Context No. 2888 of 4322 · Numbers

Numbers 33:17-32: in context

17They traveled from Kibroth Hattaavah, and encamped in Hazeroth. 18They traveled from Hazeroth, and encamped in Rithmah. 19They traveled from Rithmah, and encamped in Rimmon Perez. 20They traveled from Rimmon Perez, and encamped in Libnah. 21They traveled from Libnah, and encamped in Rissah. 22They traveled from Rissah, and encamped in Kehelathah. 23They traveled from Kehelathah, and encamped in Mount Shepher. 24They traveled from Mount Shepher, and encamped in Haradah. 25They traveled from Haradah, and encamped in Makheloth. 26They traveled from Makheloth, and encamped in Tahath. 27They traveled from Tahath, and encamped in Terah. 28They traveled from Terah, and encamped in Mithkah. 29They traveled from Mithkah, and encamped in Hashmonah. 30They traveled from Hashmonah, and encamped in Moseroth. 31They traveled from Moseroth, and encamped in Bene Jaakan. 32They traveled from Bene Jaakan, and encamped in Hor Haggidgad.

This passage is a travel log. They journeyed from Kibroth-hattaavah to Hazeroth, from Hazeroth to Rithmah, from Rithmah to Rimmon-perez, and on it goes, campsite after campsite through the wilderness, a string of place-names most readers have never heard and will never hear again.

It looks like a record with almost nothing in it, but it is a deliberate memorial of the whole forty-year journey, every stop named and remembered. God had Moses write down each stage, because the wandering was never aimless to God, even in the years it felt aimless to Israel. Each obscure campsite was a place they were fed, kept, and led. Long afterward the list still stands as evidence that God was present at every unremarkable stop along the way, not only in the mountaintop moments that made the famous stories.

Do I believe God was present and leading even in the forgettable, in-between stretches of my life, the campsites no one would ever name?

Sources

Numbers 33:2: "Moses wrote the starting points of their journeys by the commandment of the LORD."
Deuteronomy 8:2: "You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness."
Psalm 139:3: "You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways."