wherever the lot falls for it, that shall be its location. You shall have your portions according to your ancestral tribes. But if you do not dispossess the inhabitants of the land, those whom you allow to remain shall be stings in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land in which you live; so that I will do to you what I planned to do to them.

Numbers 33:1-20 is a carefully preserved record of Israel's stages from Egypt to Sinai — the geography of a people learning to trust God step by step.