The remainder of this volume will be occupied with the consideration of some divine hints, as they may be termed, which are given in the book of Exodus, relative to the future blessing for man which God has in store; with God’s revelation on Sinai of Himself to man; with the manner of God’s dwelling amongst men and the divine principle of access to Himself, as displayed in the Tabernacle of the wilderness; and also with a few remarks on Israel’s wanderings.
The overthrow of the typical ruler of the world, the priest-king, Pharaoh, set Israel free, and in the ways of God, some six weeks afterward the redeemed people were established at Horeb, where God gave forth His law.
The incidents of the journey from Rameses in Egypt, to the Mount of God in the wilderness, as related in the book of Exodus, have a significance of their own. The mention of certain stages in their journey is avoided, for the number of “their journeys according to the places of their departure” is not that which the Spirit of God is bringing before the reader of the book of Exodus, but other lessons. The incidents stand together, as historically recorded in the book of Exodus, and as spiritually noted in the one hundred and fifth Psalm. The length of the period covered by the pilgrimage to Sinai is also significant – “they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month” (Num. 33:33And they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians. (Numbers 33:3)), and they came into the wilderness of Sinai, where a new dispensation opened upon them, on the first of the third month. Remembering that the earliest stages of their journey were in Egypt itself (vers. 5-7), this would give some thirty-eight or forty days for the period of time in consideration – a. period resembling, in days, that spent in years by Israel in the wilderness.
The psalm referred to, thus speaks of this period: “He spread a cloud for a covering, and fire to give light in the night. The people asked, and He brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven. He opened the rock and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river.... He brought forth His people with joy, and His chosen with gladness (or singing): and gave them the lands of the heathen.” (See Psa. 105:39-4439He spread a cloud for a covering; and fire to give light in the night. 40The people asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven. 41He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river. 42For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant. 43And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness: 44And gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labor of the people; (Psalm 105:39‑44).) In these words not a sound of Israel’s murmurings, or of God’s chastenings is heard, all is gladness and grace, and the wilderness itself is in view only as the occasion for God to show forth His favors. This, we shall see, is that which characterizes the period under our present consideration.
The song of triumph having ended, the wilderness opened out before Israel. The borders of the Red Sea, where the Egyptian dead lay, were left, and the host went forward under the guidance of the pillar of cloud and fire. An entirely new era had now opened in Israel’s history. They had become a pilgrim company.
The intense strain of anxiety, and the sense of freedom incident to the marvels of the few days that had just elapsed, gave place to entirely new experiences. On such an occasion as the overthrow of Pharaoh’s army before their very eyes, it would be but natural that each of the freed people, and also of the mixed multitude, should be absorbed with the deliverance; hence the joy prevailing would allow no place for thoughts as to what might next happen, or as to which way they should take, in order to reach the promised land. In the sacred enthusiasm of the hour, all would join in the song, honestly anticipating a speedy entrance into Canaan. But Israel had to learn a deeper lesson than that taught by Pharaoh’s bonds; through their wilderness education they had to prove themselves. Pharaoh’s bonds had shown to Israel their helplessness; their salvation had demonstrated to them Jehovah’s strength. Their path through the wilderness would prove, if not to them, certainly of them, the unfaithfulness of their hearts, and also the faithfulness of God.
We are able to trace the stages of Israel’s journey to Horeb with considerable precision. Travelers have painstakingly followed Israel’s track; England’s Ordnance Survey has given us a strictly exact map of the deserts and wadies Israel crossed, and the rocks and the mountains which they could not cross and had to pass round; and the photographer has given us the scenery of the localities mentioned, so that we are capable of realizing the word pictures given by Moses in his narrative.
We have introduced on the opposite page a map of the district from Pithom to Elim. The upper portion of it is practically the same as that which is given upon page 101; that part of it which indicates the country from Suez to the Wady Gharandel (Elim) is a careful reproduction of the Ordnance Survey.
