Forty Years in the Wilderness

Biblical Text and Narrative

The account begins in the latter part of Exodus and continues through Numbers and Deuteronomy to chapter 5 of Joshua. After entering into covenant with God at Mount Sinai, the people sent spies into Canaan from Kadesh Barnea. After hearing the spies' report, however, they refused to enter Canaan (the twelve spies, Numbers 13–14). God counted each of the forty days of spying as a year and made the people remain in the wilderness for forty years. He also decreed that the entire generation aged twenty and older, except Joshua and Caleb, would die in the wilderness (Numbers 14:29–34). Deuteronomy 2:14 gives the time from leaving Kadesh Barnea to crossing the brook Zered as thirty-eight years, which indicates that the forty years are counted from the Exodus.

During this period the people ate manna and quail and moved their camp as the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire rested or departed (Numbers 9:15–23). There were also repeated episodes of disobedience and judgment, such as the golden calf incident, the rebellion of Korah, and the bronze serpent. Because of the incident at Meribah, Moses was not permitted to enter Canaan (Numbers 20:12), and he died on Mount Nebo (Deuteronomy 34). The new generation crossed the Jordan River and kept the Passover at Gilgal, and on the following day the manna ceased (Joshua 5:10–12).

Background

The Hebrew word midbar, translated "wilderness," does not refer only to sandy desert. It denotes arid land without permanent settlement as well as open country suitable for grazing livestock. The Hebrew title of the book of Numbers, Bemidbar, likewise means "in the wilderness." Scholars differ on the location of Mount Sinai, the route of travel, and the date of the Exodus (proposals include the fifteenth and thirteenth centuries BC, among others). The number forty frequently appears in connection with periods of testing and preparation, such as the forty days of rain during the Flood (Genesis 7:12) and the forty days Moses remained on the mountain (Exodus 24:18).

Significance in the Whole of Scripture

Deuteronomy 8:2–4 recalls this period as a time when God humbled and tested his people. Its purpose was to make them know "that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live." The Feast of Tabernacles commemorates Israel's dwelling in booths in the wilderness (Leviticus 23:42–43).

The New Testament takes up this event in several ways.

• Jesus was tempted in the wilderness for forty days and answered with words from Deuteronomy (the temptation in the wilderness, Matthew 4:1–11).
• Drawing on the image of manna, Jesus called himself the bread of life (John 6:35).
• Paul cited the wilderness generation as "our examples" to warn the church (1 Corinthians 10:1–11).
• Hebrews 3–4 quotes Psalm 95 and holds up as a warning the generation that failed to enter God's rest because of unbelief. It then speaks of the rest that remains for the people of God (Hebrews 4:9–11).

Interpretation and Points of Debate

• Typological reading: A type is a person or event that foreshadows something to come. Reading the Exodus as salvation and the wilderness as the believer's life in this world is common across denominations. Traditions differ, however, on how to understand Canaan. Some take Canaan as heaven and the Jordan River as death. In Wesleyan theology and the Holiness movement, Canaan is sometimes read as a life of holiness enjoyed in this present life.
• Historicity: Citing the scarcity of archaeological evidence, some scholars take a different view of figures such as the six hundred thousand men (Exodus 12:37), or of the historicity of the wilderness sojourn itself. Other scholars accept the text as a historical record, and some of them have proposed that the Hebrew word eleph, translated "thousand," be understood as a military unit.
• Text and embellishment: Sermons often say that the Israelites "lost their way and wandered." The text, however, records that they were guided by the pillar of cloud and explains the forty years as judgment for unbelief. The saying that "an eleven-day journey took forty years" is a homiletical summary combining the "eleven days' journey" of Deuteronomy 1:2 with the forty years.

In the Korean Church

In sermons and testimonies, seasons of hardship and refining are commonly called "the wilderness." Deuteronomy 8 and 1 Corinthians 10 are frequent sermon texts. Praise songs that portray the wilderness as a place of deep encounter with God, such as the gospel song "Gwangyareul Jinamyeo" ("Passing Through the Wilderness"), are also widely sung.