“1 These were the stages of the Israelites journey when they went out of the land of Egypt by their military divisions under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. 2 At the Lords command, Moses wrote down the starting points for the stages of their journey; these are the stages listed by their starting points: 3 They departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the month. On the day after the Passover the Israelites went out triumphantly in the sight of all the Egyptians.”
Numbers 33:1-3
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And so, in verses 3-49, Moses lists every place the Israelites set up camp over the course of their 40 year wandering in the desert. The bulk of the chapter reads like this: “They departed from Zalmonah and camped at Punon.” It really is a list of leaving one place to go on to the next with some details added in in the appropriate places. And it really reads like on of those passages of Scripture where many people are going to be tempted to just skip over it and not give it a second glance. But that is precisely why God wanted Moses to write it down…it needed a second glance.

Every time they started and stopped, pretty much after leaving Sinai, they could have been stopping in the Promised Land, they could have been ending their journey. But because of their decision not to trust the Lord, to react in fear and run from the challenge, they were being reminded of every stop that should never have happened. They needed to look back and see where they had been so they wouldn’t go through it again, so they wouldn’t make the same mistakes. They needed to see the details of their journey as a reminder that it could have been much different.

This was not just a travel itinerary listed for posterity’s sake, but a lesson to trust in God. This was the reminder of the consequences of their parent’s lack of faith, Theses stops all represented places where members of their community died, where rebellions occurred, where punishment was taking place and where God was teaching this ‘stiff-necked’ group of people how to trust in Him, despite their constant grumbling and complaining. And every one of these stops was a reminder that God had not abandoned them, and that He had not snuffed them out because of their rebellion and disrespect along the way. Every time they broke camp and moved on, it was a grace. They were one step closer to the Promised Land. Every day was a countdown to the days they were now living in, experiencing what their parents should have. Every day was a blessing, a pointing toward God, and these Israelites who had lived the bulk of their lives in the wilderness were getting ready to taste the milk and honey of the land that the Lord had promised so long ago, the promise of His faithfulness was coming to fruition.

This look back is a valuable lesson to the Israelites, and as followers of Christ, we often do much the same in our own lives. We look back and see where God has guided us, how He has taken us from one place to another, even before we arrived at the point where we were living now and where He wanted us to be. This is our story, our testimony and witness to the grace of God at work in us. This is how He was teaching us His Love and how to GoLove others in the Name of Jesus Christ. Numbers 32 is not just some ‘boring’ list of locations. Not in the least. It is a testimony of the patience of God, His grace for His rebellious, stiff-necked, stubborn people. It is the story of a Father who has a brick-headed child who cannot look up to see the sun to save his life because he is so fixated on his own stomach, His wants, desires and sinful inclinations. But God is merciful, and so every time they tore down camp and pitched their tents somewhere else, God was being merciful, because so many times they were being bald-faced in their rudeness and disrespect toward Him, and He could have wiped them off the face of the earth forever and started over with someone else. But His grace, mercy and love stayed His judgment (for whatever reason He has in His perfect wisdom) and the story continued until this day where the children of Abraham finally find themselves on the edge of the promise once again.

We cannot forget where God has led us, and what He has done in our lives. Every day is a starting place, His mercies are made new every morning, and we can be thankful for every beginning and end along the way, every moment that testifies to His goodness. We don’t treat it like some ‘boring list,’ but rather a cavalcade of mercies, poured out from our generous Father in heaven. He is so good to us who are in Christ, and so merciful to those who need to meet Him for the first time.