After their song Israel turned from the land of their captivity, and “went out into,” or towards, “the Wilderness of Shur.” The long wall of rock which rises up over the flatter district near the sea gives the name of the Wilderness of the Wall (Shur) to the desert towards which they turned. We are supposing that they took their journey from near the point marked in our map that is, close by Migdol. There can be no doubt that on leaving the neighborhood of the store city, Pithom, they brought with them not only supplies of food but of water also. For months previously it had been known that they were to serve Jehovah in the wilderness (Ex. 5:1; 7:161And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. (Exodus 5:1)
16And thou shalt say unto him, The Lord God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness: and, behold, hitherto thou wouldest not hear. (Exodus 7:16)), and that young and old, sons and daughters, flocks and herds (Ex. 10:99And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the Lord. (Exodus 10:9)), would form their company, and more, a “three days’ journey into the wilderness” (Ex. 8:2727We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the Lord our God, as he shall command us. (Exodus 8:27)) had been specified; hence to suppose Israel undertaking this journey without supplies of water that would last them some days is impossible. As they had ample time for preparation there is no reason whatever for assuming that they did not make the necessary arrangements. Pithom, as has been already observed, was a store city, and from it, as a base, expeditions started across the wilderness to the mines in the Sinai district, and elsewhere. Israel’s way was to the Mount of God. Hence they journeyed southwards “towards” the Wilderness of Shur; they did not bend their steps the more direct way towards their land of promise.
“And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water.” Egypt had ever found them water, and in its river, water of noted sweetness; but their supplies brought from that land were lessening, and, after their three days of toil, Marah, or Bitterness, was reached, with its brackish, unpalatable pools. The fact of a three days’ journey into the wilderness and finding no water, and then the brackish pools, is attested by travelers who follow Israel’s track; but God is not merely recording an incident in their way from bonds to rest, He is also communicating spiritual instruction. Israel was bound to a fruitful land, and the first great lessons learned on their way thither were the absence of refreshment natural to the wilderness over which they traveled, and the disappointing nature of the water frequently found there.
The world, viewed as a desert over which God’s pilgrim host is passing, affords in itself no nourishment, and should its waters be tasted they do but prove themselves to be disappointing. This is the first lesson in pilgrimage, the first realization of the three days’ journey.
Three days’ journey from Egypt brought Israel in triumph into the wilderness; three days’ journey into the wilderness brought them to bitterness! And it may be said, there is not one among the pilgrim host of God, who has not learned, or who has not to learn, this important lesson of the three days! But as Israel mourned the bitterness, God “showed” Moses “a tree, and he cast it into the waters, and the waters were made sweet” (Ex. 15:2525And he cried unto the Lord; and the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them, (Exodus 15:25). R.V.). Israel had been delivered from Egypt, as it were by death; they had passed through the bitter water of the sea, and now they had to prove the bitterness of the wilderness, a bitterness which was rendered sweet for them. We are redeemed and delivered from the world and Satan by Christ’s death, and such being the case, we are called to experience the practical excellence of Christ’s cross as healing the bitterness of many an incident on our pilgrimage to heaven.
Where is Marah? Can it be identified? Supposing – as is now so generally accepted – that Israel’s wilderness journey began in the locality marked on our map, from that point to Ayun Musa, the wells of Moses, would be some three days’ journey of fifteen miles a day. The wells there are still brackish, but one of them is said to be sweet, and a considerable fertility surrounds them; indeed; in modern times they have become of very great service to Suez, fruit and vegetables being produced in the little oasis which they furnish. The idea that these wells are on the site of the ancient Marah is very reasonable, and the fact that these wells are called by the name of Moses to this day, lends the strongest probability to its justness, the name of the great Leader being still connected with the water he had rendered sweet.
From Bitterness rendered sweet, Israel journeyed to Elim – The Trees; again a three days’ journey. Here in the shade they encamped by the water, not of pools such as those of Marah, but fountains of living, upspringing water.
The numbers of the springs and palm trees of Elim would not be given without an intention, and we may understand that each of the twelve tribes had its own marching and camping position assigned to it by each spring, and that the seventy palm trees were used as head-quarters for seventy chief princes, for “the renowned of the congregation, princes of the tribes of their fathers, heads of thousands in Israel” (Num. 1:1616These were the renowned of the congregation, princes of the tribes of their fathers, heads of thousands in Israel. (Numbers 1:16); Ex. 24:99Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: (Exodus 24:9)).
The people were not only prepared for their journey, they marched in an ordered array according to their “armies.” In this grateful resting-place “they encamped,.. by the waters.” Incidental refreshment fell to their lot; their faithful Leader had led them where they could not only enjoy mercies, but prove His way of rendering the ordinary bitterness connected with their journey sweet. These are the chief lessons of the first month of Israel’s pilgrimage.
No one appears to question the position of Elim. The Wady Gharandel is such a perfect realization of the story of the first rest after Israel’s Exodus, that even controversy rests there. To this day the springs and groves of the locality are resorted to by travelers, and the photographer has made its features familiar to the eye.
The exact direction taken by Israel when they broke up their camp at Elim was much questioned, but the Ordnance Survey Expedition has now set at rest most of the difficulties, and has enabled a very clear idea to be formed of the way they went. Their destination was Horeb, the Mount of God. They were a great host, having baggage wagons, cattle, and much encumbrance, hence they could not have taken a mere mountain track, steep and rugged. Two main routes were open to them, known now as the upper and the lower roads. Our maps on pages 144 and 145 will make their route perfectly clear to the eye. The two roads divide at Wady Ethal. The upper road lies by Wady Hamr, Wady Nasb, Wady Suwig, Wady Khamileh, Wady Bark, Wady Lebweh, Wady Berrah, and Wady es Sheikh, and so enters the plain of Er Rahah.
As the next encampment of Israel after Elim was near the seashore – “they removed from Elim, and encamped by the Red Sea” (Num. 33:1010And they removed from Elim, and encamped by the Red sea. (Numbers 33:10)), it is evident they did not pursue the upper road. The reason why they did not do so is very simple. By consulting the map (page 144) Sarabit El Khadim, issuing from Wady Siiwig; and Maghar ah, near Wady Shellal, will be observed. The former of these two places is in continuity of the upper road. They were both fortified, and occupied by Egyptian troops, who were told off for this service in order to protect the mining district. The mines were worked by slave labor. There is quite an interesting history of these mines in the Egyptian archives, and there are monuments in situ carved in the rock. One of these we give.
Had Israel taken the upper road a conflict with the Egyptians must have occurred; but too much need not be made of stich an eventuality. Another, and a more weighty reason for their not taking the upper road is this, it “would have presented insuperable difficulties,” by reason of “its rugged passes and narrow valleys, to a large caravan encumbered by heavy baggage.” A very simple reason for the direction taken by Israel is thus before us, they took the easiest and the readiest route, or, to use the language of Scripture: “He led them forth by the right way” (Psa. 107:77And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation. (Psalm 107:7)).
On breaking up their camp at Elim, “a fair day’s journey” brought them by Wady Taiyibeh to the shore of the Red Sea, which they had not seen for some days. The place of this encampment was by the open coast. “A scene of grandeur as varied as it is matchless... a vast semi-circle of sheer precipice, some hundreds of feet in height, and which might contain a city in its noble sweep. Then, beyond this... a most singular peak, first tawny sandstone, then red, and then white, and then red again, then black... it must be at least six hundred feet high. This is Wady Taiyibeh, or’ The Good,’ so called from its tarfas, palms, and water.”
With the place of this encampment settled beyond controversy, we pursue on the map the direction of the lower road to Horeb. We have followed it across the Wady Useit and seen it enter the Wady Taiyibeh. The road now works round by the shore, at times leaving but little space between the cliffs and the water, and then crosses the “barren flinty plain of” El Markha. This may be regarded as the Wilderness of Sin, which was Israel’s next encampment.
Rounding the hills by the sea the Wady Feiran is next reached. This long and comparatively narrow valley would not allow the same rate of daily marching as the open country, and we may suppose that the two stations Dophkah and Alush were situated between El Markha and Rephidim. The waters and palms close by Rephidim, the hill whereon Moses prayed, and the locality of the battle with Amalek, would be also in this valley. Thus continuing by the lower road, and passing through the Wady Solaf, the Plain of Er Rahah is gained, where Israel assembled and received the law.